Okay, so this has been an interesting week. Last Sunday we were pulled aside after church and asked to speak for today, the 13th of February, on a talk President Monson gave back in Feb. 1998 called, "How Do We Show Our Love?" It got me thinking a lot about how I show my love to my husband and to my family and others around me. So I will give you a jest of what my talk was on today. Oh, can I just tell you that I miss sitting with my parents because it was a battle to give talks today AND sing in the ward choir and take care of the boys, but we did make it through sacrament meeting.
When I first found out the topic for the talk, I read the article and lots of thoughts were coming through my head. First, I thought of things that I love (and they are not in any particular order or all of, but I will do my best):
- my husband
- my boys
- my family
- being in the outdoors
- camping
- hiking
- reading
- my education
- walking
- cooking
- cleaning
- playing with my boys
- my Savior
- my scriptures
- the Gospel
- MUSIC- and singing
- watching movies
- family gatherings
- taking pictures of my boys
- the power of prayer
- and the prophet and apostles
Next, I thought of how do I show my love? What are some of the ways that we can express our love to each other, either spouse, children, family, friends and/or even our neighbors? I found a list of 62 ways to express our love, although these are targeted to a significant other, this can totally be said/done to friends. (I will only do a few of the things on the list):
- Say, "I love you!"
- Be courteous at all times
- Embrace the present moments without fear or guilt
- Live by the Golden Rule (Do unto others...)
- Give them full attention when talking
- Toast each other regularly
- Share funny quotes or events :)
- Say you're sorry
- Read together
- Let go any bad experience and anger
- Encourage health in all its forms
- ACT SILLY TOGETHER ( my most favorite)
- Ask questions about opinions, feelings and thoughts.
- Encourage adventure and risks!
- Bake cookies
- Show gratitude for them
- Listen to them
- Give hugs and kisses
- Take and show pride in them
- compliment each other
- Spend time with them
- Make them laugh
- Buy a "for no reason" gift
- Pray and meditate together
- Learn something new together
- Hide a treat in their lunch
- Say what you mean
There are so many things that I could say and keep going with that list, but these were the best of that list. I also thought of the scripture Pres. Monson used for his talk: Matthew 22:36-39 the 2 greatest commandments in the law, to love the Lord, thy God and to love thy neighbor as thyself. With this scripture the song from the Children's Song book came to mind, Where Love is
http://lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=2&searchseqstart=138&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=138&searchsubseqend=ZZZ Here is the link to look at the words. They are amazing, special and hit the point that where love is, there God is also. Along with this song comes the scripture, Mosiah 2:17- "... when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are in the service of your God." President Monson made a comment in his talk about this popular song at the time he and Sister Monson were dating and the words go like this, "It's easy to say I love you, easy to say I'll be true; easy to say these foolish things, but prove it by the things you do." We have a responsibility to prove to our Heavenly Father (and others), by the things we do, that we love Him. I thought that that is so true. It always makes me feel so loved when my kids help me out or when Mat does something, a service, to show me that he really cares.
To end I want you to think about President Utchdorf's talk in October, "Of things that Matter most," that "love is spelled T-I-M-E, time!" Love you all and have a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I will post pictures of our special family Valentine's Day we did yesterday.
