Valentine's Day has never been easy for my family. It has always been bittersweet. Celebrating love that is here and loved that has passed. My grandmother was found dead on Valentine's Day when my mom was just a little girl. So as much as it has been hearts and flowers, it has always been a somber reminder that love can leave, even before we are ready to say goodbye.
God has been whispering this phrase to me over and over this week:
I have loved you with an unfailing love.
I am blessed to have my best friend, husband, and champion as my Valentine this year. I wake up at 3 a.m. to my son pitter-pattering in our room to come and snuggle just for a while before he returns to his own bed. I watch my daughter dump out her Valentine's Day bag, with excited eyes and a full heart. I know I have a lot of love to celebrate today.
And then I remember that life has not always been this full. There were countless Valentine's Days that I spent alone. I remember being the girl in seventh grade who received no friend grams, and the girl in high school who never got a rose. I was the "kind of girl a guy brings home to meet his mom," which is kind of a non-pliment to a lonely young woman.
I have loved you with an unfailing love.
I remember my mom. Every Valentine's Day marks another year she has lived without her mom.
I have loved you with an unfailing love.
I think of all the people who feel more emptiness than happiness today. The ones who have lost a love, the ones who have yet to find one, those who have been hurt by a love, and those who are hanging onto a love that feels like it is slipping between their fingers.
I have loved you with an unfailing love.
So while our earthly vessels love imperfectly, we can celebrate today because He has loved us with an unfailing love. My hope, dear soul, is that today you will take a deep breath and bask in the extravagant love God pours out over you.
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