For the life of me, I can’t even remember his name. But I will never forget the day, the day that Valentine’s moved from being a day on the calendar to being a day in my heart.
For the life of me, I can’t even remember his name. But I will never forget the day that Valentine’s moved from being a day on the calendar to being a day in my heart.
The bell rang, and the card still rested in my hand. Looking out the second-story window of my 5th-grade classroom, I identified the back of his head as it moved resolutely toward the yellow school bus parked, the door opened, on the curb. The minutes evaporated. Unless I moved quickly, the entire effort would go to waste, and this ornate oversized Valentine would go back home with me and never make its way to its intended recipient.
So, in a split second, I made my decision and dashed outside, ponytail swishing, to jump in front of this lad and clumsily make my presentation. Neither he nor I knew what to do with the moment, but that incident inaugurated Valentine’s Day for me.
In the years to follow, Valentine’s Day involved receiving gigantic boxes of candy, fragrant bouquets of red roses, even cuddly stuffed animals.
And then the day came when that one-of-a-kind someone entered my life, and Valentine’s Day meant an engagement ring. Ahhhh. My forever Valentine took up permanent residence in my heart.
While his cards, candy, and flowers still make my heart go pitter-patter, there is nothing to compare with the eternal Message inscribed inside the 49-year-old gold band I wear every day: “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
The Author of Love is also the Architect of Marriage. And the mystery exists that the closer we draw to Him, the closer we draw to each other. The more we love Him, the more we love each other.
Regardless of our desperate longing to get it right by forgiving much and praying more, keeping short accounts and taking long walks, extending grace and receiving mercy, planning consistent date nights and regular morning coffees, we are still—at the end of the day—human. And in our humanness, our love needs a BECAUSE.
Yes, We love because
He. First. Loved. Us.
Wow. Now that is A Valentine Message for the Ages.
Living With Eternal Intentionality®
Written in the New Living Translation, the verse reads, “We love each other because he loved us first.” What other verses encourage your heart to live a life of love?
