LOVE MAKES YOU HAPPY TW1CE-WHEN YOU GIVE IT, AND WHEN YOU RECEIVE IT BACK.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Verse of the Day: “Make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life” (2 Peter 1:5).
Tina raced in the front door. “Mom!” she yelled. “Look at all the valentines I got at school today!” She dumped the contents of her backpack onto the table.
Mom smiled. “That’s wonderful, Tina,” she said.
“I’m going to keep them forever!” Tina announced.
“Will you show them to me?” Mom said as she dried her hands on a towel.
Mom sat at the table and listened attentively as Tina showed her all the valentine greetings she had brought home from school. Tina chattered happily, identifying which cards were the biggest, the fanciest, and the funniest.
“Did your teacher explain to you what Valentine’s Day is about?” Mom asked when Tina finished showing her the cards.
Tina flashed her mother a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“Well, do you know that Valentine’s Day is named after a Christian who lived a long time ago?”
“No,” Tina said.
“That’s right,” Mom said. “One story says that Valentine was so loved by children that, when he was put in prison for refusing to worship false gods, the children all came to visit him and passed him notes through the bars of his cell window. Some people think that’s how the custom of exchanging valentines got started.”
“I really like that story, Mommy,” Tina said. “I’m going to try to remember it.”
“Good,” Mom said. “But do you know what I’d like you to remember even more?”
Tina shook her head.
“I’d like you to remember that love makes you happy twice-when you give it, and when you receive it back . . . just like giving and receiving valentines.” “I gave a lot of valentines today!” Tina said.
“I know,” Mom answered. “And that was fun, wasn’t it? That’s the way love is. And that’s one of the reasons God wants us to love each other-because love makes us so much happier than being angry, or hating, or not liking each other.”
Tina suddenly jumped up from her chair and started to dash out of the room.
“Wait a minute!” Mom said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to look for some more valentines so I can give some more love away!” Tina answered.
TO DO: If you have any valentine cards left over, make it a family project to send valentines with personal greetings to prisoners in a nearby jail or prison or to residents in a retirement home. Or, instead of giving valentine cards to each other, you could give cards to another family or bake them a batch of cookies.
TO PRAY: “Lord, help us to be alert to ways we can give our love away as a family.”
