Devotions with Pastor Fran

John 15:12-17 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

I remember when I was in grade school I dreaded Valentine’s day. Because I was I in foster care I didn’t always get all the things other kids got like the fancy boxes of valentines for the other kids in my class. I usually ended up making my own and I would make sure every one of my classmates got one even though I knew I would get very few, if any, in return. I carried that feeling of rejection from my fellow classmates all through my early school years.

It wasn’t until just before my junior year of high school that someone came into my life that had a way of making me feel special. Our first Valentine’s Day together Arnie gave me a black onyx necklace and a box of chocolates. The following Valentine’s Day he proposed to me at a Kona Kia Restaurant in Buena Park, California. My husband was so good about making me feel special especially on Valentine’s Day.

When I had kids of my own I always wanted to make sure they had the really nice cards to give to all their classmates and not just their friends and we would spend hours making the fancy Valentine boxes that always seemed to come home filled to the brim with notes from all their friends. I never wanted any kid to feel the rejection I always felt at Valentine’s Day.

I know for some Valentine’s Day can be a very lonely time of the year. Many times it’s a reminder that we no longer have that someone that used to make that day special. For me now, it’s a time of year that I have very fond memories of. Memories that come from sharing my love with someone special. I have boxes full of cards and reminders of those special days. Now it’s a day of sending love to those closest to me and those who need that special reassurance.

For some, it’s a sad reminder that that special person hasn’t come along yet. I raised 10 daughters and I can remember having some of my girls exuberant on Valentine’s Day and for some Valentine’s Day was the worst day of the year. Now that all my daughters are married or have that special person in their lives they all have come to realize that there really was that special person just for them. I know they didn’t think so many times as a teenager or young adult!

I think I have come to realize that Valentine’s Day has its special meaning but I don’t want it to just be a once a year occasion. Everyday should be like Valentine’s Day where we send our love to those around us. A card to a shut in, a letter to a friend that needs encouragement, a phone call to someone that might feel alone, a text message to let that person know you are thinking about them. I love it when I get those special reminders. It makes my day! I received two yesterday that just said “I love you!”

How about you? Is there someone that needs a special Valentine today? Maybe you can be that bright spot in their day. Let’s not get so busy, or so caught up in the “what might have been”, or in the loneliness of the hour to miss an opportunity to show our love to others!

Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. John 15:14-17