Happy 1/2 Valentine's Day
Did you know that tomorrow, August 14th, is 1/2 Valentine’s Day? I didn’t either because I just made it up. Why in the world would I do that? Because I was thinking about love, and it dawned on me that it’s been 6 months since Valentine’s day, making tomorrow the official 1/2 way mark to/from the day of love.
So, you might be wondering why I was thinking about love. Funny story actually – or not, depending on who you are. My husband was fixing the fan in our bedroom. Why does that make me think about love? I’ll explain.
In order for my random 1/2 Valentine’s day discovery to be fully understood, I need to step back a few years to when I thought I was loved but was not truly loved. Sure, there was a semblance of caring and I’m sure a shred or two of love, but it wasn’t REAL love.
As I realized that the love I thought I had was way more shallow than expected and, inevitably, unrequited, I found a different love that wasn’t romantic or fake. It was the love of God. I’ve always known about this love — believed in it, sung about it, prayed about it, tried to show it — but I had put the OTHER love, the one that I was losing, way above it. I had allowed myself to put priority in a person rather than in God.
Fast forward a few years and I have found myself in a real relationship with God and with a wonderful man (currently, my husband). I know – without a shadow of a doubt – that the Lord gave this man to me as a gift. I allowed myself to just believe and live the life that He wanted me to – and lo and behold, doors opened wide.
Now, I’m not saying that if you do certain things, all the world falls at your feet. What I AM saying is that I know that I didn’t control the outcome of this relationship with my husband — God did.
And so I’ll take you back to the fan. I have had a hole in my ceiling above my fan for 6 years. No joke. I can’t really blame the person who put the hole there – that’s an entirely different story – but I can say that I didn’t have the help to get the hole corrected.
Enter Aaron – my husband – who noticed the hole, asked me about it, and then has endured me putting it on his “Honey Do” list for the last 2.5 years. It had actually become a big joke. He would make lists of things to get done over Christmas break or spring break or the summer, and inevitably, I would add, “Fix the fan hole.”
Today, he decided to go ahead and fix this hole by putting up one of those plastic medallion thingies (I had bought it at Lowe’s probably four years ago determined I would do this project myself). He asked for my assistance with the heavy fan motor. So, there we were – two ladders, a six year old watching us from our bed, and the two month old starting to scream from his crib.
It went downhill from there. The screws kept falling. The glue we tried to use wouldn’t stick. Then, the nifty little cap thingy wouldn’t fit. It got to the point where I couldn’t help, so I just sat and watched. Watched as Aaron got frustrated, looked to the sky, and just breathed – several times. And I knew what was going through his head although he would only say, “This is why I didn’t want to do this.” I know that he was thinking, “I’m only doing this because I love her.” And that’s what got me to the 1/2 Valentine’s day.
Aaron loves me. It’s the most unbelievable feeling in the world to know that someone loves me in such an unconditional, never-ending way. I don’t feel like a teenager with the puppy love. There’s no screaming and drama and high school-esque mess. It’s just true, unabashed love. He loves me so much that he will do almost anything. Here, I’ll list a few:
* Fix the fan when he didn’t really want to
* Watch stupid romance movies I know he hates
* Sit with me while I watch my Grey’s and DH (and sometimes even Glee!)
* Love my daughter
* Come to the rescue when I’m struggling with our new baby
* Endure listening to my rants about whatever’s bothering me
* Support my decision to leave my job and stay at home for the kids
* Eat anything I make – and swear he likes it
* Tell me that I look fabulous when we both know it’s a bad day (bad hair day, bad pants day, bad shirt day -whatever)
* Laugh at my ridiculously unfunny jokes
* Support my decision to try to run and then tell me I’m doing a great job
* Pose for professional pictures and smile over and over
And countless more.
And all this reminds me of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians where he spells out for them how we should love one another. He wasn’t talking, necessarily, about ROMANTIC love. However, this shows up in wedding ceremonies all the time. But it applies here because, although I know Aaron loves me romantically, I also know he truly loves me the way he’s called to love me – and that’s what makes this WORK.
He loves me patiently – oh boy, does he. I can have a real attitude sometimes!
He loves me kindly – He’s so nice to me. He says things that are more than supportive. I call them “Aaronisms.”
He loves me without jealousy – He never tries to compete with me but instead supports me.
He loves me without overweening pride or envy – He never belittles me if I get something wrong (like numerous math problems!).
He loves me without being rude – Sure, we get annoyed sometimes, but he is never purposely rude or cruel to me.
I’ll skip ahead through 1 Corinthians 13 and say that he loves me in every circumstance – We have been through a lot together in these few short years. We started a marriage without “getting” to be the typical newlyweds – I already had a child that he openly loves and accepts. And he never, ever complains about any of it.
I always say that I’m lucky to have found Aaron. Then, I realize that I’m more than lucky – I’m blessed. I have been given a gift of love.
So, happy 1/2 Valentine’s day. I hope everyone has the opportunity to experience this kind of love both in a relationship with a significant other and finding out how much love He has for us as well.
