Happy Valentine's Day!

There are so many Bible verses that talk about love.

Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

Song of Solomon 2:16a
My lover is mine, and I am his.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 &13

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Ephesians 5:33
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Love is so many different things. In the beginning of our marriage, we did have some tough times. I was a spoiled brat and I have a bad temper. Mr. M put up with a lot from me! He also had his own issues too.

When we got married, I don't know that we really knew what love was. We loved each other in what we thought was love...but it was more of an emotion. Over the 14 & 1/2 years that we have been married, we have made a choice to love each other. Through the good times and the bad. Through the times when all we wanted to do was give up. Through the times when it was so hard to forgive each other that it actually hurt. Through the times when we had no money and were eating ramen noodles for dinner. Through the birth and continual raising of 3...soon to be 4 kids.

Love is not an emotion, it's not the butterflies you get when you see your loved one (although that's a great thing too!), it's not having a perfect relationship where no one argues or hurts someone else's feelings. Love is a choice. You can choose to love...beyond faults. You can choose to love through forgiveness. You can choose to love by not keeping a record of wrongs...a lot of us women are really great at keeping records!

So on this Valentine's Day, when we celebrate love...I am celebrating the choices that my husband and I have made. To love one another. To stand by each other's side...come what may.

I love you honey and I am so thankful to the Lord for choosing you for my life long companion. I am so thankful for the husband and father that you are and that you strive to follow Jesus in everything you do. Today, and every day, I choose to love you.