Love Language: Love Tank

Did you know that there are 36 definitions of love in the Urban dictionary?  Thirty-six!  How is that possible?  Is it really that complicated? 

C.S. Lewis wrote a wildly popular book called The Four Loves in which he described the different stages of love such as storge, philios, eros and agape.  I can deal with four.

I actually read this book years ago and was so interested in Lewis as an author that I read the book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis.  This story recounts how C.S. Lewis met and married his wife.  The book takes the reader through their relationship from the friend zone all the way to the agape level as he cared for her while she suffered through cancer and ultimately passed away. 

Speaking of good books, I read recently that the entire Bible can be summed up by one word, Love.  Can I get an Amen?

God IS love! 

True love requires sacrifice as demonstrated by C.S. Lewis and obviously by Jesus who suffered and died on the cross for people like you and me.  

Practically speaking, how do we love others around us?  How do we receive love?  The five love languages has become a popular way to learn just that.  Just between us friends, for years, I thought it was a little hokie.  I mean, everyone likes gifts, and everyone likes to be told they are awesome, and everyone likes to be waited on hand and foot.  Am I right? 

Put me down for ALL FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES, thank you very much. 

This is true, but as I have learned through parenting, we actually do have one particular language in which we LOVE to be loved!  

The more I really got to know my children, the more I saw that they each received love in different ways.  I also noticed that this is also how my children liked to show their love to me and their dad.  I have one that loves quality time.  She lingers at the dinner table if she has our ear.  She will always ride in the car to run an errand if given the opportunity.  Knowing this about her has allowed me to not rush these moments like I may otherwise.  I have learned to give that extra time at the dinner table or over morning coffee.  It is how she charges and fuels her love tank.

 My youngest actually asked me for two years to put love notes in her lunch.  I resisted as this went against my parenting philosophy of keeping the bar low.  No, really.  I’m a huge believer in keeping expectations realistic in the age of pinterest.  Look, my children are never let down.  If anything, they are giddy when we do anything remotely “over the top!”  Back to the lunch love notes-after the second year of such a request, I realized that this child needed words of affirmation from her mama.  What joy this baby gets from the simplest of notes mid-day.  As it turns out, her tank needs fueling around noon. She needs to read how special she is to me.  She needs to know I am praying for her during the day. Last year, this same child made me an Advent gift with 25 days of words of affirmation.  Truly, this is her language. 

As we read in 1 Corinthians, “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 

How do you love your family, friends, neighbors and strangers?  I’d love to know!