Welcome to the ULC Minister's Network

Michael Valoppi

A moment to review and then... Are You Ready for Love?

  • A moment to review and then... Are You Ready for Love?

     Greetings To all... may you have joy in your hearts and food in your fridge...



    This has been one hell of a week. Twenty hours on Monday, finishing a replica gingerbread house of the lodge I work at, to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.



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    Then Thanksgiving... We have such a great crew, you guys Rock!... Everyone worked their buts off and we unfolded a wonderful holiday to about 140 people. The Best part was Zach hanging out at the lodge with me, we made pizza and watch "Open Season", a must see animated movie...
     
    Then Friday, a wedding, for one of our own. I couldn't let someone else do the cake...(man I really dislike decorating wedding cakes with cream cheese frosting,), but EK, deserved it :). But it worked and the bride and groom had a wonderful day...
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    A day of play Saturday night with good friends... Hayley came to hang with us, (who stole the show), I so love the woman she is becoming...
    A day of music at home and cleaning with the kids... and now I am here with you... Thanks for showing up. My love and blessings...
     
    Okay, enough about my world, (I am just glad to have survived), Tonight I wish to share a beautiful piece, that I believe, is one of the most translucent portrayals of Love and relationship I have come across in some time...  The Author is unknown, so, I have no one to give credit too. I can still say thank you to whoever, in there minds eye, saw these words unfold from their hands...
     
    This is going out to all those who wonder if where they are is where they should be... and to share this with those you love. May you know love, joy and health on this day... Michael


    Are You Ready for Love?

    A good relationship isn't a game you play or an ego trip you take. It is about love
    and two people. Loving someone can give us the greatest joy we can ever know and
    it can hurt more than we can believe too. When it does not really hurt when that
    person did something disappointing to you, but really hurts when you see that
    person in pain and sadness, then you know you truly love that person.


    Loving someone means you should be ready to experience heartache and happiness at
    the same time. That's the reward and that's the risk. Unless we are willing to
    experience it, we will never really know what it's like to love and be loved.

    Sharing love is probably the most valuable and meaningful experience a person
    can ever have. And there's a difference between being in love with someone and
    loving someone. It's the difference between a love that's fickle, wild and
    short-lived and one that's tender and passionate, nurturing and lasts a long time.
    The first is easy. The second, the one that really matters to all of us, takes
    work -- because it's about keeping a relationship.

    Loving someone takes efforts. We have to be able to communicate with each other.
    Nobody can read anyone else's mind. We always presume that our partner knows what
    we think and feel. Maybe in time we might be able to predict or sense each other's
    thoughts but it's never perfect and takes time to develop.

    Getting the chance to love and be loved by someone is blessed. Respect
    him/her for who he/she is, and not what you want him/her to be. Everyone
    is pretty and special in his/her own special way. No one is perfect. It is
    true love which closes the gap of imperfectness to form a smooth surface
    of acceptance for each other. True love sees and accepts a person for who
    he/she is. It is also true love which makes a person change for the better.

    The power of true love to a person is undeniable.

    A relationship needs commitments too. What is love without commitments
    from each other anyway? It's like principles and values. Everyone has
    them but they only mean as much as we are willing to stand for them.

    The same goes for our commitments to relationships, and the person we love.

    "Love is like an antique vase. It's hard to find, hard to get, but easy to break."

    Every day everywhere, people fall in love...but just how many of these
    relationships are self-sacrificing love, and not just relationships
    which are formed only for the intense feeling of falling in love?
    I know hundreds of friends who say the magical words "I love you"...
    but more often than not, the truth is just -- I am IN love with you.
    There is a difference between being in love with someone and loving
    someone. If a person says he/she is in love with you, he/she means
    that he/she likes you for who you are now and he/she fell in love
    with you because of the present you.

    This kind of love is temporary and lasts only as long as the fairytale lasts.
    When fairy godmother comes in at midnight to whirl us back to reality, we see
    the heartache of such a relationship...where both were only IN love with each other.

    But if a person says he/she loves you, he/she means that he/she
    loves you unconditionally for who you are now, who you were in
    the past and who you might be in the future. When he/she says he/she
    loves you and really means it, you have to ask yourself if you love
    him/her too or if you're in love with the idea of being in love.
    It is very hard to see the difference through logical thinking.
    Let your heart guide you. May you be blessed on
    your soul-searching journey for your soulmate.

    Author Unknown