To couples around the world, Valentine's Day is about celebrating their relationship with each other whether they started dating January 7th or have been married for over twenty-five years. To people like me who are currently single (or in my case, single for all of eternity past), Valentine's Day can be a little depressing. Even if you don't really care or are pretending as if you don't care, there is still this subconscious twinge of "you don't have a date tonight." And, that isn't the best feeling.
For the last several years, I've made a point to do something for Valentine's Day. My something usually involves another single girlfriend, a movie, and some watercolor paints. (Last year it was Pride and Prejudice; this year it was Anne of Green Gables. I called it my date with Gil.) We had such a lovely evening; it was really good for me to have some purpose besides simply cuddling up with Netflix. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I did actually hit up another episode of Fixer Upper after she left for the evening. ;)
Some words spoken by St. Augustine:
"To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement."
Also, a thought by the beloved C.S. Lewis:
"I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait."
Piece those two thoughts together with me. If I am waiting on God to present me with an opportunity of a relationship, then He is certain that this waiting is beneficial to me. Perhaps, instead of focusing on a dating relationship, He wants me to explore the romance and adventure of falling more and more in love with Him -- spending more time with Him, growing myself in the Word, preparing myself for whatever he has laid out on the map that is my life.
Today my pastor preached a sermon about desires laid on our hearts to serve him. He used the comparison of David and Nehemiah. David's desire to build the LORD a temple, and Nehemiah's desire to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. He pointed out that God was pleased with both of these desires, but did not allow for both of them. Doors were swung open and Nehemiah's desires were fulfilled beyond his own expectations. However, the LORD had ordained Solomon, David's son, to build the temple not King David himself.
It is my prayer and desire that major landmarks on this map of my life include a special someone and a family to call my own someday. Being the romantic that I am, I tend to fantasize and dream of what it will be like to love someone so much I will want to spend the rest of my life with him. Sometimes, I long for the years to slip away and land me happily married with one on the way.
This is my heart's desire. But, I know it isn't time.
And, as C.S. Lewis points out, the present DOES mean something. As the old saying goes, I am to bloom right where I am planted. Right now, that means focusing on my last years of high school as a successful, single daughter of the King. It is good for me to wait. And, it is where He wants me to be.
A closing thought from the lovely Elizabeth Elliot:
"I have one desire now -- to live a life of reckless abandon for the Lord, putting all my energy and strength into it."
He is my Valentine. Let me ask him everyday to BE MINE.
Watercolor Inspiration Credit: Kristine Brookshire
Listen to this morning's sermon.
- Sunday, February 14, 2016
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