It’s Valentine’s Day 2014. I have never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day. I don’t like the idea that on this day you have to have someone in your life who loves you and you have to give/receive elaborate gifts of love.
If you are single and not dating, it is a day on the calendar where your status stands out
If you have a ‘significant other’ you are watched and hounded “what did he/she get you†and “what did you get for him/her†?
There are so many ways to show someone you love them. I believe quality time and kind words are a wonderful expression of love.
Many times I prefer that over a material gift. Try telling someone in answer to the ‘what did he give you’ question that ‘he sat with me holding my hand watching a movie’. It just doesn’t fit what the holiday has become and movies have taught us.
One way I express love is with homemade items: baked, sewn, knit, crocheted. Recently there was a photo going around facebook with a picture of crocheted items and the words
“All I got from her was a crocheted hat and scarf. Jeez.â€
Fact: That gift of love cost your friend a minimum of $12 to make (each skein of yarn being approximately $5-$6, nowadays), and about the same number of hours to create. And, while she worked on that gift for you, she thought about you. <3
If I make something for you, it is because I care about you and I want to give to you a part of me.
God gave us a special gift: His Son, Jesus Christ. Many have declared that John 3:16 is God’s valentine to us.
God tells us every day He loves us. He doesn’t need a special day on the calendar. He doesn’t need a celebration. He is reaching out to you with His love. Have you accepted it?
Even though I have not crocheted something for each of you, I wish each you a Happy Valentine’s Day.
I understand that Valentines Day is a source of aggravation or even hurt for some people. Believe me, I’m no stranger to it. I was 28 when I got married, and my husband was 32. Neither of us had been married before, nor had we even had a serious “significant other”. There have been many Valentines Days in my past spent helping others, some younger than me, by babysitting their children so they could go out to dinner and celebrated. Looking back, I feel no regrets or ill will toward anyone, not even God. He knew what He was doing in my life then, and still does. My job is to trust Him and not look anxiously about. As for people being ungrateful for receiving hand made gifts for holidays, I just try to stay on the learning curve and know who among my friends and family will appreciate such gifts and who won’t. This keeps me from casting my pearls before swine, and allows God to work in that person’s heart as He sees fit and without my feelings getting in the way.