Thursday, February 10, 2011

What's So Great about Valentines Day?

Just breathe for a minute, I'm a happily married man for almost 10 years and yes . . . I do expect to stay that way.  My wife will have read this before it gets posted, so if you are seeing it, I am not in danger!  Calm down.

Now listen:  There is no birthday, anniversary of anything, holiday, special occasion, or whatever associated with this day.  I love the idea of celebrating love!  I think it is great to focus on why you are with the person you are (or at least were and should be) enamored with.  It holds that beauty of deep relationship, of passion, of intimacy, and of love to a higher plain.  Celebrating your love helps it to grow.

And if, only on Valentines Day, you need to show your love in a special way, you have failed.  

And I know this because in the past, I have failed.

There are many ways that I drop the ball all the time with my attitude and actions to make my wife feel unloved and insecure in our relationship, but I strive to love her like Christ loves the church.  I feel fairly confident that she would say she feels loved and appreciated outside of one day a year.  It is my goal to serve her in love perfectly.

This in turn makes February 14th just another day on the Calendar.  My expressions to her are year-round. 

They are flowers on a Tuesday, French Onion Dip on a rainy afternoon, cleaning the kitchen instead of a nap, and taking her on romantic dates as often as possible . . . all year long.

One great day and one great date does not make you a great husband and a great man.  

What did you do on January 14th or Feb 27th?

So take her out, or stay home.  Buy her something great, or a simple pack of chalky conversation hearts.  Make the day special, but only if the other 364 are as well.  She is your standard of beauty and she is perfect for you!  Oh, (and I'm terrible at this) don't expect anything at the end.  These moments are about her, not you.  Let her decide how the story plays out!

Brilliant thoughts from my wife:

Valentine's Day is a great time to celebrate your love and I'll take a gift any time.  However, it is more special to me to get a small gift, like you said, on a random Tuesday b/c you thought about me and my "likes" on your own, not b/c the calendar (and every commercial on TV) told/reminded you to.

It's true, you're VERY consistent about making me feel this way EVERY day.  THAT is why V-day isn't a big deal to me.  My love bank stays full year-round.

-Ordinary Warrior
Fight to make the extraordinary seem normal
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