Love Songs….

Music has power.  It has always been that way from the beginning of time and will always be that way. God created us to sing, to express joy, to dance and twirl, to weep.  Our voices and our bodies are designed to give expression to the emotions of our hearts.

I’m a 70’s girl.  I survived my teen years… fell in and out of love (or what I thought was love)… suffered rejection… believed I wasn’t “good enough”…graduated from high school… earned my LPN degree… got married…started a new job… had my first child… all to the music of the 1970’s. Regardless of where I may be, if I hear the familiar melody of a song from the 70’s, I find myself singing along. I respond from my soul to the music from some of the most formative, difficult years of my life.

Love songs, especially, go deep.  They speak to the intimate, secret places of our hearts. They can expose our darkest fears….fears of rejection…not believing we’re good enough…abandonment…loneliness…shame.  

And love songs can create lasting memories.  They can imprint a moment onto our heart that will last forever.  My husband has a beautiful voice and sang Bobby Vintons’ hit, “Every Day of My Life”, to me on our wedding day. It was sweet and holy and many a wedding guest could be seen wiping tears from their eyes. (Isn’t he handsome…check out those 70’s sideburns!!)

In almost forty years of marriage I have come to wisely understand that love is not the words to a song, a feeling, a slogan, or an emotion.  It is a choice. Sometimes a very difficult, almost impossible choice.  And to be honest, sometimes I have not loved Gary well.  I have succumbed to selfishness and self-pity causing me to withdraw and guard my heart.  But the love I vowed on my wedding day anchors me, calls to me, and requires me to forgive, start over, be vulnerable, honest and open.

Sing along with me as we make our way through a four week series of seeking to love well and surrendering to being loved well in return.