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Today is NOT a Hallmark holiday- Its NOT

Valentine’s Day is not a Hallmark Holiday.
My husband, in the past, has always been one to spout off about how Valentine’s Day (and Sweetest Day etc.) is a Hallmark Holiday. Really just a day for retailers to rake in the cash.
It use to upset me quite a bit as I felt that was his “excuse” for not giving me flowers or candy or a gushy mushy card.
Then I realized- ahem, he doesn’t do/give those things to me any other time why should I expect this day to be different? It is not part of his nature to do so.
That reasoning lasted about 5 minutes and I got to thinking, “but I like flowers and candy and gushy, mushy cards! And he should want to do it because it makes me happy!”
Well, here we are a few years and a few kids later- and both of us have changed our idea of what Valentine’s Day should be.
Yes, it’s still about love.
But more than too-
It’s about husband and wife love
It’s about family and parental love
And most of all it’s about God’s Love.
It is a day to simply celebrate the fact that because God loves us we have the ability to love! Think- really think, on verse 19 from 1 John chapter 4, “We love because He first loved us.” Without God there is no love. Period.
So let’s take today to celebrate it!
We write Bible verses about love on red hearts and hide them around the house; having fun trying to find them all and then reading the verses and talking about what they mean.
We go around the table at dinner remarking on different things we love about each other- from serious and heart tugging to hilariously funny.
We don’t spend money on mushy, gushy cards- because it only takes pen and paper to share your heart- a $5.95 card can’t compare to words that are written from the heart, even if it’s scribbled on the other side of the grocery list.
And as for the chocolate- how about fondue and fruit? I don’t need a box of chocolates, when we can sit together and laugh and eat strawberries and grapes and bananas and pineapples dipped in the gooey goodness.  [Not to mention the fact that I figure I can eat more because fruit is good for you, afterall.]
Valentine’s Day is a special day- we don’t have to let Hallmark and the florist shops take the loveliness out of it (and the moola right out of our wallets!)!
And a truly lovely way to close such a day- by snuggling together and listing all the  things we love about God- from serious and heart-tugging to the hilarious.
After all, God gave us a sense of humor too.

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4:40 PM, 2008-Feb-14 .. Posted by schatzila

You are so right...thanks for sharing a great post.

Have a wonderful Valentines Day:-)

Connie

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7:19 PM, 2008-Feb-14 .. Posted by gabbie427

I am with your hubby on this one, but I do adore being adored and all this chocolate and such. LOL I just don't like the commercialism Hallmark and other retailers have made out of it.

I love the ideas you have in this post though, especially the one about the Bible verses in the little love notes. How adorable is that. I suppose any holiday that involves chocolate can't be that bad, especially fondue!!! YUMMO!!!

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo