Love is....not...

I'm thinking of love...and what it is and is not...from the famous passage in 1 Corinthians 12 we get a good picture of what love is (and note...Paul is addressing a church, and its sins against fellow believers)...right before Paul describes love...he mentions that if he has not love, he is nothing...so what is Love?

I Corinthians 12:
4) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.
6) Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7) It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8) Love never fails....(emphasis mine)

therefore No-Love is:
impatient, unkind, envious, boastful, proud
rude, self-seeking, easily angered, unforgiving
delights in evil and unhappy with truth
destructive, does not trust, has no hope, and gives up
no love always fails...

I have recently been given the opportunity to believe that Love was where I accused there to be No-Love...that opportunity led me to throw myself before God and confess the sins of an angry heart...a heart that reacted in a fleshly way.

Today, I choose to react in Love...and my heart is burning with a righteous anger...where do I draw the line with myself in always believing in the good in others...always hoping that Love exists? I am holding firm to the promise that Love never fails...and if Love never fails then No-love always fails.

May God firmly grip in His Faithful and Loving Hands the kindness of my dear friend's soul. May those Hands also squeeze every ounce of Love from the other...I am believing it exists...I hope that I am right...but if I am wrong...I firmly believe the way of No-Love will always fail...and I refuse to walk that path...what a sad and lonely path it would be...

and without Love...i am nothing.

heart lens

i'm so glad that i am not God...that it is not my job to judge the heart of man.


my husband learned as a former police officer that there are three sides to every story: side a, side b, and the truth.


the truth always seems so elusive, so tainted by emotions, thoughts, feelings, justice.

sigh-the-big-sigh

i wish i could wave a magic wand...if i only had one wish...i am pretty sure it would be for Love.

simple Love...and with that Love...for the proper heart lens...for everyone...

and on a similar note...

i have been struggling personally with my own Love-simple-Love issues.

it dawned on me the other day that a heart can move on...but a soul...i think they tend to cling to one another.

for years i have feared that i have serious intimacy issues...that my poor husband has been slighted...not given every inch of my heart...and then it hit me...

he doesn't need every inch of my heart...the problem with the world's idea of love is that it is all encompassing...breath-taking...everything you need...and what i have for my husband is simple and has boundaries...not like the kind of boundaries that a fence provides but the kind that a meaningful relationship with God provides. my husband allows me the freedom to be exactly who i am...he's comfortable with my idiosyncrasies...he doesn't control...anything about me...and visa versa...

for someone like me...that's a big deal...i'm so prone to emotions, highs, lows that constant feels foreign...terrifying...a bit off kilter...which leaves me questioning the unquestionable...does he really love me? do i really love him? and the simple answer is yes.

our hearts are reserved to be sold out and exclusive for one person only: God...the rest of it is to be shared with all the other precious people we meet on this journey called life.

i find comfort in that.

i am not robbing my husband of some crazy piece of my heart...rather...i am sharing it...wholeheartedly...with all the passion and craziness one granola chic can muster!

beware of rant ahead

so today i was taken back...who knows how many years...not good with history dates...but it saddens me that we now have the first black president...and yet many still expect women to gather their identities from their husbands and their children.

and for the love of all that's holy people...can we slow the divorce rate down a tad here?? it's everywhere i turn...and today...i began to understand why God decided to condone divorce...yet He still hates divorce...it's ugly...so extremely ugly.

i want to list what's uglier...but i am reminded that evil is the absence of God's Love. it's that simple...love or no love...how i respond is reflective of love...(non-evil)...or no-love (evil). i want to be non-evil...i want to reflect His Love...i want to bandage the wound of my bleeding sistah...whom i have begun to fall deeply in love with...so tender...so kind...despite the no-love she's been subjected to.

close your eyes...listen...listen to the Love...i believe He's whispering in your ear right now:
you, my darling daughter...are a fantastic mother...rest in Me...I am all you need...just breathe Me in...and then breathe Me out...I'll take care of the rest.

sorry...a really good Christian would have exact Scripture references handy...i'm not so good with specifics...but i am blogger friends with some who are wonderful encouragers!

help me out dearest readers...and lend a prayer if you will...can't really give details...but you know the drill...and also...please lift up j-bob's teacher...that if God so desires...they can adopt their foster child...it's down to the wire for both of these angels in my life!