Last year, I was alone for Valentine's Day by choice. By that, I mean that I had given up looking and had not been approached by a suitable man. I didn't mind though. It was where I was in my life, and I embraced it (although it was hard to watch as the other women at work got flowers delivered all day long!).
Today, I am married to the most wonderful man that I could have in my life, and I'm expecting his baby. Money's tight, so our celebration was simple. And although I still didn't get flowers delivered to me at work, inside there was still a joy in my heart. I know that I am loved--with or without flowers.
And all of this made me really think about being loved. Even when I was a single mom, working crazy hours and longing for a great Christian man to come into my life, I was still loved. In fact, I have never been unloved. NEVER.
The amazing thing about love is that we can all have it. God sent Jesus to us as a baby to demonstrate how much He loves us. In a way, Jesus is a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses. He is the symbol and the price of God's deep love for us. And Jesus' life is not unlike a rose--filled with beauty, and marred with thorns. Jesus is our Valentine's rose.
I believe that the best time to receive roses from my beloved is at a time when I won't expect it. So while receiving roses on Valentine's Day is very romantic, receiving them one week afterward, or before, is even more romantic, because it is not expected. This is the same kind of romance we see in God's gift of Jesus.
Jesus came in a way that was unexpected (although it was foretold). And his arrival was a surprise to many who thought a king should have a more noble and royal arrival. Even the people who had been foretold of his coming did not accept or realize that he was who he was. It was that much of a surprise!
And we can all have that gift. God sent Jesus for each one of us because He loved us. All we have to do is acknowledge that, accept our need for forgiveness and our inability to save ourselves, and ask Jesus into our hearts. And then we can have a Valentine every day, no matter what.
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