A Groovy Kind of Love

 "The colors of the rainbow- so pretty in the sky, are also on the faces of people going by. I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do, they're really saying, I love you.." Louis Armstrong, "What a Wonderful World" 

It's almost Valentine's Day, and whether or not you believe in or even care about celebrating the upcoming so-called "Hallmark holiday" or not, I believe in celebrating love every day, and if I could, I would eat chocolate every day too! I'm a real sucker for all things love! I want it all-real life love stories about people finding each other after years of separation, sappy movies about love, poetry, and my personal favorite, songs about love!  Lest we all forget my penchant for finding hearts. Yes, that is still a thing! At the center of all things love is the One who made love possible in us at all-God. We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

As the title of one of Leo Buscaglia's books in my collection says, Love-What Life is All About. A sign in my home says, "Love makes everything better." And yet there are so many deterrents to love. So many enemies of love. So many obstacles between people, between us and God, us and the ones close to us. Love isn't just a fuzzy feeling on Valentine's Day. It requires action above any words, grand gestures, candy and flowers. It often requires suffering and selflessness, and doing a lot of things we don't want to do or think we can do. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 Suffering, selflessness, giving. Actions, sometimes with no words necessary at all. Just a demonstration that shows we care and we aren't giving up on the people we say we love. Consistent, persistent love. I think of parental love when I think of this type of love. Many times we think our kids aren't hearing us, and maybe they aren't, but they can see us, and they can certainly know our love by our actions. 

"Just because the message may never be received does not mean it is not worth sending." Segaki 

If we've decided to be one of those risk-takers who love people, because if we're honest, that's what love is- a risk. We risk losing (sharing, giving)a part of ourselves every time we love. So if we decide to love, we also decide to take whatever comes with it, even if that means heartache. Isn't that kind of what love means? Giving a part of your heart away? Handing a part of yourself over and trusting someone else with it? You can't really have one without the other, can you? You can't really love someone without trusting them with your heart. If you're not willing to take that risk, you're really risking so much more than a heartbreak. You're risking never knowing what it's like to be loved or to love with a person like that. 

We were together. I forget the rest. -Walt Whitman

The beauty of love is that even when there is heartache, we find that if we allow ourselves to be tenderized by that pain, we will grow into a more deeply loving person. If we become embittered by heartache, we will become more cold and less tolerant of the pain of others, and less compassionate to the needs around us. We will become complacent, and hardened to the love others try to give us. So is loving worth it even if it hurts in the end? Yes. That will always be the answer. Because the love we give is always worth it to someone else, even if they don't know it yet. The message is always worth sending!  Loving is rarely going to be about what we receive, but about our impact on someone else. If we think about love in this way, we can take heartache and let it heal us instead of tear us down. Love one another. As I have loved you. John 13:34

On the more surface side of love, there are movies and music that move us, and let me tell you, this girl is mooooooved by some of this oopy goopy stuff! I have my list of favorite movies, and anyone who claims to know me well will know this-I will learn the composers, tear apart the soundtrack and go down a rabbit hole of all other songs by that composer. (Hans Zimmer, David Foster, James Newton Howard, to name a few) I breathe all the famous lines. I go completely limp at the love scenes where he knows that she knows that they know and oh, my goodness....you know??? (places hand over heart and sighs) I'm just a girl... sitting in front of my computer screen...just hoping you know. (Notting Hill '99) 

And the music! Should I even go there... because I don't know when to stop when I get started with music. Jim Croce said it in a song, "I'll Have To Say I Love You in a Song." 'Cause every time I tried to tell you, the words just came out wrong, so I'll have to say I love you..in a song'. Thank God for music to say the things some of us can't say to each other or to Him! "Where words fail, music speaks." 

Music was a constant presence in my home since I can remember. My parents were either playing records, singing around the house, or my brothers were playing music or guitars upstairs. As I grew older, I developed a passion for loud music and a love for nearly all genres of music, and that remains to this day!  I know, this post is probably rotting your molars and mushing your brain right about now, but bear with me. I was, in fact, the 15 year old girl staring out the window on a rainy night, listening to Foreigner belt out, "I wanna know what love is...." because I in fact, wanted to know what love was...and it was as foreign to me as the band name!  I'm still in love with love, because no matter what type it is, it changes things for the better. Just ask my dog, who is attached to me 24/7, and she will agree. (after she viciously growls at you for daring to come near her queen, of course LOL) To her, love is protection! HaHa To have a dog, my friends, ahhhh, now THAT is a groovy kind of love! Unconditional love at its best! 

My daughter is starting a music club with her sister and me this week, and it will expose me to some of her chosen artists. I love learning about new artists, and I look forward to listening and discussing her picks each month. For this post, I decided to share just a few of the love songs from my own Spotify playlists. They are my favorite songs for different reasons, and it was so hard to narrow down these choices, as I have several favorites! As I chose each one, I took the time to listen to the lyrics of each song. As a poet, I am very drawn to lyrics, and as a lover of music, I am so amazed at songwriters who can put words and music together. Only God can create that kind of talent! We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Romans 12:6 Share your favorite songs or lyrics in the comments, if you'd like! 

Enjoy the people God has given you to love! Appreciate them, show them love with your actions and your gentle words. Apologize when necessary, forgive often, and do the hard things when it is required of you, because when you act out of love, you become the most powerful force in anyone's life, especially your own. Love is so much stronger than pride! (And that's not just a Sade song.) 

⦁ Love's Divine- Seal

⦁ The Power of Love-Celine Dion

⦁ By Your Side- Tenth Avenue North 

⦁ Have I Told You Lately- Van Morrison

⦁ Your Love Amazes Me-John Berry 

⦁ I'll Still Be Loving You- Restless Heart 

⦁ Someone Like You- Van Morrison

⦁ Bless the Broken Road- Rascal Flatts 

⦁ You Make it Easy- Jason Aldean 

⦁ You Say- Lauren Daigle

⦁ Look at Us- Vince Gill 

⦁ The Way You Look Tonight- Tony Bennett

⦁ I Love the Way You Love Me- John Michael Montgomery  

⦁ You'll Be in My Heart- Phil Collins

⦁ You Love Me Anyway- Sidewalk Prophets 

⦁ I Will Always Love You- Dolly Parton or Whitney Houston 

⦁ Unchained Melody- Righteous Brothers 

⦁ Amazed- Lonestar 

⦁ Fighting For Me- Riley Clemmons

⦁ The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face- Roberta Flack 

⦁ Bridge Over Troubled Water- Simon & Garfunkel

⦁ God Only Knows- for King & Country w/ Dolly Parton 

⦁ Carrying Your Love With Me- George Strait 

⦁ What a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong

⦁ You Fill Up My Senses- John Denver 

⦁ The Heart of the Matter- Don Henley   

⦁ And So it Goes- Billy Joel 

⦁ Through the Years- Kenny Rogers 

⦁ Everglow- Coldplay 

⦁ A Sky Full of Stars- Coldplay 

⦁ Biblical- Calum Scott

⦁ You Are the Reason- Calum Scott 

⦁ anything with Spanish guitar... Cancion Triste by Jesse Cook is one! 

*You can download the Spotify App for free and listen for free, but with ads.  I am a member, and it makes sense for me, because music and podcasts are part of my daily life, and I don't like the interruptions of ads! 

"There are places I'll remember all my life, though some have changed. Some forever, not for better. Some have gone, and some remain. All these places had their moments with lovers and friends, I still can recall. Some are dead, and some are living. In my life, I've loved them all." The Beatles, "In My Life"