“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12)
It has been said that Valentine’s Day is only for people who are in love… And that means all of us. I believe this is a day intended to commemorate LOVE for family, friends and definitely, celebrate Jesus’ immense love for us.
It was a hot Sunday morning on February 14, 2010 and children; all well-groomed, with an invitation at one hand, tagged along their friends to celebrate Heart Sunday at Train a Child Ministry. The activity started at seven o’clock and kids have been excited to introduce their friends who are new to the ministry. Others were upset since they were not able to bring one. We’ve asked the kids to bring someone, a friend, neighbor or kin who have not known the ministry ever since. It was one way of expanding their circle of friends and introducing the new kids to the ministry’s work. About 47 kids arrived and they were divided according to their age group (3-8; 9-15) since we’ve set up different activities for them. A couple of action songs were sang that uplifted their spirits as well as some love-filled stories from the Bible shared by Ma. Elena Escasiñas and Rosemarie Gonzales. The children were enthusiastic as Elena opened the first page of her gigantic story book. Eyes of merriment and voices with glee fascinated the entire room as Jonah’s story was slowly unraveled.
The parable was a reminder of God’s steadfast love for his people. If we listen to His word, remarkable things happen to us. With its message of redemption, it gave enlightenment and understanding to the children of how Jesus loves us and that God is a forgiving and merciful God. He answers all our prayers and He never fails. They all listened well and raced as to who answers first. A token of appreciation was given to Elena for her utmost support and for sharing her love to the kids.
Delightful refreshment filled their tummies while everyone else was excited to open the small gifts we’ve prepared for them. It was packed with “curly tops” chocolates and some lovely grins from the people of the ministry. They all went home not just with paper hearts pasted on their boxes but with humble and gracious hearts carved inside them.
Heart Sunday was the first Valentine celebration of the children in the Ministry and it truly was astonishingly one sunny-love-filled-morning. Celebrating Jesus’ love doesn’t only happen for a day. I believe everyday ought to be a celebration of Jesus selfless love and sharing it with family, friends, foe and everyone around us is but the best gift we could give.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:14)
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