letter from the editor
I
in every issue
february 2014 love & marriage
Since the very first February She Magazine issue, the month that we celebrate Valentine’s Day has also been our LOVE AND MARRIAGE ISSUE. In my editor’s letters, I have shared the abundant ways that God has filled my life with LOVE. I have told you about my precious parents, my adorable three children and many friends whom I LOVE and who LOVE me in return. I have proclaimed the LOVE I have for my Savior and His amazing LOVE for me. There’s also the LOVE I have for this magazine and ministry and all those associated with it, including you who are read- ing this. I have even bored you with the little silly things in my life that I LOVE, like my Rowenta iron and pretty shoes and Christmas trees.
I’ve told you that my DaDa called
both my mother and me “LOVE.” I may have even shared that there is a great, great uncle on the Flowers side of my family named LOVE. If you have read many of my letters through the years, you may have figured it out, I love LOVE. I truly believe that LOVE conquers all and, as I stated in my editor’s letter last year, I still believe that LOVE never fails. Oh yes, people fail... but LOVE never fails. One thing is for sure, I have done my part as a member of the human race to promote the name of LOVE via this great voice that God has given me - She Magazine.
In the twelve years (as of next month) that I have pub- lished She, we have printed hundreds of love stories. Yet, I have never been able to share a love story of my own.
In fact, in last year’s LOVE & MARRIAGE issue, I told you that I desired to remain single for the rest of my life and I couldn’t imagine feeling differently. The intimacy I had come to know with my Savior leſt me totally complete in His LOVE, and all I wanted was to spend the rest of my life serving Him and being a mother, daughter, sister and friend. Besides, I had built up walls around my heart so profound that I was sure there would not be a man alive capable of scaling them to find me - or willing to put forth the effort - and I was more than happy with that. End of story.
Not so much.
As it turns out, God had another plan for my life, one that would heal my damaged heart and allow me to open the door to the possibility of LOVE. I never would have believed in a million years that this could happen to me. But it did, and there is hope in that. I am not saying that there is the perfect LOVE out there for everyone, be- cause that is not my call. Sometimes people do choose to remain single, and I understand. I lived that for 3 1/2 years during my separation and divorce. And, the thing is, I was happy. The key is in getting to a place where you are not looking for another person to make you hap- py. Most importantly, I was content and fulfilled in my relationship with God. Maybe the simple answer is that we first have get there - the place where God is enough. Then, and only then are we ready for God to put the right person in our lives... or not.
When I read back over my letter from last year’s LOVE AND MARRIAGE issue, I realized that now I must share my own love story - the one that God gave me, unexpected and unsolicited.
If I discouraged anyone last year, I want to
make that right. I am living proof that we should never, ever close the door on the possibility of LOVE. As we are told in Luke 12:48, “to whom much is given, much is re- quired.”
For me, this means that, because I have been
given a very special giſt of love, I have to share that hope and give Him the glory. And, there is no better time than right here in this issue dedicated to LOVE.
It is really quite a hoot and very much a testimony to the power of God and the power of LOVE, how my love story came to be. I have shared it on page 102 of this issue, and I hope it warms your heart as much as it has mine. I have been so touched by the support of friends and the happiness they truly seem to have for Dan and me. However, since this dear giſt from God came into my life, I must have heard over a hundred times, “What’s going on with you? you look different!” or “You look radiant!” or
other wonderful compliments. So, that tells me I must have had a sadness in my heart that was evident on my face.
I
did not know it at the time, because I felt complete and hap- py where I was. Or, maybe my friend Robin Larrimore had it right when she explained the phenomenon to me. “It is not that you looked sad before; it is that now the blessing is shining through on your face.” I like to think her expla- nation is the right one.
Either way, this letter - along with my personal LOVE story - is about redemption for me. If I aided in any way in pro- moting a spirit of anti-love, I am sorry. Please know that my words came from a place of hurt in my heart. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I harbored the question, “Why ha- ven’t I experienced LOVE as shared between a man and a woman, the way it should be and like my parents shared?” Even though I have known great LOVE my entire life, I had not known the feeling of a Godly man loving me and put- ting me first in his life - second to God, of course. And, though I was happy with being alone, I was not happy that I had missed out on that aspect of LOVE. So, this is my chance to redeem my words and maybe, just maybe, help someone to see that where there is God, there is always the possibility of LOVE.
So, here we go... another LOVE AND MARRIAGE issue filled with stories and romance, LOVE and, of course, hope. I pray that each of you knows the feeling of loving and be- ing loved with all of your heart, in whatever form God has given it to you. Most importantly, know - even if you feel there is not one person on this planet who LOVES you - God loves you. He LOVES you so much that He was willing to die for you. His Word says that there is no greater LOVE than that.
Thanks for reading... It’s a woman thing! Melia Flowers 6 January 2014
shemagazine.com
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