Five More Picture Books to Celebrate Valentine’s Day

11 Feb

I couldn’t let the Valentine’s holiday pass without giving you five more picture book read aloud suggestions! Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch is a wonderful reminder of the power of community; please be sure to check this one out or purchase a copy of your own. Have you read any of these?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV
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Five Picture Books To Celebrate Valentine’s Day

10 Feb

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Are you looking for a few Valentine’s Day books to add to your read aloud time this week? I’ve listed a few of our favorites below. Let me know what you’re reading to your family this Valentine’s Day. Enjoy!

This first one doesn’t have an image available; however, it’s the one pictured above. The Great Valentine’s Day Balloon Race (here).  This book is from 1980 and may be harder to come by. Please look at your local library. It is worth checking out.

Bonus Book:

Bunny’s Book Club isn’t a book about Valentine’s, but it is a book about the love of reading! You will want to read this one! It captured the attention of ALL my children; even if they wouldn’t ALL confess such if asked! 

Happy Reading!

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The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

14 Feb

I love that the beginning of Lent and the celebration of Valentine’s Day were the same day this year.

Valentine’s Day, in the traditional sense, is not my cup of tea. However, the true meaning behind Valentine’s Day in memoriam of St. Valentinus I can absolutely support. A man of God risking imprisonment and death in the name of biblical marriage raises far greater emotions than candy hearts and red roses. (Read more here.) 

Lent is really a preparation for a wedding. It is a yearly observance of Christ’s death, a celebration of His resurrection, and anticipation of His return to bring His bride to her eternal home. How beautiful that we could begin the preparation of Easter, the promise of the wedding to come, that of Christ and His Church, with a remembrance of a man committed to upholding marriage and performing marriage ceremonies as God mandated.

Easter is at the center of the greatest love story ever told–that of the love of God for His created image bearers. A story which was written before the foundations of the earth, necessitated by the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, and accomplished by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Christ came to earth and died on the cross in our place so that we could be called the sons and daughters of God. So, as it turns out, the greatest love story ever told is also an adoption story.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. ~Galatians 4:4-7, ESV

 

 

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The True Love of Valentine’s Day

13 Feb

Valentine's

St. Valentinus of Rome, was a priest born 200 years after Christ and whose martyrdom we remember every February 14th. It seems that Valentinus disobeyed the ruling of Emperor Claudius the Cruel to cease all marriages within the Roman Empire and to worship the Roman gods.

Claudius the Cruel needed more men for battle and believed that unmarried men would make better and more willing soldiers. Valentinus knew this was against the law of God and chose to secretly marry couples under the blanket of night so that men could depart for battle having married their loves.

Valentinus’ worship of God and practices of matrimony was quickly found out and resulted in his imprisonment by Claudius the Cruel. He was beheaded on the 14th of February around 278 A.D. for his crimes of love and loyalty. Above the laws of men, Valentinus obeyed the One True God’s commandment for men and women to join together in holy matrimony.

Celebrating the faithfulness of Valentinus is an occasion that I can recognize with deep respect and gratefulness when we celebrate in truth. Like Valentinus, many people are held prisoner around the world for their faithfulness to the gospel and continue to die in the name of Christ Jesus for obedience to His commands.

The true love of Valentinus was love of God and His people. He brought men and women together under the biblical mandate: that for this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and cling to his wife. (Ephesians 5:31)

Valentinus cherished the love and obedience of God above the safety of conforming to the world’s demands. He showed true love in laying down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)  May we, if called upon to obey God above country, do the same.

This is real love–not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 

(1 John 4:10, NLT)

I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels.

(Luke 12:8, NLT)

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

(1 John 4:16, ESV)

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You are Lavished With Love

14 Feb

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I have never really been a fan of Valentine’s Day. Sure, I love pink and red color combinations, beautiful bouquets of flowers, and chocolate as much as the next female, but a mandatory day to show love via purchases and swipes of the credit card just have never been appealing.

I remember every February 14th from elementary to high school as the flowers and teddy bears would flood the offices. Parents and grandparents sending their love one red rose at a time. My parents loved me and showed me in a multitude of other ways. I was never jealous that my name wasn’t on one of the bouquets, but I just didn’t get it. What was the big deal?

Two years ago I read about St. Valentinus of Rome. He is the priest, born 200 years after Christ, whose martyrdom we remember every February 14th. It seems that Valentinus disobeyed the ruling of Emperor Claudius the Cruel to cease all marriages within the Roman Empire and to worship the Roman gods. Claudius needed more men for battle and believed that unmarried men would make better and more willing soldiers. Valentinus knew this was against the law of God and chose to secretly marry couples under the blanket of night so that men could depart for battle having married their loves.

Valentinus was soon found out and taken prisoner of Claudius the Cruel. He was beheaded on the 14th of February for his crimes of love and loyalty to the One True God and His commandment for men and women to join together in holy matrimony.

The faithfulness of Valentinus is a day that I can recognize with deepest respect and gratefulness for the many people held prisoner around the world for their faithfulness to the gospel and for those that have died in the name of Christ Jesus. Sure, I gave small gifts as tokens of my love for the kids and Ron this morning, but Christ’s love was lavished on us that we may become sons and daughters of God. Valentinus, and all Christian martyrs like him, died for their faith in Jesus and are presently being lavished with the love of their Savior in eternity.

Perhaps today you are suffering with a broken heart like those of the many Roman citizens who were told they could not marry their love because of battle and Roman decrees?

Does this February 14th hold heartache and pain because of the loss of a loved one, a relationship severed, or some other relational disappointment in life? Can I honestly say, we are lavished even still in our love by Christ?

I am saddened today as well. This last month has been hard for this former foster-mom’s heart. My foster son, Little E, was reunited with his birth dad in November. This month he turned three the same week our daughter turned six. While we celebrate birthdays and Valentine’s Day as a family, it is with a twinge of sadness for the son that I cannot see. I pray continuously for him and his spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. In some ways, I know what it is to have loved and lost.

This Valentine’s Day, may your hearts be comforted by the lavishing love of Christ. May you find moments to rejoice and be glad and may you find beauty in the everyday gifts of the One who died in your place. There is still much for which to be grateful.

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