Love

Confession: One of the reasons I can get away with tweaking my man so much on this site is that he has a great appreciation for sarcasm and humor. And the other is that I secretly adore him.

Though I am bold in telling others to pursue it, love itself is to me a deeply personal thing, savored with one man and not spoken of easily to others. He is the sun, moon, and stars to me, and he knows it. That is all.

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It turned out that he did most of the Valentine planning himself: a date night swap with friends. (Would you keep our kids one night so we can go out, and we’ll keep yours the next?) We talked our way through a delicious dinner, and then came home to roses and chocolate, cheese and crackers, and a Zook party of two.

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Sometimes at night I dream that I am Unchosen, and I wake to gratitude that I get to begin and end each day with someone I love, until death do us part. There is much to be said for this—no matter how flawed I am, or he is. We are together: and I bless Jesus.

Some of you have not known this love (yet), and some of you have known it to turn false. This is a hurt beneath my joy, and one of the reasons I do not often speak of it.

You have never been Unchosen. Don’t say that lie to yourself or let others wave it over you. You are beloved in Christ, chosen by Him, celebrated, cherished, never alone. Let your sorrow soften you. You don’t have to be brave all the time, but oh, I know how often you are… the conscious choice you make to cheer for a friend who celebrates new love, the pain you do not show the world. You are loved. Write it in soap on your bathroom mirror. Say it to yourself when you go to bed, when you wake in the night, when you rise up in the morning. You are loved, you are loved, you are loved.

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And to those who are married?

Love.

I am sure of one thing: love is what will heal us and the broken places in our world. We must soak ourselves in it, and drink great draughts of it, and hand it in tall glasses to friends and strangers. Love is often a waiting, when we wish for something stronger to kick us and the world into action. Love seeps into the quiet places and changes hearts, heals old wounds, offers hope for a new day.

We survive this world, change this world, taste this world, outlive this world, redeem this world by loving, our best love a little current inside the great ocean of His.

Love.
-Shari

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9 years ago

Your writing is beautiful! Looks like you guys had fun 🙂

Janelle
9 years ago

“Love is often a waiting, when we wish for something stronger to kick us and the world into action.” Thank you, Shari.

Sharon Yoder
9 years ago

Oh Shari, I am deeply moved by the power and beauty in the truth of these words. Thanks!

Lucinda J
9 years ago

Chosen.

Hand it in tall glasses to friends and strangers.

Beautiful.

9 years ago

^ That’s the part that got me, too ~

and this: Some of you have not known this love (yet), and some of you have known it to turn false. This is a hurt beneath my joy, and one of the reasons I do not often speak of it.

I’ve been bothered by what I now know is this, thanks to you, so often . . .

Crystal
9 years ago

A truly Beautiful post. Thank you for your sensitivity, Shari, and for holding up ‘the real thing.’

Ruth Anna
9 years ago

“You have never been Unchosen”…so, so true! …”hand it in tall glasses to friends and strangers”….YES! Beautiful words…and cute pics! =)

Treva
9 years ago

I don’t even have words to tell how I feel, reading this. How do you know all this? It’s so, so true.

“Love seeps into the quiet places and changes hearts, heals old wounds, offers hope for a new day.” Yes.

Love can be so quiet, sometimes unnoticeable at first, but it is, in the end, so powerful.

Twila
9 years ago

I so love your insights.

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