Hands, minds, and hearts

Hands, minds, and hearts...what do these three have in common. Other than being parts of the body, these three things are all used to express love.

With your hands you might express love by:

• Making things for people
• Holding someone steady to keep them from falling
• Pulling someone  to safety
• Embracing in a handshake of brotherly love
• Mending something that is broken for someone

With your mind you might express love by:

• Thinking of words to say to someone sad or grieving
• Creating ideas that will serve to help someone accomplish something more efficiently
• Lending your expertise in a subject to someone who could benefit from it
• Thinking of words of encouragement to express to someone
• Thinking of how to find out what someone needs help with

With your heart you might express love by:

• Welcoming a lonely friend into your home
• Being friendly to a stranger or someone no one seems to be noticing
• Giving up something you have plenty of to someone who may be lacking
• Pouring your heart out in prayer for someone
• Loving unconditionally, through the good times and bad

Today, I stopped and thought about how I tend to express my love quite openly. Love comes in many different forms. For example, there's brotherly love between friends, there's parental love between children and parents, and there's romantic love between a couple. And while these different types of love are shown in different ways, they all don't just happen without effort and putting yourself out there. Love doesn't go "poof" and appear. It must be expressed. I have often wondered why people have so much trouble expressing love. I have come to the conclusion, that people have trouble with expressing love because they don't realize that love is not complex. You can show love in so many ways. With our hands, minds, and hearts we can express love in the simplest of gestures. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all expressed more simple gestures of love? Be open with others and truly show them you care- that's love and chances are when you are openly expressing your love and care, an open expression of love and care will follow from the recipient.

I'm so very thankful that I and those around me are not afraid to express love. Love is the happiest of all expressions. I can honestly say, that I get to experience love from others every day and that makes me one happy man!

That, my friends, is just a few thoughts from a small town southern man!