be Mine.

I just wanted to take a moment and give you a breather from all the hearts, candy, and red-and-pink combos that, for whatever reason, accompany the 14th of February.

Valentine's Day is a tough day for a lot of people--single and married. Delayed hopes have led to sickness and pain in many hearts, and the barrage of commercials, Facebook statuses and romantic movies just pour salt on the wounds of failed expectations.

I'm not here to continue that trend. I only want to tell you that you are loved. Really, truly loved.

I have been where some of you are. Hurt, lonely, confused. And I have experienced some of the deepest healing of my life through the journey God has me on. But it surprised me, the way He did it. It wasn't this relationship that healed me. Honest-to-goodness, what has healed my heart at the deepest level is truly embracing God's love for me. It was getting past the lies I've believed for so long and finally walking into the Truth of who I am, and--to be cliche but perfectly serious--Whose I am. While my fiance is wonderful and I adore him, he has not healed me. God has.

And you, my reader, have the chance to step into that journey of discovering His love for you now, just as you are, single or married or what-have-you.

No matter where you are, He is saying to you, "be Mine." He is enthralled by your beauty (Psalm 45). No human being can love you as truly as He can.

It's time that we (and I'm speaking to myself, too) stop looking to others for the love that we can only get from God. Everything else pales in comparison.

Be encouraged, dear heart. You are loved, truly, deeply, completely.

Happy Valentine's Day.