Purpose

"Purpose- everything has a purpose.  Clocks tell time.  Trains take you places.  They do what they're meant to do.  Maybe that's why broken machines make me so sad.  They can't do what they are meant to do.  Maybe it's the same with people.  If you lose your purpose, it's like your broken."
           -HUGO, the movie

There is only one person who can fix us people.  God and God alone.  Find that God given gem (talent) that lies within you and polish it.  Pour into it every day.  It is there for a reason.  No one else knows what it is except you.  You feel it deep in your heart, in your bones.  Do it.  Let that piece of love pour out of you.  Everything else will fall into place.  It's a start in a broken world.  Embrace it and if you don't know what that thing is yet, ask God to help your find it.

Love does not delight in evil

Love does not delight in evil.  The old saying, I believe, says do unto others as you would have them do unto you, not do unto others as they do unto you.  Sometimes I believe people do not realize how their actions affect others.  Whether they mean to be hateful or not, I believe all people want to be be ultimately good.  I know "good" is a relative term, though, because all people are raised differently.  I do know that all people want to be loved and to be loved you have to be able to love someone back.  I believe love is the root of all things good, and should be embraced as such.  Every person on this earth has a God given gem inside them. It is up to you whether you find it, use it for His glory, and let your love shine through it.  There will be no room for evil.  None.

Love keeps no record of wrongs

Love keeps no record of wrongs.  No one makes the right decision 100% of the time.  We all fail at some point and we have to get back up and try again.  It is just too bad that people get hurt along the way.  When someone truly cares for you, though, they will always stand by you, even when they don't fully agree with what you are trying to accomplish.  If you make a wrong step, they are there to guide you back on track and make you aware of how you are affecting others.  Loving someone means telling them the things in life that hurt the most.  As hard as it may seem to forgive someone for something at the time, you will feel so much better to let it go and try to move on, but always carry the lesson that life has bestowed you.  These are the small things in life that are free, but sometimes are worth the most.

There's more

I tell you...  There is more to this parenting thing than I realize after almost 6 years of doing it.  I am supposed to be teaching my daughter you guys, but she's really teaching me.  She is teaching me to be patient, though I'm not a great student.  She's teaching me to be kinder.  She is teaching me that the small things matter as long as we are together.  She's teaching me how to love better.  I know that sounds weird to some, but when your your heart gets broken along your way in life, you have to learn to love better.  If you don't, that anger and resentment sets in and takes over.  It's taken me down before, but she's teaching me to let it go and she doesn't even know it.

There's definitely more to his parenting thing.  This picture is a reminder to be kinder and love more.  I was taking a small nap, ahem, today.  Yep- I was, okay?  They call it a siesta in Mexico.  So, I had told my daughter to read and be quiet.  I just needed to rest me eyes a little.  I started to fall asleep and as soon as I did I hear her come into my room.  My mommy radar goes off as soon as one of my children enter my room any time, day or night.  So I try to ignore her and keep my eyes shut.  Start to go back to sleep and she comes in again right as I am falling back to sleep.  Patience.  Ignore.  The third time I had had enough.  As soon as I open my eyes she has a question for me, so I explode "Get Out!"  There.  I cannot believe she kept walking back and forth into my room to ask me THAT question.

Well by then, my nap was over.  I get up out of my bed and almost pass it.  Almost.  There is an envelope laying by my bed. I picked it up.  Sealed.  I open it and I realize why my daughter was coming into my room.  She was drawing pictures and sealing them up and laying them by my bed so when I got up I would find them.

That's it people.  Be kind.  Be patient and don't overlook the small things because if you do, the bigger things just aren't as worth as much.  Learn from the little ones.  They have lots to offer.  I'm still learning too.  

Love is not easily angered

Love is not easily angered.  We tend to forget the important things in life sometimes, such as how we feel when we are around someone and the comfort that we take for granted.  We tend to strive to make everything perfect, but we live in an un-perfect world.  Sometimes, if we would just take a step back and look at the big picture, the small things in life that make us so mad at the moment, all seem to disappear.  These things are not so important because you realize what you really care about and all the anger subsides.  There will always be fights in any relationship, but there will be no fight too great to permanently damage a true love.

Love is not self seeking

Love is not self-seeking.  Love is about reaching out to others even when you need someone to reach out to you the most.  You should not do things for others expecting something in return.  Love is about giving to others and not thinking about yourself.  I feel like this may be the hardest way to love someone because it is one of the most unselfish forms of love.

Love is not rude to others

Love is not rude to others.  Love does not belittle anyone or make someone feel bad about themselves.  This is only a defense mechanism that insecure people use to make them self feel better about them self.  Loving someone does not always mean you are in love with this person.  Loving someone can be as simple as just being kind to a stranger even if they are not nice to you.  You never know what hardships these people face in a day or even in a lifetime.  You never know when your kindness might affect someone in a positive way for the rest of their life. When you are rude to others because they have been rude to you or just because you have had a bad day, you impact their day justly.  Why not shed some light on someone's day because you never know who might shed some light on yours?

Love is not Proud...

Love is not proud.  I know from experience, if I was ever proud or boastful about anything, I always ended up hurting someone else's feelings.  When you are proud, you tend to think more about yourself than others around you and that isn't what love is all about.  If you go about your day in an un-proud and way, people do notice.  It comes off as confidence- a good kind of confidence.  Others will see in you what you accomplish and will be proud of you which, in turn, meets that deep down feeling of self-fulfillment.  Isn't that what we are seeking anyway?  Fulfillment.  Happiness.

Love does not envy and it does not boast...

Love does not envy and it does not boast.  I believe jealousy can be the root of all evil.  It causes one to want more than he has, hindering him from enjoying what life does bring.  So, when you are jealous of someone or something, it causes you to boast about trivial things whether it is great or small.  Honestly, someone who sincerely loves you does not care what you do or don't have and if you still feel the need to boast, boast in the Lord.  The feeling of contentment will be infinite.

Love is patient, Love is kind

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
                           1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient.  Patience is an ultimate virtue.  Not everyone has it, but when you love someone, it should always be prevalent.  Without it, you are more inclined to make hasty decisions leading to fights and discontentment.  In my life, my patience has been tested so many times, but I find that I am the most patient with the ones I genuinely care about or I just work harder to understand them.  Patience is something most people have to work hard to keep and is reserved, most of the time, only for the ones we truly love. 

Love is kind.  Kindness, I believe, is one of the easiest way to show love.  It is as simple as smiling at or helping someone out with a simple task.  Sometimes it is the smallest things in life that mean so much to people and in return, most the time, love you back.  As much as you think that people don't notice your kindness, know that someone is always watching.  People may forget the things you say and they may forget the things you do, but they will never forget how you made them feel and will carry it for a lifetime.