Day-of-Love vs. Day-of-Chocolates

       It's Valentine's Day. Love is in the air...  or at least the smell of roses and candy. Today is the day, thousands will overdose on cheap chocolates; school children will stuff handmade mailboxes with perforated cards of Spiderman and Hello Kitty; junior high girls will receive pink stuffed animals from squeaky voiced boys as tokens of their affection;  husbands will dash into a store last minute to grab one of the remaining glittery cards with a squirrel holding a heart and a pre-wrapped assortment of flowers; wives waiting anxiously for that moment he comes home, hoping it will be a sweet evening of romance and dinner.  What a weird day!  I have heard people rant and rave about the marketing that has overtaken Valentine's Day.  I do not loath this day as some have chosen, nor do I wait with bated breath for its arrival.  I can't be anti-day-of-love!  Come on!  But, it is true that we have to easily exchanged what should be expressions for love for each other with a box of Wilcox candies.
       No one likes a cheap imitation of love.  So on this day, let us love well. Maybe read 1 Corinthians 13 if you haven't read it in a while.  It's lovely.  And inspiring!  There was a shirt I saw the other day that had a question on the back that gave me pause...
What does love make you do?  
      Today, whether it is to our spouse, our siblings, our children, our parents, or someone we are just getting to know... Let's show genuine, real love.  It's much more expensive than that box of chocolates...and sweeter to the recipient!  

What is Love?

Words.  They evoke many things in us.  We hang them as decorative plaques on our walls.  

Live, Laugh, Love

Obviously, words spoken are a wonderful means of communication.

"I love you so much!" 

...or they can be a powerful weapon that can deeply wound.

                                        "I never want to see you again!"                     

Words administered with ink onto pages, tell stories, bring imaginations to life, and record history.

                              We the people of the United State of America...                                                                                              

And Jesus is the Word according to John 1:1.  Words are very important!  


Sometimes when I ask my younger kids if they know what a vocabulary word means they'll say something like, "Well, I know what it means.  I just don't know how to explain it."  I think that can happen to adults, too.  We may even use the word often, but when asked to explain what the word really means, we find that it's hard to define.  Let me prove this point.

What is love?


I think it's safe to say we all know WHAT it is, but how do you explain it?  Can you put it into words?  How do you explain love?

I'd love to hear how YOU explain love.  If a child asked you to explain it, could you?