Love…it’s the thing that Hallmark and other retailers celebrate heavily this past weekend.  Some people get given flowers.  Perhaps you gave them.  Or gave or got a card. 

For others, this is a really rough day because they feel reminded how they don’t fit.  How they aren’t loved or are alone.  To those of you that are struggling, I encourage you that you aren’t alone.   Lonely can be so scary and suffocating.  It can make the world feel so small or SO BIG depending on your perspective.  But it doesn’t have to be.  I’ll let you in on a secret.  Heck, it isn’t even a very well kept one… 

 

YOU DON’T NEED A VALENTINE.  YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE.  HE LOVES YOU.  And He hopes that everyday, we are good stewards of what He has invested in us when Here.  Those sparkly eyes – he set the spark in them.  That wide smile, He gave that to you and meant for you to show it off.  Even in days that you cannot do it for yourself, Do it in reverence for Him.  We are lucky enough to be the things of His desire.  His Passion and His Love.  In moments when you cannot find the peace and are instead met with heartache and fear, I encourage you to listen just a bit harder.  To hang on just a bit tighter or longer, to breathe through the moment when you think you can’t. 

Focus on a moment in your life when you felt Love in your life.  Let your mind travel back.  Try and focus on all facets of the moment and the experience. What were you doing? Thinking? Feeling (other than love).  Why did you feel loved? What is different about that moment than the one that is causing you to feel whatever it is you feel now? What can you do to the moment now to get closer to that feeling of Love?

As funny as it sounds, I picked the accompanying picture because whenever I picture Love (at least recently) I picture it as a literal ball of Light that He gave to me in the very beginning of things.  When I seek to spread it, I almost picture as separate little ball that I can break and give to others.  As with any other source of light, without effort or stewardship on my part, there is danger of the Light going out.  Others and/or circumstances that we face in life will seek to put it out.  It becomes harder to see in times of challenge or storm that enter our lives.    But we must nurture it.  Seek to brighten it.  Focus your mind, even if for 5 minutes a day of it resting inside of you.  Will it to grow.  God makes no mistakes – absolutely none.  There is a plan in all of it.  So why did He give you yours? Think of the amazing course He set out for you? How can you help others and/or share it simply by being you? The reason we can’t feel the Love coming off it is because we are stubborn.  We are quick to judge (ourselves mostly).  We are quick to discount the time and attention that He put into us.

Do me (and yourself) a favor.  When/If you are feeling lost and without a romantic partner remember this.  Love isn’t all about romance.  He is your original valentine.  With every beat of your heart, feel the Light and remember just how much HE loves you.  Return the favor by spreading it out into the world.