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Tag: Valentine’s Day

Heart-to-Heart

Heart-to-Heart

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Heart to Heart--sunset silhouette of young girls forming heart with handsMost relationships benefit from occasional heart-to-heart talks. When we open our hearts to one another, we learn to appreciate each other more.

Heart-to-heart means open and honest.

It usually refers to conversations where we don’t hide our emotions. Such talks occur between:

  • Family members
  • Friends
  • Coworkers
  • Neighbors

Honest discussion helps us work through differences of opinion.

The outcome varies. We may:

  • Agree
  • Compromise
  • Agree to disagree

Although such talks don’t always end the way we hope, they usually result in improvement.

Most heart-to-heart talks involve serious subjects.

We don’t just shoot the breeze. Through open discussion, we try to prevent or work through conflicts. Under ideal circumstances, our talks build on already strong relationships.

We celebrate Valentine’s Day with hearts of all kinds:

  • Candy
  • Cards
  • Cakes
  • Clothing

Why not also include heart-filled conversations? Resolve conflicts. Strengthen bonds. Love with both words and actions.

“I have a lot more things to tell you, but I’d rather not use paper and ink. I hope to be there soon in person and have a heart-to-heart talk. That will be far more satisfying to both you and me” (2 John 1:12-13 MSG).

Thanks to Glenda Britton for the suggestion. Image by u_uf78c121 from Pixabay.

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Warm the Cockles of My Heart

Warm the Cockles of My Heart

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Warm the Cockles of My Heart--bowl of seashellsTo warm the cockles of my heart, something makes me happy.

I never use this expression. I do say something gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. The two expressions mean almost the same. Deep inside, I feel:

  • Good
  • Content
  • Warm

I have no cockles in my heart.

No one does. So how did this expression start? wiseGEEK and other sources offer these two possibilities:

  1. The “Latin description for the heart’s chambers, cochleae cordis.” Cockles became a slang word for cochleae.
  2. Mollusk shells (cockles) and the human heart have similar shapes. (See photo.)

They give other ideas, but these two seem most common.

The following warm the cockles of my heart:

What about you?

What warms the cockles of your heart? Please comment below.

On Valentine’s Day and every day, may life warm the cockles of your heart.

“We know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5 TLB).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

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From the Heart

From the Heart

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From the Heart-quilt on a rockerToday’s post comes from the heart. I share it with:

  • Deep feelings
  • Sincere emotions
  • Love for the families I mention

Foster parents share their homes and their hearts.

They care for children who need a temporary home. They help children and families pick up the pieces of their lives.

Foster parents serve from the heart.

They love their children during good times and bad. They celebrate when children do well. They choose to love when children:

  • Reject their love
  • Damage their home
  • Break their hearts with bad choices

Foster parents receive few rewards.

News reports usually tell only bad foster parent stories. They rarely mention the families who give good care. Yet, foster parents continue their labor of love anyway.

My parents provided foster care several years. I worked with foster families almost 30 years. I saw their love and shared their hurt.

When I retired, foster parents gave me this quilt from their hearts. I recently wrote about it for Kentucky Living magazine.

When you see foster parents, thank them from your heart for:

  • Caring
  • Sharing
  • Giving
  • Healing

Happy Valentine’s Day to families who make our world a better place.

“Love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22 NIV).

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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Heart of Gold

Heart of Gold

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Heart of Gold--a gold heartDo you know people who have a heart of gold? Why not honor them this Valentine’s Day?

I know most people think of romantic love on Valentine’s Day. So do I. Yet, why not show other kinds of love as well? I don’t know of any rule against that.

 People with a heart of gold give often.

They also give much. They are:

  • Kind
  • Friendly
  • Honest
  • Good natured

They give of themselves.

People with a heart of gold think of others before themselves.

They sometimes give away what they need, no strings attached. They love other people that much. Plus, they care for strangers as well as friends and family.

People with a heart of gold make good role models.

Think how wonderful the world would be if everyone showed that kind of love.

People value gold for its goodness.

Why not show caring people they are valued for their goodness too?

  • Thank them for their loving hearts.
  • Give them something they need or want
  • Give a gift to charity in their honor.
  • Hug them.
  • Take them to dinner.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10 NIV).

Who do you know with a heart of gold?

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Head over Heels

Head over Heels

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Head over Heels morgue file8161310074013Have you ever been head over heels in love?

  • You were so in love you did not know up from down.
  • You acted silly but didn’t care.
  • You wanted to spend every single minute with your loved one.

Have you later realized that was not true love?

So often we get the meaning of true love all wrong. We focus on the temporary:

  • Physical attraction
  • Common interests
  • Popularity
  • Desire to love or be close to someone

None of those are necessarily bad. However, true love means so much more. Love that lasts means moving beyond puppy love to:

  • Commitment to the loved one, regardless of circumstances
  • Willingness to give 100 percent, not 50-50
  • Being there for one another when life gets hard

At the same time, we want to keep true love lovely by:

  • Talking and laughing with one another
  • Sharing fun times
  • Hugging and saying “I love you” often

That helps keep us head over heels in love with our loved one for life.

Above all, we want to follow the ultimate example of love – Jesus’ unconditional, sacrificial love.

“You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes” (Song of Solomon 4:9 NIV).

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Photo courtesy of morgueFile.

Puppy Love

Puppy Love

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Puppy Love 1Puppies are cute, sweet, and make us smile. The same is true for puppy love — children or young people falling in love. We smile at puppy love, but we know it seldom lasts.

The problem: Puppy love depends on emotions alone — how do I feel?

  • If you make me feel good, I love you.
  • If you make me feel bad, I don’t love you.
  • If we have fun, I love you.
  • If we don’t have fun, I don’t love you.

As a result, young people may fall in and out of love several times.

Sadly many adults define love the same way.

The trouble with that thinking:

  • Good feelings come and go.
  • Life is not always fun.

True love – lasting love – means much more.

  •  I choose to love you.
  • I commit my life to you.
  • I will do what is best for you.

That does not mean love is blind. It does mean:

  • I accept that no one is perfect.
  • I will work with you on our disagreements.
  • I love you, even when I don’t like you or your actions.

In any relationship we sometimes feel on top of the world. Other times we feel like we are in a valley. True love says, “I will walk with you wherever the journey takes us.”

Love is a choice. Love is a verb.

Note:  If abuse occurs in a relationship, seek help and protection immediately.

“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” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

What do you think true love means? Please comment.

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Love is Blind

Love is Blind

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Love is BlindOn Valentine’s Day we give flowers, candy, stuffed animals, and other gifts to those we love. This special day also reminds us that love is blind.

We see people differently when we look through eyes of love.

We focus on their good traits and overlook the bad. This happens with boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, and children. Because love is blind, we think our loved one is the smartest, cutest, sweetest person on earth.

That doesn’t mean we never see a person’s faults.

Yet, because we love them, we look for the best in them. We see what we want to see.

A 2004 scientific study verified that love is blind. The University College London found that love suppresses the part of our brain that controls critical thought.

We probably need some degree of blindness to keep loving feelings strong. At the same time, we need to take our blinders off when those faults become harmful. Then, we must clearly see what needs to change and take the steps to change it.

Teaching a child right from wrong requires a strong will. So does voicing concerns to a spouse.

True love is an act of the will, not emotion.

By working through difficult times, relationships grow.

True love says:

  • I will do what’s best for you, whether I feel like it or not.
  • I will do what’s best for you whether you deserve it or not.
  • I will do what’s best for you, because that’s how true love works.

Let’s be thankful love is blind to the little faults in one another. Let’s act with eyes wide open when true love requires it.

“For the LORD disciplines those he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:12 NET)

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