You Are Loved

It’s Valentine’s Day

And I truly love this holiday

But it was not always this way

I’ve been divorced six years

And it was very hard in the beginning

So many times  this day brought to my life

Sorrow and sadness

Loneliness and depression

For it only reminded me of what I lacked

What was lost

What was gone

When you are single or divorced

Valentine’s Day shines a light down on the obvious

With a blaring megaphone that screams

YOU ARE ALONE

And it’s hard enough to walk through life

All by yourself

Without having that one day a year where your “Alone-ness” is highlighted

Every store is filled with flowers and hearts and chocolates

As if to say….YOU are the oddball

You are the only one that’s alone

What’s wrong with you??

You are single

You are divorced

No one loves you

No one cares

Those are the thoughts running through your head

Then one day many years ago as  I was crying into my pillow

Pouring tears out once again over the vast loneliness that filled my heart

And the rejection which had consumed me when my husband left

This scripture was brought to my attention

And it kind of shocked me

Because it was so very specific to my situation

That I could barely believe I had never seen it before!!

 

Don’t be afraid, because you will not be ashamed.
Don’t be embarrassed, because you will not be disgraced.
You will forget the shame you felt earlier;
you will not remember the shame you felt when you lost your husband.
 The God who made you is like your husband.
His name is the Lord All-Powerful.
The Holy One of Israel is the one who saves you.
He is called the God of all the earth.
 You were like a woman whose husband left her,
and you were very sad.
You were like a wife who married young
and then her husband left her.
But the Lord called you to be his,”
says your God.

The mountains may disappear,
and the hills may come to an end,
but my love will never disappear;
my promise of peace will not come to an end,”
says the Lord who shows mercy to you.

Isaiah 54:4-10

You see, the truth is this

We are not alone

We may be single

We may be divorced

But we are NOT alone

Someone does love us

Someone cares

We may look “alone”

We may even feel “alone”

But that does not change the fact

THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE

God is the valentine who will never forget you

You are never forgotten

Always on His mind

His thoughts are filled with great plans for you

Each day He longs to fill your heart with the knowledge of His love

When you cry,  He counts every tear

When your heart breaks, so does His

No matter where I go, He is with me

If I sit alone in a movie theatre

He is there

If I wake up in the night

I can talk to Him and He hears me

There has never been a single moment that I was ever alone

In spite of how I felt

In spite of what my circumstances showed

In spite of my “singleness”

There has never been a second that He left my side

If you feel lonely today

Please know this

While you may feel alone

You are NOT alone

You have never been alone

I learned this week that one of the names for God

Is El Roi

And it means

The God Who Sees Me

If you’ve ever felt invisible

If you’ve ever felt dismissed

Or unnoticed

Or ignored

Then remember this

GOD SEES YOU

And He loves you desperately

Several  years ago, my son began taking an interest in Valentine’s Day

He would ask me to take him to the store so he could buy me something

I remember when he was three years old, he snuck a 5 dollar heart necklace into the cart at Walmart

That he wanted to get me for Valentine’s Day

That 5 dollar necklace is my most prized possession

Today we stood in line while he “bought” me flowers and a balloon

The cashier asked him “Is that for your girlfriend?”

To which he replied

“No…these are for my Mama”

My son is the man in my life now who never lets me get through Valentine’s Day

Without being reminded I am special and loved

But even if this was not the case

There is one whose love for me far surpasses anything the world could offer

He will love each one of us endlessly

And His love endures forever

Today I want to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day

And for my friends who are alone

I want you to know

Many are out there who feel the same way

Buy yourself the flowers

Take yourself to the movie

Because you ARE special

You ARE loved

And today IS your day

Grasp it

Embrace it

Because His love for you is wider and deeper than you could ever imagine

And it will carry you through any storm

I know because I’ve been there

So remember His love

And know that when He tells you you’re special

He means it

And so do I

 

Want to know more about my thoughts on Valentine’s Day?

Here is the link to last year’s post