I know you’re thinking, “Isn’t this post a little late? Valentine’s Day was over a week ago!” I get it. I might wonder the same thing. But, you need to know a few things about me and this month of February.
For most people, February is the month everyone loves to hate. In my part of the world, it’s still winter. Still winter. Still. winter. And even the most snow-loving among us are getting tired of the white stuff keeping us from our driveways, our roads and our flowerbeds. I’m not a fan of winter after Christmas, so I am even more tempted to complain when it snows again.
However, I was born on a mid-February day, and birthdays are a big deal in our family. My birthday is just a few days after Valentine’s Day, which makes that holiday all the more special. So, I like to celebrate for the whole month! Lest you think I’m completely self-centered, let me tell you a bit more.
Birthdays and Valentine’s Day both tend to lose their “shine”, especially as we get older. People dread another birthday because it means they are getting older. Single people think Valentine’s Day is all about couples. Older people think Valentine’s Day is all about young couples. And parents of school-aged children dread that trip to the crowded aisle at Walmart for valentines for a class of 36 kids, which come in a pack of 32. Every year, I would love to receive another chocolate heart for every time I hear, “It’s just a Hallmark holiday….all about marketing!”
I choose to be different. I am created by the God of Heaven, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ and I have the Holy Spirit living within me each day. My life and the lives of everyone with which I interact are precious gifts. Each year we are given is a treasure. Birthdays are the very celebration of life!
But what about Valentine’s Day? Besides the Hallmark holiday commenters, I know there is someone out there to tell me about its pagan origins, and someone out there to say its all about overrated romance. But I choose, again, to be different.
Most people will tell you that Christmas is their favorite holiday. I love Christmas, but it’s kind of hard not to celebrate Christmas. Even if you decide to forgo the tree and gifts, there will be some party you have to attend or one person you must buy for. In our country, only those who choose not to celebrate for religious reasons miss the holiday completely. But, Valentine’s Day is a holiday one must be intentional to celebrate.
If birthdays are about the celebration of life, then Valentine’s Day is about the celebration of love. No, not the cheap chocolate and roses kind. Not the butterflies-in-the-stomach romance. Not even the giving of valentines to classmates or family members. It’s Love that wrapped itself in the cheap wrapping of human flesh, and romanced the human race. Not with flowers and candlelight, but with the precious Blood that washes us clean and prepares us for the greatest Wedding Feast and Marriage ever to be anticipated. And when that Love flows through the heart of a person and that person lives in community with others, it consumes each relationship and begs to be expressed with generous celebration of a gift we could never give ourselves.
So, in our family, we celebrate that He first loved us and try to love our neighbor as ourselves. Yes, my husband and I celebrate our romantic love and the lasting choice to love one another as Christ loves the Church. Imperfectly? Of course. But, we spend time together by going out to dinner or away for a night. We celebrate by spending time with our children. We all cook a fancy, celebratory feast together and spend an evening laughing and playing together. We get out the fancy china, crystal and silver. We pull out the red tablecloth and serve up our dinner in three or four courses. And we serve each other.
Is it always the easy thing to do? No. Stove top fires and attitudes flare. The sparkling juice and a few tears spill occasionally. Frustrations mount as the sauce boils over. But we wipe it all up, apologize and get back to the delicate celebration. That celebration of life and love and the gift of them from the One Who created them both.