Happy Valentine's Day!

I have been thinking about generosity since I visited the One World- One Heart blogs of so many generous people these past few days. Some of them gave away things that had obviously taken them so long to make, that I wondered how they could part with those beautiful handmade things. And visiting those sites made me feel like giving something away as well. Generosity is contagious, I thought. That's one of the reasons I started this blog. I decided I wanted to give something away in next year's event. But also, I decided I wanted to share a part of myself throughout the year - my thoughts, my art, my stories, my faith.

And the best example of generosity is God himself, who, as the often quoted verse in John 3:16 says, "gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." And why? Because He "so loved the world." It is not easy to give away something so precious, and as a parent, I know how precious my children are to me. How awesome to think about how much God loves us to have given us His Son. And God's love is far different from what many think love is when they say "I love you" to someone, especially on days like Valentine's day. And I wish that you will experience God's generous love in your life, and that you will strive to give this kind of love.

It is not always easy to love this way, generously, unconditionally. But I believe that we should strive to love this way. Generosity is contagious. Let the words in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 be our guide: "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Happy Valentine's Day!