I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day.
It’s not because I’m not romantic, or that I don’t like celebrating my wife, because I do. I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day because I don’t like paying twice the cost of flowers, and I don’t like waiting twice the time at restaurants in order to find a table. Maybe I’m cheap and lazy, but regardless, I will suck up my bad attitude and celebrate my beautiful bride this year. But somewhere buried beneath all the hype, romance, chocolate and flowers, there is one group of women who will be overlooked, yet again, on this romantic holiday. My very first memories of Valentine’s day go all the way back to my early childhood. Each year, my sister and I would wake up and find roses, chocolates, and a handwritten note that had been left for us on the kitchen table. These thoughtful gifts weren’t left for us to enjoy by our madly in-love parents. No, they were given to us by our mom. Our single mom. With each Valentine’s Day that passes, I work hard to make my wife and daughter feel like the most valued and treasured women in my life. But this year, I can’t help but remember the woman who first taught me how to love. I’m not talking about the sappy, romantic love that is filled with fading emotion. I’m talking about sacrificial love. The kind of love that stays up all night with a sick child and cleans up vomit without hesitation. The kind of love that works two jobs to try and make ends meet. The kind of love that carries the burden of raising children, and does it without complaining. The kind of love that requires twice the strength to survive, as she goes to sleep in an empty bed. The kind of love that learns how to be strong when there is no partner to cheer her on. The kind of love that digs deep in order to be both a mother and a father to her children. This is love. This is real love. This Valentine’s Day, as you fight to sacrificially love your spouse, remember that it was likely your mother who instilled those fundamental truths in you. Our moms taught us one of the greatest life-lessons of all time, that love is not simply a romantic emotion, but rather a choice to consistently lay down your life for someone else; to choose, daily, to put the needs of someone else above your own. Thank you mom for loving me like Jesus does. This one goes out to you. Interested in having Jerrad speak at your next event? |
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