Valentine’s Day was this week and throughout the day I reflected on several types of love. My first thoughts in the morning were thinking of the Agape love God has for us. 

Agape is the fatherly love shown by God towards man. It is thanks to his unconditional love and mercy I have hope in his son Jesus Christ.

There are several chapters in the New Testament which talk about God’s love and how being recipients of his love should make a Christian want to love and live out a life of love. I kissed my wife goodbye for the day and set off for work. 

Cruising through the countryside, I appreciated the beauty spring is bringing soon. A labor of love was on my agenda. 

I had two important profile stories I needed to get written. One is on a nurse who has worked with babies in NICU for her career in nursing. 

It amazes me how people can have such love and care for a baby that isn’t theirs. Likewise, it is such a blessing how nurses and teachers love on people the short time they have them and can make the biggest impact. 

The other profile story I worked on Valentine’s Day is on a longtime educator who served their community above and beyond. It was made possible by a former student whose memories and collection of stories and news clippings made the story possible. I’m so grateful to him for being willing to share what he could on such short notice. 

In the story I saw multiple levels of love. A teacher’s love for their students, a native’s love for their community, a patriot’s love for their country, a husband and wife’s love for each other and a student’s love for their former teacher. 

This year is also the first year I get to celebrate Valentine’s Day with my bride as a married couple. It was a fairly simple day. We had OEC for lunch, it is our go to lunch date and we didn’t have big plans for the night. 

I love my wife. Sometimes, she can be a little head strong and decide to do things on her own even if she might need help. She is also not the best at asking for help. 

I came home and found her sobbing trying to put a window back in its frame. She had gotten locked out and decided the best way in was to use the window. 

I comforted her and worked to get the window back in place. I haven’t been married long enough to give a ton of advice but the first one I can offer is tackle stuff as a team. You are a team, work together and the problem, a popped out window, can be solved. 

My dad also shared a piece of advice with me before I got married this summer. Sit in the mud with your wife. 

Don’t bother her with how to get out of the mud or why they shouldn’t be worried about the mud. Just sit in the mud with them, then you can tackle the problem. 

Love is a lot of different things, expressed in different ways and shown by different people. I hope this Valentine’s Day you were able to find love and show love to others. Not just on one day a year but every day.