Valentine's Day 2026

Hello, dear ladies! 

Yes, it is Valentine's Day. Some of us face it, yet again, with feelings that resemble disappointment and sadness rather than happiness and romance. I want each of you to hear me say that singleness is hard, and it is alright to say that it is hard. I take the example from David in Psalm 77:10 when he says, "This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." David does not skirt around things; he honestly is stating that there is weakness and pain in his life, real difficulty, but his eyes dare not stray from the face of his sovereign Lord and the faithfulness that has been shown to him. Stating the reality of pain is not a sign of a lack of faith; in fact, at times, it shows a humility and dependency upon the Lord rather than trying to mask and appear "strong" or "spiritual". In singleness, some days, we cry about it, some days feel brighter to us, and still other days (for me at least), I can face them apathetically. No matter where your heart is today, I have asked the Lord that you be strengthened and encouraged by the acknowledgement that it is hard, but that you are not left alone and without hope. You have a loving Father who desires to meet you in the pain and place His arms of tender care and peace around you.   

Below is a letter that came across my path years ago, a letter from Jesus to you. 

Please take it as your Valentine this year. 

Know how dearly loved and cherished you are. Remember how much Christ delights in you and how precious you are to Him. Soak in who you are in Christ and what He says about you. Say it over to yourself, revel in it. What treasures of truth!

My Beloved Child,

I am writing you today to let you know I am thinking of you. Actually, I am always thinking of you, because you are the apple of My eye. I created you unique and special. There has never been anyone else in the history of the world like you, and there never will be again. You are perfectly accepted in My beloved Son. You are never alone. You are hidden under the shoadow of My wings. As you start your day today, I want to remind you that you are who you are because of who I am. 

                                                                                                                

You are secure.
Deut. 33:12 “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders.”

I am your defender and defense.
Zech. 9:15 “The Lord of hosts shall defend them...”

Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col. 3:3 “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

I am your hiding place.
Ps. 32:7 “Thou art my hiding place...”

You are lifted out of the depths.
Ps. 30:1 “I will extol Thee, O Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up, and has not made my foes to rejoice over me.”

I am your burden-bearer.
Matt. 11:30 “For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

You are clean.
John 15:3 “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

The blood of the Lamb cleanses you from sin.
1 John 1:7b “...the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

You are refined by fire.
1 Peter 1:6-7 “...the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire...”

I am your God, a consuming fire.
Heb. 12:29 “For our God is a consuming fire.”

You are my handiwork.
Eph. 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus...”

I am your Creator.
Ecc. 12:1 “Remember now Thy Creator in the days of thy youth...”

You are encouraged.
2 Thess. 2:16-17 “Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.”

I am your comforter.
Is 51:12 “I, even I, am He that comforteth you...”

You have a place prepared.
John 14:2-3 “In my Father's house are many mansions... I am going to prepare a place for you.”

I am your dwelling place through all generations.
Ps. 90:1 “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”

You are a friend of God.
John 15:15 “...but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you.”

I am your friend.
John 15:14 “Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.”

You have rest in me.
Matt. 11:28-30 "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...and ye shall find rest for your souls.”

I am God of stillness.
Ps. 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”

You know all things work for good.
Rom. 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God...”

I am good.
Ps 100:5 “For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting...”

You abide in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
2 Cor. 13:14 “...the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.”

I am the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

You are mine.
Is 43:1 Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.”

I am the I AM.
Ex. 3:14 "I AM THAT I AM ... say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

You are an heir of all things.
Gal. 4:7 “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then a heir of God through Christ.”

I am your inheritance.
Eph. 1:11 “In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance…”

You are not lacking wisdom.
James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally...and it shall be given him.”

I am your teacher.
Ps. 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go...”

Your days are ordained by me.
Ps. 139:16 “...and in Thy book all my members were written...when as yet there were none of them.”

I am the keeper of your times.
Ps. 31:15 “My times are in Thy hand...”

With love from your, Abba

Happy Valentine's Day, dear friends.

 
May you feel to a greater degree the extent of HIS passionate love for you.

Even Your Sanctification

As the year was closing out, 1 Thessalonians 4:3a stood out to me as a sweet encouragement, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification…” Sanctification, it is a purification, the state of purity, to be made holy. In the Old Testament, the instruments for the tabernacle were sanctified, set apart, and made holy unto the Lord for the fulfillment of His service in the daily ministration of work and sacrifices. The will of God is for me to be made holy, set apart, purified, ready, and fit for the Master’s use (2 Timothy 2:21). If I truly believe that the Lord is sovereign, that His hand is over all of my life, including the details, and that it is His will for me to be sanctified as it says in 1 Thessalonians, then who am I shake my head (or my fist) at His ways and means? Is that not demanding to be placed in the position of God, wanting the right to design and control my circumstances? I am the clay, He is the Potter. My heart is safe in His hands. When I do not understand, when doubts and questions arise, I can humbly, but with assurance, take my position in Christ, look upward, and trust in Him who spoke the world into existence and who has said, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)

As I closed the chapter of 2025, I looked back at what I felt was closing out a year of heartache. This last year was a year of pain and challenge, as I walked through new territories of difficulty I had never faced before, as well as some old battles that had to be fought again. As I progressed through the year, especially into the summer months, I realized that my unofficial theme that the Lord kept impressing on me was “trust”. Trust is a simple word, and it is used in a large variety of ways, but for me, 2025 will always stand out as a year where I was continually asked to simply trust my Heavenly Father. 

If I pick the most quoted and beloved verse of 2025, I would say Psalm 28:7, “The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in Him and I am helped.” There was so much in this last year that I did not understand, that I had to grapple with, struggle over, cry about, and grieve, but one of the amazing aspects of trust is that the need to understand and comprehend all of my circumstances is transferred to another, in this case, the Lord Jesus Christ. My Heavenly Father, who watches over the small sparrow and has complete knowledge of the number of hairs on my head, on Him I place all the need to understand, all the grief and pain that I feel, and submit to not comprehending it all and allow that He does, and that is sufficient for me. 

When this transition of the desire for control is made, I am helped, I am raised up, set upright again, strength is poured into me, and I have all grace to place one foot in front of the other. It is His will that I be sanctified. I wish to be made more into the image of the Lord Jesus, so I can trust Him with the ways and means which He chooses to accomplish it. One of my favorite books phrases it well, as one character desires to uplift his drooping companion, “I was moody and restless the other day, said Hugh,--- desponding of everything; and then I came upon this Psalm; (Psalm 73:1, “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.”) and it made me ashamed of myself. I had been disbelieving it, and because I could not see how things were going to work good I thought they were going to work evil. I thought we were wearing out our lives alone here in a wearisome way, and I forgot that it must be the very straightest way that we could get home. I am sure we shall not want anything that will do us good; and the rest I am willing to want...”

So, rest, my dear sisters. It is His will that each of us be sanctified, and He does truly know best how to accomplish this. Let us not raise ourselves up in opposition to His ways and means, but embrace them, trust in them, for it is the very straightest way that we can get safely home.