Love Resolutions

Hope you had a "Love-ly" Valentine's day.

I happened to catch a few minutes of a daytime TV show today talking about Valentine's Resolutions. I thought about how silly it was that they were trying to do an "after V-day" theme and it seemed...forced. And random.

Psssh. Who makes Valentine's Resolutions, anyway?

Until I thought about it some more.

Valentine's is well-known as a commercial holiday which encourages you to spend more money on the one you love and be romantic.

Not such a bad gesture.

But what if it could motivate us to be more Loving. Ya know, like every day.

What if we did start Love Resolutions.

My very clever valentine from Live to Love

I would resolve to write more cards to my dear, sweet husband and friends.

I would resolve to have more friends and family over for dinner for fellowship.

I would resolve to be good to my body and my heart all year long.

Maybe these so-called Love Resolutions aren't such a bad idea after all.

Black Bean Love Burger
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup finely diced bell pepper
1 carrot, diced finely
1/4 cup green onions, diced
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
6 tbsp hummus
1/2 avocado, sliced

Mash black beans until chunky. Add black beans, bell pepper, lime juice, green onion, carrot, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, garlic, egg, and bread crumbs to large bowl and mix with your hands until firm and sticky.
(If the mixture separates too much, add more bread crumbs. )

Separate into 3 black bean burger patties. Grill over medium heat on a piece of aluminum foil for about 5-8 minutes on each side.

Serve on toasted buns with avocado and hummus. Makes 3 servings.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 NIV

Happy LOVE day!

“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs on your heard are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:6-7

What a beautiful love note from God!

Even sparrows, which are sold 5 for $0.02 are not forgotten before God! (two cents!)

Have you ever heard of a sparrow going hungry and dying? God feeds even sparrows, gives them a shelter, and family. He even gives them beaks to carry twigs to make nests and to carry food to feed their babies.

If there is ever a time that you have felt worthless, or like God cannot love YOU, or that God has left you alone to fend for yourself? God’s word begs to differ.

YOU are of more value than many sparrows. Each and every hair on your head has been numbered by God.

[What an interesting conversation with God that must be. “No, really God. How many hairs do I have on my head?”]

And even if right now He doesn’t seem near, look around you. You have a shelter over your head. You have popcorn you are shoving into your mouth (ok maybe it’s not popcorn.) You have some form of family who loves you [friends, mom, dad, children].

You are precious to Him.

Happy LOVE day!

Till the salmon sing in the street...

So there's been this poem on my mind today. It is a beautiful poem that makes me happy because it tries to explain how when you love someone, it can be a grand and silly feeling of extraordinary volumes...

Thank you W.H. Auden:

"As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
'Love has no ending.

'I'll love you, dear, I'll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,

'I'll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky."

I imagine God feels that way about us. I imagine too, that he is capable of  extraordinary things like asking salmon to sing in the street, and could physically make China and Africa meet, but that would mean there would be an end to His never-ending-unfathomable-BIG-big love for us. God loves us past the impossible and the extraordinary things. His love does not end when miracles begin. And for that, I am grateful.