Wuv, Twu Wuv

"Love is in the air" , True love, "Love at first sight",  We've all heard the terms before, but does anyone really know what that last one means? Has anyone ever felt "Love at first sight"? Now, I know we all have that celebrity crush that we say we are going to marry and we believe that we've loved them from the first sight, but that's not exactly what I mean. TRUE love a first sight, what does it mean? Does it actually exist? And can it actually work? I'm not exactly professional in the area of love, but someone asked me to write on this topic, so I am going to do my best.
Now, the girl who asked me to write on this said this, "I was wondering if you have ever met a guy, and it just took a couple hours of being with him to know that he is the one for you." I will say, I have actually felt this way, but soon enough, reality checks in and you have to realize that in those few hours, you still don't know nearly enough about each other to really call it love. True love does exist, don't get me wrong. Honestly, it's not necessarily all up to you. As I said in my last post, God knows who you are going to fall in love with, He has it all planned out, you just have to trust Him. Also, it sometimes can be easy to confuse "love" at first sight with "lust". Remember, it is not all about the looks, but I know, the looks do play a significant part in it. There may be a wonderful initial feeling, but you can't really love until you know someone. You've got to think, do you love them just for the outside, or for the inside as well? I guess the point I am trying to make is that true love exists, but love at first sight may be slightly unrealistic. Just trust in God, and He will bring you to your significant other, which will, in turn, bring you joy in your life.
To finish this off here is a video of spoken word by Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye called "When Love Arrives". Enjoy

Meet me in St. Louis

 I live in Texas, go to school in Wisconsin, and where do I end up? That's right, good old St. Louis. It's funny how things work out, sometimes, you know? Something always takes me back there; family, friends, church, just the scene in general. When I was there for fall break, a friend asked me “Why do you love St. Louis so much?” and I really did not know what to tell her, I guess you are just always connected to your roots somehow. Since we moved so early in my life I spend half my time trying to get back to something that I never really got, trying to rekindle friendships that had a very dim fire going in the first place, and wondering whether or not a love could have been had I stayed in St Louis. Now, having said that last part, I'm starting to sound like a friend of mine. He liked this girl so much; The crush lasted 12 years, and might still be there now, but the thing is, the girl moved away from him 10 years ago, and when she lived near him she was too young to even realize. Their relationship never even had a foundation and they did not even know each other, yet he tried to start something that wasn't even there. Anyway, the whole thing just ended in heartbreak, on both accounts. I guess the lesson, or point, that I am trying to convey is that it is very difficult, almost impossible to start something that was never really there in the first place, especially if you never see each other and you live far away from each other. In the off chance that you have the opportunity to start something, do not be obsessive about it, but let things go as they should. God has a plan for everything. He knows who you are going marry and what you are going to do in life. Trust that everything he does has a reason and it will be explained in time. If he moves you, he has something better in store for you.

Therefore, the moral of this story is this: God has his reasons for everything and there is really no use in arguing with him on it because you will always lose. So, you moved away from the place you'll always call home? There's no reason you cannot keep those friendships, just be careful how you go about them. Let God work things out in his time. You don't have to forget about the place you called home to make a new one. They say “Home is where the heart is”, so what if your heart is in two places at once? You don't have to forget the memories, the friends, the house, you can just revel in the amazing opportunity that God has given you to start fresh, make new friendships, new memories, and discover a new house, all to go along side the old ones.

To finish, here are some comforting words from one of our Lutheran hymns (Lutheran Service Book 754):

Entrust your days and burdens to God's most loving hand;

He cares for you while ruling the sky, the sea, the land

For he who guides the tempests

Along their thunderous ways

Will find for you a pathway

and guide you all your days.

Text by: Paul Gerhardt