So Long, Valentines Day
Valentines Days is over. The chocolates have been devoured (at least all of the good pieces) and the flowers are beginning to fade. The sentimental greeting cards have been packed away and Valentine decorations removed to make way for the next holiday.
Some people love Valentines Day — the romance, candlelight, sweet treats from their special Valentine. Some people hate it because it’s a painful reminder of what they don’t have or what they have lost. Some see it as simply a ploy by greeting card companies to increase their sales. In recent years, women have taken to celebrating friendship the day before Valentines Day, “Galentine’s Day.”
Our Adventure With Hallmark
We owned a Hallmark store for about five years in the 1990’s. It seemed like a good idea but the timing was all wrong. I found out I was pregnant weeks after we had signed all of the legal papers to open the store. The day we drove to Kansas City for our orientation was my first day of morning sickness. Somehow, we made it work with one baby then about a year and a half later, I found out I was pregnant again. We sold the store when our youngest child was two years-old.
Anyway, It was always amusing to observe the card and gift purchasing trends for the holidays, especially Valentines Day. Women would start purchasing cards as soon as we had them displayed and continue in a fairly steady stream. Not the men, though. You would rarely see a gentleman in the store until the day before the holiday. The day of would be packed with men purchasing their cards at the last possible minute.
I remember one year, Hallmark experimented with selling fresh flowers. It was a flop in our particular store. I ended up taking home about six vases of flowers that year. We also sold chocolates and other candy. We eventually stopped because we were losing inventory to ants.
It was an interesting five years in our marriage and family. We sold the business and moved across town into a new house the same month.
The Greatest Love Of All
Whether this Valentines Day exceeded your expectations, was exactly what you expected or was a huge let-down, I would like to share something important with you. There is someone who loves you more than you can fathom. There is someone who delights in you, will never leave you and is closer than a brother. There is someone who loves you with an everlasting love. That someone is God and his son Jesus Christ.
There are many verses in the Bible that speak of the love of God for the people of his creation.
Here are ten of my favorite verses about love.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him. Psalm 103:11
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love." Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:17-18
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. 1 John 3:1
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, I hope these verses will encourage you. If you aren’t, I hope you will explore a little more and consider the great love God has for you. A good place to start is 1 John 4:7-21. You can click on the link and it will take you to an online Bible.
There are many verses in the Bible that tell us about God’s love for us. What is your favorite?
Kim Wilbanks 