Sharing Our Love Every Day

My husband and I have never made a big deal out of Valentine’s Day so I was pretty surprised when I came home from work and saw the gift and the beautiful card on the kitchen table.

Not only that, but when dinner was over, he handed me a box of chocolate chip cookies that he had baked that day, especially for me. My favorite!

And what had I done for him?

Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

So it goes without saying that I was feeling pretty low about the whole thing. I thought we had agreed not to do anything, but it turns out that he had already bought the gift and card when we… no, when I … said we were not going to get each other anything. Money being tight and so forth.

After our Valentine’s Day dinner, my loving hubby went off to a meeting at church and I sat at home, beating up on myself. I felt pretty selfish and self–centered. My husband, however, was being very caring and giving and generous and loving. Well, you get my drift.

My husband, on the other hand, was not upset at all. He was bright and cheery and very happy. He didn’t seem to care that I didn’t get him anything. He was just happy to give me a nice surprise. In fact he seemed rather pleased with himself.

God is much the same way. He gives and he gives to us. He pours graces down upon us like rain.

Even when we ignore God, even when we are self centered and preoccupied with other things, even when we walk through rain showers and see beautiful flowers, and forget to thank him for His Creation, God wants to give us all good things.

God just loves us. He cannot help but love us. That is Who God is.

We can never out-give the Giver. We can never even come close to giving God what He gives us. We need to accept his gifts and his love and his mercy with humility and gratitude.

It is not about tit for tat. It is not about measuring up to God in the gift-giving department. It is about rejoicing in God’s love for us and doing our best to love him back.

That may have been the best gift of all on Valentine’s Day. I was reminded of how much my husband loves me, and through his love, I was also reminded of God’s love.

After all, for God, everyday is Valentine’s Day.