February: 28 Days of Celebrating and Honoring Love

At my place of spiritual worship and church home, Hillside International Chapel & Truth Center, in Atlanta, Georgia, we celebrate every month by honoring and recognizing one of the twelve Spiritual faculties that we each embody as spiritual beings having a human experiences in the physical body. Yet, while living in the physical world on this human journey we are in Truth, and in essence, still children of the Most High God made in His image and likeness which is ultimately....Love. 

As beacons of light and vessels of love what better time of year to celebrate, honor and remember our true essence, and the highest power and energy in the universe, than February, the month of love. This is also the same reason and purpose I created and named this blog Inspirational Love Notes. 

That being said, all of my Inspirational Love Note messages to you this month will be focused on celebrating and honoring our love as always. However, I'll be turning up the love light notch to just a little bit higher vibration than usual all this month to ensure that you really feel it and hopefully inspire you to raise the love light vibration in your heart this month as well. 

I'd like to begin by sharing the following quote from today's message from my church homes monthly publication booklet of spiritually based inspiring messages called, The Daily Thoughts from the Hill. 

"The more we delve into the spiritual idea that all of life is connected and birthed of the same spiritual substance, the easier it will be to see our relationships as spiritual practice-even the challenging ones. Our relationships are perfect mirrors for us to see ourselves. They show us where we need to grow, where we are holding judgment, where we have forgiven, and where we have not. Everyone in our lives is there for a divine purpose."  

So as we kick off celebrating the month of love, now four days in, let us also use this month to take a good look in the mirror...the mirror of our closest, most intimate relationships, including and especially our most important relationship of all...our relationship with self. 

As you look in that mirror allow yourself to see and accept the truth that is being reflected back at you through that relationship with your spouse, romantic partner, significant other, or mate and the relationships you have with close friends, family and co-workers as well. 

They all have some kind of important and essential message or lesson they bring for your personal and spiritual growth. And while some of them may be challenging to be a part of, they are on your life path to help you learn, realize or change some aspect about how you perceive, approach or respond to life and love. So as as you look in that mirror look with compassion and know that it's not one sided because you are on their life path to contribute to their personal and spiritual growth and development as well.

Don't be afraid. Go look in that relationship mirror before this day is done with an open heart and non-judgmental mind. You might be surprised to discover just how long love has been trying to get your attention through that particular relationship. Likewise, you might be equally surprised to realize what life and love has been using your most challenging relationships to try to tell you or get you to see something very important about yourself and your own perception of love. 

Until next time...I surround you in LOVE & light! So remember to always keep your heart open and let your love light shine bright. 



A One Love Production
By Anna M. Hendricks
Copyright 2014
References: Daily Thought from the Hill, February 2014 issue, 
Hillside International Chapel & Truth Center

Love Lesson's101: You Can't Receive the Blessin's Until You First Learn the Lesson's

The wisdom of the message on the above attached image sounds like simple common sense at first glance. Yet the statistics showing the astounding number of broken homes and families torn apart due to the increasingly alarming number of break ups, sparations and divorces is evidence that says, far too many of us are missing the boat when it comes to really understanding that, "good relationships don't just happen". They obviously take more mental, spiritual, and emotional time, attentiveness and investment, than the impatient, "drive-thru", society we've become is clearly willing to make for the sake of saving love anymore.

It both seems to me and deeply saddens me that we now live in a age where maximum results are expected in love and life with minium effort invested. Likewise, it's become too easy to throw in the towel and walk way when life and especially love don't seem to be progressing at the warp speed our, "microwave mentality", society has now conditioned us to adopt the new accepted way of living and approaching life and unforuntately...Love.

So I used my poetic license to creatively share some insights I've come to learn and appreciate from lessons taught by my life experiences with love and relationships. Some of those insightful lessons came very easy for me to quickly see, understand and apply. Yet, there were a few that felt like I was an oyster irritated by the sand trapped in its shell. 

Still, as frustrating as it was while going through those love lessons being learned, the blessings that have come as a result having those challenging experiences are priceless.
You see, my experiences in love that felt like the aforementioned analogy of the oyster and the sand came to bless me not hurt me though they felt deeply painful at the time. 

What I now know on a level of profound understanding within my being is that the oysters reaction to the undesirable, unwelcomed irritation he endures from the trapped sand in his shell, is what ironically produces his valuble string of pearls. We metaphorically call those precious gems pearls of wisdom.  Hence the title for my Inspirational Love Note for today, Love Lessons 101: You Can't Receive the Blessin's Until You First Learn the Lesson's.  

If you have a good relationship and you know it, be willing to invest the time, patience, and effort it takes to not just maintain it but sustain it. While you're at it, don't forget to sprinkle it with lots mutual affection, which means expressing your love in words, actions AND deed. 

Listen with your ears NOT your ego and an open heart of compassion and understand. Always be kind and considerate to one another. Disagree without being disagreeable (there is a BIG difference). 

Focus more on your commonalities not your polarities. Be willing to be wrong sometimes. Also, be more concerned about how you make your partner feel than you are about being right. Remember you always have a choice to be right or be happy. So what good does proving that you're right if the end result is you being alone at night. 

Never take each other for granted. Always do little things together to help you remember what sparked your initial attraction that led to you falling in love in the beginning. Spontaneously leave each other hand written Love Notes on any given day of the week to keep the element of surprise alive and keep each other inspired by your mutual love.

Be attentive to each others needs and desires. Show your level of commitment by showing genuine interest in the dreams, passions and personal interest of each other in order to get to know each other better. Never stop having a genuine thirst to learn more about each other. 

No matter how long you've been together you can never know everything about a person and assuming you do is just another form of taking your partner for granted. Anything you really want to understand you must study and this truth applies to your personal relationships as well. So study your partner like a good book you enjoy reading and can't put down. 

Remember, just like anything in life you desire to succeed at, love is a full-time that requires the full-time effort of both people involved. So you must be willing to make your relationship a top priority and bring your A game even after the honeymoon phase is over. Which means, don't bring half-hearted effort to a full-time job. Think about it this way, when you prayed for someone special to enter you life you expected God to send his best. Therefore, be willing to always give your best to your relationship and your partner because they are the answer to your prayer and God's gift to you. Which brings me to my next point.

Never take any opportunity to love and be genuinely loved in return lightly. It is always a blessing from God that should be held closely and treated with an attitude of gratitude. This is wisdom it would especially behoove you to take heed to in the rare occasion you are doubly blessed to no only have an opportunity to love and be loved but to share this experience with someone who is a really good person that truly loves you, and accepts you as all your area's that still need work, wholly and completely.  

Lastly, remember this if nothing else you've read here today, a love that grows is a love that knows how to accept responsibility and take accountability for your part active participation in creative whatever the relationship has become. Therefore, pride has no place in a relationship where the mutual goal is to win the race.  Admit when you've made a mistake and remember that words have the power to heal or kill. 

So always choose your words carefully and speak to each other respectfully because the long-term damage caused by a temporary angry outburst is not worth the expensive price you later end up paying at the expense of the broken trust, emotional distance and break down in your bond your relationship will suffer. Keep in mind the wisdom of Proverbs 14:1, Homes are made by the wisdom of women, but are destroyed by foolishness. 

So instead of arguing and bickering all the time, a better alternative is to not take yourself, each other, or life so seriously. Spend lots of time having quiet pillow talk to increase you intimacy (which doesn't necessarily mean it has to lead to sex all every time). Laugh a lot with other and at each other. Never stop praying with each other and for each other daily. After all, a family that prays together really does have a better chance at staying together. 

And I save this one as my absolute final love lesson because I just can't emphasis it enough. A love and relationship that thrives, not just barely survives, is one that knows forgiveness is the key and actively practices forgiving one another constantly. 
So if you think you have a good thing standing before you and you still genuinely love each other despite all you've been through. Then never give up...never say die....never let go...never say goodbye. God is still well able because He's still the Most High. So keep you heart open...put your trust in God...and give love one more try. 

Until next time...I surround you in LOVE & light! So always keep your heart open and let your love light shine bright. 


A One Love Production
By Anna M. Hendricks
Copyright 2014
Reference: Holy Bible, Good News Translation, http://www.biblegateway.com/