I am so grateful for good days! I am grateful for places that feel like home to me. I am grateful for people who accept me for who I am. Brene Brown says that love and acceptance can’t exist without each other. She says she’s surveyed thousands of people about defining love, and acceptance is a term that has repeatedly been used in the definition. I agree with her research. To me, love is acceptance, but I would add that in addition to acceptance, there also exists a hope to obtain potential and growth as well. When you love someone, you accept them for who they are, but also hope for them to grow and become all that they can become. You put them in your prayers, you take action to help set them up for success, you encourage and cheer them on. It’s interesting to think that the first and greatest commandment is to love God. Accept Him. Know Him. We’ve also been commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. That implies that we accept ourselves for who and where we are at this point in our lives, but also hope and prepare for reaching our greatest potential, and then do all that also for the people around us. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Isn’t this what He does for us, loves us, accepts us for where we are, but hopes in us to become all that we can?
Forever grateful for little lessons along the way.
