Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day

I really didn't plan on writing anything about Valentine's Day. I have mixed feelings about it. I've been the person who was bitter over being alone. I've been the one who celebrated it all out. Between church ministry and working in a school, many of my Valentine's Day celebrations have been more kid-friendly fun with cartoon character greeting cards and chocolates. As I like both cartoons and chocolates, I'm cool with this.

As a church history buff, I could talk about the historical St. Valentine(s). I could be militantly opposed to anything related to it. As somebody who is chronologically well into adulthood but who turns into a quivering mass of 14-year-old-me-who-is-chunky-and-nerdy-and-can't-talk-and-doesn't-know-what-to-do-with-his-hands most of the time when I attempt to be “romantic,” I could just give up on that aspect of the whole thing.

Instead, well, here are two points--

One--just in case it matters to anyone, I'm not giving up on the whole romance thing. I'm attempting to be a little more confident in how I handle this stuff, and while I still don't quite know what dating and romance look like for single people in my age range, I'm starting to think that maybe that's okay.

Two—there is a kind of appropriation or reclamation that can happen, and I got a good taste of that today. As much as I talk and write about ministry, I do have a day job. I'm a catalog librarian, but I also work with our teen programs. We've recently started a Teen Advisory Board, and we have some pretty amazing students. Well, the students wanted to distribute Valentine's Day cards at a local rest home and rehabilitation facility. There's been something of a stomach bug and a strain of the flu going around, so only three of the kids were able to participate in the visit—and they're all middle schoolers.

Oh. My. Goodness. These kids were amazing. They didn't just hand out cards. They engaged. They visited. They asked questions. They listened.

It was absolutely love in action. Some residents don't necessarily have regular visitors, and they highly valued just having someone to talk with.

It was beautiful, y'all.

This was easily, without a doubt, the best (non-romantic) Valentine's Day. I think we all need more of this in our lives, and, just maybe, we can take a step back and learn something from some middle school kids who thought it was worth taking some time out of their own lives to make somebody else's day better.

So, have a fantastic Valentine's Day with your significant other, if that's your thing. I might just reclaim this day for a different kind of love—something selfless, something Christlike. (I mean, while, you know, not giving up on the romance thing—I mean, Hey, Girl. . . )