Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely a hopeless romantic. Flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, a boyfriend… all of that sounds pretty great to me. But something about this Valentine’s Day was different. This Valentine’s Day weekend, I decided to spend my time immersing myself in God’s word with some of my favorite girls in a cabin outside the city.
Something really cool about college is that I’ve gotten the chance to grow closer to God and better myself as a person. This weekend gave me the chance to get away from everything for a couple days and just relax, go on some adventures, and laugh until I cried with people that I really care about. We went on a hike in -8°F weather. I tried climbing up the side of a mountain, slid down and was covered in twigs and dirt. I walked out to the center of a creek and fell through some ice. My heart was beating so hard and my lungs ached from the air pressure, but I had never been happier. That’s what Valentine’s Day should be about, in my opinion. Making memories. Living.
I’ve been in the situation where I thought that Valentine’s Day was all about my how much time my boyfriend and I spend together and if we were going to get a lot of likes on our Instagram post. But this weekend made me realize that there’s really so much more to this day than whether or not you have a boyfriend, whether or not he gets you the right color roses, or whether or not he surprises you with your favorite flavor of ice cream.
Valentine’s Day is a romanticized holiday that focuses on love and relationships for most people. But is any love more powerful than the love that our Creator has for us? He sent his one and only son to die on the cross so that we may be granted eternal life, along with complete forgiveness of our past, present, and future sins. Love doesn’t get any stronger than that.
Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” How crazy is that? Inseparable love.
It’s incredible to me how much I have to be thankful for. I'm healthy and my body works properly, and I have an amazing family and supportive friends. I’m privileged to go to a school I’ve dreamt of going to for years and to pursue the dreams I have for my future. It’s even more incredible that I can accredit this all to the Lord.
I’m glad I left campus for this weekend and got away. I’m glad I got to better my relationships with my friends and take funny pictures and watch weird movies. I’m glad a boy didn’t get me chocolate and flowers and a teddy bear. Because I’m still in the beginning of my journey with Jesus, and this one is going to last a lifetime for sure.
