Everyday Love

Total adoration. Falling in love quicker than I ever had. Never so sure of my feelings than I was at this moment. New Year's Eve 2005.

And I didn't have a clue what love was really about.

Three years later, I'm a little wiser but I still have a ways to go. Here is what I know for sure. Here is what I am trying my best to live out every day with the man whom God has entrusted to me.

Love is patient and kind.

Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.

It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Turns out, Valentine's Day is not about Hallmark or roses or candy or candlelit dinners. It is about a man who poured himself out in love for his fellow man, who sacrificed his personal comfort for the opportunity to speak of and demonstrate the truest love.

On Valentine's Day it would be easy to find just the right card for Jason, to buy him a sweet gift and cook his favorite meal. Even writing this post is easy. This is one day. But you know what is so much harder but so much more rewarding? Choosing love every day.

Choosing to stop and listen even when I'm in a hurry or think the thing I'm doing is more important. Choosing to pick my words carefully and make sure that they are what will be helpful and encouraging to his heart. Choosing to not lose faith. Choosing to not give up. Choosing to endure through whatever this world throws at us.

Love is a choice. It is not easy. In fact, it is harder than anything I have ever had to do in my whole life thus far. And I have failed infinitely more than I have succeeded at this point. But choosing to love? It is so worth it.