Love is...

Love: A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.

Beloved: Dearly loved,well loved, dear to the heart

On the Eve of our 27^th Wedding Anniversary...October 22, 1983 was forever a turning point in my life. So in honor of my husband's love for me I am writing this post. I have also posted pictures on Facebook. My life with him has been amazing. Sometimes a struggle for me at least. He is always so full of patience and goodness. I can't imagine life without him.

When I think of my husband... strong, good, kind, caring, beloved; I think of our life together and our marriage and union.  I am reminded of the account given in

Genesis 2:18-25 says, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

There was not a fit helper for Adam out of all the animals, think about how many creatures that is, don't forget the bugs, caterpillars, snakes, etc. That is a lot of creatures. None of them were a good fit for Adam. But God has a plan. I just love that God always has a plan. He knows just what to do. He gets busy, and prepares a surprise for Adam. I love surprises (well, good ones anyway.) God gets creative and makes Eve. Now Eve was perfect for Adam, Adam recognizes this immediately. Don't you love Adam's reaction to Eve... He burst into poetry (verse 23.) Now, if I think about my husband bursting into poetry, I crack up. Not his style, I guess. Although sometimes it might be nice. Then God says, “Therefore”, I love this word, because it is a pointer word. It points us to something important. Because of what God did for Adam, He makes a pronouncement for us all, it is recorded in verse 24. Because God gave Adam, Eve, specially made just for him, men shall leave their parents and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh. Remember the definition for love, we started with? Remember the part that says, “a sense of underlying oneness?” Look at that verse again what does God tell us, “they shall become one flesh.” This is more than just the physical part (I know that is what you were thinking of.) It is a spiritual, emotional, mindful oneness. As Anne of Green Gables would say, you become “kindred spirits.” The last part of that verse talks about being naked and not ashamed, more than physical, but more like they were not afraid to bare their hearts to each other. They could be themselves and feel loved and accepted, just as they are.

Loved this quote from Matthew Henry on Genesis 2:18-25, "The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near to his heart to be beloved." Right where I want to be!

I love the feeling that I have when I go to bed at night and lay my head on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around me. I feel safe, protected, and loved, but more than loved, cherished, treasured, a part of him and all that he is. I guess we really have become one.