Love Does.

Patrick said 'I love you' to me for the first time on January 6th (yes, I remember the date) It was exactly a month and one day after we became official and it caught me only slightly by surprise. We were sitting on the big comfy couch in my house and we had just had our first big disagreement and he turned to me, looked me in the eyes and said it. 

It took me a moment or two to process it all but after I got myself together I hugged him and told him that I loved him too. In that moment I felt like I loved him and like he loved me as well but looking back I can say without question, at that point in our relationship the love was purely audible, it wasn't doing. 

I'm currently 22 chapters deep in the book Love Does and I've been reading it for over a month now. It's a small book, with short chapters and I'm a fast reader but there's so much, so much to take in, that I have to digest it slowly. 

Bob Goff has a beautiful writing style one which I've seen bloggers and authors alike try to embody. He uses a story to draw you into an idea and drives it home by attaching it to a relatable and clear concept. In my opinion the book is both genius and simple and has the potential to really impact the way people view love and most importantly Christ. 

One of the reasons why this books speaks to me so clearly, is because I am very skeptical of simply audible love. A love that you can hear but not yet see, one that is relayed through words on a page or lyrics in a song but has yet to bear fruit in your life. Which is why when Patrick first told me he loved me and I said it back, I believed him and I was sincere when I responded but I had yet to see how that love was working in our lives.

I think that in order for love to be real, it has to be a living, breathing, declaration that makes a difference in the lives that it touches. Love Does is filled with stories of action. Stories about a love that shakes tradition and social norms. A love that reaches out to the lost and hurting and aims to do more than just rest in it's comfort. A love that is reckless in it's abandon but yet grounded in the way that it's consistent, it's tried and it's true. 

A love that does. 

Seated on that comfy couch, on a cold day in January, Patrick and I thought that all of those feelings and emotions were true love at it's best. Little did we know the months to follow and the actions that filled them would take our declarations and feelings and solidify them. Our love for each other went from being just words dancing in ears to an active ingredient, visible in every part of our relationship. 

"That's because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn't just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put; love does."