Love

Scripture: Psalm 34:18

Love didn't leave all at once. It faded quietly—settling into empty chairs, unanswered phones, and the habits the heart is slow to unlearn. This chapter begins not with romance, but with what remains after it ends, and the slow, honest work of learning how to hope again.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:11

I chased urgency instead of intimacy, mistaking intensity for connection and being needed for being loved. This chapter reflects on the hard lessons that come from loving without safety—and the clarity that arrives when you finally learn what love is not.

Scripture: Proverbs 4:23

There comes a moment when love stops asking you to explain yourself and starts asking you to protect yourself. This chapter reflects on learning the difference between patience and self-abandonment—and how boundaries became an act of respect, not rejection.

Scripture: Lamentations 3:31-33

There is a loneliness that comes from being alone—and another that comes from betraying yourself to stay connected. This chapter is about choosing the first, and learning why it hurt less in the end.

Scripture: Proverbs 25:28

I used to believe love meant showing up more, giving more, and trying harder. This chapter reflects on learning how restraint, presence, and responsibility reshaped the way I relate—without abandoning myself in the process.

Scripture: Psalm 62:8

After the boundaries were drawn and the noise faded, what remained wasn't peace—it was grief. This chapter explores the quiet weight of loss, doubt, and the exhaustion that comes from surviving love without collapsing into it.

Scripture: Psalm 68:5

Before I understood love as connection, I learned it as survival. This chapter reflects on how childhood shaped my instincts, how self-reliance filled the gaps, and how becoming a parent transformed the way I understand love, family, and legacy.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Somewhere between solitude and hope, love softened into something quieter. This chapter reflects on friendship, patience, and the kind of connection that doesn't rush to define itself—but still chooses to stay.

Scripture: Romans 15:13

I didn't decide to hope again—it simply showed up. This chapter reflects on the quiet return of openness, confidence, and trust after a long season of restraint, grief, and waiting.

Scripture: Isaiah 49:15

Love growing up wasn't something I felt consistently—it was something I observed, survived, or interpreted through absence. This chapter explains how provision, distance, and unpredictability shaped the way I learned to understand love.

Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:8

Before I ever dated anyone, love felt simple. It meant providing, supporting, and showing up responsibly. This chapter explores how that definition formed early—and how its simplicity later revealed both strength and limitation.

Scripture: Psalm 27:10

I was still a child when I learned that needing someone didn't mean they would stay. This chapter reflects on abandonment, longing, and the moment emotional self-reliance stopped being a choice and became a necessity.