Notice anything red or pink around the stores lately? Notice the hundreds of heart-shaped cardboard boxes of chocolates? Notice the many jewelry ads in the paper lately? Yup! It’s Valentines Day tomorrow.
For some of us, it is a wonderful day to celebrate love with our spouse or significant other. For children, it comes with cute little valentines given out to schoolmates with frosted sugar cookies in the shape of hearts and little conversation heart candies.
For my husband, Ivan, and me, it is our 43rd wedding anniversary. Forty-three years of wonderful; of highs and lows, of moves, of the joys and challenges of having children, and the many joys of ministry. Forty-three years of “better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, as long as we both shall live.” Period. It wasn’t too long ago that I asked my Ivan what he thought about renewing our wedding vows. He looked intently at me, took my hands and said, “Babe, I meant those vows the first time.” sniff sniff
Now, let’s look a different point of view. There are many who dread this holiday because either they are alone because of divorce, death, or just haven’t found the right Valentine in their life. For these people, they may try to keep out of the stores, not listen to love songs , and just try to ignore all the “love” they see. If that is you, and you are unhappy this week, I want to wish you a day that you feel loved by your family, by friends, and especially the Lord God.
“I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever. For great is Your love toward me; You have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” Ps. 86:12,13
There are also married couples who are barely living in the same house together and this holiday just doesn’t line up with how their relationship looks. It may have been a long time since the words, “I love you” have been said, a hug was given or kind words were uttered. Marriage takes a huge amount of commitment, compromise, patience and adherence to the vows that were said at the wedding. It takes a lot to nurture a lifelong relationship; sensitivity, a desire to have a close bond, and all the things that are spoken about in I Corinthians 13; God’s ideal of love.
This Tuesday, our expert guest on Chained No More Talk Radio is Dr. Rick Marks, a man who is passionate about helping marriages to become all they were meant to be. He will talk about what it takes to nurture a marriage and keep it vibrant and as sweet at those conversational heart candies. Please tune in on Feb. 14 at 2-3 pm ET at www.toginet.com to hear all of Dr. Rick’s practical tools and let him encourage you on that very special day of love.
I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day, whether you are celebrating it with a husband, wife, friend, child, or a neighbor or alone. Give love away and that love will come back to you. Most of all, remember that God loves you, values you, cherishes you, and wants His best for you on Valentine’s Day and beyond.