Thoughts on Love

So much for my earlier claim that I don't have much to say tonight.

I was reading my sister's blog tonight, and just thinking about how much she means to me - how much my whole family means to me. And that reminded me of church today.

Today at church, everything pretty much had the theme of Love. This sweet (and very tall!) family spoke about love. Then, we sang this beautiful hymn that never fails to make me cry. And then we had a lesson on Christ and how much He sacrificed out of His love for us.

I just can't help but be extremely grateful for all the love I have in my life.

Specifically, my sweet husband, Surfer Pirate.

I've been in love before - a couple of times. My first love was in high school, and I can certainly say I loved him completely. I had all these big dreams for our future together. And then that relationship ended, and I was left shell-shocked - not sure what had even happened. A few years later, I fell in love again. I believed I knew him. I thought I knew all there really was to know about him. We got married and made a life together. And I found out that he wasn't at all who I thought he was. I tried to love him through everything, but never really received that love in return. And then THAT relationship ended - leaving me sort of shell-shocked (although not nearly as blind) again.

And then I met this crazy surfer. Who wasn't at ALL what I thought I wanted! But through all our differences, I was always encircled by the overwhelming amount of love he had for me.

We were talking tonight about something that happened when we were dating. I was very frustrated with him over it, and had sort of wondered what on earth I was doing with this weird guy. He leaned over to me and said. "But you loved me then - you just didn't know it yet."

And he's right. I loved him for a long time before I acknowledged it. I didn't want to love this guy who didn't fit the "Cookie Cutter" image I had in my head. (A term he STILL teases me about!) But I did - in spite of myself. And when I let myself realize that, I was excited and thrilled to find that I finally had it! The kind of love I had always wanted! Someone who would love me as much as I loved him. Someone who would go out of his way to do things for me just because he knows it would make me happy. Someone who puts ME first. It's pretty amazing.

But that's not even the whole thing! He is also crazy in love with my little girl! When he and I first met and he knew that I was "the one" for him, he sort of postponed some of his bonding with me in order to focus on bonding with her. The result was a man who is completely wrapped around that little girl's finger. They positively ADORE each other!

The amount of love in my home overwhelms me with it's beauty. It's something that I've deserved and wanted for decades. I searched high and low for it, and found it in a most unexpected place.

And now that we (all) have it, we're never going to let go!