Do you remember Valentine’s day in elementary school?
It was a big deal.
You would carefully craft a beautiful box with paper and Elmer’s glue. Then you probably decorated it with paper hearts and glitter.
You would proudly put it out on your desk, hoping that it would fill up with cards that reassured you that someone actually likes you.
We hungered for paper affirmation, hopefully with a heart shaped sucker attached.
You wanted the construction paper heart with two simple words scrawled in crayon…BE MINE.
We all want to be loved.
Then in middle school, the student council would sell cheap carnations the first two weeks of February. For a dollar, you could publicly proclaim your passion. On Valentine’s Day the student council officers would deliver the color coded fundraiser flowers to your home room.
White carnations meant “I like you as a friend”. A red carnation meant “I LOVE YOU and, even though we are only 11 years old, we are SURELY meant to be together FOREVER!”
OH MAN!! I wanted a red carnation!!
You patiently sat at your desk, waiting as the elected dispensers of carnation cheer would pass out their flowers.
Everybody got to see who was loved, liked or left out.
There was always that one person who got 20 carnations, while your desk sat empty. (At least mind did)
You tried to act like it wasn’t bothering you (at least I did), but inside a part of you was dying.
We all want to be loved.
Then you grow up and realize that sometimes love stinks.
We have all felt alone…we just want someone to say two simple words…be mine.
We wonder…
Can anybody find me somebody to love?
Sometimes our paper hearts get stomped on, sometimes it seems like we are alone and Valentines Day comes along and rubs our “aloneness” in our face.
The crazy thing is that the deepest desires of ours can’t be met by another person, by an imperfect love…we need a love extravagant.
At the risk of sounding hallmarky, the One who crafted your heart longs to hold your heart.
He calls you beloved.
He loves you with a love extravagant…
A crazy little thing called love.
I know that love…
It has captured me, it has set me free.
I have been wooed by an uncontainable and unexplainable love…a love that accepts and arrests me…a love that gives…a love that constantly whispers “Be Mine” to my insecure soul.
A love that finally equips me to love others.
We all want to be loved.
It all boils down to that simple invitation to be known, to be loved, to be HIS.
Listen deep….your heavenly Father says to you two simple words…be mine!
We all want to be loved.
It turns out that we are.
Be loved!
You aren’t alone…you were NEVER alone!
The One who created you, who has memorized everything about you, calls you beloved.
You are greatly loved with a love extravagant.
So…
Be His!!
Be LOVED!!
“Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children.” – 1 John 3:1
carbonated joy 