Rod and I started dating just before Christmas of our junior year in high school. Two days before Valentine’s day (which fell on Saturday that year), I went to the Varsity wrestling match to cheer on our boys, and one boy, Rod, in particular. We were in the same chemistry class and had a big assignment due after the three-day weekend. I’d forgotten my chem book, and Rod offered to let me borrow his. When the match was over, I went over the congratulate him on his win, and gave him one of those smallish heart-shaped boxes full of chocolates. He handed me his chem book. Can you say “awkward?”
I didn’t crack open the book until late Sunday afternoon, and there, inside the front cover was a Valentine’s Day card from Rod. I was delighted to get the card and embarrassed that I hadn’t found it sooner.
We are still together, 51 years later. That’s grace and love and tenacity over the long haul. Every Valentine’s day we remember that first Valentine’s day. There is a lesson to this story, and its not about putting off your homework until the end of the weekend. It is a lesson about the gifts we miss because we aren’t paying attention, or we’ve put something off, or we are too busy. Don’t miss the best gift of all – the love of God, hidden in plain sight, just waiting for us to discover it.
God is love! Happy belated Valentine’s Day (why ruin a pattern?) ~ Anne
These meditations are provided as a ministry in this time of pandemic as a ministry of St. Paul’s U. C. C.
Wayfinding 