learning to love...

For those of you who don't know me very well, I want you to know that I LOVE people. I really enjoy talking to people, listening to people, hugging people and a lot of other things that involve people :). For those of you who know me well, I'm pretty sure you knew that :).
So, even though I LOVE people, I am still learning new ways TO love them everyday. Here is a verse in 1 John that I read this morning about love...

1 John 3:18-20 18 Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. 20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Our actions mean so much! I want to be better at SHOWING people I love them! That means, taking MORE time, MORE energy, MORE everything to love...
I am surrounded by people who do an awesome job at loving me, I wanted to share just a couple of ways people have showed me they love me recently:

~my mom and sister drove 5.5 hours to see me (sure, the outlets are on the way...but im pretty sure they came for me :)
~my sister told me to sit in the front seat, even though I know she wanted to ;)
~my friend text me to see how I was feeling on the day that she gave birth!! (AND while she was in labor!!!)
~my husband took my car to get it inspected before he took his own
~my husband is buying draino and bleach for me today :)
~my sister spent time helping me find clothes for work, rather than getting some for herself
~one of the teenagers order food for kevin and I last night because we got tied up at church longer than we thought
~another one of the teenagers went grocery shopping with me AND help me put it away! (sooooo...thankful for that!)

Those are just a couple that came to my mind right now...I am so thankful for those around me who show their love in different ways!
Now, it's time to get better at REALLY loving people...Here are some ways we can start:
~clean our rooms, WITHOUT our parents asking
~holding the door for someone and letting them walk through first
~choosing to do something that your friend likes, instead of what you would have liked to do
~send random texts, emails, facebooks (is that something?), or phone calls...
~mow our neighbors yard...without them asking or paying!
~hug more
~give someone a ride, even if it's out of the way
~give food to someone who doesnt have any

Those are JUST a couple...
How will you SHOW your love this week?

I LOVE YOU!