Some people consider Valentine’s Day a Greeting Card holiday, feel pressured to force romance, or struggle with not fitting the image of the day that is being sold in commercials. This is for you.
Rather than ignoring the holiday, I want to suggest some ways to honor the spirit of Valentine’s Day (love - always a good thing) in a way that can redeem it.
1) Send cards to people who need to know someone is thinking about them. This year, instead of having the children in our homeschool group exchange cards with each other, we’re having them make cards for people in a long term rehab facility and the staff. We want them to know that our children thought of them and wanted to send them some love.
2) Give time instead of trinkets. Nursing homes are flooded with people who want to visit and sing carols when it’s Christmas time, but the rest of the year they have lonely people who are in need of some tangible love. Learn some songs from a previous generation and arrange to go and sing with them for Valentine’s Day. Let Me Call You Sweetheart or Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree is bound to bring a smile to the face, as is sitting with them after you sing and listening to their stories. Trust me, everyone will leave blessed.
3) Invest time in a cause. If you care about animals, volunteer some time at a shelter. If you care about babies, arrange to rock them at facilities that need volunteers for this very thing. If you knit, knit a hat for a cause (there are lots you can find online). The point is to give some love.
4) Make the world a better place. Do an act of service that will leave someplace better than you found it. Find a park and pick up trash-when asked why you can say it’s to show your appreciation for the park being there. If you’re weeding your own yard, weed into your neighbor’s yard and bless them. Donate to a worthy cause, or act according to a conviction. Let the day be an opportunity to act out of love.
5) Bless a stranger. Drive through your favorite coffee or food place and pay for the order of the car behind you. Bake cookies and take them to the new neighbor, or the one down the street you haven’t met. Hold a door for someone. Maybe offer a pregnant woman or an older person some help with getting their groceries to their car.
All of these things are about love, but they aren’t typical schmaltzy or forced expressions of romance. By all means be schmaltzy too, but if the day feels like it’s about too much fluff, it’s okay to make it about substance instead!
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