I warmly remember a Valentine’s Day in the early fifties when I was a young teen.
I wanted to do something special for my family, so I gave each one a homemade card. The cards weren’t fancy—just writing on a sheet of lined paper decorated with lopsided hearts.
Imagine my surprise and happiness later that day when my mother gave me her own homemade Valentine card. That was seventy years ago. I have forgotten the words she wrote, but I still remember the love I felt when she handed me her specially made card. Mom had taped several quarters onto the front of the paper and then covered them with pieces of foil she saved from package wrappings.
My family was not demonstrative, and words such as “I love you” were not heard in my home. But in my heart, I knew I was loved and protected. My home was my safe place.
How sad that many children around the world are physically, verbally, and emotionally abused by their parents. Their homes are not safe zones, but battlefields of hostility and stress. Their parents treat them like unwanted baggage. Many are sexually abused and sold to the highest bidder. They have never known a home such as mine where I knew I was protected, and my needs would be provided day by day.
God, our Father, has a heart filled with love for His children of all ages. He gave each of us a unique Valentine Card and wrote on it, “I Love You,” in bright permanent letters. He then hung the card on a cross. His message of love will remain forever.
When we ask God to forgive our sins and come to Him as a little child, He welcomes us into His loving worldwide family.
If you are living in an abusive home or grew up in one, know your heavenly Father loves you. His Valentine Card is for you as well as every person on this earth. He excludes no one.
Have you accepted God’s love?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Norma C. Mezoe strives to be a Barnabas in her writing and in her living. Norma has been a published writer for thirty years and has written for magazines, devotionals, and S.S. literature. She is active in her small church as clerk, teacher, and bulletin maker. Norma may be contacted at normacm@tds.net.