Yellow is my favorite. Besides being the best looking of all the differen't colors of roses, each one means something symbolically. And yellow is my favorite.
Now red is the most common. Today I am sure lots of people will be buying and giving and receiving red roses. After all, they are supposed to represent true love and that is what we are supposed to be celebrating today. I can't think of a better color to represent love. After all, the greatest demonstration of love this world has even seen is when God shed His very red blood for you and me. But on Valentine's Day, that's not quite the love that we tend to think about. So red is not my favorite.
Purple is supposed to represent love at first sight. In a way that is encouraging for me. After all, even though there seems to be nothing in the way of romantic love currently in my life a purple rose reminds me that by tomorrow, even by the end of the day there is the possibility that it could all have changed. But the purple rose also reminds me of the thousands of girls I have met in my lifetime with whom this "at first sight" stuff did not happen. My idealism tells me that love at first sight is a possibility. My pragmatism tells me it is a very slim one if that. So purple is not my favorite.
Orange is supposed to represent desire. Normally here I would talk about how wrong the lust we equate with this passionate desire is wrong, but that is only because what we desire is wrong. There is a right time and place for desire. Paul says, "He who desires a wife desires a good thing." Passion can be a good thing. But the orange rose reminds me more of what is said in the Song of Solomon: "All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him." Yes, I may have the desire, but I have not found her yet. So orange is not my favorite.
Pink is supposed to represent gratitude. It could be gratitude to that loved one for something they have done. It could even be gratitude for them just being who they are. The problem is, it presupposes someone to be grateful for. Now don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to God for more than I could ever express. I'm grateful to my family for allowing me to be a part of the Richardson legacy (Those that know, understand. Those of you that don't know, well... I pity you). I'm grateful to all my friends for being so cool. (Of course you're cool. After all, you're my friend.) But this is Valentines Day. So pink is not my favorite.
Peach is supposed to represent sympathy. Now if there was any justice in the world, I should be getting lots of these today. After all, I've got a running streak of 30 years without having a date on Valentine's Day. I'm batting a thousand. Or I guess it would be more appropriate to say I'm batting zero. The fact is, I would love to be able to say next year that this streak has been broken. I mean if I wanted to I could almost certainly even manage to have a date tonight, but it wouldn't really mean anything. So even though you might be tempted to send me that peach rose... it is not my favorite.
White does come a close second. It obviously represents purity. I can honestly say that I have kept my body pure. The problem is, I cannot say the same with regards to my heart and my mind. I have made mistakes. No, let's call it what it is. I have sinned. That's why I am so grateful that the red God gave me can make my black white again. That's why I'm so grateful or all that snow that has kept me from work today and kept all those chilluns home from school. There's nothing like looking out a window in the morning and seeing white everywhere. You know that once this view showed you plenty of dirt and mud. But God's got it covered. I am thankful that by God's grace my dirt has been washed white. I'm grateful that by His grace I can stay so until that day. I am grateful that by the same grace the mistakes of whoever she is can also be made clean. So even though I love the white rose, it is not my favorite.
The yellow rose is my favorite. It represents hope. It stands for the hope that tomorrow will be better than today. It reminds me that even though my past relationships might have ended in failure or frustration, (Even if all the blame belongs on me) there is hope that the next one might be the one. It reminds me of the promise that God gave the Israelites as they were heading into captivity, "I know the plans I have for you. They are plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future." I am in His hands, and those hands are good. So even if I am never to marry, that's OK. He knows far better than I do what is best for me. So if you, like me, see Valentines Day as a day of frustration rather than celebration, here's a yellow rose. Here's to knowing that we are in God's hands. Here's to hope.
I have a running streak of 23 years with no date on Valentine's Day. In past years, i spent the day depressed, angry, frustrated and down-right cynical. Yesterday was the first day in years when i no longer cared. I wore red, despite the fact that it was v-day. I wore a braclet that has hearts on it, despite the fact that hearts would be prolific. And i wore them because i no longer cared. I finally realized that in my "boycotting" of the holiday, i was acknowledging it, and allowing the media to control me.
Valentine's Day has been cheapend. It has become nothing more than another greeting card holiday. It's just another way for Hallmark to make money. Everything has become so cliche. How many countless people put on an act, a performance, or said something they really don't mean yesterday? I'd rather have sincerity the other 364 days of the year. I think it's so much more romantic to get flowers randomly, as opposed to the same day every other woman gets flowers.
What a heart you have, my friend! Praise the Lord for it!!! Well, even not being a special day today in Brazil, I know what Valentine's day is for you Americans... We have a similar day in June... Thanks for blessing me.. and let me tell you a secret!!! There is nobody more interested to give you the gift He has being preparing for you then our Lovely Father. Just wait and trust him, coz: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23). So, ... Your wife is separeted and almost ready to be delivered to you! God bless you, my friend! Regards from Brazil!
so, you got snowed in yesterday? Here in Sacramento, it was 66 degrees. (Well, it was a bit colder on Valentine's Day) and tomorrow I think they said it will get to be around 70 or more degrees. The snow just sounds so cold! But, Happy Un-Valentine's Day.
Thank you for being the way you are. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for the wishes for Valentine's Day. Wish you the same and much more, my dear friend.
In Finland, my home country, the Valentine's Day is not a day when we celebrate true love..so much. This is a country full of introverted, melancoly and lonely people with a strange sense of humor (in a good way). I thank God the fuzz over this day is not that huge in here as it seems to be in there.
In fact, the Finnish word for Valentine's Day means actually "Friend's Day". We celebrate true friendship. When true love may be a bit difficult to find for us, true friendship is not. Finns think that if you have a friend, it means you have a "special someone". And even if you hadn't seen or talked for years, that bind is still there. Nobody sticks harder on their friends like a Finn.
Why to celebrate only romantic love when there's also the "agape" -love?
That's really cool Heini! Thanks for sharing that. I've thought it should be a holiday for friends all along. Leave it to commercialism to make the Holiday so off centered. I thank God for true friends because theirs is the true love that keeps going on long after the boyfriend is gone.
I'm 22 years and running single. I suppose I've had only a fraction of the time at an adequate age for dating that you have. However, Valentine's day really hasn't bothered me. I do two things: 1) I remember that God's got someone for me and that it's His job to bring that about, not mine. 2) I focus on the Lord, love Him, and receive His love. There are a lot of times when I'll spend some great time with God and find myself telling Him that I don't even want a girl if it would somehow take away from what we have.
I am not a big Valentien's Day celebrater...I dont get depressed and lonely. I'ts really just another day. Perhaps if I had ever had at some point in my life...a "valentine" I would feel different... but I dont want a day to make a significant other feel like he HAS to express his love for me... that's just kind of weird. And yes, it has been greatly cheapend.
I think the rose meanings are neat. Personally, I am a white rose fan. That's by far my favorite one. Not just for meaning, but because to me, of all the roses, it smells the sweetest and is the prettiest. :o)
I do like to call it Happy Single Awareness Day! :o)
Hope on! I wish I had the knowledge and assurance when I was dating, that I have now. I realize now that marriage is not the stop at the end of the road. It's a journey that has as many stormy moments as well as pleasant sunny days. In fact, some days the storms outweigh the sunshine. I think white would be my favorite. I'm thankful God's love, mercy and grace that he continues to redeem creation. I'm thankful that God has redeemed my marriage from the hurricane of infidelity. I'm thankful for the miracle that God was with me during the storm. Not that all my days are sunny now, but the journey goes on.
I saw someone send a "Happy Singles Awareness Day" greeting. Thought that was funny. Listen since you were 16 I knew there was going to be a wonderful girl for you. She just hasn't found you yet. Refiners fire. When you're ready and she's ready it'll be time. Just wait. I know she's there.
happy v-day BJ! Thankfully, this 2/14 was not a bad day 4 me. I'm hoping also 4 gud things 2 come, b/c love is a complicated thing... but keep hope alive! Love Angel
