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02/14/2003 Entry: "Can you feel the love?"
 Happy Valentines Day!
Well, I woke up today to a dozen beautiful red roses, a HUGE box of chocolates, a breathtaking card (and it wasn't just the card it was what was written in it!), sweet little valentines from my sweet children, and...as if that wasn't enough...a heart shaped container of beautiful, red ripe strawberries with chocolate dip!!!  I haven't tasted them yet but they look yummilicious!!! Oh and lest I forget, I also had a huge sweet tea from Taco Bell waiting for me too!!
Now of course anyone who knows me knows I can't just "celebrate" a holiday and Valentines is no exception so for those who would like to know a little more about this holiday (hey, I'm a homeschool Mommy...it's my perogative) please feel free to visit this article: Who Was St. Valentine? or this one The Legend of Saint Valentine...then of course there's a little something at this site for everyone, but most especially the children!! So be sure to take them there and let them explore it!
Now for a bit of an update...if you scroll down you'll see that my dh has indeed passed the test known as "kidney stones" and is feeling 100% better...thank God!!! He was a trooper and did really good, all things considered--I know that it was painful...of course being me, I reminded him when he was really suffering that I had given birth three times. I'm fairly certain this helped keep his pain in perspective...hey, I live to be helpful in any way I can you know...or maybe his acknowelgement was really his effort to internalize his resentment toward me for trying to undermine the level of his pain and suffering in respect to what I had suffered in the past and will result in a myriad of therapy sessions in the future...eh...nah...it really did make him feel better. I'm sure. 
Yesterday we went OUT...boy, nothing like someone sick in the house to make you home-bound to have you bouncing off the wall ya know what I mean?  So we went out yesterday and got a bunch of goodies to take to the park for a picnic. It was a total surprise for the children and they were estatic. We played for about 3 hours at the park and then we went to the Christian Book Store to buy valentine cards for the kids to send to everyone (you should expect yours by the time we celebrate Independence Day  . We let the kids pick out a treat while we were there and then came on home. Of course, as does all trips to the Christian Book Store, it sparked the conversation about why things are three times the price at the Christian Book Store versus any normal store. Why is that?  Anyone know? Dh and I have a theory but it's not a very nice one...which is in a way sorta counter-productive to the whole "Christian" thing we are striving for ya know? So...I'm just going to have to believe that the manufacturors of the things you find in Christian Book Stores actually charge the Christian Companies who produce said products three times the amount they would charge a secular company for the same product--which means that for the Christian Company to make any money they have to charge a higher amount. Because the alternative would be that the Christian Company is well aware that Christian people want to purchase merchandise that reflects their faith and since there are so few stores which carry said merchandise they know they can charge an extremely out of norm amount for the things they carry and most Christians will pay for it...in effect taking advantage of Christians who want to represent their faith in tangible ways. It's curious to be sure, and extremely frustrating to me, as I paid $7.99 for a 1 pound bag of CHRISTIAN conversation hearts (you know the candy hearts with writing on them)--which say Christian things on them like "Got God?" "Praise The Lord" "Jesus First" etc--when I know for sure that the normal hearts cost maybe $1.99 for the same sized bag. This is offensive to me. Why? Because not everyone could have afforded that bag of candies...and you are NOT going to convince me it really cost that much to produce them. 
At any rate...it is something that bothers me and dh alot, because it doesn't make Christian things available to the average Christian...which is really sad to me. Okay other than that...I could live in the Christian Book Store. I love that place. It's really a strange thing isn't it? A love/hate relationship of a sort.
Today...I have no idea what we might do. We had actually toyed with the idea of going over to Pensacola for the night and taking the children to the Zoo tomorrow. After all (drum roll please) our tax refund CAME.  So you know we thought, YAH we'll take the kids over to the zoo...that would be fun and the kids really would love it so much...they have wanted to go for a few months now. SO...dh and I are planning this adventure--we figured out where we'd go, what we'd do and then last night when we went to bed I said..."hmmm...I just thought maybe we should check the weather"...so we turn on the weather channel and what does it say for Saturday? Thunderstorms...in Pensacola. That's okay there's a Zoo in Montgomery...what's it say there? Thunderstorms. Well, there's one up in Birmingham...we could go up there...what it say there? Thunderstorms.  I have a feeling that a sane person might take this as a sign. Maybe we should stay home. I'm thinking dh has been taking too many pain pills as he tries to figure out a way we could still enjoy the Zoo in the rain. We did that on our honeymoon. We're not doing it with three children. Nope. 
So...we are now trying to figure out what to do for a special "mini-vacation" which doesn't depend on the weather. Maybe we will take the kids out to a movie and bowling. That would be fun. Of course dh had told C that we were going to a hotel...which is like the END ALL BE ALL for this child--she was jumping up and down from the sheer excitement---and of course, this was BEFORE we watched the weather...so...we may be staying at the Comfort Inn a half mile from our house tonight. 
Meanwhile, dh has been pacing back and forth in front of the window facing our back gate prepared to stalk the ups man. Why? Because he's ordered some kind of remote control vehical that definately won't be delivered before Monday...but he's spazzing because he thinks it might actually get here before then...okay...he ordered it at 1:58am last night. The company is located in Champaign, IL. He thinks it's going to come today. I told you he's taken too many pain pills. 
Okay so I am off to enjoy the rest of the day...who knows where it will take us...I have no idea myself. But one thing is for sure--we'll have a ball getting there!
Be so totally blessed and remember...today is traditionally a day of love--when we go about our day giving sweet love notes to people, sometimes flowers, candies, and other special treats to the people we love most...and who knows, maybe today wasn't even ever about a Saint or other Christian person...what really matters is that today, like all other days can be another opportunity for us to reflect on what love truly is, and above all, what the greatest gift of all is.
John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotton Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." As much as we believe we love each other in our human form, as strong as that power is over us, God loves us more. He loves us so much He sent His son to die for us. And Jesus loves us so much, that although in the form of a human, feeling every bit of the pain and suffering that He endured for our sake alone--He never stopped it. Oh, He surely had a moment with His Father, where He said to Him, "take this cup from me" as He knew how horrible this experience was to be, but then, for me, for you...He said "not my will but yours" and accepted His place in God's beautiful plan of salvation--allowing Himself to be crucified when there were legions of angels on ALL the corners of the earth prepared to step in and stop the event if Jesus had of said the word. He didn't. And because He didn't we have the hope of eternal salvation. Let us never forget through the flurry of hearts, cards, gifts, and presents, that the most amazing gift of all has been given to us already, we need only freely accept--every other gift imaginable pales in comparison!
And finally, as we go about our day--and the days ahead, let us never forget what LOVE really means...when we say "I love you" are they merely words we say, or do we really mean them? Do we carry the passion behind the words that are meant to be there or are they merely rote memorazation meant to appease the person we say them to? What is love? God tells us...1 Cor 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." I know I sometimes need to be reminded of that! 
And finally...one more thought for everyone which should simply fill you right up to the brim:
"No eye has seen, nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Cor 2:9
Praise the Lord!  God loves us so much! Be blessed my dear ones as you have a wonderful Valentines Day!!
 | I love you all!
~A |
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