What's love got to do with it??

So for most of my 26 years I've been trying to wrap my mind around what the word LOVE means! I mean I attach it all the time to things that I really don't love. I love hot dogs?? Come on. I love Wal-Mart?? And I do..like me some wally-world. I love 4Him, Alabama football (though it is a passion)!! I could come up with a long list of things that I LOVE!

But what does it mean to LOVE...to love unconditionally. To love because it's what Jesus said I should do to my neighbor, and it's in return of what I've been shown by others.

So how do I love others? Well usually...I wear out my welcome at places because I'm needy, or I distance myself from friends that it's to hard to be friends with, or I completely turn my back on long standing, trusted friends...because something new and better has come along, or I never give back to a family that has so sacrifically loved on me since the day that they chose me, or I treat those I can in anger because I know that they will love me back, or....etc. etc. etc.

But this week I've learned a lesson that can only come through a child. I've been around these 1st and 2nd graders for just a week, and already they love me. Now I don't say that as a prideful statement and here's why...I say that because it's amazing to me that they don't know me, yet they love me. They don't know my faults, and even if they did, they're 1st graders...they wouldn't care. They just love me because I'm Miss Christy and that's what they want to do. I'm the one with the band-aid and the silly voice when they fall of the swing set. I'm the female that wraps my arms around them, when they live with grand ma or dad because mom is a dead beat...or worse case...dead. I'm just Miss Christy and that's all that they need...just someone to love and someone to love them back.

So how should I love? With unselfishness...not because I need to buy your friendship, but because I love you enough to do whatever I can to help you in your time of need. With reckless abandon because sometimes we just need someone to go over the top for us. With compasssion because sometimes we need someone to just be there and be a silent witness to what we are going through. With all that I have, no matter what you've done or what I've done, because God can still use all of us no matter what our backgrounds.

Maybe this will only make sense to me...but at least it's out of my head for the night.