A Valentine’s Day Gift From The Heart

If you had 124 chances to tell someone how much you love them, could you do it? What about 248?

A homework assignment from a “Love & Respect” study group that my husband and I are in asked us to do the following:

Women: Tell him what he does that makes you feel loved.

Men: Tell her what she does that makes you feel respected.

As work our way through Dr. Emerson Eggerichs’ Love & Respect, we’re learning more about what we each need from one another. Valentine’s Day just happens to be smack in the middle of week two, so we’re having fun with this assignment.

And that may just be the ideal Valentine’s Day present. Don’t get me wrong: I love roses, chocolates and all the pretty things. Yet, it doesn’t feed my soul.

Two years ago, I washed a glass jar that I was returning to my boyfriend, and at the spur of the moment decided to fill it with tiny handwritten notes telling him how much I love him. Some were serious, and some were silly. I love you more than coffee!

I figured he would enjoy a few notes and put his glass jar back into his pantry.

He loved it! Of all the gifts I’ve given him, this is the one he talks about the most. I’d get text messages and photos when he read one of the notes, and his response gave me insights on what matters to him. He still has the bottle with the notes.

Last year I filled a box with simple wooden hearts that I found on Amazon and wrote a second round of notes. This year I’m following the Love & Respect assignment and flipping each heart over to let him know about the things he does that makes me feel loved.

If feedback is a gift, he’s getting 124 presents. And it didn’t hurt our bank account one bit.

Treating our loved ones on Valentine’s Day really can be that simple. This year he’s giving me the gift of knowing what he needs, and I’m doing the same.

If you’re still searching for the perfect Valentine’s Day present, grab a pen and write from the heart.

However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:33 ESV

— Elise