Breaking Up With Valentine's Day

We are approaching one of the most dreaded holidays of the year, Valentine's Day. For many, this holiday has some type of negative reminder attached to it, be it a lost love or no love. Then there are others who just see it as pointless, a commercial holiday that forces you to spend unnecessary money you may not have. I understand the arguments, but I disagree with them all. Valentine's Day isn't for couples, it is for everyone, and it doesn't require money. I argue it only requires thoughtfulness and acts of love and that is why I broke up with society's manipulated understanding of Valentine's Day a long time ago. Instead, I have embraced it to be a day to demonstrate my love for everyone around me. 

My mother celebrated everything you can imagine. She loved life to the fullest. Every holiday was probably "over celebrated" to the average person, but for my mom, there was no such thing. Then there is my dad, the hopeless romantic, who pours out his love on paper and in speech, so Valentine's Day was his time to make his girls melt. Growing up I knew my mom would show us her love in the form of heart shaped foods dyed red and that my dad would show his love with flowers from his garden and sweet notes. My parents demonstrated that Valentine's Day wasn't just for couples (in fact they were divorced) it was for everyone- a special day set aside to be extravagant in their love toward their daughters and others. Valentines wasn't demonstrated as a "couple's day", but as "family day", and that is what I tend to pass along to my children. 

Fast forward into college, where I met my husband, we were two broke kids with nothing to offer each other beyond love and respect. When it came to Valentine's Day, we never celebrated it the way society would indicate as acceptable. We forged a new way of celebrating, a way that demonstrated love without a price tag. This holiday invited my husband to meet a nearby neighbor whose garden I deeply admired. Knowing I loved this man's incredible tulip garden, he went WAYYY out of his comfort zone to ask if he could pick one for me, the man invited him to pick a bouquet anytime he wanted. Instead of pricey dinners and gifts, we celebrated with hand picked flowers, love letters, dinner in the in Student Union, and maybe a sweet desert from a local diner. Fourteen years later, it is still that simple and I treasure the love letters he now writes, not only to me, but also to our three children. 

Like my mom, I celebrate everything, every accomplishment, every holiday, every day. Life is beautiful, too beautiful to make others feel excluded. I want to pass along the love that my parents showed my sisters and me on Valentine's Day. I want my children to embrace this day, as a day to love everyone extraordinarily. Every single person on this earth is loved by someone, especially the One who created them. Let's embrace Valentine's Day as a day to love like Jesus! One random act of kindness toward a stranger, one simple text message to remind someone how important they are to you, one act of service for a friend or family member to demonstrate your love, is all it takes to celebrate one of my very favorite holidays-Valentine's Day. How will you express your love this year to someone you love or someone who may feel completely unloved? Break the mold and celebrate Valentine's Day with a new perspective! 

We may feel unloved or even incapable of loving, but I assure you-you are worthy of love and you are treasured. You are capable of love. We love each other because He loved us first, 1 John 4:19.

Come back later for celebration ideas for children and those who may feel "unloved".