What Love Looks Like (In OUR Home)

Love:

1.a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

2.a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

To each person, love can mean something entirely different. I know, for me, over the years, the meaning of love has changed.

When I was younger, and perhaps a bit naive and unaware of what it REALLY took to make a marriage work, love was all about the BIG gestures. Now, I wasn't immune to ,or unaware of the small things, but I was really into the big gestures. I got caught up in the  box office romantic movies and epic novels where there was always always big gestures! I expected these things from my relationship and my expectations were a cause of conflict at times. 

Don't get me wrong here, big gestures can go a long way and they are amazing, but it's the everyday little moments of our relationships that make the bigger picture!  

I don't need to be constantly swept off my feet (but from time to time it would be nice....just saying!)  when everyday there can be little ways to show one another our love. 

I know it can make my day when I wake up to see little notes from my husband or that he has made me coffee so it is warm when I wake up. It's the fact that he rubs my feet with lotion because my feet are so dry!! We always wait to watch the new episode of The Office together, even if it means having to wait days!! 

I constantly go through wiper fluid and he always remembers to replace it for me. He stops off and grabs me coffee on his way from his 24 hour shifts in the morning so I can have it when I wake up. He buys the Sunday paper so I have coupon inserts. I can go on and on, but won't. My point is that we each need to try do the little things that that show the other we care. It is not always easy, but a little effort goes a long way. As busy parents we are stretched thin. He is working two jobs right now and close to 70 hours a week. It has been tough. If we can remember to make even ten minutes for each other a night it can help us to reconnect.

On the other hand, after becoming a mom I knew a deeper love than I ever knew possible.  I am not saying I love my husband less, but if you are a mom you know the love you feel for your child is different. It encompasses all of your being! 

To me, showing my love to them is all about the simple little things! I could tell my kids a million times a day that I love them (and I probably do) but showing them with actions and undivided attention is the best way for me to do so. 

Love is decorating the house at 11:00 pm the night before Valentine's Day even though I wanted to be sleeping. 

worth it to see their eyes light up!

Love is spontaneously stopping at the traveling pony rides so someone can have a pony fix. :) 

Love is skipping meetings to be with my little boy for his first time being VIP at preschool!

  

Love doesn't have to be BIG, LOUD or GRAND.

It stands alone.

It's a look, a touch, a glance across a room, a recording of a movie they know you like, unexpected notes or cards, an inside joke or an impromptu dance party! Love is what you make it!