Loved looked so simple when I was little. I love you, and you love me back. But somewhere between our first Valentine’s Days and the grown up ones, love gets complicated. Shifts in society further change things, so that fewer people find “their someone” or make vows to stay once they’re found. Despite the fact that mass production of Valentine cards started with Hallmark in 1913, this “holiday” started long before that. It hasn’t always been romantic or even loving, and not everyone today looks forward to it. When it comes to love, we can learn a lot about love from kids on Valentine’s Day.
- Think about others – Love isn’t all about me. A day set aside for loving presents a good opportunity to remember to love others. The traditional “list making” of who gets a Valentine sets a pattern for thinking in the direction of people in our lives, instead of expecting all the love to come our way. Who are the “others” in your life?
- Think about your people – Children want to be sure their people get some love. This leads to roughly chopped construction paper hearts being left on teacher desks or tucked into pockets. A warm chocolate wrapped in foil speaks a lot of love when delivered with eye contact and a smile. The object isn’t important, but connecting with your people is. Who are “your people” who are best loved by you?
- Remember who’s forgotten – Not everyone has someone. School age children bring home classroom lists to teach them to think of those who might be forgotten. When thinking of others and our own people, who doesn’t have “people” or “a person?” We have only to look next door, to the next desk, or to the next pew to see someone alone. Who’s near you who could feel forgotten when it comes to love?
- Take time to care – Paper mailboxes. You know the ones. They live a first life as a paper bag, a shoe box, or a cereal box. But then a child imagines them to be more, to become a place to receive and hold love. They take what’s plain and make it say, “I like being loved.” It pays to make our life say, “Welcome.”
- Little things work in big ways – As a teacher and parent, I loved discovering impulsive expressions of affection jammed into paper mailbox slots. Random candy, those construction paper hearts, a red ribbon, a pink scrunchie, a strip of paper saying “I luv you.” By the time we grow up, we hold back our strips and tidbits, thinking it’s better not to give if we can’t give something of value. But children know strips and tidbits are precious, because little things work in big ways.
- Prepare yourself to receive – Children discern when a smile hides a hateful heart or a card covers up a curse. Little ones know loving means being kind inside in an authentic way. If we’re going to receive love, we have to be ready for it in a real way.
- Show up for love – Nobody wants to be absent on Valentine’s Day. It’s devastating to know love is being celebrated and distributed and we’re missing out. When life makes space for love, get out of bed and be there.
Love is so much more than Valentine’s Day, but Valentine’s Day is a lot about love. God’s Word tells us what love looks like every day.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
Were you planning to boycott Valentine’s Day? Stay home waiting to see if you’ll be loved? Give out a few hearts and leave out a lonely one? Or hold back the tidbits you have to share? We can love this day about love, and our little ones teach us how that looks.
Shop resources for Valentine’s Day:
- Valentine Blessings Cards & Coupons (Printable to say “I love you” to friends or loved ones)
- 1 Corinthians 13 for Couples (A printable to inspire & guide your love)
