It is Valentine's Day once again... and THIS time I'm celebrating! =)

You know...I've never celebrated this holiday before. I haven't really liked what the day represented in my mind, particularly when it comes to the flippant, casual dating aspect of it. It often has seemed to be simply a day that is approached with nagging thoughts of uncertainty regarding what to buy one's date, a day when people exchange chocolates and teddy bears before exchanging kisses with their "significant other"....people quite "significant" enough to be fondled this year, but "other" enough NOT to be fondled next year. That's not my kind of holiday...not the kind of love I desire to honor and celebrate.

I'd rather let today be a day when I commemorate the true meaning of love. I'd rather let today be a day that I celebrate the beauty of waiting, the beauty of not awakening love before it pleases, the beauty of the opportunity I have to save romantic love for ONE man, the beauty of Christ's passion for His church as it is reflected in PURE love between a man and woman.

This is the love that causes me to rejoice! I find joy in the knowledge that once God awakens this type of love in my heart I shall have the opportunity to see a love that is a deep, radiant, passionate reflection of the way Christ has always felt for me. I am awed by the realization that such love that may someday seem so clear to me on earth shall be just a hazy glimpse of the heavenly love that surrounds me every moment.

I see how finite I am as I try to imagine a love that surpasses all I can understand in my own mind. I fail to imagine a love that will be stronger than any human emotion I will ever see or experience. Though today I cannot fathom the the grace and compassion, mercy and forgiveness and Love of the King who gave His all for you and I, perhaps someday He may give me the blessing of glimpsing such love more closely, even on earth.

This doesn't mean that I don't feel romantic love today; nor does it mean that I must be lonely or impatient. I already do love the man I'm saving myself for. Though I don't yet know the identity of this one I love, right now I have the awesome privilege of expressing and demonstrating this love by not giving it to anyone else--by saving it for him only. I have the opportunity to delight in Christ and in the fact that God is preparing me so that when I do meet my future husband, I will be ready. I find peace in the promise that "no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly" and exalt God for the knowledge that if the things I wait for are GOOD for me, then He shall not withhold them. I rest in the assurance that He knows what is good for me each step of the path along which He is leading me, and that if I feel a lack as I walk in His will, the lack I feel is something He is withholding because it is not a good thing for me in this season of my life. Today I may not see the young man I love...yet I know that if a time comes when this is a good thing for me, God shall not fail to bring it to pass.

If there is a young man somewhere who is waiting for me just as I am waiting for him....I want to tell him today that I love him....and I'm saving this love for him. This post is dedicated to him. I'm not wasting my Valentine's Day on worthless love. I'm saving it for priceless love.
This is what I'm celebrating today. I'm celebrating love. I'm celebrating God's love for us. I'm celebrating love that will show me more about God's love. I'm celebrating with those who in the harmony and faithfulness of their marriages demonstrate and embody Christ's passion and plan for his people--for His bride; I'm celebrating with those who are abiding in Christ until He reveals His plans for their lives. I'm celebrating God's flawless timing. I'm celebrating waiting.

Isn't that worthy of celebration?


~Holly
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