Look Up!

Valentine's Day brings about a wide array of responses. It is my friend's favorite holiday. She goes all out to make it a special day for her husband and six children. Others dismiss it as a "Hallmark holiday" that has just been created to sell cards, candy, and flowers. For some single people it is a lonely, painful holiday. It certainly wasn't my favorite holiday throughout most of my twenties. As we look at those around us, it can be easy to wonder why certain things seem to be so difficult for us and so easy for others - whether that's getting a job, getting married, or having a baby. I well remember when pregnancy announcements, baby showers, and the sight of a baby belly could reduce me to tears.

Now that I have three children of my own this rarely happens; however, a couple of weeks ago a friend on Facebook posted of a relative of hers who just had a baby and was really in need of some baby gear. I felt lead to offer her some things my youngest no longer needs. Giving up these baby things was hard for me because I'd love to have one more baby, but my husband doesn't think we should do IVF again given we are now in our 40's. Around the same time I found out that a nineteen year old I've known for more than fifteen years is pregnant again. She dropped out of high school to move in with a guy she had known for one month, and she had her first baby five months ago. The three of them have lived in homeless shelters and spent some nights sleeping on the street in Florida. This young lady has no aspirations to ever have a job, and both she and her boyfriend smoke marijuana. I worry about their babies, especially as her boyfriend has spent time in jail for assault. He physically abused this young lady last summer during her first pregnancy. It's hard to understand why I had a miscarriage a few months ago and others who seem ill prepared for the task of motherhood can get pregnant very easily.

How we feel about our situation often depends upon our focus. Some of us might feel like we are struggling to get by financially, and yet compared to most people in the world, we are very wealthy. If you go to http://www.globalrichlist.com/ and enter your annual income, you can see where you are compared to the world as a whole. For example, an annual income of $25,000 puts you in the top 2%. If I remember that there are women who longed to have a baby and yet never saw those two lines on a pregnancy test, I feel incredibly thankful for my three blessings. Ultimately my focus should be on the Lord not my circumstances. The joy of the Lord is my strength. We are called to rejoice in the Lord. What a blessing it is to experience His peace and joy no matter what circumstances we are facing here on earth. If you are feeling lonely on this Valentine's Day, please remember that the God of the Universe loves you more than any human being ever could. You are not alone. You are deeply loved and wanted by our Heavenly Father.