Valentine's Day Ambassadors

WARNING: The first part of this post may sound like a Valentine's "Bah Humbug." That's only because it is...but bear with me while I vent about being single in a couple's world, and then I'll try to move to a more optimistic conclusion.

This is what I, rather unaffectionately, call "National Couple's Week." Valentine's Day isn't exactly a holiday that I look forward to. And it seems like every year, all the emphasis on couples and romance just grows...I can't speak for others, but as a single parent, it's pretty much a downer week for me. Turn on the radio; they're holding a contest for a weekend getaway...but only for couples. Go to church...they're selling tickets for the Valentine's banquet. Now, they don't say it's only for couples, but honestly...not really my idea of a good time to go ALONE and sit with a roomful of couples and be reminded that I am NOT part of that. Turn on the TV...stuff to buy your sweetie...unless of course, you're so lame you don't have one.

The Today show even did a piece on How to Celebrate Valentine's Day if You're Single...I confess I didn't hear the whole thing...but here's my condensed version of at least ONE of their ideas:
Go to the store and rent a nice, romantic movie...alone.
Come home and pop up some popcorn and various other goodies...alone.
Sit down and watch a movie about other people in love...alone.
I mean, come on, how lame is that?!? As if I wasn't depressed enough already about being alone, I should pretty much just rub it in my own face?!? Thanks, but I think I'll pass on that...

For me, Valentine's Day also makes me miss my dad...Dad always gave his "girls" (his wife and both daughters) Valentine's, even when we were grown and I had kids of my own...Dad would still give me a card and a heart-shaped box of chocolates...I'd give just about anything for one more box of chocolates from Dad.

Okay, so before I start to depress even people who HAVE a "significant other," maybe I'd better find a point in here somewhere. My point is really just to challenge myself, and others, to use Valentine's Day as a ministry opportunity. What a perfect opportunity, on this day that is all about Love, to share God's love with those who need it.

If you are single (whether you're divorced, never married, or widowed), you may feel like I do about Valentine's day...but how we deal with it is OUR choice. I can mope about and gripe and be in a generally bad mood all week (and believe me, I'm tempted to do just that, I really am...), or I can take my eyes off myself and look for opportunities to make it a good day for others who are also forgotten Valentines.

But, chances are, if you're reading this blog, you're NOT single...well, I have a challenge for you as well. It is certainly appropriate to spend Valentine's Day celebrating your partner, thanking them and God for the love that you have together. But don't waste the opportunity to share God's love with others who may be feeling even more alone than ever this week. If you have a single or widowed friend, do something to remind them that they are loved and valued, too!

So, here are some ideas to use to make Valentine's Day special not just for YOUR "significant other," but for those singles in your world who may need to know that they're significant too:
Take Valentine's Day cards to a nursing home, or a hospital.
Take a bouquet of flowers to a widow and ask them to share some memories of their spouse.
Do something special for a single parent--take them to a movie, or out to eat, or give them a gift certificate for a restaurant or a spa treatment, or maybe just take them some chocolate-covered strawberries and a note telling them how significant they are to you.

Remember, we are God's ambassadors, just like Cupid is the "ambassador" for Valentine's Day...we spread His message, and what better day to share His love for others than on the day that we celebrate love? Don't keep it to yourself!

If you have other ideas for making someone single feel special on Valentine's, feel free to share them!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

A Precious Child

Don't you just love to look at pictures of children? Even when they're messy and dirty and causing mischief, they're just so cute! I have a picture of my youngest when he was about 2 years old, sitting on the floor, with his face almost entirely covered by ketchup from the hot dog he'd just eaten!

Of course, not every picture of a child is "cute." Pictures of starving children, homeless children, abused children...these are heart-wrenching images, but, for me at least, there is still just something so precious and endearing about the child, the innocence in their eyes, and you just want to clean them up, feed them, hug them and make everything better.

Now, pictures of ME? That's another story! I love taking pictures, and I HATE being in them...because when I see a picture of myself, I see all that's "wrong" with me...I'm too tall, too skinny, my teeth are not a Crest commercial waiting to happen, I always have the whole "red eye" thing going on, and somehow, every picture was shot on a bad hair day. Oh, and I often seem to have my mouth open in pictures (which is really quite realistic, since about the only time I'm not talking is when I'm eating). Trust me--there is a REASON I use Eeyore for my profile pic; he's more photogenic!

The other day, I came across a picture of one of my nieces that I just love...it's one that I played with in Photoshop, cropping it down to focus in on the eyes, which were particularly striking, and then posterizing it:
As I looked at this picture the other day, I thought about how a picture of a child just makes you want to hug them, and it struck me--THIS is how our Father sees us. He never, ever looks at us and thinks, "wow, she could stand to lose a few pounds," or "lose the beard, seriously, man." No, he just looks at us and sees something so precious He longs to hold us. He looks in our eyes and LOVE overwhelms Him (not that God can be overwhelmed the way WE think of it, but you get the idea).

Now, I could go a lot deeper with this (and probably WILL at some point), but for now, I just want to stop right here, because if we can truly GET this one point, that God LOVES us and we are absolutely precious to Him, no matter WHAT we look like on the outside (in fact, He MADE that outside, and He's pretty proud of it!), if we truly GET how we make Him feel...when we really get a hold of that truth, it will indeed set us free. Free from our self-critical natures, free from our fears, free from the baggage we carry around, from our concerns about how others see us. Free to just Love Him. And there IS nothing greater in this life.

Go right now and find a picture of yourself--or better yet, look at yourself in a mirror. Not at your faults, not at your physical features...look at YOURSELF, the you that God sees. See the child there that He loves so much He just wants to pick you up and hold you...even when we've messed up, He still looks at us as a precious child and just wants to clean us up, feed us (spiritually), hug us and make everything better. Now, if THAT doesn't make you feel pretty good about yourself, nothing will!!

He loves you, as if you were still a little child...because, to Him, you are.
Be a child, and love Him back, freely, openly, without reservation!

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." " Matthew 19:14