A new twist to an age old question ...

Over the weekend, my best friend got married. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was choked up all the way through the ceremony for both her and her new husband. It was affirming to see two people who truly care for one another's well being and sincerely love one another to profess before God and man their commitment to one another to love, honor and obey each other. However, it is what happened the day before the wedding that struck me and is still rattling in my brain as a sign from God not to give up hope for true love ... The day before the wedding, I met the priest that married my best friend off to her new husband. He and I were talking in the sanctuary about the ceremony when he asked me, "So Caryn, when is your big day?" I let him know that there was no big day coming for me anytime soon. He told me I was gorgeous and that just can't be right. Then he took me aback. "How is your love life?" Surely he wasn't asking me about my private life! I answered quite plainly, "It sucks." He then said, "It can't suck because I know there is someone that loves you." Again I answered plainly, "No it pretty much sucks." "Do you love your mother?" "Of course I do!" "What about your dad?" "Yeah." "Brothers/sisters?" "Yeah I love my brother." "See so your love life doesn't 'suck' as you put it. You got a lot of love going on. And if you have that much love happening, then your big day, just like Courtney and David's day is coming when it is time for him to come." And with this notion, I probably smiled one of the biggest smiles possible because I have been keeping the notion of love wrapped up in this little bitty box called "romantic" love when I CLEARLY know that it is much bigger than that. I know that right at that moment, the Lord had the priest redirect my path back towards the right direction. Too often, we see love as only romantic love and nothing past that. My truth is that I do love a lot of people and I love them hard. My issue falls with not feeling like those same people love me just as hard, when I know that some of them do and some of them do not and that is okay, it happens. As long as I love the way I am supposed to love then I do not have to wonder if whether or not I am loved. Just as long as I am. That is all that really matters.