February is here…the season of love!

At church on Sunday, they showed a video from The Skit Guys. If you have never heard of them, you need to look them up. They are quite hilarious about some of the most obvious subjects.

They did a skit about trying to buy cards for their wives for Valentine’s Day. One found a card very quickly while the other went through a monologue of what the perfect card for his wife would say. This sent the other guy into tears.

The pessimist in me wonders why we use just this one day to show and express our love and appreciation for and to our loved ones. The romantic in me agrees that going out of your way just once in the year is not too much to ask.

The pessimist in me also knows that flower shops, restaurants and hotels increase their prices around this time of the year to take advantage of those who go out of their way to celebrate. The romantic in me says it only happens once in a while, so why not.

The realist in me says it is not worth the money when we can do something at home together and not have to worry about meeting society’s expectation of Valentine’s Day. My husband and I have no problem just staying at home. This results in no unmet expectations or either side. We don’t even buy cards for one another. And we are okay with that.

And when I tell my husband that I really don’t want to do anything for Valentine’s, unlike what some TV commercials might imply, I really do mean it.

When I look at my marriage, I see the love we have for one another. I hope others see it too. We always kiss each other hello and goodbye, even in public or when I visit him at work. We hold hands in public, walking down the street or at the mall. We joke around with one another. We don’t really argue; we bicker. My daughter interprets that as the same thing but it is not. There is no anger behind it; usually just annoyance with some frustration.

We also experience times of miscommunication, times when we are not on the same page, times of taking the other for granted, times when our goals and objectives do not match. Needless to say, we do not have a perfect marriage.

If this is the true definition, than yes, this is us. We do have a perfect marriage.

When we were married, we wrote our own vows. I started mine with a quote from Dr. Seuss:

This is the best way to describe Nick and I. We are weird but our weirdness is compatible and mutual. It is something special.

When the love God has for us is described, it is likened to that of a bride and groom. The church is the bride to God’s groom.

If you have ever read through Songs of Songs, also known as Songs of Solomon, it is a very detailed seduction between two lovers. I imagine this would have been quite shocking in some cultures. You want to share the Bible with your children, but this is one book within it that is a bit risque and you may not want to have to explain it yet.

Awake, north wind,

    and come, south wind!

Blow on my garden,

    that its fragrance may spread everywhere.

Let my beloved come into his garden

    and taste its choice fruits.

Songs of Songs 4:16

God’s love goes much deeper than that. It is a love that encourages, forgives, supports and guides through every and all situations. It is a love without ending, a love that surpasses all understanding, a love that cannot be changed or challenged. It is a love that is completely unfathomable and indescribable.

The wordsmiths of the Bible were given the words by God and yet I still don’t think there is a way to sufficiently describe how God feels about us. It is like asking a mother to put into words the love she feels for her newborn baby – except times that by 100. It is impossible to explain.

Here are some verses to remind us of the love of God. Read them, memorize, pray over them when you doubt His love for you.

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

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. I John 4:7-12

So this Valentine’s Day, as you celebrate your love for one another, remember also the love of God, His love for you and you for Him.