Valentine’s Day Woes

By Candace McQuain –

When the month of February rolls around, I can’t help but reminisce about my past Valentine’s Day classroom parties. It makes me smile when I think about those cute little boxes we made for our Valentine cards and candy. I fondly remember pink crate paper, lacy red hearts pinned everywhere, and the overall sweetness of the day.

Then came time to exchange Valentines and fill those cute little boxes we worked so hard on. That part of the celebration wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. My decorated shoebox was never as full as the popular girls’ boxes. Only by accident, or because his mother made Valentine cards for everyone in the class, would I get one from the boy who always made me bashfully smile.

In middle school and high school, we no longer had Valentine’s Day celebrations, but those same feelings of inadequacy and feeling invisible were still present. And not just once a year.

Luckily, my adolescent circumstances did not define my future.

As an adult, I was able to find love in the form of an incredible man and dear friends. By the grace of God, I found true love in His son, Jesus Christ. That unconditional, forgiving, unending love continues to encourage my heart and fill my proverbial decorated Valentines box every day.

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:15-17 NIV).

Every day God allows me to remain on earth, I have the honor of being His. I see these days as an opportunity to reach out to someone I meet or know and help them to understand their worth in Christ. I want them to know His love truly will conquer all. His conquering love sets out to replace those inadequate feelings of not fitting in or not feeling loved, wanted, or needed.

Friends, it’s a new year and we are in the middle of a month filled with opportunities to spread love and encouragement. During a time when many feel lonely and left out, spreading the word of an unfailing Love could become the greatest Valentine’s gift we could give.

Many of us have been in a place where we needed rescuing. Freedom rushed in from a place of love and changed us completely. Let’s stand together, strong and firm, in the promises of our Savior. Let’s step out into a hurting world with enough love to fill every desperate soul’s decorated Valentine’s Day box.

Who do you want to encourage today?

Who will you let encourage you today?