What is love?

Well it is finally Summer Semester here at BYU-Idaho. After a few rough weeks of snowy weather, we have been blessed with a day of sunshine and 63* weather! What a dream.

April 24, 2008 First week of the Summer Semester.

Compare to today! May 5, 2008 BEAUTIFUL!

So far this semester has been a busy one. My time is filled with mainly homework, work and of course an ever changing and "soap opera like" love life. Currently I am taking a class called Dating and Courtship. And I have really enjoyed the class so far.

Today we talked about love. My teacher posed the question, "What is Love?". We all tried defining love in what we have felt or have been told. Some told of complete selflessness and others described it as a feeling of not being able to live with out the other. But the best thing said all day was the quote my teacher gave himself.

"The first part of love is a strong romantic and hormonal piece of it. However, as TRUE and DEEPER love develops, and the romantic piece "balances", there MUST be a CHOICE on the part of the couple. We must choose on a daily basis to love. For more than a feeling, love is a VERB. Love is an ACTION. Love is an ATTITUDE. Love is a way of living with another soul. Love is a CHOICE!" Reed Hendricks

I love that he says love is a verb. It is nothing by accident. If we love as an accident and do not make a choice to work for it, it will leave just as it came. We will "fall out of love".

I wanted to conclude with what we have come to determin when you have real love. A person has true real love when they "lay down their life for another" or in other words, put the others needs before their own. Real love is service, forgiveness, sacrifice, working thing out as a partnership and a balance of romance- love grows.

Ok one more quote that I loved, "we learn more to be like Christ through marriage. You learn more about love, service, sacrifice, covenants, selflessness and other Christ like attributes in marriage than in any church meeting, conference or talk. Because it is here that it truly applies and is tested." Reed Hendricks