Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and everywhere you look there are stuffed teddy bears holding red hearts, big balloons with “Be Mine” stamped across it, and rows and rows of chocolate.
But what if Valentine’s Day holds no joy for you and the thought of all those happy couples feeding each other chocolate-covered strawberries is enough to make you want to scream…or at the very least, eat a whole bag of conversation hearts?
Such was the case for me one particular Valentine’s Day. I was in high school and did not have a boyfriend or even the prospect of one. All that week my school was taking orders for Candy Grams to be delivered to the one you were “going with” or “had a crush on.” (Sidenote: Candy Grams are most certainly from Satan.) Needless to say, I was having serious anxiety about going to school that day knowing that all my friends would be receiving multiple Candy Grams and I would be left feeling unloved, unpopular, and every other kind of “un” you can think of. Yet each time the classroom door would open for a Candy Gram delivery, a little bit of hope would spring up inside of me: A Candy Gram for me? Sike!
Well, someone must have seen my misery because that Valentine’s Day morning when I went out to my car there was the most amazing surprise waiting for me! Helium balloons with “Be My Valentine” written across them filled the space in the tiny car and on the driver’s seat was a box in the shape of a heart filled with Russell Stover’s chocolates with a note that simply said, “Your Secret Admirer.” I drove to school that day on cloud nine with the biggest smile on my face, wondering to myself: Who could this wonderful Secret Admirer be? And how did he know that I loved Russell Stover’s candy? That’s the very same brand that my dad always gets my mom for Valentine’s Day!
That day I didn’t care how many Candy Grams were passed out to other girls. I had a Secret Admirer and I felt loved…even if I did suspect that the admirer was pretty close to home.
You have an Admirer too, Friend! He longs to lavish you with sweet surprises and love. He sends you Valentine’s notes with things like,
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh how beautiful! (Song of Songs 1:15)
I will go before you and I will be with you. I will never leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
I am abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15)
That’s better than a plain old Candy Gram, don’t you think? It’s endless love from a faithful God who thinks you are the most beautiful woman He has ever seen. And you are beautiful, you know.
If you find yourself this Valentine’s Day without an earthly Valentine, that’s ok. Pick yourself up a box of chocolates and shake off the urge to want to strangle the stuffed bears.
Remember that you have Someone who loves you to the moon and back. Literally.