Love

As you can see, I've changed my blog's skin. Finally.



I've gone through only about a million skin designs to realise my heart keeps staying on this one. So I know, it wasn't hard to choose.




Before I go any further, just a quick recap of 2008.




To say the least, it was definitely a memorable year. A lot of firsts: starting out at Uni, making new friends, learning to be even more independent, driving, working in church, having a nephew etc. Then there are the things that persisted in my life: God, family, friends etc. And of course, things I learned: God may be our provider, but He never said we didn't have to work for whatever we want; God gave us friends, but we have to work at it on our own to make relationships work, a relationship will only sink to ruins, if the people in the relationship didn't try hard enough to fix/save it. God never meant for us to be alone, even leaders are never alone, but we will feel lonely because we let ourselves to be so, we let our pride get in the way; God promised to forgive us of our sins as long as we repented, but He didn't promise that we'll never have to suffer the consequences of our mistakes, in light of our rash actions, we would've left a dent in someone's life, that dent doesnt just go away with the blink of an eye, and most people never give much thought to it, but really, every one of our actions (even after repentance) could hurt people for a lifetime.




Love, in itself, has to be the most beautiful thing ever to have existed. We existed out of love, love from God, and we still exist because God loved us too much, He gave us His only Son. I think when I was younger, I've always thought of Love as the kind parents had with their children; and from an early age, the kind that God had for mankind; and of course,, the romantic kind. I think in the year 2008, God really opened up my eyes to the word: LOVE. The variations of it, the power of it and the magnitude of it.



I know I said I wasn't gonna blog about my new year's resolution, but I'd say now, that I actually do have a list of resolutions, hopefully, it'll make me feel like I've accomplished more over the year if I have more to accomplish! =D Anyway, in case if you haven't guessed, LOVE is one of my resolutions. Hence, the choice of skin. It may have a romantic connotation, but I feel like it's such a good reminder to last me throughout the year. Love, as it is said, is simple. Humans complicate it. I'm starting to realise a lot more about Love even as each day passes and I head into my 13th day of the year. Love has a lot to do with sacrifice, patience, and forgiveness. I believe, I've become much less a romantic, only because I'm starting to realise how important all the other forms of Love are, and how Romantic Love is not always the one thing that'll last forever(no matter how hard people try to make it so).




So, the three photos at the top of this page.

• The first is of hands held together. To Love someone, you'll walk through good and bad times with them, even if it means you're missing out on something good (like a day at the beach, or that movie you really want to watch). You'll hold their hands, look in their eyes and really mean it when you say "I'll be here for you".


• The second is of the heart-shaped cut-out on a swing. To Love someone, you'll never let them feel lonely, you'll never leave their side. And if you see them in need, you'll help them, with genuine feelings from the heart, not expecting anything in return.


• The third is of two persons looking up at the sky where a heart-shaped cloud hovers over them. To Love someone, you'll remember that God first Loved you. That's the only reason you're here. Discovering your identity in Christ, understanding why and how He could love you and accepting the fact that you can indeed be loved, helps you love.

I know, this seems to be a lot to say for someone who is still discovering Love. But so far, those are my thoughts. Maybe I'll add some more, or give you a different interpretation of the photos at the end of the year. I'm really going to commit myself to this, I even bought a book by Dr. John Townsend, it's titled: Loving People: How to Love and be Loved. Feel free to ask me if you wanna borrow it! ^.^

There are so much more mysteries about Love, a lot of which are hard to explain, and most people would just go by the usual "it's just love". Whatever it is, I don't expect answers, but I sure hope that I'll end up at the end of this journey and be glad that I've learned to love throughout my lifetime's journey, no matter where this road leads me to.

So, that should be it. I think. Updates on my weekend to Phillip Island will be my next post. Time to sleep. =)

God bless your week!

I mean it when I say 'With Love',
Audrey.