Ten years ago, I had an obligation to discuss love; to be vibrant and excited about Valentine's Day with my excited, amazing middle schoolers that I mentored weekly alongside a Christian non-profit, when the only thing I really wanted to do was escape life and talk to anyone about anything other than Valentine's Day or even love because I still felt the impact from the events that had happened just four days before. See, just four days before, I had been physically abused, thrown with great force across a room, picked up and slammed against walls, wrestled to the ground, and had escaped. This climatic event had been prefaced with months of extreme verbal, mental, and emotional abuse from someone who had promised to “love and protect” but had done everything but that. As I received the call from the non-profit’s office as a reminder that I was in charge of leading the "club" and message, with a tired but determined heart I held to my commitment. Not to save face, but because I loved each of those students, and I refused to let the events from days and the months before get in my way or knock my feet out from under me again. I hung up the phone as my head rested in my hands on my desk, and with a heavy hearted sigh I said, "Lord, what do I even talk about?" As I closed my eyes exhausted in emotion, I saw vividly "I ♥ U" A typical phrase we see often at Valentine's Day and often in our abbreviated messaging society. I read " I love you" and then I “heard” in my heart “look at it again”. I read,, "I heart you". I even shrugged a little. And then in a moment, in a way of activation as though hitting a button to reveal a message an acronym was given and a message unfolded:

I HEART YOU

I H-have E-endured A-all things R-relating T-to YOU! Be mine!...

…For you are already Mine!

I love you!

See, the thing was is that it wasn’t about me leading or speaking even. I actually didn’t speak when delivering the message other than a greeting that evening. I wrote it all down on big notecards and let it be a message from the One who gave it. I was a messenger and co-receiver to the best Valentine invitation there is. I was loved, seen, wanted, and adored in way that the world can never reach without the Giver and Source of Love. The world has twisted “love” and its meaning, delivery, and characteristics.

If the world and the definitions of the world have hurt you, made you feel isolated, unloved, or orphaned, I tell you the Creator of all the beauty in the world...of the entire universe HAS ENDURED ALL THINGS RELATING TO YOU....Because He loves you and you are His! He longs for you to give Him your heart because whether you acknowledge Him or not He took great pride in the tiny details He put in you!

You are seen. You are wanted. You belong. YOU ARE LOVED TODAY! Celebrate Love. And seek LOVE…the true meaning of it..the One who is LOVE!

Happy Valentine’s Day!! 💗 (John 3:16 / Corinthians 13)

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en·dure

/inˈd(y)o͝or,enˈd(y)o͝or/

verb

1. suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently.

"it seemed impossible that anyone could endure such pain"

synonyms:undergo, go through, live through, experience, meet, encounter

1. remain in existence; last.

"these cities have endured through time"

synonyms:last, live, live on, go on, hold on, abide, continue, persist, remain, stay, survive