It is that time of the year again…when the guys all feel the pressure to buy candy and flowers and cards if they have any sort of significant other in their life. I was in the grocery store last night and this guy was fussing about the cost of flowers as he purchased a dozen roses for his girlfriend. His attitude was sort of like he had to pay taxes…”there is just no way out of this and I just want it to be as pain free and as inexpensive as I can make it.”
So the clerk (a young man of 18) and I talked about it for a little while after the man left the store. We decided that there is a LOT of pressure out there to prove your love for someone on Valentine’s Day so what’s a guy to do???

I have been married for almost 29 years and it is my privilege to be Thom’s only Valentine and he is mine. It is not a chore, it is a gift. I have the opportunity to tell him every day, but I especially tell him on Valentine’s Day…because I love him.
We, like that guy at the grocery, sometimes lose sight of the fact that if we have someone to love it is a blessing from God. It is our privilege to tell others that we love them. It is our duty to tell them…they need to know. They need to feel acknowledged and appreciated. They need to see love in action sometimes. Our attitude should reflect the joy of the love rather than the struggle with the duty, don’t you think?

Jesus didn’t just love us one day and then forget about expressing it any more. He is constantly speaking His love to us!  It is His joy!  He is the only one that can love us like that and He delights in doing so!!  Not only that but He wants us to communicate that love to the world for Him. It is our privilege…it is our duty.

So, like those poor guys today that went to a lot of trouble and expense to make sure that their Valentine’s understood that they were loved, you go and do likewise…tell the world that they are loved by Christ and His body.  If it gets expensive (don’t try to save your life, remember?) or it gets time consuming, or they just don’t listen, that doesn’t let you off the hook.  Every day is Valentine’s Day with Jesus.  :-)

Sheri Ferguson Cox

Sheri Cox is Wellspring’s Ministry Team Overseer. She says of her occupation: ” I try to serve God wherever I am but I suppose my main occupation is homemaker for my husband Thom! I was a successful homeschool teacher for 18 years (retired summer of 2008). Since January of 2006 I have served as a trained, volunteer mediator for the Dispute Settlement Center of Alamance County. We serve the District Court doing family and community mediation. In December of 2007 I took on the role of fitness trainer at a local Curves. I work a few hours a week there and it gives me an opportunity to really minister to the ladies that I meet.”