By Susann George

We talk about love, we think about love, we want to be loved, and we want to give love.  Books are written about it and songs are sung about it.  The word 'love' has found a place in our everyday sayings:  head over heals in love, puppy love, love is in the air, love sick, all's fair in love and war, love at first sight, love is blind, love makes the world go around, etc. 

For all the talk of love it seems to elude most people. 

Some buy into the idea that what someone can give them determines love and that 'if it cost more I must be loved more'. A 2009 Valentine's Day advertisement encouraged the purchase of expensive jewelry for that special someone.  It read, "Flowers - so 2008", giving the message that it will now require more than a bouquet of roses -dipping further into your pocket will be the only true expression of love.  Parents are striving to gratify their children and show their love by giving them expensive things.  Yet emptiness remains.

Some trust their heart for guidance in love, only to find that their heart misguided them.  A recent Today's Christian Girl newsletter spoke of consecrated Pentecostal girls who listen to their heart when they meet a boy outside the church and their heart deceives them.  It's not always a young person who is deceived - as a pastor's wife I've witnessed many over the years who have listened to their heart and have ended heartbroken.  In a broader scope, our nation is contemplating redefining marriage and that marriage itself is becoming obsolete.   Jeremiah reminds us that 'the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?'

I can tell you the answer to that...there's only One who can know it.  The One who is love. 

And the only way, as Daughters of Zion, that we can be sure of our heart 's guidance is to know that we are in His will.  And the only way we can know we are in His will is by knowing His Word; knowing what His 'love letters' say...things like humility, modesty, forgiveness, tenderheartedness, respect, compassion.  These are the things of true love.

Yes, some search continually for love in all the wrong places; but when we find that true love then, and only then, can we help our children and others find it.

Editors Note: Susann George is Ladies Ministries President of Iowa. She loves the revival church she attends - the Apostolic Assembly in Anamosa, Iowa, where her husband, Clayton, is pastor.  In addition to Clayton, she loves her five daughters, three sons-in-law, and her two grandchildren. 

By Denise Wynn

Nearly two decades have passed since I embarked on the journey of motherhood.  Aaron, my firstborn, was an amazingly sweet baby who met every milestone (whether big or small) with smiles, giggles and joyous victories. From crawling, walking, talking, reading and writing to everything else a child is supposed to learn, he mastered it all with ease. Days turned into years as I watched him with pride and joy, grow into a smart, compassionate, funny, handsome and truly beautiful human being. Loving Aaron has always been as natural as breathing, easy and effortless, and I never imagined that loving a child could hurt until my second baby boy was born.     

Sean entered the world and was diagnosed with a rare seizure disorder. It was with sheer panic that I watched him have seizure after intense seizure, resulting in severe mental retardation and later a diagnosis of Autism.  There were so many ambulance rides and hospital stays where all I could do was sit in shock and pray for God to spare my baby's life, unable to comprehend how He could allow such a tiny human being to suffer that much. Loving a child with profound disabilities can hurt beyond belief. It is an excruciating, yet indescribable pain that cannot be penned on paper and causes me to ache in places I didn't even know existed.

When loving hurts and doubt and disappointment rise up within my heart, I fall into the strong arms of the One who is acquainted with sorrow.  He scoops me up and gently rocks me back and forth, as I have so many times rocked my own children. He reminds me of the agonizing act of love He endured as he hung on the cross to bear all of our grief. In those times, I am once again awestruck by His amazing all-sufficient grace.  As I lay my head on His shoulder and rest in His love, I am assured that His peace will shelter both me and my precious boys. 

Editors Note: Denise Wynn is the Ladies Ministry President of the NJ/DE district.  She and her husband Gary live in Newfield, where together they pastor Cornerstone Christian Life Center.