Butterfly Kisses

One afternoon after Christmas, I was sitting on my bed with my 4 year old niece, Audrey.

I would have been fine shutting my eyes and taking a nap, but Audrey was insistent we play a game. The first "game" was called birthday. She instructed me on the rules. One of us was supposed to yell, "It's your birthday!" to the other and then hand the other a series of pretend gifts and, as the other opened the gift, tell them what it was they were opening. Once the first person's birthday was over, the roles reversed, and the game continued. During this game, for my "birthday", I received a hippopotamus, a car, a house, and a stuffed bear. That little girl sets the gift giving bar very high.

After we ran out of energy from unwrapping our very large gifts and giving enthused reactions, Audrey said it was time for a new game. This one was a bit simpler. It was called "sleeping beauty." We were both supposed to be princesses. However, one had fallen into a deep sleep and couldn't be woken (I think Disney may own the rights to this one) except by a kiss on the cheek from another princess (that part may be a little different). Once the princess was woken from her deep sleep, the other princess fell into dreamland, and the game continued. I think you have it figured out.

After about fifteen minutes of this game, I needed a break. Mostly because I didn't want to lay my head down on the pillow again and have to "wake up" before my head rested on the pillow for at least an hour.

Looking to change the subject, I asked Audrey if she had heard of butterfly kisses before. She giggled at the name and told me no. She wanted to learn. She giggled even more when I quickly blinked my eyelashes next to her cheek. Audrey gave me a butterfly kiss and wanted many more herself, giggling more each time.

She looked at me and, in a sweet little voice through a smile, said, "Aunt Kelly, where did you learn about the butterfly kisses?"

I paused and thought. I honestly could not pinpoint the moment. The 1996 Bob Carlisle song was the only specific thing that came to mind. I told her I didn't know. That didn't seem to bother her too much, though. She replied, "I like butterfly kisses".

We continued our game of "sleeping beauty",  but this time exchanged the magic smooches for fluttering eyelashes and lots of giggles.

When I told Audrey I had to go back home to Tulsa the next day, she frowned and said, "But how can I give you butterfly kisses if you go home?" I choked back my tears and told her butterfly kisses were good over face time too. The smile came back to her face.

Today marks one month until February 14, Valentine's Day, a day celebrating love itself. Where is it, though, that we learn to love?

When I think back through my life, I have been shown love in so many ways by so many people and, in turn, have been blessed with so many people to give back the love I have been given.

Maybe part of it starts the moment we are born. I am not a mother, but I am told there is nothing like the new love you feel when you first hold your baby in your arms. From the moment we are first introduced to love, I believe it continues to be all around us. We just have to look for it.

Love can be expressed in so many different ways- a hug, a kiss, a conversation, a note, a laugh, time spent, a whispered prayer, a selfless gesture to a stranger, a smile, or a helping hand to name a few. I believe love can be shown to people we hold the closest and also to those we have never met.

The truth is, as believers, we have someone who loved us before time began. Someone who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could live. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

I can't even fathom this kind of love. The Creator of the universe chose you and me, even in our darkest places. He has loved us to life in Him if we will accept the love he lavishes on us through the free gift of salvation.

As we walk through our lives, no matter how long or how short they may be, we have an example to follow. We can learn to love even in the hardest of circumstances or with the most seemingly difficult people by turning to Christ and learning how to love and gaining strength to love through Him.

1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us."

As daughters and sons of Christ we are called to share His love throughout the world in response to the selfless love he has and continues to show us. That kind of gift and that kind of love are meant to be shared. It's one of those things that is just too good to keep to yourself.

There is nothing like the joy the Lord brings when we share his love with others. The joy the Lord brings when we are obedient to his command to love one another is so sweet.

A part of my small group study last week focused on the love of Christ. It mentioned Jude 1:21 which says, "Keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ." In the study, Beth writes, "That means practicing the mindset of being profusely loved by God....Actively engaging in his unending, extravagant, no-stings-attached affection for you is not narcissism. It's necessity. It can mean our survival when loving the loveless."
 
Wherever you may be this very day and whoever you are with, I hope you know you are loved. Because you are. Very much. Profusely. We all are. You are loved by the King. The Creator who loved us first and gave his life so we, too, could share this love shown to us with each step we take.

How do we love? By seeking to selflessly share the love of Christ and the truth of the gospel through our words and actions with those placed in our path each day. Where do we learn to love? From the One who first loved us.