Valentines Day in elementary school always seemed awkward to me. I tried pick appropriate valentines to give people. I didn't want to give the "I'm sweet on you!" to any of the boys and I never wanted to give them to the girls either. In high school the pressure was always on to have a Valentine. I'm not sure if I ever did have one but pressure remains burned in my memory. Then college. Ugh. More pressure to be working on that MRS degree. I remember dating a boy and using the phrase "I love you" and feeling strange about it. I'm old fashioned and wanted that to be reserved for the one. I really hoped that he was the one, but still using the phrase was odd to me. I remember talking to my mom one day and asking how a person could know that they were in love. Maybe she sensed my hesitation and responded something to the effect that if I was truly in love that I probably wouldn't be asking the question. That left me with more questions than answers. I truly wanted to fall in love and be with my soul mate, my one and only, the one who God had perfectly designed for me and here's my mom telling me nothing more than, "You'll just know". I don't like those kind of answers. I'm a doer. Tell me what to do, and I'll get it done for you. I don't like vagueness. I'm not a good mind reader. I'm not a game player. What you see is what you get. I am me. So when I ask, "How do I know if I'm in love," I need the Top Ten List of How to Know I Am In Love, or give me a three point sermon and I'll follow it. Little did I know that at that point my father is praying that I will get through college with out all the distractions of boys. As graduation rapidly approached, campus became a diamond mine. It seemed that everyday someone else was getting engaged. I was happy for them, but wondered where and when it would be my turn. As only God can do, my path of least resistance got me to a college for an internship where I went to a local church. I attended there with a friend of mine from college and she introduced me to this very handsome man who asked if I would like to go out to dinner with him. I accepted and right away I fell for this guy. I remember calling home to tell my parents that I was going on date #3 with a boy I met at church and they came up immediately to meet him. On a phone call only a couple weeks later, I asked Mom if she remembered 3 years back to the how-do-I-know-if-I'm-in-love conversation and she did. I remember just giving a whoop of joy over the phone to let her know that I knew. When he proposed only 4 months after we met, I remember mom making a comment like, "I have no idea what took him so long!" We were married almost a year to the day that we met. Marriage is not perfect, in fact sometimes it's just hard work, but it is so worth it. We have had many fun Valentines Days together. I remember the Valentines Day of 2002, I was 4 days away from Ariel's delivery and I was huge. Hubby gave me a beautiful necklace with a heart pendant on it that I am wearing today. We talked about it being our last Valentines Day alone, with out children. Valentines Day of 2005, Hubby was in Iraq and the girls and I all got flowers for him via his sister. It's not the presents and flowers that make Valentines special, it's the thought behind it all, the special day set aside to reflect on love and the blessings that God has given us.
This morning I was served breakfast in bed by my two little Valentines. Hubby and I were ordered back to bed by the little tyrants while they heated up left over pancakes and made coffee. As we waited, we talked about how quickly they had gotten so big, how time goes by way too fast. The girls and I went to the grocery store to get our supplies for our annual surprise fancy dinner for Daddy that I started long before they came along. It's one of my gifts to my husband. I hope he'll like it....actually, I know he will. He always has. He is so good to me!
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