I originally wrote and posted this blog last year but thought it was appropriate to revisit it once again. I’d love to hear from you ladies – both single and married – about how you honor and love others on this lovely, commercialized, made-up holiday…

It’s that time of year again.

When dating and married men panic…

Women in dating relationships wait with baited breath and hopeful anticipation of being swept off their feet with the impending romance.

Married women remember a time gone by when romance was possible, maybe even likely.

And the single ladies? We tend to sit around on Valentine’s Day being bitter and crying into our pint of Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked.

And we need to stop…

Candy hearts, chocolate covered strawberries, and candlelit dinners do not mean you are loved. And lack of them does not mean you are not.

So, to all my single ladies out there, get a grip. With all my love and kindness, but in all seriousness, get a grip.

I know it is hard when your heart longs for romance and the love of a very special someone. Believe me…I know. But being bitter and angry at others who have something you do not is ugly. It just is…

I stopped being sad and feeling sorry for myself on Valentine’s day years ago. Instead of waiting to see who was going to make my day special with flowers or cards or candy (and quickly realizing the answer was no one), I started focusing on how I could express my love to others in an extra special way. You don’t need a boyfriend to love or be loved. You don’t need a significant other to be significant. You don’t need Valentine’s day to let those you do love know about it, but since the day is here, why not go ahead and make someone feel extra special by expressing how you feel about them today!? Buy someone flowers. Bake someone cookies. Send someone a text message letting them know something special you appreciate or notice about them. Isn’t that what Jesus has called us to do everyday anyway?

So, all my dear, dear fellow single ladies…don’t sit around selfishly sulking and stewing at your single status waiting for roses or wine or other expressions of romance to fall from Heaven like manna. The reality is love did come down from Heaven! You are loved fully and completely – you are BELOVED! So today, and every day, share that love with someone who needs it!