I never realized how much I would miss saying, “I love you.”

Sure, I still say it to my kids and my parents.  (Well, I text it to my teenager – he seems to like it better in that form.)

But the person I said it to most was Keith.

We would say it at least once in every conversation.

We were actually quite silly about it, now that I look back on it.

Our conversations went like this:  I love you.  You.  You.  You.  You.  You…..You…..You…………You……………You…………………You.…………………You.

Now I have to content myself with new ways to say “I love you”….and to receive them.

My sweet friend Tammy is big about saying it.  Many conversations we have, she ends with “love you.”  I respond back, “love you, too.”

And I do love her.  She is a good friend and a good neighbor.  She is a blessing in my life.  I am happy that she tells me that she loves me, and I am happy to tell her.

It is a word we don’t use enough in general language.  Oh sure, we use it for TV shows, coffee, new clothes…but that is not where it is really appropriate (well, maybe for coffee…nah, not even coffee).

But do we use it to tell those in our lives who mean a lot to us how we feel?  That we get that they are a gift from God and that we appreciate that gift?

So…I am freer now with the I-love-you’s.  I tell all my friends and family that I love them.  (If I haven’t gotten to you yet, know it’s coming!)  I end emails and texts with “love you” or “luv ya” or xoxoxoxo — or all of it!

Time is short.  I don’t know how many opportunities I will still have to say “I love you.”  Things can change in an instant.  So my view is say it often, say it with truth and meaning, make it count.  You don’t know how much someone needs to hear it.

I know I need to hear it.

And God knows that, too.  He tells me a million times in a million ways that He loves me.  My soul hears the words and glories in them.

– The sun is shining gloriously today.  God saying, “I love you!”

– My children are healthy, happy, and well fed.  God saying, “I love you!”

– We have had a good first week of school.  God saying, “I love you!”

– My seven-year old is making connections in Bible learning that are amazing.  God saying, “I love you!”

On and on, over and over, His love shines in all I do, all I see, all I can be.
 
I  bask in His grace!  Little ole sinful me is loved by the God of the universe!  Mind-blowing, when you think about it.

And I love Him, too.  May I always express to my Lord just how much He means to me — in all that I am and all that I do!

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. – Psalm 52:8