Happy Valentine's Day!

Have you taken up my challenge to redeem Valentine’s Day?  I have to say that this is a first true attempt for our family, and we almost started out on the wrong foot.  Andy and I were able to go out for supper last night, thanks to a wonderful couple from our church who watched Jadon for us.  Jadon did his best to help us cherish every moment we had  out by misbehaving and throughing quite the tantrum about a half hour before we were to leave.  He, of course, behaved fine for the sitters and went to bed okay as well.  I went to bed last night with a hope and a prayer that he would sleep in this morning and be a pleasant child throughout the day.  Yeah, right…

5:15 am.  Jadon is crying in his room.  What does he want? – to be sung to!  Okay… we sing a little song, I tuck him in, and all is quiet… for about 30 minutes.  My alarm goes off, as usual, at 5:50 am and (as if on cue) Jadon starts fussing.  We get him and he’s still not happy.  So, our day immediately starts off in a very frustrating way.  Andy (who is up and ready for the day) takes Jadon downstairs so that I can get myself showered and ready for the day.  What a wonderful guy I’m married to!

A little bit later, I arrive downstairs to relieve Andy and am surprised with a special Valentine’s Day breakfast prepared by my two favorite men.  As we sit down to eat together, Andy grabs his Bible and opens it up.  He looks at both Jadon and I and shared that it was a bit of a frustrating morning trying to prepare all that he wanted to do for me.  Thankfully, God brought his mind to this passage, which he shared before we ate our breakfast. 

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, 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.  Love never fails.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 

What a wonderful reminder of how to show real love, God’s love, in how we treat those that we care about – our children, spouse, parents, siblings, friends, etc.  How have you done redeeming Valentine’s Day so far?  I know for me, it’s already proven to be more of a challenge than I originally anticipated, but we are working hard at it.  I’ve got some more things up my sleeve, so stay tuned later this week as I’ll be sharing what the rest of our day included!  It’s sure to be fun! 

~ Carrie ~

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.  Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’

‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment great than these.’”

Mark 12:28-31