February: A Month of Love, Life, and Light

February has always been my favorite month. Not just because it’s my birthday month (though, hey, that’s a solid reason!), but because it carries a kind of warmth that even the coldest winters can’t touch.

I was born in 1962, on a freezing Minnesota winter morning. My parents were living in a tiny two-room shack—one that later became our pigeon coop. The snow was piling up, and the wind howled outside and crept in through the cracks of the thin, tarpaper walls. Mom said it was the kind of cold that seeps into your bones, and freezes the outhouse door so she kept a "pee pot" inside. The small stove did its best to keep them, and my four-year old brother warm that winter. While she waited for my arrival, she prayed, and hoped for a little girl. My dad already had his boy, and now she longed for a girl to dress in ribbons and bows. So many dreams filled that tiny space. Some came true, like me, others faded into sorrow over the years, as life has a way of mixing joy and heartache and endless longing. February reminds me of many things but mostly, how love endures. And while the bright red hearts, the sweet swirl of pink frosting on cupcakes, gives joy to celebrate love—not just the kind wrapped in romance, but the love we give freely to others- it is also about the everyday ways we reach out, the warmth we bring into someone else’s world the way my little self brought warmth to that little shack in Minnesota. God granted a wish, my Mommy's dream came true and by the time we celebrated my first birthday, she had her new, two-story home just a few feet from the old shack.

This month, I want to encourage you: why not reach out to someone who might need a little extra love? Someone who’s been on your mind and in your thoughts because, if they are, there is a reason. Think of someone who may be feeling forgotten, who may be alone or with a lot of people but lost in the chaos. Bake them cookies, send them a note, take them to lunch—remind them they matter. You will be granting a secret wish and shining God's light in a very important way.

February is more than just another month. It’s another chance to shine love into the dark corners of someone's world, to remind people that they are seen, valued, and cherished. Let’s make the most of it!!

Below is a photo of Carrie Ingalls in her 1800s tarpaper shack similar to the one my parents moved into near Genoa, Minnesota in the late 1950s that later became our pigeon coop. Credits: https://www.sdhspress.com/blog/flashback-friday-carrie-ingalls-her-tar-paper-shack

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