February is LOVE month! We all assume that this means romantic love. As a person that has had many life stages.... teenage life, young adult life, young adult living on their own life, dating someone seriously life, young married life, married with children life, divorced with young children life, dating in your 40s with children life (UGGGGGGGG), dating someone special, married again with older children.... I know the stories many women tell themselves throughout these many stages. Sometimes it's, "I'm ok, I can handle it ALL!" other times it's "Why do I feel so alone surrounded by people.", and yet other times is, "WOW, I am truly blessed!" But the underlying theme in all these stages is...... LOVE. We want to love and we want to BE loved.
Do we look in the right places.... no, not always. Society has these very superficial pictures of what a woman's fulfilled life should look like. This usually includes having a significant other. It doesn't always work out that way for all of us. I know I felt a HUGE amount pressure to find a significant other, since my ex found someone a very short time after the divorce. But what I found instead was disappointment after disappointment. My friends joke that I could write a book, and with every disappointment, a new chapter. Time after time, I held onto my faith that I would find someone to spend my life with. Sometimes we have such high expectations for love that no person can ever meet them. When that happens, we can give up, thinking we'll never get the kind of love we want, or we can turn to someplace unexpected: God.
What I didn't realize is that what I needed was love of a different kind. I needed LOVE, in the truest form. I needed the LOVE of God. I needed to put all my faith in Him. Once I figured that out, I found the true meaning of the LOVE of my children, my family, my friends... and in that department I am TRULY BLESSED. When I allowed myself to accept the His LOVE... it opened me up to understand HOW truly blessed I am... He has surrounded me with a wonderful tribe! People who love me and care about me. I didn't have to FIND love.... it was around me the whole time. That realization what life changing! God loved me, my children loved me, my family loved me, my friends loved me. I was LOVED. With that epiphany, I was content.
I always knew that He had someone special for me out there. But I had to get to that space in my heart and in my head before I would or could accept it. Guess what.... Just at the right time, in the right place... He sent me a wonderful man. A man that accepted me just like I am... scars, bumps and all. He sent me my TRUE PARTNER. I had God's love, I had the love of my family, I had the love of my friends and I was finally loving MYSELF. Then and ONLY then, could I love someone else. God doesn't want you to compromise. God doesn't want you to settle. He has a wonderful life in store for you... He knows the right time, the right place to make things happen.
If you are finding yourself in one of your many stages of life where you might be feeling alone... look for love in the RIGHT place... in God. I recently read a great article that hit home with me...
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"How to Find Love That Changes Everything
Find Love So Overwhelming it Can Take Your Breath Away"
Many people have a wrong idea about God's love for them. They think it's based on their performance. If it were, not a single human being would qualify. No, God's love is based on grace, a gift for you. God is not like an entertainer who shouts to an audience, “I love you!” He loves you individually. He knows everything there is to know about you and understands you better than you understand yourself. His love is custom-made for you alone.
Human love is an incredible thing, the kind of gift that puts purpose in your life and happiness in your heart. God's love is even better. It is the one thing all of us seek in life, whether we realize it or not. If you have found yourself disillusioned after reaching some goal you've chased for years, you're beginning to understand the reason why. That longing you can't put into words is your soul's desire for God's love.
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The good news is that the LOVE you need... is right there. All you have to do is open your heart and your head to it!!!! One way to connect and reflect on that is to check out our Mending Hearts lesson. You can journal a page on what your LOVE STORY is...
Treasure seeking involves the true eternal treasure that can only be found through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Too often we are short sighted and seek only earthly treasures that provide temporary gratification rather than laying up our treasures in Heaven that will never disappoint us, rust, break, or be stolen.
Tip: to make treasure coins to decorate your art journaling page, place double sided adhesive on a small piece of paper, apply foil to it and then use a circle punch to create a shiny treasure coin!