In considering writing something for Valentines day, I have to confess the commercial pomp and fizz around the day does little for me and my wife. However, readers beware, there is a hidden trap that many men have fallen into.
It’s that conversation the week before about Valentine’s day, you know the one. ‘What are we doing this year, shall we not worry about getting cards and gifts etc.’ To which you agree enthusiastically and forget the date carries any real significance. (Maybe, that’s how it is for me anyway.)
Then you wake up on the 14th I think it is, and find yourself face to face with a card from your partner, with a ‘you knew we would still give cards really’ look on their face.
Your mind reels, you have nothing, the trap has consumed yet another Valentines day dreamer.
Ok, maybe that load of waffle doesn’t represent you at all on Valentines day, maybe you are way above the curve and have years of making a statement of love and devotion.
One thing you might not have thought about on Valentines day however, is that for around 1.4 million Christian women in the UK this day is a painful reminder of the waiting game. These Christian women in the UK are unmarried looking for a decent Christian man in their lives but the fellas just are not there, numerically and spiritually. For many of these Christian women the option to stay single and probably childless, or marry a non-Christian fella, is not what they want to do.
At CVM we have formed a fantastic ministry partnership with a steering group of thinkers called ‘Engage.’ Engage have a strap line that says ‘making Christian marriage possible.’ I like that. It doesn’t say compulsory, as for many people singleness is a choice and we respect that of course, but that isn’t the case for everyone.
Engage are a voice to the UK church on issues of how we deal with singleness in our churches. This includes dating, how we reach more men with effective evangelism to reduce this deficit and how we can invest significantly in Christian marriage.
I hadn’t ever really thought about Valentines day being a complete nightmare for so many women in the UK before, these moments of coming together, where lives are intimately shared, albeit with commercial hype, are real pressure points.
Maybe this year have a look in your church and see if you can connect with Engage and support them to make a positive impact in the lives of so many women.
You can find out more here: engage-mcmp.org.uk
Image Credit: Roman Kraft
