Spread the Love …
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” John 15:12 (NIV)
February 14th
Valentines
Singles Awareness Day
No matter what you call it – it annoys me…
I don’t like candy. The regular Hallmark movies already make me want to gag. And when I see so much pink and red and white together it makes me want to convulse into seizures.
When I see couples making out in the streets and singles making goo-goo eyes at the remaining brood – I really do convulse into seizures.
It’s just one of those days where I’d rather stay in bed and relive Discovery Channel’s Shark Week on TiVo.
Despite all the pomp and circumstance, and even my excessive distaste for the day, I think someone, somewhere along the line – got it right.
Showing love has changed throughout the ages. The ancient Greeks used to toss an apple to the woman they fancied, and if she caught it – they were as good as engaged.
Ladies in old England would fasten their handkerchiefs to a knight’s javelin to let him not-so-subtly know she favored him the most.
Back in the 17th Century, in Wales, a man would tediously carve a pair of wooden spoons – called Lovespoons – and would give them to the girl he loved to show his affection.
And in 30AD, God sent His son to die a butchered death and bear the sin of a world that had rejected him so that we, ungrateful children, may spend eternity with Him. Because no matter what we’ve done – and no matter what we will do – God loves us.
Kind of puts ‘love’ into perspective, huh?
So this Valentines-Singles-Awareness-Day, take a step out of conformity and spread the greatest love of all with those you hold dear.
The love of Christ.
CHRISTINE WESSELIUS
Christine grew up in the windowless basement of her grandparent’s house and has thus been fondly nicknamed “The vampire in a box” by her friends. She has a strong affinity for sarcasm, shiny purple things, and random, useless information that “normal people probably wouldn’t care about.” She likes to sing, act, draw, write, read, and make fun of Prince Charming in her spare time. Some of her epic skills include: surviving a piano being dropped on her, carrying on a five hour conversation with a wall, and making a grilled cheese sandwich spontaneously explode. (read more…)
<<<more posts by Christine…
Pink Promises
“I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love–not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future…” (Romans 8:38 CEV)
After my father died, my sister and I helped Mom go through his personal items. I couldn’t wait to get into Daddy’s special drawer. It was the one drawer in his nightstand that he didn’t allow anyone to bother. He could hear you opening it from a mile away. I remember as a kid trying to quietly ease open the drawer in order to sneak some quarters from his big bowl of change (I wanted to feed the Pac Man game at the local arcade.) As I started to reach my hand inside, I heard Dad’s voice, “Michelle Leigh Medlock—get out of my drawer!” He didn’t mind giving me money for Pac Man—he just didn’t want me in his special, private drawer.
For years, I’d wondered what could possibly be in that forbidden treasure trove. Why was he so protective of it? Now was my chance to find out. As I searched through Daddy’s things, I found very ordinary items. His comb. Fingernail clippers. His money clip. Pictures of the family. Lots of change. His special calculator he used in business. And a lock box. W
hen we opened the lock box—we found important documents like his and my mother’s marriage license, our birth certificates and the hospital bracelets for all three of us kids. Two tiny pink ones and one small blue one. The wording had yellowed over the years, but I could still read “Medlock Girl” and my birth date on the little bracelet. I held that tiny pink bracelet close to my heart for what seemed like hours.
It was at that moment I realized how very much my Daddy cherished me. He loved me so much that he even treasured my baby bracelet. Today, I keep that baby bracelet in a secret compartment of my purse as a reminder of how much my Daddy loved me.
You may not have a loving earthly father. Or, maybe you don’t even know your father, but I have good news. You have a heavenly father who treasures you, and He has little pink bracelets—His promises of love—all throughout His Word. Every time you find one like, Jeremiah 31:3 that says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love,” you’ll want to hold it close to your heart–just like I did. Spend some time discovering how much your Heavenly Father loves you today. It’ll change your life.
Michelle Adams is a successful and award-winning author. She teaches at writers conferences across the country and shares her love of the written word with aspiring writers. Visit Michelle at www.michellemedlockadams.com
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