VALENTINE'S DAY

This is the week that love is in the air, pink and red take over, and chocolate becomes one of the four major food groups. I admit I have never been much of a romantic, but my husband and I try to keep a yearly tradition to spend Valentines in the Hill Country. We usually go to the annual Hug-In at Luckenbach to see Gary P. Nunn. From my sweetie, I prefer Peanut M&Ms over Godiva and I will take a few tulip bulbs in the ground over a dozen roses any day. Oh, the topic of love. It keeps the Hallmark channel in business and gives singers something to sing about. I fell in love with George Strait in third grade and refused to wash my hand for a week because he touched it at the Palestine Civic Center. I still remember when I told my grandparents I was going out with a boy and they asked where we were going? I wrote love notes while sitting on my bed as a kid using my “lap desk” and tried to play “Endless Love” on the piano. I don’t think I ever got that one down. I loved my friends, quite a few boys, the first group of seventh grade students I taught at Agnew Middle School in Mesquite. I fell in love with a man who loved me back and married him. My love meter reached a new high when I became a mother. The new level of love was confirmed when I left my firstborn unattended for just a second propped up on a pillow and she fell. She was only a few weeks old. I questioned my ability to mother. I questioned life. I knew without a doubt at that moment I loved someone more than myself. When I ran down the hallway and picked her up off of the hardwood floor, I started to cry and I cried for days. I was as close to needing some time in mental facility as I have ever been that week. When I had Brazos, my second born, I questioned whether my heart had enough unoccupied space to love him too. After a few days at Children’s Hospital with him battling jaundice, I knew that I could love my little boy as much as I loved my little girl. There was even enough love in my heart too for two more kiddos. Go figure! Everyone has their own love story, but the greatest love story of all is John 3:16. (Yes, it even wins the blue ribbon over every Nicholas Spark novel) John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” The question is… what will you do with the greatest love story of all time? Will you just read it or will you be part of it and invite Jesus into your heart? He can make you complete now and will love you for eternity. He will love you no matter what you have done and no matter what you do. Want in the story? You can’t just go to church, believe there is a God, or attempt to live a good life. You can’t “work” yourself into the story and your family can’t get you in. The choice is all yours… read the story or be part of the story by accepting His free gift of salvation? It does not end there either. John 13:34 says “As I have loved you, love one another.” With that, the greatest love story of all continues on and on through us.