Valentine's Day ... ideas for sharing love ...

Perhaps you have heard of the Legend of St. Valentine: http://www.ascension-research.org/valentin.html .
It is a story of an oppressive Roman emperor and a humble Christian martyr, Valentinus. Legend says that Valentinus wrote a loving letter, on the eve of his execution, to a young blind girl he had befriended … signing his letter: “From Your Valentine”. It is a sweet story of friendship, commitment to faith and to God’s love.

Valentine’s Day is a lovely time to leave our own touch of love and caring in the life of another. Below are some thoughts that, perhaps, might have some meaning for you …
Blessed Valentine’s Day to you and yours as you celebrate with and among those for whom you care …

May you feel very loved today by the One who loved you first and will always love you best …

• give a Valentine “contribution” gift in honor of someone … select an organization that betters the life of another...
(slavery)  http://www.enditmovement.com
(slavery) http://www.ijm.org
(Ugandan orphans, vulnerable women) http://www.watoto.com/about-us
(empowering women) http://www.ravenandlily.com
(shoes) http://www.soles4souls.org
(small business loans) http://www.opportunity.org
(gift animal for a family in need)  http://www.heifer.org
(coats) http://www.operationwarm.org
(end malaria) http://www.rbm.who.int/index.html
(poverty) http://www.oxfam.org
(for children of imprisoned mothers) http://storybookproject.org
(clean water) http://www.water.cc
(microfinance), http://www.hopeinternational.org
and so many other worthy organizations …

• place Valentine’s all over the house after family members leave … some will be found right away while others may not be found for weeks … (if you find someone else’s … shhhhhh ) …

• write scriptures relating to love on family member’s mirrors with lipstick or washable window markers … (Ephesians 5: 1-2, John 3:16, 2 John 1:3, 1 John 4:19, Matthew 22:37-39, 2 Corinthians 13:14, Ephesians 6:23-24, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17) …

• remember people who might not receive a Valentine greeting … the homebound or the ill or a widow or one serving in the military …

• serve pink pancakes in heart shapes for breakfast, scatter red hearts on the table, use Valentine napkins, display red or white flowers in a center vase and place that vase inside a larger clear vase … surrounded the first vase with “red hots” or Valentine “message” candies, light special Valentine candles …

• leave each other love notes under pillows, on the mirror, in lunch boxes, on bikes, in a sports bag …

• make Valentine’s Day breakfast toast … cut a heart shape in the center of a piece of bread with a cookie cutter and then oil pan and place bread in pan … break an egg in the heart-shaped opening …

• bake a special Valentine’s Day cake … a white cake (in the shape of a heart)… add some heart-shaped “message” candy to the batter before cooking …

• pack school sandwiches cut in the shape of a heart … and the colored heart “message” candies for  dessert …

• take a surprise “Valentine” bag of treats to the toll-booth worker … or to the tired “pre-Valentine’s Day” owner of a flower shop … or leave an anonymous treat at the front door for a neighbor, a pastor, a teacher or a coach “in appreciation” ….

• host a girlfriends’ luncheon or mom’s Valentine luncheon (note that dress is “carpool casual) ...

• have all family members “wear red” to dinner … the one with the “most” red gets a little trinket … maybe the “trinket trophy” (or tiara or crown) is passed down year to year …

• send a note of appreciation to someone … your babysitter, a note for the mailman or bus driver or day care provider or others who assist you …

• read books as a family with a theme of “I Love You” during Valentine’s week … ("The Kissing Hand", "Mama, Do You Love Me?", "Love You Forever", "You Are My I Love You", "I Will Hold You 'Til You Sleep", "Mommy, Who Does God Love?" ... google “children’s books about love” for ideas … or visit your local public library or church library) …

• send someone a surprise “singing Valentine” … delivered by your family …

• make homemade Valentines or cookies for family, friends or for those serving in the military …

• host a special “Valentine’s candlelight dinner as our special friend did … invite couples to bring their wedding pictures … after dinner, play the “Not So New Newlywed Game” and decide if husband and wife answers match: “where did you have your first kiss? where did you go on your first date? what was the make of the first car you bought as a couple? what was your funniest honeymoon story? what other profession would your spouse like to have?

• organize a church Valentine’s dinner for widows so that they might have a lovely Valentine’s
Day … the men of the church can serve the meal, single roses and a bite of chocolate can accompany the dinner … school children can make Valentine cards for each place at the table …

• send family and friends a Valentine’s card instead of the customary Christmas greeting … include a family photograph (members could wear red) … include a scripture about the love of Christ …

• google “Pinterest Valentine’s Day” for some great craft ideas and yummy treats …

• give a sewing thimble to your child today (in the book, “Peter Pan”, Peter and Wendy called a kiss a thimble) …

• print out “God’s Conversation Hearts” … Be Mine (John 3:16), All Mine (John 10:27-30), True Love (Luke 10:27), I’m Sure (John 14: 1-3), Be Good (John 14:15), Call Me (Jeremiah 33:3) … think of other “God Conversation Hearts” …

• Invite your spouse on a suprise Valentine’s Day (night) date … maybe a scavenger hunt to meaningful places and locations (your first home, your favorite restaurant, your church, when your first child was born, etc  ... take a photo at each location for a keepsake "walk down memory lane" ...)

• I love this V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E from John 3: 16 …

              for God so loVed the world

                     that He gAve

                          His onLy

                          begottEn

                                SoN

                                    That whosoever believeth

                                     In Him

                          should Not perish

                       but have Everlasting life.



                     and another from God’s Word …



                               “for this reason,

               I bow my knees before the Father,

                         from whom every family

                        in heaven and on earth

                              derives its name …

                               so that Christ

                       may dwell in your heart

                                through faith …

                                    that you,

                      being rooted and grounded

                                     in love

                             may be filled up

                      to all the fullness of God …

                           to Him be the glory …

                            to all generations

                             forever and ever” …

               (excerpts from) Ephesians 3:14-21



        Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children;
                    and walk in love. Ephesians 5:1-2

I invite you to comment here with some of YOUR ideas for Valentine’s Day!

for life’s moments,
Karen