Rooted and Established....

So I've been stuck on a verse lately (really a whole passage...I love it!!!) and especially with Valentine's Day tomorrow!

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love..."

I want this for our family....like the verse "As for my family and I... we will serve the Lord." And the Lord calls us to love. But what does that look like? It seems to look a lot like the opposite of LAZY...bc "Love, love is a verb!" Jesus states that the greatest commandment is to love God and others. Loving is hard work and nothing we can do without Him. "We love bc God first loved us." At our wedding the word "death" came up a lot...bc love looks a lot like dieing. We have to "die" to our own selfish desires and honor other people before ourselves...even when we are tired and want to be lazy. God calls us to more than that....and it's overwhelming bc I fall short every day. It's humbling bc its so hard to love when a certain someone is throwing a tantrum..."Love is patient, love is kind..." or when someone else won't take a nap despite your efforts...But "love is spelled T-I-M-E" and as we remember how much God loves us and is patient with us in the midst of all of our "fits" and "rebellions" we see His heart for us and our kids.

So I like that there is a "love" holiday to kinda re-evaluate how you're loving God and others. As I approach tom I'm going to ask God to help me show more love to the people in my family and others. I want to show Mike my love by taking the 2 mins it takes to take out the trash instead of taking longer to strategically place a piece on the top of the overflowing can. I want to love our children well and pray that they see Christ in me in the midst of our days. I pray that our family would be "rooted and established in love..." so that we can bear fruit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Love is first on the list!!!) "Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Happy V-Day!!!

"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen"

~Eph. 3:14-21