Lenten Challenge, Day 9: Love

I love that every time I think I have love figured out, it surprises me with its many shades once again.

When I was little, and my mom would tell me she loved me, I would answer with, "I love you more." I always balked at her "not possible" response because, well...I was a kid. I thought I knew everything. Then I became a mother. In those first weeks of Gavin's life, I remember telling my mom, "I get it now. I know you love me more."

I remember thinking how I couldn't possibly love Ryan any more than the day we said our vows, and then I saw him being a Daddy to our little guy and fell in love with him all over again.

And almost a year ago, when I was so worried about how I could possibly love another child as much as I loved Gavin, Bennett entered my life and my heart expanded instantly. And the love I thought I knew Gavin was capable of? Well that expanded instantly, too, which is probably why this will be my favorite picture of my boys for as long as I live:

If that's not true love, I don't know what is.

But the thing that never gets old about love, is how much it's in and under and around all the little everyday things in our lives. Snuggles with a sleepy baby, a game of candyland with a big boy, thank-you cookies from a neighbor because you snowblowed their driveway.

They're there, every day. It's just that sometimes we fail to notice them. But that's what we're here to do, right? To love and be loved.

Love is everything.