“Heartbug…Valentine’s Day is a poor
excuse to pick a man’s pocket every 14th of February,” mumbled Ivan
as he walked through the extremely Valentine-ized big box supermarket with an armful of Kraft mac ‘n
cheese boxes and a case of off-brand Spirit. Not Sprite. Ivan preferred saving
69 cents by buying the Superb Value (inferior quality) brand from the supermarket.
He also tried to avoid using a cart because carrying his purchases made him buy
less. It didn’t help his mood when he dropped the Spirit case and a can
exploded all over the old lady in line behind him, and he decided he’d consider
using a cart next time.
Let me be clear: Ivan is not Scrooge, and this
isn’t the story of how miserly Ivan was visited by three Valentine ghosts and
became a sap who subsequently showered the masses with heart-shaped confetti
and “kept Valentine’s Day in his heart” every day. It is, however, a story about
the power and beauty of selflessness.
Community college is a place many
of us have walked through on our way to a university or an Associate’s degree.
Ivan, however, had recently completed his Bachelor’s through an online program
and was now working at one. He didn’t love it, but it paid rent and gave him
something to do on weekdays. Ivan had friends—the sort who enjoyed discussing
Bradbury and Vonnegut and painting household items with chalkboard paint. While
he enjoyed dystopian literature and being able to sketch things on his coasters,
Ivan was considering trying to expand his circle of friends. Perhaps that was
what compelled him to Google search ‘volunteering opportunities in Lovettsville.’
After
parking outside the school and only seeing a few cars in the parking lot, Ivan considered just getting an omelet at IHOP and going back home and drawing something on his
empty chalkboard wall when a minivan pulled in next to him. Before the parents
had even unbuckled, a little girl tumbled out of the door, and out of the
corner of his eye Ivan noticed a silver star sticker fall off of her shoe. Only
after that did Ivan notice the girl was different. Down syndrome different.
Reading
picture books and cutting out tissue paper hearts wasn’t hard for Ivan. It was
coming to terms with his prejudices against people who weren’t like him, people
he had to exert himself to understand. The way these families interacted with
each other and their handicapped and disabled children was something he’d never
seen up close. He was afraid and challenged by it, because they didn’t pretend like everything
was normal—they confronted the differences and loved right through them. At the
end of the morning, the silver star sticker girl hugged Ivan and handed him a
glitter-soaked Valentine and asked if he’d be back the next week.
By the end of the
year, Ivan’s fridge was covered with glitter-soaked cards.
Food for thought:
How can you get outside of yourself? Is God calling you to volunteer somewhere?
Make this Valentine’s Day about other people, especially those less loved by
this world.
Much love in Him,
Emma
