#Valentine'sDay

I'm sitting here in Barnes & Noble and it's everywhere...the color red screams it out so loud that you start seeing red...and those little pink hearts don't make matters any better with their just oh so right placements on store displays...you guessed it: Valentine's Day is coming. Or "Singles Awareness Day" as some like to call it. When I was in the fourth grade our teacher told us if we got more than one Valentine from someone that meant that they really liked you. Oh this made me even more excited to look through my bag because I was hoping beyond hope that Reggie, my HUGE crush, would give me two Valentine's. He had no idea that my deep love for him was pretty much for the reason that he and I shared the same last name and I thought it'd be amazing if we got married someday because it'd just be so easy! Oh, the aspirations of a fourth grader haha

You may be reading this having just gotten out of a relationship, starting a new relationship or you just don't care and your main consensus is "ain't nobody got time for that!" Well whatever you believe, it's still going to come (it's less than a month away) and for me, I like to be prepared for it.  For someone that's always had a cheerful heart towards Valentine's Day no matter what my relationship status was, I wasn't too thrilled last year. That was because exactly one month before February 14th I had ended a relationship that I was in. But I have an awesome family, my sister had two dozen tulips delivered to my apartment and my mom came and took me out to my favorite restaurant just so I wouldn't feel alone. My heart breaks for those that don't have a family or friendships to support them in times like that...

When my family did those amazing acts of love for me last year it got me thinking. Isn't that what love is all about? Isn't that why God put us on the earth...so that He could show us love and that we could share it with others? No, I don't have a Valentine this year...and I could just not do anything and hope that the day just passes by and that I don't get shot by the cupid of "Singles Awareness Day" but instead I've decided to pass on love and what better way the what the below picture states?

 

Just think about it...wouldn't it be great to send a card or go to a nursing home and pass out Valentine's? Even if you're in a relationship, don't let that stop you from thinking of others. The main stream media wants us all to think so much on our significant other that we run the risk of becoming selfish. We think like I did in the fourth grade, "oh, is Reggie going to give me two Valentine's??" that sometimes we forget that giving can be so much more fulfilling. My favorite part of giving to someone is when the recipient least expects it. It's going out of your way to show someone that they're not alone and that you care.

So this year I have challenged myself to send/hand out Valentine's to elderly people. This is something that I truly believe that God has put on my heart and I am so excited to do it! If you're interested in joining me, please let me know. I don't have much of a game plan yet so any input on that would be welcome, too!

-A <3

Oh and by the way, I got two Valentine's from Reggie that day in the fourth grade ;-)