This is the week of love. Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and I'm sure you've all been crafting, decorating and baking all in the spirit of sharing the love. Whether you have little ones you're outfitting for school parties or meal planning a romantic night in with your main squeeze, it's easy to get caught up in the commercial aspect of this holiday.
Are you all familiar with agape love? It's unconditional love. Through a
ministry I was part of when I was younger I learned a lot about this type of love, but just this week was reminded about it.
I do not know her personally, but I recently met her on
Instagram. I am blown away by her. In an effort to learn to appreciate what she already has and not focus so much on "things," she made a resolution to not buy a single article of clothing or accessory for an entire year. 365 days of no shopping {my hero!}. She is a woman of faith and is sharing the gospel as she goes through this journey. I am in awe of the way God is working through her and the lives she is impacting just through the power of social media. She has created a Valentine's Agape Love Challenge this week, and it's one of those that makes you feel like there are still good people in the world. Do yourself a favor and stop whatever it is you are doing right now and
check her out. The pictures and stories will speak for themselves.
Although I'm not officially doing the one year wardrobe resolution, I am trying to be more intentional with my shopping and purchases. I am notorious for just spending and always feeling like I need something new when I have a closet full of stuff! And it's not just clothes. I'm notorious for any holiday or special occasion feeling like I need to run out and buy all new decorations and get the boys lots of gifts.
Since following Christi, I decided this Valentine's Day I would keep it simple. The boys already have something red to wear and G's sweater from last year actually still fits. I have plenty of heart cups and plates leftover, and my boys are two and six months. A simple book on love and some stickers will more than suffice as a gift.
So we headed to Target yesterday to simply pick up the snack we were assigned for G's class party, a few supplies for his valentines and a couple household items. We all know the Target trap {
it's like a casino, you lose all track of time and money}, but I really went in with the intention to not spend a lot and not be tempted to buy stuff I don't need. As we are checking out, I notice the total is $62. In my book and past experience, this is a victory! But the lane over there is a woman and her young son. I notice it's taking some time and effort to get them checked out. The cashier is moving stuff around. The mom is continuously swiping her card. She's telling her son to put stuff back. As we bag up our "bare necessities" and wheel out, the mom and son are still in line. I hear her say, "I guess we just don't have enough money" and turn to leave. I was immediately reminded of Christi's Agape Love Challenge and asked the woman if I could help. She was so sweet and totally unfazed by the entire situation. She responded, "Thank you, but no, we are okay. We just needed some cat food for our kitten." I offered to pay for the cat food and said I was happy to help, but she would not let me. She just smiled, and said, "It's okay. I get paid on Friday, and we can get it in then."
I watched as she and her son walked out all smiles, not downtrodden at all by their inability to purchase what they needed. Talk about convicted. There I was feeling so smug about managing to get out of Target for under $100 purchasing what very few would consider "essentials." It's funny that I was offering to help that woman, but she in turn helped me so much more.
We left Target in the freezing rain and decided a warm drink was needed. Not just for me, but for all those trying to warm up that cold afternoon. I went to my
favorite coffee shop {who is all about agape love} and got myself a drink, a tip for the server and $20 worth of coffee for all those behind us. No, it didn't cure cancer and no it's not providing food for the hungry, but it was one small act of kindness. One that I'm working to challenge myself to do much more of.
So in the midst of the chocolates and roses tomorrow {donuts and stickers in our case!}, spend time really reflecting on the love in your life and what agape, truly unconditional, love looks like and how you can share that with others.
