Expressing Love this Valentine's Day Part 1

I have contemplated Valentine's Day for the past twelve years hubby and I have been together. I still remember our first time February 14th rolled around as a married couple. This may sound a bit harsh but I was terribly disappointed. To me, it seemed, that his preparations were an afterthought. Oh he had a card, chocolates and roses but something was missing from the equation. I didn't feel as if he had put thought into "Our Day". I mean, who couldn't have stopped by Walmart after work and bought those items?

Valentine's Day of 2000 I remember too. My daughter was just two weeks old. Besides having given chocolates to me, my beloved also gave his daughter a valentine. I thought that was so sweet and made me warm and fuzzy inside. Over the years as we added children to the family the valentine goodies have become increasingly smaller as our income became tighter and tighter. There were some years where my husband forbade me to get him anything because the income was so sparse. It was during these difficult years where my thinking about this particular day of the year changed.

As my secular worldview morphed into a biblical worldview I started learning what love is and what it really means. I learned that love isn't a simple word with one definition. I learned that love can be shown in a million of ways and that we each have our own unique love language.

1 John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another. For loveth of God and everyone that loveth is born of God knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God for God is love. Beloved, let us love one another."

This verse, simply says to love.

As I try to live out this commandment from God  I look for creative ways to express love. However if I take too much time trying to think of ways to love someone I might miss the opportunity all together. How sad. Sometimes it's great to put a lot of thought into loving someone; to show them how much you care about them and what they mean to you. Other times we need to just do it.

How do you show love? I would love to hear the ways you express love to others and what others have done for you to make you feel loved.

Until next time ~ LOVE!