Valentine’s Day will be here soon, and we’re being bombarded with commercials for flowers, candy and jewelry. It’s nice to celebrate Valentine’s Day if you choose too (a girl can always use a nice piece of jewelry…LOL!), but like many manmade holidays it can often be a time of disappointment and loneliness for some. This time last year; the sisters at “The Table” encouraged us about true love, and since they did such a wonderful job—we are rerunning some of their blogs for our special week of “LOVE”!The other day while shopping in CVS, our local pharmacy and other things store, I noticed the color red dominated the store. I thought to myself “My mother-in-law would be in heaven!” She loves the color red. Me on the other hand, not so much. I proceeded to walk down the aisles to see what sales I could find. As I approached the candy aisle, I looked up and saw stacks and stacks of candy wrapped in all sorts of red plastic with hearts. Ahhh Valentine’s Day is upon us! (When I entered the store the red should have clued me in, right?)
Oh, does this day bring back memories for me. From grade school to high school there was always someone asking “Will you be my Valentine”. My response was always the same “Um no, because I don’t like red that much and I don’t eat chocolate”. Yes, I know it was rude but hey what can I say. I didn’t get it. Somehow along my journey I picked up the notion that this day was really about getting candy, red hearts and nothing more. What did love have to do with it when any other time you (the asker) treated me like I didn’t exist…boy please! Keep it moving!
One would think that when I married my husband my view of Valentine’s Day would become somewhat different. Sad to say (well, to some it may be sad) I still feel the same way. Okay, well it’s a little different since the (asker is my husband), but not by much. My husband on the other hand feels a little bit more affectionate towards Valentine’s Day than I do. So I decided to ask him what he thought about the “red hearts and chocolate” day. I wanted to know because we never really celebrated in any particular way other than maybe going out to eat. This is fine by me because I love to eat! Also since I figured I knew his answer it couldn’t hurt.
His response was interesting and surprising to me and I quote…“Valentine’s Day does not hold any real significance in itself to me. All year round I like to show love towards you in the little things that are done. But what this day does do, when I see all the hearts everywhere, it reminds me that I love you. Then again, when I see a heart anytime I feel the same way. Because you have not really showed that you like to celebrate this day then I just follow your lead. So taking you out to dinner has been fine with me.”
Well, knock me over with a feather. He was following my lead. He was showing concern for how I felt about this day. This was eye-opening to me because it brought me to the realization that I may need to re-adjust my thinking. I should also show love to him in little ways all year long because it has benefits for our marriage. Not benefits in the way you may think like him buying me gifts or flowers. The benefits I am talking about are God-inspired benefits.
The benefits of showing love, patience, kindness, goodness and faithfulness and receiving these back in return is a great gift in itself. Galatians 5:22 calls this the “Fruit of the Holy Spirit” which has nothing to do with a particular day. These ‘fruits’ of love are to be shown every day, anytime and anywhere. Yet, I can’t say I always show them consistently enough in my marriage. I do wonder though what it would be like if I did? The good news is that with the power of the Holy Spirit, I still have 330 days left to find out!
His response also made me think of what the Bible says about love. “God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away sin.” 1 John 4:9-10 (NLT)
So if I don’t receive flowers, a card, candy or even a dinner out, I know that God loves me. He showed me in a HUGE way by sending His son to save me. But He also shows me EVERYDAY by just allowing me to see another sunrise and sunset. This is not just given to me but to you also my dear sisters and may we remember this and rejoice!
Until next Time….be blessed,
Rita
Ponnie has a special blog for you single gals on Monday...Valentine's Day! Be sure to tune in.
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