Billy Knows Love

One little boy, we’ll call him Billy, was shunned by his classmates. His mother worried about it, as she watched him come home from school each day. His schoolmates scurried off the bus laughing and talking and arm in arm. Billy got off the bus last, his head down and his feet shuffling slowly homeward, Sometimes the other children teased him, but usually they didn’t even notice he was there.

Valentine’s Day was approaching. One day Billy came home and announced to his mother he was going to make a valentine for every kid in his class. His mother’s heart sank as she knew Billy would probably not be given any valentines at all, But she brought him the paper, crayons and scissors. Billy spent every spare moment for the next couple of weeks making the valentines.

The day came and Billy’s mom dreaded seeing her little boy’s face when he came home from school. So she had cold milk and warm cookies ready in order to ease his hurt. No, he didn’t get any valentines, except one, from the teacher, but he grinned broadly as he grabbed his glass of milk and a cookie.

“Mom,” he said, “I didn’t miss a single kid. I had a valentine for everyone of them!

I guess that’s what love is all about. I’ve heard it said that no one knows what love is until he gives some of it away. Little Billy knew about love.

In today’s society we talk so much about love. It has become such an easy word hasn’t it? We use the same word to God as we say to the pizza we recently had. Our Bibles talk a lot about love. In fact it tells us we should love one another, just as God loves us. That’s a big order, but it is a command, isn’t it? Let’s begin today. Maybe we should begin by teaching our children. Then, they will learn to be nice, even to little Billy’s.