15: 5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

9-10 “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.

(John 15, The Message Translation)

My husband understands.  I’m a barefoot and picnic basket kind of girl. Give me outdoors over a fancy restaurant any day. So, he planned Valentine’s Day with that in mind. We held hands like teenagers and walked around a lake, feeding swans, enjoying the balmy Florida evening. 

Then, as we walked, he pulled out the note section on his phone and said, “Pick a number between 1-15”. And, as I did, he asked a conversation starter question which corresponded to the number—everything from was there anything I regretted about where we’d ended up in life, to what superpower I would most like (flying). He saw the puzzled look on my face, and then said something I will remember for the rest of my life.

“I just want to keep getting to know you.”

After 27 years of marriage, three dogs, road trips with toddlers, graduations, lacrosse games, getting lost in the mountains, dinners that set off all three fire alarms, biking in downtown Paris on accident–he still wants to know my story.

That is love to me. The deep investment into a relationship.

And, almost simultaneously, the abiding Jesus spoke of came to mind. The “why” behind it all. 

The God of all time is deeply invested in knowing you and being known. His love desires us to tether ourselves to Him. 

Even the fruit we bear is a result of this connection, not a constant striving on our own strength.

We remain in His love for the long haul. 

Do that, and the fruit has to come. Because, just like me this past Valentine’s Day, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.