Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!!
I love Valentine's Day, and Bradley and I are loving celebrating our first Valentines Day together! We were dating last Valentine's Day, but we didn't get to be together until the weekend after. So this is another new experience for us!
February 2016
Valentine's Day seems to be a holiday that people either have a love or a hate relationship with. And I think that is so sad. Where did the myth come from, that says you aren't allowed to celebrate Valentine's Day unless you're married, or have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? Or, the one that says it's foolish to set aside one day of the year to actually show someone that you love them, because they should be showing that all year?
This year, Valentine's Day is a little different for me.
I am thrilled to be celebrating my first Valentine's Day as Bradley's wife, and all the sweet, mushy, romantic things that go a long with that!
Bradley gave me these beautiful earrings this morning! He's so sweet!
But growing up, that's never what Valentine's Day was all about. My family always celebrated it every year, and it was always very special. We always had a special dinner and dessert. We might rent a fun movie that we had been wanting to see, or something like that.
However, the highlight was always my dad.
Somewhere along the way, Valentine's Day became my dad's holiday. And by "my dad's holiday" I mean he took care of that day. It was like my mom took care of birthdays, and my dad took care of Valentine's Day!
He always got each of us a very special card, and some little treat.
That might not seem like much to some people, but to us, it meant the world! My dad is not a talker, he doesn't say a lot. But the cards he picked out, were like they were made specifically for each one of us. The style, or the picture, or what was written inside. It truly means more than I'm sure he'll ever know!
And you definitely knew that there were cards that jumped out at him like "oh that is so Kaitlyn" or something, because there have been a few times, that the same person, has gotten the same card, a few years in a row!!!!
The treats were super cute too...one year, it was dozens of these awesome gel pens (seriously, we all loved them!), another year it was a ginormous bag of blow-pop suckers, once it was lots and lots of all kinds of candy bars. One year, he ordered pizza, one year it was PEZ candy and dispensers, several times it was Ty beany stuffed animals. All kinds of different things!
It was never huge and elaborate, but always something special, and something that we just never really did or got that often.
And mainly, we loved it, because it was from him. He had thought it out, he had purchased everything, he had done it all. And he wanted to. And you know what? He still does it.
I'm "out of my comfort zone" so to speak, on this Valentine's Day, in that I have never been away from my family during this holiday. But you know what?
I opened up my mailbox today, and my eyes instantly started watering, and years of Valentine memories automatically started racing through my mind.
Because, even though I'm miles and miles away from my dad, still he took the time, and he bought me a card. And when I opened my mail box and saw that card laying there, it was just a huge yet simple reminder of what I already knew...that my dad loves me. Always has, always will.
He could have done absolutely nothing at all, and I would still know that he loved me. But something so simple, yet so powerful...a card. The incredible saying on the inside. A signature. A stamp on the envelope.
It's like one day a year, that love's fireworks have a grand finale. Fireworks are constantly going off all day, every day, because there are so many people that love you, and I think sometimes we get used to them. But on Valentine's Day, when someone is purposefully, specifically thinking of you, and they let you know in whatever way they can, that they truly love you...
...and BOOM! You're heart is touched, your love gets a little kick-start again, and you're refreshed!
I think that's why I love Valentine's Day so much. I'm more like my dad, and I am not super good at communicating my feelings for someone to that person. I am learning, and I am trying, but I am also learning that it's sometimes the simple things that can say 1,000 words.
That's what my dad's cards have said to me. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of words that he has not verbally said to me, but he has said them over and over and over again to my heart.
It's with the simple things he says all the time, jokes he makes, all the times he has poked my ribs or squeezed my knee (if he picks on you, then he likes you!), all the hard work he has done for my family, all the things he has sacrificed for his kids, things he has come and done at our house now, and a million other things.
All emphasized and brought into light just one more time, every year on Valentine's Day, when he gives a special card.
Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays, and a time of year that I just always look forward to. I love everything about it...the colors, the decorations, the atmosphere, waiting to get my card from dad (I still have every, single card he has ever given me, by they way), just everything!
But I wonder if my dad has the best Valentine's Day of all. Not because of what people do for him, because no one has ever or could ever do enough.
But because of the simple, powerful things he does for others.
And I wonder if that's why some people hate Valentine's Day so much.
Some say that it's "singles awareness day" and just emphasizes to everyone that they are still single, or single again, or whatever. But is it really that, or is it that no one is bringing you flowers, or bought you a candy bar or wrote you a love note? Or maybe you did get something, but it was only from a friend, or your parents, or a sibling. Not a significant other like the world seems to portray as the only way to have access to celebrate Valentine's day.
I agree that it's wonderful to have those things, including the "significant other."
But I'm here to tell you that even without those things, Valentine's Day can be one of the best days of the year!
And I also know that it's just a boost of confidence and re-assurance of love, when someone who is special to you, takes one day out of the year, and lets you know how special you are to them.
So this Valentine's Day, instead of thinking about what someone is not doing for you, and how you are so sad and depressed because you're all alone this year, lets take our eyes off of ourselves and look for something we can do for someone else.
It might be a friend, a parent, a sibling, a neighbor, a co-worker, a relative, a stranger.
It might be a bouquet of flowers, it might be a small present, it might be a dinner out, it might be a box of chocolates, it might be letting someone in front of you in line at the grocery store, it might be cooking your family their favorite dinner or making a special dessert, it might be doing your brother's chores, or it might be a card, a simple note.
Whatever you do, done with the right attitude, I know it will mean a lot to the recipient. And I also have a feeling, that it might mean as much to you to!
Should you only do this on Valentine's Day once a year? No, you should say it and show it especially on Valentine's Day, and prove it all year long.
Not "how much" you love them, because I'm convinced that is one thing that is impossible! But just that you care. And you want them to know.
The Bible says in 1 John 4:19 that "We love him, because he first loved us."
If Jesus waited around on us to show Him we loved Him, He would still be waiting. But He made the first move. The ultimate move. He gave His life to show us how much He loved us.
I doubt that you will have to give your life, in order to show someone how much you love them, but don't wait around for a boyfriend or a girlfriend or even a spouse to show love to you. Today, where ever you are, and whatever your relationship status may or may not be, YOU can show someone that you care!
I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day this year! Now go let someone know that you love them, because Jesus sure does love you!!!
You never know what an impact you could have on some one's life, by doing something simple!
