I have to admit that Valentine's Day is truly one of my favorite holidays. It comes right up with Christmas. I love this love holiday. Now some of you may be thinking, "Oh, she is engaged...no reason why she loves it." Not true. Yes, I am excited to spend my first Valentine's with James, but this is the first Valentine's I have ever had someone special to share it with. So why do I love this holiday so much? I asked myself that this morning and came to the following conclusion.
Teddy Bears in Balloons.
Yes, I would go with the commercialization of the holiday to explain my deep love for this significant day. But there is a point. As long as I can remember, when I was a child, I would receive a teddy bear in a balloon for Valentine's Day. I would receive beautiful velvet heart-shaped boxes of chocolate and gorgeous red and pink flowers with cards, but the teddy bear in balloon would arrive and my Valentine's Day was complete. I can watch home videos and see how I loved all my gifts, but that one took the cake. It would sit on the coffee table all day and I would just adore it. My Uncle Boop (Herb) did this for me each year as a child. Why? Because he loved me, and he wanted me to know it. Just like my mom and grandma and all my aunts and uncles ...they showered me with love, because they never wanted that doubt of being unloved in my head.
See, I have never met my dad. Once my mom found out she was pregnant, he became obsolete in my life-his choice. Therefore, something unique happened. An opportunity arose for my family and church family to become more then just their typical roles. They stood by my mom and loved me. I have pivotal moments in my life with each of my great aunts and uncles, my aunts and uncles, my cousins and majority of my church family in Oakdale, and I learned valuable lessons from them all. They might not even know that they taught it to me, but I learned life from all of them.
I learned it's necessary to slow down every once in awhile and set your radio station right from my Uncle Sambo. (At the time though, he learned to never make me late for school). My Aunt Susie showed me the importance of filing and trusted me with doing her books. Working for her gave me a strong basis that opened up two crucial job opportunities for me. My Uncle Steve taught me to be goofy. I will never forget the time he said he was going to give me a goodnight kiss and then left the room...only to return with a Hershey kiss in his hand. Every Sunday I was greeted by Godly men, who didn't just say hi and give me a bulletin, they genuinely asked how I was and cared to know. Every Wednesday night, Sunday school, kid's church teacher took time to teach me how God loves me, and then showed it in their patience with me. Andrew and Shawna took a big leap of faith with me and poured into my life as a teenager. They let me see their life together in ministry and how in the midst of working they built a loving marriage. I know, confidently, that James and I will be able to be in ministry and have a successful marriage, because of witnessing the strength and compassion of Andrew and Shawna throughout the beginning of theirs.
My family and friends must have had a schedule of which day was theirs to love me, because I felt it everyday. I learned from seeing their love, just a small glimpse of God's love towards me. I love Valentine's Day because it is a day of expressing love. So, every year we wait for one day to go all out in telling someone we love them and I shared these very small glimpses of my life, because I want to encourage each one of you to not lose this one day in giving your teddy bear in a balloon.
There's a tid-bit for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment