February 14: Happy Valentine’s Day! Make Love Your Strategy

Affirmation: Asking for help is a gift to myself and others.
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Ponder, Personalize and Practice: Begin to build the habit of reminding yourself who God is: the One who is with you when you’re fearful. He is your God when you are alarmed or shaken. Picture God standing with you.


”So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.“‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭41‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.41.10.NIV

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Catching Whimsy: 365 Days of Possibility by Bob Goff 

                       Feb 14

Make Love Your Strategy


February 14Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1John 4:7
I haven’t found one thing in the scriptures that directly addressed dating. Isn’t that strange, given there’s no more common thing that intersects our lives with joy and butterflies and anticipation? Dating can be a complicated push and pull where we feel drawn to someone and curious about them, but at the same time terrified, not knowing where things are leading. We shuffle our feet a few relational inches closer to a person and see if they are reciprocate by shuffling theirs, closer toward us or farther away.

As soon as Sweet Maria walked into the room when I was in law school, I was smitten, and within minutes, I was picking out names for our kids. Because she was in the same room, I suppose I just figured we were dating. I went over the top on Valentine’s Day with an 8 foot tall card with 1 ft  square stamp I had made. It turns out this was way too much, way too fast, and Sweet Maria initiated the “let’s be friends” discussion.
I wanted to be respectful, but had a much deeper relationship in mind. Without considering how over-the-top this would be, once again, I showed up on Maria’s doorstep with all the materials to make a teddy bear. My motives were noble. I wanted her to like me, I wanted to do something together, and I wanted it to be something that would make a great story later. This was my version of dating, and it involved big, grand, over the top expression of affection and near restraining-order-level pursuit.

Sure, love can sometimes be this way, but it doesn’t always have to look grand. If we simply bring our authenticity to every new and exciting relationship we have, we will know we are walking in the same love Jesus, pursue with us.

Keep bringing the most authentic version of who you are to all your relationships. This is the grandest of all gestures you could ever make and the greatest gift you could ever give to the people you love. 
Make love your strategy. And don’t forget to bring along a little whimsy!

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