Love, puppies & thru-hikes.

Mom and I went to a dinner (beautiful night about their work to walk alongside young moms and their sweet babies) and the speaker was Dr. Gary Chapman. If you know me you know that one of my favorite questions is "what's your love language?" so hearing Gary speak live was a phenomenal moment for me.

He spoke on The 7 Traits of Love and man oh man did it speak truth & conviction to my heart. Here's a brief outline of what Dr. Chapman shared: 

Love is a way of life. 

A loving person will live a life marked by: 

Kindness. 

They will choose actions and words that benefit others. 

Regardless of how the other person is treating them. 

(This one definitely convicted me the most. Especially when he asked us to think about what kind action we did today. I'm sure I did something kind today but instead I'm realizing all the times  I missed an opportunity to have extend a helping hand). 

Patience. 

They will chose to be accepting of the imperfections of other. 

Forgiveness. 

They will chose to find freedom from the grip of anger through forgiveness. 

One of my favorite quotes by Dr. Chapman is "forgiveness is a choice not a feeling." 

Courtesy.

They will choose to be friendly minded. Treating others as if they were their friends. 

Humility. 

They will be willing to step down so others can step up. 

Generosity. 

They will be giving with their time, abilities and money. 

Honesty. 

They will be honest, caring enough to tell the truth. 

There's tremendous satisfaction for me in checking something off a list. So I love these seven things because it makes me think, "all I have to do is be kind and open doors for people and then I can feel accomplished & be good." 

But that's pretty selfish because it's just about me. 

It has nothing to do with Jesus and it's not about the people I'm supposedly serving.  

It's about me. 

Instead I pray my heart is about JESUS. 

That my daily goal is to honor Him by truly loving His people. 

I pray that He enables me to love people richly, deeply and freely.

Because that's God's heart for us...that we know how deeply, richly, freely & wild His love is for us.

Xoxo, 

Becca 

 P.S: 

My two years of serving, loving, learning & growing in South America has come to a close and a new season of growth is beginning for me on North American soil as I figure out what life back "home" looks like.

Lot's of love!!