Love Take Me Over

Sometimes, I get so caught up in the doing, the lists, the getting-things-accomplished that the right side of my brain starves. I start to consider the list, the what-needs-to-get-done, more important than people.

Last year, around my surgery, I promised myself I would be different.

I promised myself I'd spend more time listening to people and paying attention to them.

I promised myself I wouldn't let the to-do list overwhelm my need to love others.

The other day, I had a "promise check" when I actually wished someone would leave me alone and not tell me their happy news because I had things that needed to get done. 

I was choosing things over people again. I had to stop to course correct my attitude. 

I turned away from what I was doing and focused solely on what the person was saying. You know what the other person said after our conversation? "Thanks for listening - I really appreciate it." 

One thing I've learned about people is they just want to be heard. They want to know someone is listening and that someone cares about them.

I think our greatest need is to know and feel love. I'm not talking romance; I'm talking genuine love is a verb, an action kind of love. It's love that listens, that pays attention, that says "You're more important to me than anything - including this phone call, this Facebook alert that popped up on my cell, anything." That's the kind of love I'm aiming for in my relationships.

How can I leave someone feeling and being better and knowing that someone cares about them?

If you haven't heard it yet, take a listen to this new song from Steven Curtis Chapman. It's called "Love Take Me Over." Every time the song comes on the radio I make it my "promise check" and my prayer...

So I'm praying, Father, help my heart believe
That right now You're singing over me
And fill me up with Your love

Love, take these words that I'm speaking
Love, take these thoughts that I'm thinking
Love, take me over
Love, fill up all of my space and
Love, come stand right here in my place
Love, hear this prayer that I'm praying
Love, take me, love, take me over

Now... I'm going to go love some people today and not let the list get in the way of doing it!

Single and Overwhelmingly Loved

Sometimes, being single and having a Facebook account doesn't mesh for me.

For the most part, I can handle seeing the engagement announcements, the pictures of the sparkly ring on the left hand, the pictures of the new bride and groom, the sonogram pictures, the happy family pictures, etc.

And then there are times when I can't handle it.

I suppose it's no different for the man or woman who is struggling in their marriage who sees their friends post seemingly happy pictures of their marriage. Or the couple struggling with infertility and feels heartache when seeing pictures of their friends/family having fun with their children. Or the jobless man or woman being reminded daily that they don't have a job by their friends' incessant whining about the job they have but hate.

At the root of all these feelings, I think, are the opposites of contentment: jealousy and fear. Jealousy of what others have that I don't; fear that I won't ever get the things I want the most.

Instead of being content where God has me and the opportunities He's given me, there are times when I can't stop focusing on the opportunities He HASN'T given me.

I try hard to drive in the lane that God has me in, but every now and then I have the tendency to get over into someone else's lane. And when I do that, I crash. Big time.

No surprise there.

And so when I crash and burn, I do what I usually do... I go for a "therapeutic walk" have it out with God. I tell Him how I feel. I regroup. I apologize for my ingratitude. I thank God for the joys and successes He's bringing into my friends' lives. I thank Him for the story He's writing in my own life. I ask Him for patience as I read the story He's writing for me. I also ask Him to help me not to jump ahead and make conclusions about the chapters I haven't read yet.

God knows, at the heart of my discontentment, is that I just want to be loved and feel love. I want to be singled out by someone's love for me.

And so God, ever knowing and ever patient and ever kind and ever loving towards me, singles me out and shows me how much He loves me. Not because He has to. But because He wants to. Because He loves me.

When He goes to such great lengths to create a leaf shaped heart and drop it on the sidewalk in the perfect place for me to see like he did last night...

When He takes two little twigs and arranges them perfectly on the sidewalk in the shape of a cross, making sure that I'm looking down at the exact moment to see it, like He did for me last night...

...how can I not know that I'm loved? How can I not feel loved? A heart... the perfect example of feel-good-squishy-kind-of-love. A cross... the perfect example of sacrificial love. "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." - Romans 5:8

God does give us the desires of our heart; sometimes, it's just in ways we don't expect. But isn't that the fun of a relationship? Being surprised by your loved one with tangible expressions of love in ways and at times when you least expect it?

I'm no different from my engaged/married friends. They have someone to surprise them with sweet gifts and reminders of their love. I always appreciate it when my Someone takes time to surprise me too... and He literally moves heaven and earth to do it!


If you're married or have a special someone and haven't surprised that someone with a gift in their "love language" in a while, would you do that for me today?

Tangible Reminders of Love

Every day God gives me reminders of his love, except I'm not always paying attention.

Every now and then, like this morning, He leaves a tangible reminder. Today's gift is my favorite way He communicates: a heart shaped leaf. It's so deeply personal to me.

Keep your eyes open... you never know how God is going to demonstrate His love in a way that's exceptionally personal to you.

He's crazy about you.

How The Royal Wedding Can Matter To Guys

My qualifications for what I'm about to tell you: I have two brothers, was raised in a neighborhood of boys, and sit for 5 hours in a smallish room with a man who is 100% man (you're welcome, Jack). I'm single, so I can speak freely to what a woman appreciates without getting into trouble with a boyfriend or husband for potentially calling him out. I'm a sensible woman, not prone to fairy tales and happy endings or romanticism, and I recognize reality. I like baseball and football, and I'm not a fan of women traveling to the bathroom in packs. And I don't really like shopping.

Now that I've got that stated, on to the topic at hand.

Guys, I know you don't care about the royal wedding.

Why should you care about two people who aren't even in your own country?

Especially when there's an NFL Draft happening?

Because, guys, you can totally use the royal wedding to your advantage today.

Lemme tell you how:

Stealing Kisses

My mom's wedding ring that's going on 36 years old!

I'm eating my oatmeal when my dad stands in front of me, smiling like he's done something semi-naughty.

"I told your mother I have a boo-boo and she needs to kiss me on the lips, not on the boo-boo, because her healing life force powers will travel from her lips to mine and all the way to the boo-boo, and that will heal my boo-boo."

He notices he has another cut and goes to the adjoining room where my mom is.

I hear my mother in the other room ignoring him, "That's an old cut. You don't get a kiss for cuts with scabs on them."

"You're cheap!" Dad tells Mom, pretending his feelings are hurt.

Mom fires back, "They're my kisses!"

Dad wanders back to where I am, pretending to look defeated. He looks at his arms. The poor man is all beat up from helping my brother do construction work at his house. Dad's eyes light up when he discovers another cut about an inch long.

"Hmmm...this is a long cut. Your mother will need to give me a really long kiss or a couple of short ones to heal it."

And off he went to find her again.

By the way, in the picture above, that's the wedding ring Dad gave Mom just over 35 years ago. I took that picture about three years. Somehow, I get the feeling they still love each other as much as the day they said, "I do."