Valentine’s day is coming up and I know there are varying opinions on the holiday. Some love it, some hate it or ignore it. Some choose to celebrate with friends while others choose to celebrate it with loved ones.
As a military spouse, there is never a guarantee that I will be able to celebrate Valentine’s day with my husband. Some years I get lucky and he is home for it, and other years the kids are my valentines (including Snowy!).
Valentine’s day is a great holiday to focus on expressing our feelings of love to our families, performing acts of service, strengthening friendships, and remembering our blessings. It is also a great day to remember the greatest act of love made for us by God sacrificing his son so that we can spend eternity with him in paradise. (I wrote about this last year- you can find the article here)
This year I want to focus on performing acts of service, praying for others, or surprising those I love with a gift that they are not expecting. I had the kids hand make valentines for family and friends (I just need to get those in the mail now :D). But one of the acts of service I decided to do is for myself. I set aside some time to write down my qualities and really try to see myself for who I am.
I have struggled in the past with self-consciousness. I remember really having a hard time coming up with strengths for job interviews. I have a hard time seeing my strengths as a person but have no problem seeing my faults. And that is not fair to me, and definitely not what God wants of me. He wants us to see ourselves the way that he does. Our flaws that we see and despise about ourselves are part of who we are. For each flaw there is a strength, and we would not be ourselves if we did not have weaknesses.
So for the past few days I have been thinking about who I am, what my strengths are, what my weaknesses are, and then reminding myself that I am worthy. I was inspired by Nicole Caruso and her #worthyofwearing movement. This challenge also got me thinking about the well known saying that before you can love others fully, you need to love yourself.
Last night I sat down and wrote a list of everything about my myself, how I view myself, and actually made a point to write out my strengths. I hope that by doing this I can start to appreciate the way God made me, and realize what I am worthy of because of who I was made in the image of and who designed my very being.
I want to challenge all of you to do the same for yourselves this Valentine’s day, and see what you come up with! If we make the time to take care of ourselves and our self worth, then we can be there even more for those who need us.
If you need to get inspired, this is my list I came up with.
Who am I?
I am a woman
I am a Mom- under this title, I then become a caretaker, a comforter, a Kleenex (especially this past week :D), a housekeeper, a chef, a chauffer, a friend, a playmate, a warden, a safe place, a nurse
I am a wife
I am a friend
I am a daughter
I am a sister
I am a niece
I am an aunt
I am a cousin
I am a godmother
I am a Catholic
I am an introvert
I am a listener
I am a planner
I am a dancer
I am a lover of music
I am a hockey fan (GO CAPS!)
I am stubborn
I am determined
I am strong
I am a writer
I am a blogger
I am a hard worker, but need extra time to process information
I am a slow reader but love to read
I am learning
I enjoy fitness but also enjoy relaxing
I am tired
I am a coffee addict
I am a perfectionist
I am easily stressed
I am anxious
I am depressed
I am a sinner
I am NOT my anxieties
I am NOT my depression
I am NOT my sins or my mistakes
I am NOT weak
I am NOT worthless
I am made in the image and likeness of God
I am WORTHY
I am WORTHY of love, kindness and friendship
I am WORTHY of being heard and being seen
I am WORTHY of respect
I am WORTHY of having time to myself
I am WORTHY of rest
I am WORTHY of love, and being loved for every part of me-the good, bad, and ugly, that makes me who I am
I am a child of God
I am loved
I am protected
I am His
Every moment of every day even when I fall, he picks me up and sends me on my way.
We are modeled after perfection, but we ourselves are not perfect.
We are all WORTHY of forgiveness, love, mercy, compassion, empathy, understanding, security, happiness, and peace.
Let’s make sure this year, we start showing everyone their worth. Starting with ourselves.
I challenge you to now write a list on who you are! The good, bad, and ugly and thank God for making you just the way you are.
You are unique.
You are loved.
And now, it is time to show others how loved they are…
Check back here later on for a blog post on ideas for Valentine’s gifts for your loved ones!
