Love the One You're With

I've been thinking (again)
and feeling (again)
and choosing (again and again)
to love.

I am not one who has ever been closed
to love...
resisted
love...
avoided
love...
or given up on

love.

I have known all of my life,
that I am one who
deeply, deeply, deeply
needs love
thrives on love
seeks love
and basks in love.

I am one who needs love.
Needs to be loved
Needs to feel love
Needs to
give...

love.

And by love,
I mean
all
kinds
of love.

My connection to love,
my need for love
doesn't stem from starvation
or longing
or neglect
or emptiness
or having gone
without
or a lacking
within.

Love draws me in
calls to me
stirs inside
spurs me on
inspires
motivates
and moves
because...
because I am loved
I have always known love.

I have been loved by
loved on
loved through
loved openly
loved unconditionally
loved beyond
loved in spite of....
every
day
of my life.

Every, single day of my life,
I have known love
The Love of my God
The love of my parents
The love of my family
and friends.

I have lived a life of love.
Lived it.
Known it.
Experienced it.
Tasted and savored it.

And so,
I love.
I love...

And yet,
I have been finding myself needing
wanting
desiring
to increase
my
capacity
to love.

I know I am
(dare I say, we are)
capable of
so
much
more
Love
than we ever give.

I can love my children better.
I can choose to sit with them
and listen.
Really listen
to them.
I can stop.
Change what I am doing.
Check the tone of my voice.
Breathe in the scent of their hair after a bath
Search their snaggle-toothed smiles
Hold their dimple-knuckled hands
and love them.
I can tell them what I see that is good and growing
in them
and love them...more.
With more words of encouragement,
noticing them
watching them
speaking kindness to them.
Loving
Them....
who they are
what they feel
how they express themselves
in hurt
or anger
or dreams
or fears
or stories
or frustration
or questions.

I can love
my friends
my family
strangers in line at a store
acquaintances at a softball game
neighbors
co-workers
bosses
everyone

better.

I can be more loving.
I can be the best part of their day.
I can be the touch of love they need
the smile they didn't expect
the eyes that noticed them...
really saw them,
the laugh they didn't know was in their gut.

I know I am called to change the world
I know I can give my money away
I know I can take on projects
I know I can volunteer
I know I can serve
I know I can stand up and make a point
I know I can become more politically active
I know I can undertake some grand pledge
or make a noble sacrifice
or join a cause
or share a passion for justice
or gain attention for
things I do for Him
or in His name
or for His Kingdom
I know I can gain glory for
acts of courage
or
convincing speeches
or grand sermons
or demands for change and equality

but

now
today
so far,
lately
honestly
I am looking at me
and wanting
to
love

more.

I am wanting
needing
deciding
looking
for
love.

Ways to
tenderly
quietly
softly
sweetly
gently

love.

When I am gone
when I have finished this life
when my life is complete
I want people to say of me...

She loved me.
I want them to know
they were loved
by me.