http://wallpoper.com/images/00/38/44/32/sand-hearts_00384432.jpg
Yes, it is that time again. Valentines day. I have one horrid memory and one glorious one I would like to share.
At our high school we had a system where students could buy red or white carnations for each other, at valentines day. If I am totally honest I was one of those who longed for someone to secretly admire me and buy me a carnation. As friends we bought each other one and my brother used to buy me one to. I am sure I received one or two red ones but I just remember the scary anticipation of seeing if I would be considered. Now I get that this , in part is because of my history around being loved etc but I would bet that many people feel a little like I did.
My other Valentines day memory is one that happened 13 years ago, today at around 6 o'clock. While eating a valentines day dinner, at home with Doug, my waters broke and it was indeed time to give birth to our first child, a son. Little did I know that this glorious child would only be born on the 16th , but at that time, all the joy and hope and anticipation had come to this one point. Child Birth.
I know many who say that Valentines day is all money making and that it is. But I like to swing another angle on it. In our home we like to celebrate love. Always !! and this is a day we focus on it. The love I am talking about is not necessarily romantic love although it is between Dougie and I but it is also the love I feel for my boys and the love God has lavished on us in his son Jesus. I always make something special and this year I used the remainder of the salt Dough from Tuesday's Kids@The Studio and made red hearts. They are not quite ready and thats ok. :) I bought the boys a heart chocolate for the lunches and have something in store for Dougie:)
I think I like to emphasis , for us, on this day, the love and hope we have in Jesus and really like to remind each other of what life is all about. Yes, it is hard to always act in a loving way towards fellow man and all the reality of life in this fallen world holds true for us too. But I just like to celebrate and take what the world has to offer and claim it back for ourselves in Jesus!!
Happy Valentines day. Know that you are loved by your creator and he showed you this by dying for you, in your place, on that cross. Trust him for his love and care for you. This is the true and only real forever valentine.
Yay!! Glad that I'm not alone in enjoying all kinds of opportunities to celebrate lurve! I also longed for a rose as our school did a similar public thing. Not wise in my opinion given it mostly just highlighted the superficial things our society holds up as admirable. And of course is a huge catalyst for all sorts of negative experiences and emotions. For the record, I never got one of those school roses! But now, as a mom, I enjoy this day for all the fun things we can do around it and the opportunity to talk about the love of Christ and how His love makes all the little V-day things we try pale in comparison to His glory!
ReplyDelete