A word about Valentine's Day

First of all, let me expose my husband's romantic side with evidence of him buying me flowers last week, out of the blue. Love it! I was so completely surprised. To me, this means a lot.

As I read about St. Valentine on Wikipedia, I realized that basically, not much is known about him. An old text reveals that Saint Valentine was a Christian martyr who tried to convert the Roman Emperor Claudius II, and before he (Valentine) was executed, he (supposedly) healed the blind daughter of his jailer. Since this bit of information was not romantic enough, people pretty much made up some story about him writing a note to the young girl that he healed. And this, my friends, was the first valentine. Wow. Is humanity addicted to a good story? Or romance? Or both... Our society seems to have elevated romantic love to an inappropriately high level.

On a totally different note, it seems like jewelry companies rev up their engines around Christmas time, and don't slow down much until Valentine's Day is over. I would seriously like to know if there is someone out there who is genuinely swayed by the syrupy one liners they come up with:
"I don't recognize this place..."
"You will"

"What is a four word phrase that means a marriage proposal?"
"He went to Jared"

Please. What is a three letter word that depicts a NORMAL human reaction to such cheese: gag!

I would be one of the first to admit that I like a good "chick flick". However, in my old age *wink, wink* my tolerance for some of the content has gone down. I have a really hard time watching prolonged kissing scenes anymore. I can't stand the kissing noises. Ugh.
OK, Pride and Prejudice: a classic. I think most chick flick fans would have to agree. I love this movie! But the last scene: "Mrs. Darcy"... kiss on the head... "Mrs. Darcy"... kiss on the eyes "Mrs. Darcy"... kiss on the mouth. Yuck! I can hardly watch it without getting the willies! Is this b/c I'm a mommy of boys? Am I losing it?
The only worse scenario might be cartoons kissing. Don't you hate that? I remember watching the Lion King, and seeing the part when Nala and Simba are grown, and since they're lions, well, they couldn't exactly make them kiss, but their funky little romantic dance thing was just as disturbing... Guess what, with the new star wars lego wii, sometimes they show little miniature imitation lego scenes from the movies... and yes! They make lego Leah kiss lego Hahn! No joke... The boys just watched it this evening. Jon David turned his head away. We all said EW GROSS!! together.

While we're on the subject, I might as well open up a huge can and just say that I have a pretty big problem with the movie "The Notebook." It takes every opportunity to throw sex in your face. It takes a wrong situation and makes it seem so right. I know, I know, it's precious how the husband pursues his wife over and over again at the end of their lives. I'll grant you that. And you're right: that, in my opinion, is the one redeeming factor. That is pretty cool. But how depressing is the last scene, when she asks him if he thinks that their love can carry them away together or something like that?... Sorry, I'm sure that I'm butchering this for those of you who are die hard fans... I just remember thinking, wow, they have way over-glorified romantic love, to the point that it had become their god of sorts. It was what they believed in, you know?

Anyway, I think that our society has become addicted to romantic love, right along with materialism, and quite a few others I'm sure... Because of this, the everydayness of love, the wonderfulness, the design that God had in mind, gets overlooked. Flashy replaces good. Perhaps Valentine's Day is a symptom of this problem.

However, just as you can choose to celebrate a number of holidays in the wrong or right spirit, I believe that Valentine's Day is no exception. It's a good reminder to celebrate the godly relationship between you and whoever God has given you. Don and I had a date last night thanks to the seminary providing childcare. What a blessing! We love to go out on dates.

With all of this in mind, I have loved watching my own children celebrate this day. They bring an innocence to the table. They celebrate friends, moms and dad, and candy of course! I enjoy helping them prepare their valentines, watching them receive valentines, and I love it when they give me a card!

This one is from Jon David.
Well, that's it for now. Happy Valentine's Day!!!!