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Welcome > Thirty Love Notes in 30 Days >
Love Notes to Read
Preparing to Say Goodbye...
Greetings, I have written you an agape "Love Note". The purpose of writing is to increase my understanding of Love and reflect on my experience with it. The end goal is to be a more consistent "doer" of Love in all circumstances and help other people want to do the same. I will write and send a "Love Note" like this to a different person each day for thirty days. "Love Notes" focus on my personal experience with Love; I offer no advice, direction or suggestions. The thoughts I share are mine and I will not be persuaded by anything I know about you. For this reason, "Love Notes" always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. Today marks four days since my Mom passed on. It makes me sad when I think I won't be able to call her on the phone again or FaceTime with her and hear her voice; it was four months since I saw her in person which also makes me long for a mom hug. Then I think about the joy she must be experiencing and how thrilled I can be for her when I think about her happiness. I also can focus on the connection we now have; her being in perfect Love, and me tuning in to it and trying to practice it in every situation I can. It really is a connection that gives me a sense of "spiritual sisterhood" with a heavenly Father more then the maternal relationship, and it's woven together by dwelling on "doing" Love. I do not believe I would have handled losing my mom as gracefully had I not been writing Love Notes. Today is day 29 of writing, which also makes me a little teary, as this first project, a project surrounded by so much growth, joy, grieving and change, comes to a close. Certainly, I could continue writing, and I may because it somehow feels like a chapter is not closing by continuing. Still I realize that this first 30-day project had perfect timing to be a better "doer" of Love as my mother and I unknowingly prepared for her transition from this life to another, and it won't be the same as it formally ends. I thank God for keeping me committed to writing a Love Note each day, helping me follow through, encouraging me in sharing some of the notes with my mom over the last few weeks and helping me to remain focused on "doing" Love. I didn't do it perfectly for sure, but my intentions toward "doing" Love have been more deliberate than ever before. Thank you for reading this "Love Note". This writing has been an important part of my day now for nearly a month, and especially on this day. Reflecting on so many aspects of Love has brought me comfort, clarity and peace; and I sincerely hope it was helpful to you in some way too. Your name was picked at random, but it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Getting Better at Agape Love |
You are Not Small...
Hello, I have written you an agape "Love Note". The purpose of writing like this is to increase my understanding of Love, reflect more deeply on my experience with it, be a consistent "doer" of Love in all circumstances and help other people want to do the same. I will write and send a "Love Note" like this to a different person each day for thirty days. "Love Notes" focus on my personal experience with Love; there is no advice, direction or suggestions given. The thoughts I share are mine and will not be persuaded by anything I know about you. For this reason, "Love Notes" will always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. "You are not small, so don't act like it." Those were the quiet words I heard this morning as I gave a push to the negative thoughts I started my day with. It was not too long ago that I would have found myself "in" that negative stuff before I would have been aware enough to do anything about it; I was spending a lot of time in life doing "damage control". Since I started focusing more on Love, I have heightened awareness of the thinking that starts my attitude spiraling, and I get a "nudging" before I ruin a part of my day or block good things intended for me. This morning, I decided take the direction I was given right away, and because of it, I felt peaceful.... even joyful, and was able to give support to a few people around me who needed it. My heart's desire is to be better at "doing" Love; negative thinking, strife, arrogance, fear and pride are barriers to Love... I have to throw dark thoughts out by focusing toward worshiping God. That is the only way to being peaceful, kind, loving and unselfish and drawing those qualities out of the people around me. Sounds like Love to me.... Well, that's my love letter to you; thank you for reading and I hope it made your day a little better. May God bless you and enrich your life. Of all the people I could have mailed this "Love Note" to, I chose you. Your name was picked at random, but I am certain it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Learning about Love |
Love isn't "Puffed Up"
Hello Friend, I have written you a letter I will call a "Love Note" as a way to help me gain a better understanding of Love, reflect more deeply on my experience with it and help other people learn about Agape Love. I will write and send a "Love Note" like this to a different person each day for thirty days. It is important for me to focus on my personal experience with Love, not give advice, direction or suggestions. For this reason, my "Love Notes" will always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. I am now eighteen days into writing daily "Love Notes". It is rainy, cold, my husband is crabby and tense, and on the one day we were invited to do something fun in the evening, he has to work. He has been very uptight for the last few days, and I keep probing and prodding, trying to figure out why, but to no avail. I always worry it is something I did when people around me are upset. Love is teaching me that I am not the center of the universe, that every unhappy person doesn't draw me to the cause of it, and as I said, Love is teaching me this; I have not completely learned this lesson yet. Otherwise, I would not be mentally searching for things to feel guilty for just because he is upset, and sitting here with "that feeling" in the pit of my stomach, even though I'm not aware of having done anything wrong. A person who learns to "do" Love has honesty, and does not think more or lees of themselves. It is an underlying strength that comes out of being "meek", and this unearned "guilt" I feel is a form of being "puffed up", which is clearly not an attribute of Love (I'm referring to its' qualities as described in 1Corinthians 13). It's funny, but I find it easier to be "puffed up" about negative things that happen than take credit for positive things I don't deserve credit for. Everyone is different, but any time I think more or less of myself than I really am in a situation, it is not honest. I have to stay willing to always self-examine and even investigate if there is a possibility I offended or hurt someone, but I have to know that I am not the center of the universe. That pit in my stomach is beginning to subside as I sit here writing, and I am confident that if I think more about beautiful things, like love, it will melt away completely. Well, that's my love letter to you; thank you for reading and I hope it made your day a little brighter. May God bless you and enrich your life. Of all the people I could have mailed this "Love Note" to, I chose you. Your name was picked at random, but I am certain it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Learning about Love |
Not to show my "goodness", but His...
Hello Friend, I have written you a letter I will call a "Love Note". I am writing because I want to be better at Agape Love and help people learn about it. I am writing and sending a unique "Love Note" to a different person each day for thirty days. It is important for me to focus on my personal experience, not give advice, direction or suggestions. For this reason, I always write "Love Notes" to someone I have never met and know nothing about, and you were chosen at random to get this note. We are strangers, but I hope what I write will have meaning to you. I have been writing "Love Notes" for three weeks now, and this has been a serious time of spiritual growth for me. I have never been so focused on and preoccupied with "doing" Love. It isn't strictly because of the writing, but the writing has driven me to listen to podcasts and videos about Agape Love every day, read chapters in the Bible about practicing Love and Christ demonstrating perfect Love, and respond to people who have reached out to me for support and spiritual leadership (which hasn't happened very often in recent years). In the grand scheme of things, three weeks is a drop in the bucket. However, my journey really started over a year ago. I was determined that learning about and "doing" agape Love would change me and a group of people "doing" Love could change the world. In that mindset, I committed to giving 5000 hugs in one year... yes, I did say 5000. Co-workers would line up in the halls at work and get and give hugs... it was pretty wonderful, and uncomfortable. I felt that a hug was an act of "doing" Love, that I could give a hug to anyone that would allow me to and felt if I told people what I was doing, I would be accountable to it. My heart was in the right place, but I only made it to about 1000 hugs before I ended that grand salute to good intentions. I knew Love was the key to every good thing, but no matter how I tried or how many hugs I gave, it was insufficient to stimulate my growth in it. I learned a very valuable lesson; no matter how I try, I do not have the ability to grow Love within myself. And for me to be accountable to "doing" Love, my accountability had to be to Christ, not to pride. I learned that I not only had to commit to "doing" Love as my foremost mission each day, but that if I was to succeed, prayer, quiet time, feeding my spirit with reading and listening to God's instruction was an absolute, non-negotiable requirement. I am a follower of Christ, but I am still amazed that I "missed it"... the reality that my ability to "do" Love is Christ in me, not "the great I" mustering it up. Further more, my primary reason to "do" Love is first, because it is what God says I should do, and next, to attempt to be a model of this great Love, the Love of Christ. "Doing" Love is not to show my "goodness", but His (truth is, I am not a very naturally "nice" person, and I am the world's slowest learner, so this revelation is nothing short of a miracle). Well, that's my note to you; thank you for reading. I find myself concentrating on something different every day, and I'm sure it's for a reason. May God bless and enrich your life. Your name was picked at random to get this "Love Note", but I am certain it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Committed to Doing Love |
Congruency
Hello Friend, I have written you a letter I will call a "Love Note". I am writing because I want to be better at Love and help other people learn about it as well. I will write and send a unique "Love Note" to a different person each day for thirty days. It is important for me to focus on my personal experience with Love, not give advice, direction or suggestions. For this reason, my "Love Notes" will always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about, and you were chosen at random to get this note. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. I am a few weeks into writing "Love Notes". I certainly didn't anticipate the impact that writing like this has had. Even when I don't start my day with writing, I am thinking about it throughout, and when your mind is on Love more of the time, things begin to change. I am so much more aware of what I am "supposed" to do if I am to be good at "doing" Love. I am also painfully aware of it when I behave or think in an "unloving" way. The reality of how very important it is to "do" Agape Love is more clear. If I am to know and be a follower of Christ (which I am), my mission in life must be to learn about and practice Love, and He is my role model. In addition, my behavior should be congruent with my mission, and that's where it gets difficult. Someone is nasty and you want to retaliate; that's not the way of Love. You are cut off in traffic and you curse the driver; that's not how great "doers" of Love behave. Everyone is gossiping about a co-worker's bad behavior and you want to chime in; Love doesn't act that way. The cashier at the grocery store accidentally drops the jar of pickles you just paid for and you want to snap at her; Love is slow to offend and quick to forgive. This is where the rubber meets the road, becoming a skilled practitioner of Love. Well, that's my love letter to you; thank you for reading and I hope it was helpful. I find myself concentrating on something specific and different each day, and I'm sure it's for a reason. May God bless and enrich your life. Your name was picked at random to receive this, but I am certain it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Learning about Agape Love |
Do Love One Situation at a Time
Hello Friend, I have written you a letter I will call a "Love Note". I will write and send a "Love Note" like this to a different person each day for thirty days to help me be better at Love and encourage other people to learn about it as well. The focus will be on my personal experience with Love, and there will be no advice, direction or suggestions. For this reason, my "Love Notes" will always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about, and I chose you at random to get this note. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. I am eleven days into writing "Love Notes" and it's beginning to feel like a habit, a wonderful habit. I am learning more than I could have ever anticipated. My commitment to learning more and becoming better at practicing Love has not waned, but I have wondered periodically, if I am capable of ever being consistently "good" at it. I absolutely realize that this isn't a black or white thing. If I have a muddy glass of water (me), and each day I add clean water to it, the water will be more clear than it was the day before. This is how I see my progress toward Love. Each time I choose Love (patience, self-control, kindness, goodness, God) instead of fear, hate, retaliation, pride or the like, I pour clean water into this muddy glass. Me, as a big, complicated muddy glass of water, will never be fully dark or fully light, but an individual thought, action or motive I have can be wholly about Love... and the more the merrier. So, my task is to focus on doing Love perfectly one situational a time; and that, I can do. Well, that's my love letter to you; thank you for reading and I hope it was helpful to you.... it certainly helped me to start my day right. May God bless you and enrich your life. Of all the people I could have mailed this "Love Note" to, I chose you. Your name was picked at random, but I am certain it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Learning about Love |
Love, Sacrifice and Forgiveness
Dear Friend, I have written you a letter I will call a “Love Note”. I am writing this note because I am trying to get better at doing Love and I want to help other people see it and learn about its availability to them. I will write and send a “Love Note” like this one to a different person each day for thirty days in an effort to learn how to do Love better and to grow closer to the original “giver of Love”, God himself. In each note I will focus on my personal experiences with Love and will not give advice, direction, or suggestions. For this reason, my “Love Note” will always go to someone I’ve never net and know nothing about. I chose you at random to get this note, but I am certain that what I write will have meaning to you. My life, by most people’s standards, is a quite a bit unusual. I live in Central America, in a little country called Costa Rica. The people here are very friendly and welcoming. And the weather, for an Ohio girl like me, is very nice year round. I love just about everything about living here except for one thing, my dog Miah cannot live here with me. My husband and I have been a part of a children’s home ministry for about 8 years. We lived in Mississippi for six years and then moved to Costa Rica two years ago to help with a different aspect of that same ministry. When we were preparing to leave Mississippi to come here, we realized that we couldn’t take our black lab Miah with us. This was a tough decision because she was like our child. My husband and I have had difficulty having children so the Lord blessed us with our “little girl” Miah instead. Considering giving her away was like giving away a child, but it was the best option for her. You might be thinking, “Okay lady; what does this have to do with love?” Well, in my experience, love is often shown in painful sacrifice. Love can be said often and never be quite as profound as love shown in action. Although I would have benefited from having Miah here with me, she definitely would have suffered. Labrador’s by nature love water and the great outdoors, but this isn’t something that is plenteous here where I live. The place where she would live there in Mississippi had a lake, farm, children, and lots of forest; an ideal place for my girl. There really wasn’t a choice to be made. I just had to find a way to be okay so she could be happy. It’s been two years and I still miss her. A few weeks ago, I found out that the person who took her dropped her off at the place where I had been and left her there. The people that were there were unable to care for her so they had to take her to the pound. I was very angry with the person who was supposed to take care of my “baby”. I say “was”, because like doing what was best for Miah was an act of love, forgiving that person is also an act of love. God gave me Miah, and He has every right to take her away. As I said before, sometimes love is best shown through “painful sacrifice”. Guess I still have a lot to learn. I’m not sure why this could be a help to you, but I will assume it was for a reason and I hope it brightened your day. Of all the people I might have mailed this “Love Note” to, it was your name and address I was led to choose. Even though your name was picked at random, I am certain it wasn’t by chance. Learning about Agape Love in Costa Rica |
My Needs Coming Second...
Dear Friend, I have written you a letter I will call a “Love Note”. I am writing this note because I am trying to get better at doing Love and I want to help other people see it and learn about its availability to them. I will write and send a “Love Note” like this one to a different person each day for thirty days in an effort to learn how to do Love better and to grow closer to the original “giver of Love”, God himself. In each note I will focus on my personal experiences with Love and will not give advice, direction, or suggestions. For this reason, my “Love Note” will always go to someone I’ve never net and know nothing about. I chose you at random to get this note, but I am certain that what I write will have meaning to you. Today has been an average day so far but the week leading up to this day has been nothing less than a crazy blur. Last week my husband learned that his father’s battle with kidney cancer is taking a big toll on him and it’s time for my husband to go see him before it is too late. He’s not in the hospital or hospice or anything like that, he’s just not doing well. This would be difficult in any circumstance, but we have been living in Costa Rica for about nine months and we are not planning to leave for another three weeks. Thus, the blur begins. What was really difficult for me was the fact that I would have to live without my best friend for that time. We are kind of like missionaries so buying an extra ticket to fly back to the states is in a word, difficult. So, I had to stay behind to keep up our responsibilities here so he could go visit with his Dad. In my heart, I wanted him to go, but at the same time, I wanted him to stay. What does this say about love you might ask? In my life, I have learned that real love is best displayed through sacrifice. My happiness, comfort, wants, and needs will always be secondary to what is necessary for someone I love. That is how love is “done”, or shown. He has been gone for almost a week now and I am doing ok. I think I always knew I would be, after the crazy blur slowed down. I’m not sure why this could be a help to you, but I will assume it was for a reason and I hope it brightened your day. Of all the people I might have mailed this “Love Note” to, it was your name and address I was led to choose. Even though your name was picked at random, I am certain it wasn’t by chance. Learning about Agape Love in Costa Rica |
Useful. Wow...
Hello, I have written you a letter I will call a "Love Note". You're getting this "Love Note" because I want to be better at Love and help other people learn about it as well. I will write and send a "Love Note" like this to a different person each day for thirty days. It is important for me to focus on my personal experience with Love, not give advice, direction or suggestions. For this reason, my "Love Notes" will always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about, and I chose you at random to get this note. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. It is almost 6:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. If someone had told me that I would be up, awake (by choice) and looking forward to coffee, a granola bar and church at this hour, I would have never believed it. There are a lot of things I do these days I never thought would be "me". And, since I have entered into this "Love Notes" experience, I am being tasked with opportunities to "do" Love that I haven't seen in many years. I believe that this time spent focused more on Love is making me useful. Wow... useful is good. Maybe, if I continue on this path I will become more reliable to model God's Love at what could be a tipping point for someone. Whatever the case, I may end up doing "Love Notes" for longer than the thirty days I committed to because it is helping me so much. The first day or two, I was wondering if I would be able to keep it up for thirty days. Now I am wondering if I should ever stop. Well, that's my love letter to you; thank you for reading. May God bless you and enrich your life. Of all the people I could have mailed this "Love Note" to, I chose you. Your name was picked at random, but I am certain it wasn't by chance. Sincerely, Learning about Love |
Love and Self
Hello, I have written you a letter I will call a "Love Note". You're getting this "Love Note" because I want to be better at Love and help other people learn about it as well. I will write and send a "Love Note" like this to a different person each day for thirty days. It is important for me to focus on my personal experience with Love, not give advice, direction or suggestions. For this reason, my "Love Notes" will always go to someone I have never met and know nothing about, and I chose you at random to get this note. We are strangers, but I am hopeful that what I write will somehow have meaning to you. Love is frequently associated with gooey romance, chick flicks, happily ever after, physical attraction, gifts or saying yes when we should say no, and often our definition of Love ends there. Agape Love, the kind of Love shown by Mother Theresa, Christ, and someone who gives their life for a friend, is what I want to be better at, and it often requires me to consciously resist my self-preserving instincts. Obviously, I haven't given up my life for a friend, but at times I have said kind words about someone who has purposely tried to damage my reputation, which definitely goes against my grain. On occasion, I have resisted the urge to mistreat, ignore or insult someone who has treated me badly, and that is not my first instinct because I have been blessed (or cursed) with a quick wit. Now and again I respond to an uptight stranger by letting them go ahead of me in line or offering a smile rather than mirroring their attitude, which can be hard or easy depending on my focus. Sometimes I decide not attack when being attacked, and respond with a posture of helping instead (because a person who is in attack mode is clearly in emotional distress). I only wish I would remember to respond in Love usually instead of sometimes. I am better with this than I used to be. I do find it easier to "behave myself" if I start my day reading or listening to audio books or podcasts on uplifting topics. I am a follower of Christ, so I get a lot of clarity by starting my day with prayer and from Christ inspired audio and books. I also find books by authors like Jim Hunter and Ken Blanchard helpful. These guys teach the principles of service and Love as the most effective way to lead and inspire people (this keeps me properly focused at work). I find that if I don't start my day with positive input, and renew my commitment to this mission of being better at doing Love daily (sometimes more often), that I generally will not behave the way I know I should to meet my goal of being better at Loving others. I'm not sure why I went in the direction I did with this "Love Note", but I will assume it was for a reason and I hope it brightened your day. Of all the people I might have mailed this "Love Note" to, it was your name and address I chose. Even though your name was picked at random, I am certain it wasn't by chance. May God bless you and keep you, Learning about Love |
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