Remember that new love feeling? Your on top of the world and nothing else seems to matter. Just the sound of his voice makes your toes wiggle. To see his face makes butterflies take flight in your tummy. Oh, to hold his hand or feel his arms around you brings such a safe feeling, doesn't it?
My son is newly in love. Yes, his first real love. I have always taught my son, "Never date a girl your not thinking of marrying." Some might think, what in the world, but it's true. Why waste your time or her time? If your not going to give all your heart, why give any? In love, you just can't hold back. It's one of those things where you can't protect your heart. You love with all the love you have. Isn't that the kind of love our Savior has for us?
Now, don't get me wrong. You don't just dive in with your eyes closed. You take each step slow and enjoy the love that is blossoming. Sometimes it isn't love, but a spark that ignites feelings we are only dreaming of. There is more to love than feelings. We are all searching for something, someone, to fill us and make us whole. No one person can do that. That completeness only comes from God. I wish I could have learned that a little quicker.
I was that young girl searching for that love I didn't feel at home. Oh, in my heart I knew my dad loved me. We were close, but as far as saying the words, "I love you", it never happened until my dad got sick and cancer invaded our lives. It was just a few days before he died that I heard the words that would bless my heart forever. My mom didn't say it much either. In fact, I only remember her saying it when we were off to bed. Of course, she showed it in many ways, but to hear the words, brings so much more at times. I am that girl who wants to hear my husband say, "I love ya, babe." Just this morning he texted me telling me that he was praying for me and how much he loved me. That pretty much set me up for the day.
I have been married to my husband for twenty years. Sometimes it seems like yesterday we married and others, well, it seems like forty years. I can still get those butterfly feelings even after twenty years. No one can make me laugh like my husband. We can finish each others sentences and know the thoughts of the other without ever uttering a word.
When we began dating my husband would work all day and then drive four hours to see me and then four hours back home. We would knock ourselves out trying to show the other just how much we loved them. We wanted to spend every waking hour together. If we couldn't be together than we were calling one another and spending lots of time on the phone I might say. My point is, we did everything we could to show the other we were thinking of them. We did sweet things for one another. Gave each other gifts and I cannot tell you how many times we would say, "I love you." I felt like a princess.
I hear so many complain about their husbands. For me, I don't see my husband every day. He is off on the road and I miss him when he isn't here. I would love for him to be home daily. I don't think some wives know the blessings they have before them. Sure, I can joke with some girlfriends about how my husband might pester me at times, but that is just joking. My life has never been the same since he entered.
We have had some rough times. I mean times I didn't think we were going to make it. But no one ever packed a bag and walked out the door. Even if those new feelings weren't the same, there was still a love that remained. Our marriage is stronger today than ever before. I feel like all those hard times we went through were only stepping stones to a love much greater. Who knew a love could grow even stronger?
But there are times today that I catch myself telling my husband, "Hold on a sec. I just need to finish this first." I would have never put him off to spend time with him and put something else ahead of him when we were dating. Why do that now? Why do I catch myself not knocking myself out, but very well, taking him for granted? Because I just got use to him being here. Just because it's been twenty years, doesn't mean I should stop trying to show him in every way possible how much I love him. Our love should still be growing and blossoming. Not being stagnant and it's easy in today's world when every one is so busy with stuff that fills our life. Never allow stuff come between you and the one you love.
So that brings me to think of my love relationship with Christ. When I read His Word I not only see His love for me, but I know it's real and lasting. I can feel His presence in my life and know that I am forever safe in His will. I feel like He has wrapped me with grace and surrounded me with a love that is never changing. Sure, He might be disappointed in my choices at times, but He is never disappointed in me. I am forever His child and He is forever my love. When everything is dark and I feel alone from the struggles of the day I can envision myself crawling upon His lap and even better I can hear His voice calming me.
Life brings many changes. Feelings come and go. We can feel happiness and anger all in the blink of an eye. We measure our happiness on our feelings and circumstances. A new love is fresh. It makes us feel alive. We feel special and as though we matter. As time passes, what happens to that new love feeling? Are you as in love with Christ today as you were when you first met Him? What has changed in your relationship? I can tell you, if things are different or not the way you would like it to be, well, it isn't because He has left you. It is because you have left Him.
He should be our first love. Where He goes, we should go. Wherever we are, He should be. Side by side our love remains and grows forever. I think sometimes we forget just how special His love really is. We gotta get back to our first love, my friends. We gotta make a change in our lives that takes us right there at that first moment we first knew Him. He has always known us. Goodness, He created us in love. He died for us because of love. He is creating a forever home for us and will return for us all because of love. It is the reason for His being.
Remember those love letters from that first boy who made you blush? As great as those were, they do not compare to the love letter God has written just for you. Open it today and begin turning the pages. There is no greater love than the love that your Savior has for you. It doesn't come and go based on feelings. Someone else isn't going to come and take your place. He wants to have an intimate relationship with you. He wants to take a stroll with you. He wants to take your hand and lead the way to a life filled with treasures. Oh girls, as much as we love diamonds, there is nothing compared to the gifts that our Savior has for us.
Maybe you just haven't met your first love yet. Let me introduce Him to you. His name is Jesus Christ and He gave His life on the cross so that you could live forever in heaven, a place that He designed just for you. He chose to take your sin upon Himself and die a criminals death because His love for you is as real as real gets. He has been waiting for you your whole life. Just ask Him. He has no problem with saying, "I love you", or showing you just how much you mean to Him.
"For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17
"No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will over be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:39
"Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13
"But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8
"There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going." John 14:2-4
