Love

Never date a tennis player: Love means nothing to them.

Well I was a tennis player, and in some ways, I still am. I don't think the word love means anything to any of us anymore.


"I love otter pops," "I love soda," "I love driving,"I love video games." "I love you"


Love. A mere four letter word. Its definition has been distorted over the years and through American culture. The word is overused, underestimated, and its once powerful definition now means nothing, but a strong fondness. It's a word that can be used to describe your strong positive opinion of a food item and in the next sentence can vaguely describe your feelings toward a special someone.


Love.


I overuse it. I said it when I didn't mean it. I've cheapened its meaning, and now I'm convicted of it. Every time I use it, it means less every time. Someone recently told me that the more times I use a pickupline or compliment, the more meaning it loses...


I mean... Love means something. It means everything. Everyone has their own opinion of it, but I think from what I've surmised from over the years, it's the most important thing.. But I can't really put my finger on exactly what it means.. At least at this point in the entry.


What is love.. It is underestimated and is over complicated. Let's take a look at what some children's definitions (some intentionally left for silliness):


"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8


When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4


"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5


"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6


"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4


"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss" Emily - age 8


"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," Nikka - age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7


"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6


"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore," Cindy - age 8


"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night." Clare - age 6


"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4



"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget," Jessica - age 8




"There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 8


See? Children get it... I couldn't come up with such pure innocent answers. Am I overthinking? I don't know.. Probably.


"Life makes love look hard"

-TSwift



Love has charcteristics found in 1 Corinthians 13.. Let's look at what love is





Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.


That means hate is mean, envies, boasts and is arrogant. It is RUDE. It insists on its on way, it is irritable resentful rejoices at wrongdoing, rejoices in deception, hate does not bear all things, Hate does not believe, hope and endures all things.


Wow. I hate people. There a few things I do need to work on to love more effectively.


I want the people I love to know and feel those three words and know that they are true when I say them and when they hear them. I don't want to cheapen love. Not even the word. I will make a whole-hearted effort to, even jokingly, hate less and love more, and not use the word excessively.


God is love. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. A self-less unconditional love. Wow. I don't deserve it, and I'm starting to doubt that I'm really capable of it... Yknow.. Loving a real kind of love. But God makes us worthy, right?


Christ is patient and kind; Christ does not envy or boast; Christ is not arrogant or rude. Christ does not insist on His own way; Christ is not irritable or resentful; Christ does not rejoice at wrongdoing but Christ rejoices with the truth. Christ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things endures all things.

Home. Reminiscing. Ordinary Adventures.

That's a weird concept right now. Ha. Home. I'm driving very familiar streets. In the last two days, I've had dinners prepared for me at two different homes (My Mexican Families). I live in Iowa now. That's my residence.


Home is where the heart is. Then I guess I have a couple different homes right? I have a piece of my heart everywhere.


I was driving to the house I grew up in (see what I did there? I didn't call it home) and looked at the clock. "It's 9:58," I thought, "it's pretty early!" So I circled back and just decided to take a drive. It felt great looking at familiar streets.I decided to tour my elementary and middle schools to kill the time and reminisce. It was nostalgic to have mini movies play in my head. Each one was as vivid as watching it on film.


One of the scenarios is where I walk towards the school entrance from my parents' cars giving them a kiss on the cheek and meditating on what the rest of the school day was going to be like. My first day of school. The air so cold I could see my breath, my backpack filled with brand new school supplies and writing utensils I was going to lose in weeks. All of my friends went to another middle school since my parents faked our address to get into the less ghetto. I was going to have to make new friends. I was in a completely different environment. A big school. Harder teachers, and I had no clue what to expect. But at least I had my new mechanical pencils, right? Do you remember that rush, the anticipation, and anxiety of that first day of school? Do you know when I last felt that? It was when I dropped off my dad at the airport after our long road trip to Des Moines, IA. It's that feeling of, "Is this for real?" "Wow, I'm really growing up, huh?"


I continued my drive and I just noticed buildings that have been built, street lines that have been painted, and businesses that were either abolished or replaced. My hometown is going on without me and for the the longest time I have been stagnant in my growth because I was waiting on my hometown. For the longest time I kept rereading the last page in the last chapter and prevented myself from advancing the next one. Life has to go on, and whatever that next challenge God leads me to, I have to take it with open arms (sidenote unlike Jon 'Bones' Jones in UFC 151).


I will always cherish my family and friend-families here in southern California. But Iowa is my home right now. I have new streets to get more familiar with, new roads, and new situations to where I can say "Wow, I'm really growing up, huh?"

Dos And Don'ts in a Filipino Household

1. DO take your shoes off before you enter. I don't know. I mean my household is a little more "Americanized" than most Filipino households... But if they have carpet for SURE take your shoes off. I have only hardwood and tile.
2. DON'T mind that there's a large cup/small bucket in the bathroom. Nobody forgot to put it away. It's supposed to be there. It's called a Tabo (tah-boh).. Americans have toilet paper... Filipinos have that. Just think of it as a poor man's french bidet. 
3. DO notice that we point with our lips. 
4. DON'T sit in a living room if it looks like no one's ever used the furniture (if there are multiple living rooms) because chances are nobody has and nobody will. For decorations
5. DO notice that F's sound like P's. That's a Pilipino accent.
6. DON'T refuse food or drink. Just don't.
7. DO sing karaoke if offered. Come on. It's FUN.
8. DON'T mind if we hug you. We do that.
9. DO cheer for Pacquiao. Seriously. If you love Manny Pacquiao, you're in.
10. DON'T forget to credit any Filipino dos and don'ts if a priendly Pilipino (see what I did there?) did you the favor of posting a blog for you before you meet a Filipino family.