I have people say to me that love is a commitment. And--well--it often takes the expression of commitment, but love is a passion for another...

My dad was speaking to a couple about to make their wedding vows to one another when he said these words (okay--I don't have the tape, so they were probably just words like these words), but last night when they found their way into my thoughts, they were in regards to my children.

I love my children. I really, really do. And I often--regularly--remind myself (and them) of my commitment to them, particularly as we walk together through lessons of obedience, honor, and character development. There are many times throughout any given day when I stir up that commitment so that I drop whatever I am doing to give care or to bring correction.

But I don't often take time to stir up passion for my children. In the busyness of life and due to the many demands of having three children ages three and under, it is far too easy to simply meet the requirements of commitment when, really, my commitment (a commitment initially wrought and founded in passion) should first and foremost spur me towards renewing my passion for them.

So last night, after a draining day and a tumultuous bedtime, I pulled out photo albums. I took my time in looking at the pictures and I re-examined the faces of my children. I marveled at the foretelling of little boy expressions found in photographs of Gabriel as an infant, and I drank in the beauty of my dark-haired, China-doll-skin baby girl all over again. I laughed at the captured waking-after-nap moments, and I recalled the tears of joy I felt when I first was told that I had a baby of my very own... and then when I was first told that I had a daughter of my very own.

When Ryan and Danica stopped in, Ryan wondered what I was doing.

Reminding myself of how happy I was when they were born.

Last night and today, I am purposing to continue stirring up commitment for Gabriel and Brownyn and Jackson--to feed them when they're hungry, to hold them when they're sad, and to discipline them when they're sinful--but I'm also purposing to stir up passion for them.

Because it's true: love without commitment is void of expression, but love without passion isn't love.