Weekend Roundup, February 16, 2018: Post Valentine’s Day Edition (a.k.a.The Ninety-Sixth Day of First Grade Isn’t A Thing)

Hi Friends! Welcome to the February 16 edition of the Weekend Roundup. A Weekend Roundup is what happens when I share with you the work of a few Hope*Writers from around the web.

Are you a fan of Valentine’s Day? I’m all for love but Valentine’s Day is not my favorite holiday, and it is Hallmark’s fault. I have a problem with red and pink together. Just no. Furthermore, I can’t stomach waxy chocolate (give me the good stuff or go home) and Conversation Hearts make me gag, unless they are of the sour variety which are surprisingly hard to come by.

I’m not really such a downer concerning Cupid and the Day of Love. It is just that I worry too much for those who are spending Valentine’s Day alone. I wonder if those who are single, divorced or widowed know they are loved by a mighty God who loves them with a never ending, unstoppable love? Do they know they are just as worthy as those who are married or in a committed relationship? You see, I spent my first twenty-five Valentine’s Days without a significant other. I know, I know, being unlucky in love is nothing compared to being widowed. But I remember the sting I felt when everyone else was getting flowers and going on romantic dinner dates, while I wondered if anyone would ever love me for me. Ironically, a fun (or scary) fact about me is that my husband and I spent our first Valentine’s Day together as a couple a month after our wedding day. Anyway, I wish I had Niki Hardy’s Love Letter From God when I was single. Even now, it’s impossible for me to read this letter without getting teary-eyed. It’s what happens when I read a piece filled with beauty and truth, the reminder that hope always rises to the surface.

Did you know that Valentine’s Day fell on Ash Wednesday this year? Even if you aren’t from a liturgical faith tradition, I think you will find this essay by Leigh Sain to be a refreshing take on Lent. I shared Leigh’s work on my Facebook page earlier in the week. I’m sharing it again because it is that good.

Now for a fun-filled blog post perfect for the week of Valentine’s. Mary Carver writes about missing romantic comedies in this fabulous essay. You can read it here . I read Mary’s post seated on a clear plastic chair in the waiting room while Steven got two of his teeth extracted in preparation for braces. It was a lovely way to pass time. Speaking of romanic comedies, they don’t make them like they used to, do they? My heart forever belongs to When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and surprise, surprise, another Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film, You’ve Got Mail. But my ultimate favorite romantic comedy is About Time with Rachel McAdams and the guy who played General Hux in Star Wars VII and VIII.

Enough about love. I adore the following article by Kelly Beckley Shank about what it means to be brave. You can click here to read it. If I wasn’t seated in the waiting room at the pediatric dentist’s office, I would have cried when Kelly wrote, “You’re in the middle of the messy kid years. Every day feels like a fight that you’ll never win, but every morning you get up and try again. That’s brave.” Perfect for the mama who spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon on the phone with the vice principal of the elementary school talking about a recent incident having to do with a little boy, a urinal, toilet paper and the ceiling of the boy’s bathroom. You don’t want to know.

My final recommendation is an essay by Vanessa Hunt from At The Picket Fence. Not only is the message an important one, Vanessa’s storytelling and imagery alone is worth giving it a chance. Check it out.

I was going to give a bonus link in the form of a shout out to Dorina Lazo Gilmore for a job well done. Dorina recently published her second Bible study, Flourishing Together, and I am on her launch team. Yet it looks like I will have to tell you about Dorina’s life-changing Bible study later. Lauren is screaming from the dining room because someone ate four of the Sour Patch Kids off of her One Hundred Days of School project, which needs immediate investigating because everyone knows that the Ninety-Sixth Day of First Grade isn’t a thing.

N.