By Kathy Estep, LPCC:

February is the Love Month. My daughter used to call it Singles Appreciation Month! But while we celebrate love, sending greetings and gifts our hearts can ache a bit inside. We, as humans, were created to live in relationships. So as we grow and develop, we form attachments to those close to us. From a baby needing care, to a child on the playground, to a young adult overflowing with romance, our hearts drive us to attach ourselves to others. Often those attachments are with safe and secure people, and we find a safe harbor to weather the storms of life. But sometimes our attachments are insecure, and this can cause emotional and psychological damage. Maybe we ourselves are insecure, wounded and damaged; or maybe we became that way through trauma and unhealthy relationships. This can cause us to live with increased anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. We no longer have a safe place, a secure harbor.

But there is hope. Our counselors are trained to walk clients through recognizing insecure attachments and becoming free from the damage they have done. Even more so, God, our Heavenly Father, longs to pour his love into our hearts, every day.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness.” Jeremiah 31:3.

God’s love is kind and good and trustworthy, full of beauty. In Him we find our best secure harbor, and our safest place.