I love you, period.

Dear Ian,

I hope you know how much I love you, period.

Not just because you're handsome & tall.

Not just because of your whit.

Not just because of how good you look in a cowboy hat.

Not just because of how hard you work.

Not just because of the way you load the dishwasher & start the washing machine.

Not just because of your dedication to ranching.

Not just because of the way you're teaching our boys to be 'men.'

Not just because of your unconditional love for me.

All that stuff is well and good, but there's a whole lot more to love than character traits.  I'm a huge fan of character ... developing it, sustaining it and radiating it, but character traits can change and even disappear ... and then your basis and reason for love is over. I want to love you, period.

I'm reading the Love Dare again this summer with a friend, and each time I pick it up, it speaks directly to my heart.  Yesterday, while the boys were getting fillings at the dentist, I read a chapter with a message so simple, and yet so profound that I can't get it out of my head.

It was talking about 'agape' love.  The kind of love that is 'in sickness and health' love, 'for richer or poorer' love, 'for better or worse' love.  It is the only kind of love that is 'true' love.  This isn't anything new to me, but for some reason, I know that it's important for me to focus on right now - almost 10 years of being Mrs. Ian Murdock.

My favorite parts of what I read yesterday were these:

God doesn't love us because we are lovable but because he is so loving.  God's love is a choice He makes completely on His own.  If He insisted that we prove ourselves worthy of His love, we would fail miserably.

Love is not determined by the one being loved but rather that one choosing to love.

Unconditional love, agape love, will not be swayed by time or circumstance.

The love that 'bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things' {1 Corinthians 13:7} does not come from within.  It comes through God.

............................

I'm trying to live that kind of love with you.  The kind that loves chooses to love just because, not because of what it might get it return.  It's my heart (not a dictionary) that gives meaning to my words ... and my character.

And it's my heart that I want you to love most.

I know that our love will never be perfect, but Ian, it is my hope that even when the love we show each other is not returned in the the way we've hoped for, it will still be enough.

...........................

The next time someone asks me what I love about you, I'm not going to say, 'I love him because ...' and put my hope in the traits that define you.

I'm going to say, 'I love him, period.'

♥ Lindsay