I used to have a cupboard full of mugs. Mugs make great gifts and I was on the receiving end of quite a few. My friends know how much I like tea! But after my husband passed away I had to drastically downsize, so I was only able to keep a limited number of my many mugs. Among the favored few was this one:

I chose to keep this one because I frequently gave it to my husband to use. I served him tea or hot chocolate in this mug on the days I especially wanted to express my affection for him and my appreciation of him, and always on Valentine’s Day. Now it holds my memories.

Valentine’s Day is not easy for me. My husband was a romantic. Often Paul would bring me flowers if he thought I needed encouragement or just because he felt like it. My favorites were the wildflowers he would find and actually pick for me. Because of his romantic nature, he did Valentine’s Day well. One year he put together a cassette tape of all our favorite love songs. (Later he transferred it to a CD so we could continue listening to them.) Another special Valentine’s Day actually began five days prior to the 14th. Every night when I went to bed I found a gift waiting for me on my pillow. No wonder I loved him and needed his love.

I am the one using that mug now, but I view it a little differently. That bedraggled, pathetic looking cartoon cat with the needy, begging eyes is still in need of love. Of course, that somewhat vulnerable cat is a picture of me. My heart still cries out, “I need Your love”. In reality, it’s something we all need. We all cry out for love. The question is where do we find it. The answer is we can only truly find it in God. It is His love that we really need, and it is His love that will satisfy. His love satisfies, because it is a sacrificial love, it is a sustaining love, and it is a supreme love. Consider the greatness of God’s love as you read these Scripture verses:

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love–not that we loved God, but that he loved us and gave his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. –1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. –Romans 5:8 (NLT)

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries for tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. –Romans 8:38 (NLT)

May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully… –Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLT)

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! –Lamentations 3:22 (NLT)

The love of a spouse as well as the many friendships and loving relationships we experience are gifts from God and blessings from above. Indeed, we need to develop and cherish them. But each of these relationships, whether it be family or friend, is temporary. And when that time of separation and loss comes, we can rely on the love of God to see us through into eternity.

Be on the lookout for my next blog: I NEED YOUR LOVE–2 (or I need your love, too)