Hearts of Love on Valentine's Day | Blessed (but Stressed)

On this Valentine’s Day, let’s love not just in word, but in deed.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and that means hearts and chocolates, lace and roses, confessions of love and statements of commitment. Our society, here in the United States, seems to be undergoing a fierce shaking apart. Those who profess love protest in the streets. The ones hurting the deepest feel the most alone while the loudest voices shake in anger.

And we serve a God who says, “Love one another.”

That’s what He asks. What are we going to do?

This week at my school (I teach grades 7-10) we’re collecting Pennies for Patients. At our youth group we collected toiletries for people without homes. On my Facebook feed I see dear friends who’ve lost a parent and/or I see pleas for help for new cancer diagnoses, large bills for treatment or prayers for comfort as a loved one goes on hospice care. I listen to or read prayer requests of broken homes, messed up families, drug abuse and pain.

Meanwhile the streets are filled with people yelling about love.

I don’t want to hear any more yelling. Not that they’re wrong, just that yelling doesn’t solve it. And I’m a retired caregiver, a teacher, a wife and a mom who is tired of noise.

I want to see hearts and chocolates, lace and roses, and I want to hear confessions of love and commitment. I want our country to stop yelling and protesting and start loving. God says it, and He says things for a reason.

Love is the only way the world heals.

So for those who come across this post, or your own conscience that tells us to actually DO something in love, let’s make this Valentine’s day something powerful. Let’s fill our world with LOVE.

Make this Valentine's day something powerful #loveoutloud #Valentine'sDay Click To Tweet

I have, of course, some things near and dear to my heart, and I’ll post some links in case you’re looking for ways to share your love today, in a tangible way. But there are a million ways out there to show love and care – find your way and DO it!

Love List

Donate to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. They support research in a big way. I’m partial to this one because it was my son’s battle.
St. Jude is a children’s research hospital. There are many, this is one of the more famous. The beauty of childhood cancer research is that they share, and are thus making more progress than many adult cancer research programs. Also, St. Jude seeks treatment for every child, without billing parents (at least that’s what they advertise).
Look for your local school district. Almost any classroom teacher would love some new books or some additional items to help in his/her classroom. How about volunteering to listen to a child read? It’s not as easy now as it used to be, our laws mean strict vetting of volunteers, but it’s still possible.
How about assisting in a homeless shelter near you? Google finds you lots of places that could use help. I know the one near us is thrilled to get packages of toiletries.
Donate blood. There is ALWAYS a need. I can attest to the fact that sometimes even children have to wait for blood, or platelets (that’s the one we always had to wait for) in times of crisis. Donate!

This is just a tiny list of ways to reach out a share your Valentine heart of love with someone this week. I’m sure you have a list too. In fact, if you have a link you’d like to leave in the comments, let’s spread the love!