Happy Valentine's Day

This is one of my very favorite holidays! Valentine's Day is a big deal at our house. It's almost like a second Christmas. We draw names for our "Secret Valentines," where we make a homemade gift for one member of the family. I prepare a 5-course dinner. We dress up. We play games. We always have a photo booth. We spend a few hours in the evening celebrating the love we have for each other. We remember how Christ first loved us. Valentine's Day dinner is a tradition we ALL look forward to.

I despise cooking, but on this special day, I put my feelings aside and I spend the entire day in the kitchen creating a feast for my loved ones. I put as much time and detail as the day will allow.  I serve my family with all my heart.

We decorate the room with candles, Christmas lights, and rose petals. Instrumental music plays in the background. Love is shared by everyone present. The night is magical.

We started the tradition several years ago, I saw a friend sad and alone on this holiday, and it broke my heart. I hate exclusions. It's unfair to label this a holiday for romance between a man and woman. We all desire for someone to pursue us. We decided then that our family would celebrate Valentine's day a little differently. My husband and I stopped celebrating the holiday as a couple. We started celebrating instead as a family. I never want my kids to feel they must have a romantic relationship in their life to be complete. That is not the message you find in the Bible.

God hasn't called all of us to be married. He does implore every one of us to "love as Christ first loved us."

Christ romances our hearts. We have a mysterious, idealized, exciting, passionate, devoted love affair going on with our Lord who created us. He wants to capture our hearts. Every day He buys us chocolates and flowers with the way He pursues us. He whispers words of love in our ears. He declares His love for us from the mountain top.

His love never fails us. His love is always about what is best for us. He wraps us in a warm embrace. He gives us security in His strength. His passion never grows cold.

That is something worth celebrating! God's love doesn't discriminate or leave anyone out. God's love covers us all.

For as long as my children are willing, I will celebrate "love for all" with them. Anyone who needs a reminder of Christ's love has a place at my table.

"Faith, hope, love... the greatest of these is love."  1 Corinthians 13:13

You can feel free to use the coloring pages for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  It makes me sad to see my pictures on a coloring page website run by someone else.

I put together a sweet coloring page for the holiday.  "Valentine: This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life." John 3:16

And that's a fact!