Love

Love has been in the air and its given me reason to pause.

I feel surrounded by so many forms of love.

It is a blessing.

Heavenly Father loves me.

He loves you.

How often do we take the time to consider that.

To feel it.

To know it to the core.

When I was a teenager I remember being desperate for romance.

To me, that was the only love that acknowledged me as an individual.

My parents loved me, yes.

And they loved their five other children.

It didn't make me feel special.

Heavenly Father loved me.

It was true.

But He loves EVERYONE.

In the whole world.

Across the ages.

I felt kind of lost in that.

I had friends who loved me.

But our group of friends was large and vast.

Again, I just didn't feel like I was particularly special.

Despite love being all around me, I felt alone.

Fortunately, my understanding has matured.

And my experience with love has increased over the years.

Perhaps the best way to understand and receive love is to feel and give it.

Because I have two amazing children,

I now understand that the love of a parent isn't generic at all.

I adore my precious boys with such intensity!

I see their traits, their personalities, their flaws and their potentials.

They bring joy, happiness and so much love into my life.

Years of experience has also strengthened my knowledge of Heavenly Father's love.

I have learned that he knows me as an individual.

He whispers guidance, comfort, peace and direction.

No one understands me more intimately than my Father in Heaven and my Savior.

Their love fills me.

I find that in being filled with their love, I feel a greater love for others.

I want to share the joy that is in me.

As a child I felt that I had to have a corner on the market of love for it to be valuable.

What a foolish way of thinking.

Love just doesn't work like that.

For Valentine's Day I decided I wanted to teach my children to serve.

I wanted to give them an opportunity to experience love.

We decided to be mindful of the single sisters in our ward - the widows and those who have never married.

We wanted them to know that they were not forgotten.

My Valentine's Day was wonderful this year.

There were so many things that made it good - that made my heart swell.

Watching my boys deliver these valentines was one of those priceless memories from that day.

They had a bit of a learning curve.

At the first house the sister told them thank you.

Peter eagerly explained, "We are taking one to ALL of the widows!"

This woman had never been married, but is somewhat elderly.

She replied, "Well, I'm kind of like a widow."

I was kind of mortified.

But in retrospect I don't think she was offended.

And the boys were trying so hard.

We told them not to say anything about widows to anyone else.

At the next house they were told thank you again.

It was awkward, and they didn't quite know how to leave.

We realized that we needed to teach them how to politely say, "You're welcome."

After that, things seemed to go better.

They went to every single door together.

They loved racing from house to house and were excited to take turns carrying the treat.

One woman told me thank you for the cupcake,

but said that she especially liked "the sweet little guys delivering it".

Another woman said, "They were so cute."

and that she could tell "that they felt good about what they were doing."

Love is contagious.

I feel overwhelmed with love from my Heavenly Father.

I wanted to share that with my boys.

They had an opportunity to pass it on to ladies they really don't even know.

And suddenly, the world feels brighter.

Happy Valentine's Day!