Be My Valentine

There are many moving Valentine stories. This is one of the best.       

Little Chad was a quiet, shy child. One day he told his mother he wanted to make a Valentine for every boy and girl in his class. Her heart sank. To herself she said, “Oh, I wish he wouldn’t do this.” She had seen how the other children ignored and mistreated him. Walking home from school Chad was always a few steps behind “the gang.” They laughed, talked, and hung on each other, but ignored Chad. He was never included.

His mother decided to go along with him. As he requested she bought the paper, glue, and crayons.  For three whole weeks Chad worked every night until he completed the 35 Valentines.

On the big day Chad was excited as he left home with his 35 hand-made Valentines. 

His mom knew what to expect so in order to be prepared to cheer him up when he came home she baked him his favorite cookies. This would help ease the pain of his disappointment. 

That afternoon she waited with the warm cookies and cold milk. Hearing the children coming from schools she looked out the window. Sure enough, same scene. The group laughing, talking, and hanging on each other with Chad a few steps behind.

As he walked in the house his hands were empty. She choked back the tears. 

“Mommy has some warm cookies and cold milk for you Chad,” she said. 

He hardly heard a word as he marched by with his face aglow, and all he could say was “Not a one … not a single one.”

And then he added, “I didn’t forget a one, not a single one!”

This is the kind of self-sacrificing love in Christ’s name that can reach hardened hearts and win them to Christ. 

Jesus didn’t overlook one of us. The “whosoever” in John 3:16 confirms this.

Agostino d’ Antonio, a sculptor from Florence, Italy, worked diligently on a piece of cairina marble. In frustration over his failure to do anything constructive with it, he discarded it. Other sculptors tried in vain to work with its obstinate composition. Michelangelo saw the massive discarded marble and had it brought to his studio. Painstakingly he began to work on it. Slowly his skilled hands began to release the hidden beauty in it. Eventually his efforts resulted in the classical work of “David” being freed.

The secret of the success was not the stone, but Michelangelo. Look at your life! Is it incomplete, perhaps you even have a feeling of being discarded. You are a potential masterpiece. In the hands of Christ He produces nothing but His best from your worst. In love, commit yourself to Him.