love

Last week Nixon made me realize how a true, excited expression of love can rejuvenate, motivate, uplift, and encourage that same type of love to be reciprocated. My sweetest little boy expresses his love perfectly. He knows just how to make my heart squirm with happiness.

He does this by randomly and excitingly yelling, "I love you!" And that random expression is what is so incredible to me. For example, just as I got him out of the car to go into the grocery store he quickly wrapped his tiny arms around my neck, squeezed tightly, and exclaimed, "I love you!" It seems he knows just the right time to express his love.

Another example of this perfect love came when we were playing outside last week. We were coloring outside enjoying the weather. I was sitting on the first step of the staircase. Nixon put down his colored pencils, walked up to the second stair, then jumped onto my back with his arms around my neck, exclaiming, "I LOVE YOU TODAY!" He did this probably 25 times... yes half of it was probably for the fun of jumping off the stair onto my back, but all 25 times he repeated, "I LOVE YOU TODAY!" And I was left laughing, smiling, and completely rejuvenated from his expression of love. It also left me contemplating the last word of his sentence...today. Yes, just as a little boy knows, we need to know we are loved today, tomorrow, and everyday.

This weeks challenge is to excitedly exclaim, "I LOVE YOU!" Tell those you care for that you love them EVERYDAY! Another addition to this challenge is to read the New York Times Bestseller book, The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman if you have not read it; or you could read it again!

I am in the middle of this book and absolutely love it. I believe we all feel loved by having the love expressed to us in our own love language. Personally, I have a mixture of a few love languages and it wasn't until reading this book that I realized which ones they were. This book also helps you understand others love languages and how to love them the best. My husband and I have different love languages, and I think it is crucial to understand that so I don't only express my love for him in my language, but also in his. With this understanding the felt and expressed in my life has drastically changed for the better.

So I suggest reading this book to help you know how to excitedly exclaim, "I LOVE YOU!"

Good luck! Feel free to comment on your experiences.