Valentine’s Day…..seems like you either love it or hate it…….I embrace it. Sadly, many are swept up in the media hype of “you must be a couple for Valentine’s Day” and choose to feel inadequate or particularly “un-lovable” on this day.
I choose to make it a day about L O V E and all its beautiful forms!
I am blessed enough to have over a DOZEN Valentine’s this year! I hope this doesn’t give me a bad reputation! But considering 8 and in the “under 8” crowd I think I am in the clear! You see, 8 of my Valentine’s are my table of children I eat with every Wednesday at my churches LOGOS Program. It’s an after school youth ministry at the First United Methodist Church in Portland. I asked each and every one of my “LOGOS kids” to be my Valentine and they all said YES! THAT my friends, is what Valentine’s Day is about!
Of course, extra kisses and hugs will be shared with my hubby and my kids will both receive a little treat…..but Valentine’s come from all sorts of places…..like your local animal shelter!
If you are looking for one of the purest forms of love…..you don’t have to look far. It isn’t easy of course. Partnerships never are. But provide your dog a warm home, love and attention and a good meal and they will reward you with hugs and kisses and a loyalty you can hardly imagine. If you are willing to open your heart….I mean REALLY open your heart to a dog….the rewards are indescribable in my opinion.
That picture is of me and one of my Valentines, my precious Abigail. I saw her online last year and knew deep in my heart that she was “my dog”. I proceeded to leave work, after all, I had to go get “my dog”! I drove 3 HOURS to save her from a high kill shelter in Lockhart Texas. She had been found wandering the streets by a family who’s children she played with. I brought this sweet thing home and she and I have been inseparable ever since.
I know what many of you are thinking…..what is going to happen when this dog dies? And I have thought of that too of course….and my heart will be broken…..but the blessings and rewards I have far outweigh the pain of losing her. My faith comforts me. For I know our separation will only be temporary. I have complete faith I have a menagerie of pets waiting faithfully by the pearly gates.
So I choose to love her and accept her love in return! She is my best buddy….my foot warmer on cold nights…..the one to throw herself in my arms when I return….from the bathroom (!!)…..and she is ever alert to dangers that might harm her beloved family. She is my clown….she is my comforter…..she is my angel sent from God……
Is it just a coincidence Dog is GOD spelled backwards? …..I think not……
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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