Love is....

I was pumping gas last week and on the other side of the gas pumps, a van pulled over. As the mother opened the driver's door, I heard a little girl's voice, yelling at the top of her lungs, " Mommy!!! Mommy!!!" The mother answered in an irritated tone of voice, "What????" And the little girl, in a much softer tone now said, "I love you, mommy!" I didn't hear a response from the mother...I was hoping at that moment that the girl's innocence wouldn't think much of it, of not getting a response from her mother....My heart was sad for the girl at that time. I was hoping and praying that the mother would come to her sense of feeling her child's expression of love. I couldn't judge her. Maybe she was going through a tough time like the rest because of this economy. And that was also another sad thing.

My child is in his teen years now. When he looked back and remembered the memories we had all spent as a family or as mother and child, he spoke of the times we shared laughing and sharing jokes. He mentioned how he would try to cut the spring roll wrappers and pretended he was making his own "egg rolls" when I would make him cook with me. He remembered the "Saturdays" that he and his dad spent making some pancakes of two sizes, one bigger, and the others were mini-sizes meant for him. He remembered the fun he had when we drove the car in Disneyland together and with me or his dad, carrying him in our arms, that was the only way he would take a picture with Disney characters. He remembered he used to say "yo...yo..." when he was only a tot, meaning "I love you" but it meant so much for me and my husband. He remembered the times when him and his dad would pretend they were racing with his "hotwheels cars" and his eyes would glisten whenever he won! He remembered every afternoon, he had his play time with his father, even though he was tired from work.

That was then...Now is the same. Material things do not give us the "happiness and the love" we long for...It is in those simple things, of making memories together, even without having anything, but just having love incorporated in every moment, is something that no money can buy nor any words can ever express.

I had bought this "Valentine's stamps" recently from the post office. "The words "all heart" caught my eye and a man, sort of running while carrying a big, heavy heart was enough for me to remember that not only on Valentine's Day nor on special occasions, but everyday, we must have a "big heart" and in everything we do or say, we must "give it or do it with all of our hearts." If we can learn how to love, we must look up to God first. He is the Author of love. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love each other as a result of His loving us first..."

The apostle Paul had expressed the true meaning of love [from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13, Life Application Bible]....."Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever..." "There are three things that will endure - faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love"...

1 Corinthians 14:1 - "Let love be your highest goal."

Mark 12:30, 31 - Jesus said, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself."

1 John 4:7,8 - "Let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God - for God is love."

Romans 13:8 - "Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God's law."

1 Peter 3:8 - "All of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds."