I subscribe to the Lies Young Women Believe blog...this was today's blog.  I thought it was very fitting and wonderfully written.  Hope you enjoy :)

Redefining V-Day

Posted by Erin Davis on 02/14/1

Happy Valentine's Day. Or rather, Happy Validation Day! Let me explain.

It's taken me thirty-one years, but I think I finally have Valentine's Day all figured out. It's not really about chocolate, roses, or tiny candy hearts. It's not about cards or balloons or stuffed teddy bears. It's not about romance or relationships or having a date for the dance. It's not even about love, at least, that's not all it's about.

The V in V-Day shouldn't stand for valentine. It should stand for "validation." Isn't that what we crave most on this day? The desire for validation is innate in us all, and what a powerful desire it is! We long to know that we matter, we are valued, we are accepted, we are loved.

That's why it hurts when we don't have a valentine. We feel rejected. When others are being called to the office at school to collect their overpriced flowers, our heart aches, because we feel like no one has noticed us. When we must spend V-Day alone, we may feel lonely, but that's just an aftershock of the pain of feeling like we don't matter on a day when others seem to be validated so well. It's also why even when we do receive some love on Valentine's Day, our longing for validation returns by February 15th. No gift or card or poem is strong enough to make us feel completely secure in our quest to be loved.

I don't think the antidote is to learn to ignore our desire for validation. After all, God set the desire to matter in each of our hearts as He wove us together in our mothers' wombs. But when we look for love (and validation) in all the wrong places, things start to go haywire.

God didn't intend for your sense of worth to hinge on whether or not you are someone's valentine. It wasn't His plan for you to define yourself by the attention you receive (or don't receive) from a boy. He didn't engineer your love tank to be fueled by people or achievement or outward beauty or success. That ache in your heart is set to work like a compass to point you toward ... the lover of your soul.

The good news is that God is generous with His words of affirmation. The Bible is chock-full of descriptions of His deep love for you. He doesn't hold back. He doesn't ask you to ignore your desire to be known, to be loved, to matter. Over and over again He will willingly scratch that itch in your heart to be loved extravagantly if you'll let Him.

Here are a few of my favorite examples:

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness" (Jer. 31:3).

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1).

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Luke 12:6–7).

Zechariah 2:8 and Psalm 17:8 call you the "apple of His eye." In many Scriptures God calls you His "beloved" (Ps. 127:2, Eph. 5:1, 2 Cor. 7:1).

Perhaps most importantly, Jesus' actions, specifically His willingness to die on the cross, screams, "I LOVE YOU. YOU ARE WORTH IT!"

So pay attention to that gnawing in your heart to be loved today, sweet girl. But don't fall for the trick that any ol' validation will do. If you have a valentine today, enjoy it. Take time to smell those roses. Eat an extra piece of chocolate for me. But see those tokens of love for what they really are—pale in comparison to the love God has for you. Don't run to others for validation on this day or the next. God's banner over you is love (Song of Sol. 2:4). Sit under that banner. Soak it in, and make the choice to let it be enough.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!
 Amberly

Following Him...

My niece, Kennedy, came to the Youth Bonfire this past Friday night with her dad.  She and Camryn insist they are part of the youth group because they "come to everything."  That's actually a pretty accurate statement!!  We had several younger kids at the bonfire Friday night, because they came with their parents, etc.  After D finished preaching, most of the kids went inside.  Kennedy started that way, but then came back.  She lifted her hands and began worshiping and singing along with Rusell and her dad..."and the cry of my heart is to bring You praise, from the inside out Lord, my soul cries out."  When everyone finished praying, she looked at me and said "Do you see my tears, Aunt Amberly?"  I told her I did.  She then asked "Do you think that's because I felt the Holy Ghost?"  As we walked back to the house, she grabbed my hand and said "Aunt Amberly, I almost went inside earlier, but I changed my mind."  Then, with a huge smile she added "I think Jesus liked my decision!" 

Our little conversation reminded me of Proverbs 16:9 which says "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."  Psalm 32:8 says God will "instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go..."  God has a definite plan for our lives.  When we establish a relationship with Him, I believe He gives us direction.  He shows us the way to go. 

Sometimes we beg Him for direction, but sometimes, I believe He directs us without us even realizing what's happening.  The secret is in focusing a whole lot on Him and just a little on the dreams and goals we have for the future.  Psalm 37:4-5 says "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." 

Anytime we seek to be close to Him, without considering the path we may have to follow, or how getting close to Him will affect our plans (in Kennedy's case eating pizza and playing with her friends and cousin), I do believe it makes Him happy.  So, I couldn't help but agree with Kennedy and tell her that I agreed...Jesus was very happy with her decision.

XOXO,
Amberly

A New Year...

How many of you can't help but get excited about the possibilities 2012 holds?  Me either!  It seems no matter what is going on in my life, I always get excited when a new year begins.  The possibilities seem endless. 

When 2011 ended, to say that I was completely exhausted, burned out and drained of energy & passion would have been an understatement.  I felt very forgotten and frustrated.  Forgotten by God, frustrated with myself, circumstances and probably with God too.  Over the last few days it seems God has been meeting me where I am, showing me that we are never forgotten.  I read in a blog I follow about the Widow Woman and Elisha.  Then, I read my devotion for the day from Beth Moore's Praying the Word Day by Day and felt God speaking to me. 

Have you ever felt like you gave up everything for God and suffered because of it?  Maybe its just me and the Widow Woman mentioned in 2 Kings 4:1-7.  2 Kings 4 says "The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, 'Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.' 

Apparently, her husband, a man who served the Lord, died and she was about about to lose everything. She, like many of us, saw someone believe in HIM, and in the end, it seemed like it did them no good.  She felt that God had forgotten her. 

When Elisha asks her what she had, she replied, "Your servant has nothing there at all...except a small jar of olive oil.”

She felt she had nothing.  No way to make the money necessary to pay the creditors.  No way to bargain to keep her children from being sold into slavery.  Her nothing was something to God though. 

Elisha tells her, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”  I love how he told her "don't ask for a few."  My God is huge and my God is able. 

The Bible says 'she left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, 'Bring me another one.' But he replied, 'There is not a jar left.' Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, 'Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.'  God had not forgotten her and I doubt that He has forgotten about us either.  His plan is huge.  It is more than enough.  We just have to patient. 

Patience...which brings me to the next point.  I don't have very much of that.  Waiting is hard for most of us.  Patience to wait does not come from suffering long for what we lack, but from sitting long in what we have.  Ouch...I'm not anxious because I want to be in a different situation as much as I am anxious because I'm tired of where I've been.  Psalms 126:3, 5-6 says "The Lord will do great things for me, and I will be filled with joy. I will sow in tears, then I will reap with songs of joy. If I go out weeping, Lord, carrying seed to sow. I will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with me."

My prayer for 2012 is this:  Lord, please help me be willing to sow the seed of your Word and to water it with my tears, believing You in the midst of my circumstance.  If I do, You will be faithful to fill me with joy again. You will faithfully bring a harvest forth from my life. "You, the God of all grace, who called me to Your eternal glory in Christ, will restore me and make me strong, firm, and steadfast..." 1 Peter 5:10.

XOXO,
Amberly