Valentine’s Day can be a day with all the feels … love, longing, giddiness, sadness, joy, or grief. It is a national day to celebrate love but like any other holiday, it can be joyful or painful depending on someone’s circumstances. February 15 has often been called “Singleness Awareness Day” for those without a significant other, but even if we do not have a “love” on Valentine’s Day, we can still express love no matter the situation. There are no bounds to how much love we can express, and there are no bounds on how many lonely people there are in the world who need love. As 1 John 4:7 says, “let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (CSB). God’s love and His love through us is limitless!
As we are almost a year into our pandemic world, we need to love more than ever and in new and innovative ways. Instead of letting Valentine’s Day shine a glaring light on being “unloved” or “unchosen,” let’s reverse it to shine God’s love on others. An old Journey song called “Ask the Lonely” has wonderfully wise lyrics to it. (That’s right, ‘80s music actually can bring some wisdom at times.) I listen to this song when I begin to feel sorry for myself because I am still single. It says, “When you’re feeling love’s unfair, you just ask the lonely. When you’re lost in deep despair, you just ask the lonely.”1 As lonely as we may feel sometimes, we are not truly alone if we know Christ. And I believe there is always someone more lonely than I may feel who would be blessed by some expression of love from me, by some kindness like a smile or a frosty doughnut or a bunch of wildflowers.
Many single women are taking back Valentine’s Day by calling it Galentine’s Day and celebrating with their friends. Do you celebrate this day? If so, who are the women you celebrate with? Girlfriends, church groups, college friends, coworkers? Our team of girlfriends at Lifeway Women have listed some of the ways we have celebrated Galentine’s day. And it’s not just for single women. Dating and married women can also join in the fun to love our friends in creative, fun ways. We need that now more than ever. We have listed some of our ideas below in case you’d like to try any out. We’d also love to hear about your ideas here on the blog.
Do you exchange gifts (I like toffee!) or make and exchange old fashioned valentines with doily inserts? Will it be a mix this year of virtual and in-person celebrations? We can’t wait to hear about the ways you’ve celebrated in the past and all the ideas you have for this year. Here are some of ours:
- Send floral arrangements to friends or drop off a handmade bouquet at a friend’s door.
- Invite them to a Nailed It (like the TV show) party. Send invitations beforehand with grocery lists and Zoom in to see how the items turned out.
- Send a crafty friend a cheese making kit.
- Send cards—just a simple, handwritten note about how grateful you are to have her as a friend and what you like about her. It’s easy, inexpensive, and the kind of thing she will treasure for a long time.
- Breakfast for dinner (if you can have an in-person gathering!).
- Homemade cards or throwback cheesy valentines from the grocery store! Enjoy the nostalgia of classroom Valentine’s Day parties.
- If your friends live near you, you can’t go wrong with a porch drop off of some yummy treats.
- Gift a succulent or other small house plant. Since a lot of us are home all the time now, you can help make someone’s space more bright and homey with plants!
- Have a small party with your closest girlfriends with games and brunch.
- Put together little baggies of candy hearts and cards and deliver them to widows and widowers at local nursing homes or independent living centers.
- Do the same as above for a widow’s or grief share group at your church.
The possibilities are endless! Whatever you decide to do, spread love this Valentine’s/Galentine’s day. We want you to know that your girlfriends at Lifeway Women love you and are thankful for you. Your greatest Love, your good God sees you and your heart and your longings. He is faithful! Happy Galentine’s Day!
Ready to get Galentine’s Day started? We created some fun printables and Zoom backgrounds (or computer wallpapers) to help you celebrate!
Use these Zoom backgrounds to help you “decorate” for your virtual Galentine parties! Click the images below to save them to your computer. For information and instructions on enabling virtual backgrounds on Zoom click here.
Want to let your gal pals know you’re thinking of them? We’ve created some fun post cards you can drop in the mail to let your friends know how much you appreciate them!
To download these cute Lifeway Women valentines, click on any of the images below for a printable PDF! Then, simply cut out your valentines, add a note to the back of the card (on the left side), write their address on the right side of the card, add a stamp, and drop some encouragement in the mail this Galentine’s Day!
Paige Clayton is the Author Relations Specialist for Lifeway Women and also leads their destination events. She led the women’s events team for LIfeway for 14 years and recently shifted roles so she can spend less time traveling, and more time pursuing licensure as a professional counselor. She is currently a master’s level professional counselor at Lantern Lane Farm in Mt. Juliet, TN. In her spare time, she is a fun aunt to four young adult nieces. Paige is mom to her Instagram-posing dog Ruby and loves singing, being outdoors, and spending time with her friends and family.
1. Journey “Ask the Lonely,” Two of a Kind, Disc 2, No. 3, 1983.
