Learning about love

As I sit here, watching the KU game and eating my burrito, I realized that a very special person has thought for quite some time that I should start a blog. According to the flight-stalker website I discovered today, this person just crossed over Canada and is now somewhere over the Pacific Ocean on a flight to Amsterdam where he will get on two more planes that will land him in Kisumu, Kenya in Africa. This person is none other than my fiance, Charlie Landis.

I have learned a great deal about life and myself through spending time with Charlie. I now know more about KU basketball than I could ever begin to know about my own beloved Hoosiers and even watch basketball by choice (KU is currently killing Oklahoma 90-62 and the Rock Chalk chant has started…Go Jayhawks!).  I know that I do not like being on another continent than people I love. Most importantly, I have learned about love.

It is hard to fully appreciate someone when they are right next to you. It is when they are not there that you really understand how much they mean to you. You miss small things like your phone dying before 8pm because you have been talking on it too much. You miss good night texts that tell you sweet dreams. I know what you are thinking: this is just silly, mushy stuff that no one needs to hear. And in some cases, you might be right. However, it’s the silly, mushy, sensitive stuff that makes life so full of joy. Hear me out, I’m not saying that in order to have joy, everyone needs to be in relationship or be living the American Dream. What I am saying is that I have found through being a little more sensitive, I can comprehend love in a way I couldn’t before. By allowing myself to care deeply for people, it is easier to be hurt or feel unwanted. But in the times that deep caring is returned, I feel fulfilled and full of joy.

I think this gives us a glimpse of our relationship with God. God loves us so deeply and with such passion that it is impossible to not feel Him! But what happens when we are content to know God loves us but do not return His love? While God does not need us to be complete, we desperately need Him. It breaks His heart when we choose to live without Him. Our lives become shallow and we become unable to experience real love. When we live lives that are full of passion for God and people, we feel completely fulfilled.

            What if we began to live with passion and desperation to make God known? What if we returned His great love daily? What if our relationships with other people began to reflect the love God shows us? We might just change our generation.