BE MINE: Love, Jesus
I was a 19-year-old college freshman at an all-girls school, leaning on the windowsill of my triple-person dorm room, watching the day unfold. Shrieks sounded up and down the hall as flower trucks pulled around the drive. Bouquets—large and small, impressive and not so much—arrived throughout the day.
I wasn’t really conscious of my expectations for Valentine’s Day.
My father always gave me a small heart-shaped box of chocolates wrapped in red cellophane from the drugstore. It was a traditional expression of the day, but that was it. Those were very different times.
As the day stretched on, I became painfully aware of a deep disappointment growing inside me. I felt left out, overlooked, and humiliated. Worse still, in my mind, I was being publicly humiliated. My boyfriend was clueless, and it stung. An intense inner confrontation with the destructive power of comparison raised its vicious head!
This memory is important because now I know it was a step on the road toward realistic expectations. It was a starter course in the dangers of wanting what someone else seemed to have. It was the reality of accepting that people don’t always come through the way you want them to, but that doesn’t mean they’re not for you!
God had more for me than the sentiments represented by overt displays of affection and impressive expressions of commercial love.
He was teaching me to shift my focus from outward impressions to recognizing a genuine heart for God.
Fifty years have passed since that Valentine’s Day. I have been married to the “clueless boyfriend” for over 47 years. He is so much more than I ever hoped or expected as a young girl. Long before I knew what to pray for, God was teaching me.
My husband is godly, faithful, generous, and kind. He provides, protects, and prays for me. His devotion to Jesus makes him sweeter every single year. Now, flowers for Valentine’s Day are on his calendar, but devotion is deeply rooted in his heart.
My husband is godly, faithful, generous, and kind. He provides, protects, and prays for me. His devotion to Jesus makes him sweeter every single year. Now, flowers for Valentine’s Day are on his calendar, but devotion is deeply rooted in his heart.
Time continues to tutor us to appreciate and honor our differences. We have learned that the unchanging, everlasting truth of God’s Word is always there to guide and lead us. I respect my husband, and I am thankful for God’s lavish love to me through him.
