My Valentine

I suppose it would be normal to assume that an author who writes romance novels would love Valentine's Day.  It would probably be her favorite holiday - all those hearts and flowers and romance every where.  For me and my husband, we enjoy Valentine's Day and we observe it, but I enjoy many days of the year.  Honestly, I think that most days have something to celebrate, something to make it memorable.  Even the every day kind of days seem like they can hold buried treasure.  Sure there are days that I wish I could go back and redo the entire day or days that I wish had never happened, but all in all, I'm content with my life.

My husband and I are celebrating our nineteenth Valentine's together this year!  We used to buy gifts for each other, but, now that we have three children, the gift we value most is time together.  A few years ago we decided that our gift to each other would be a date night.  Sometimes, it's dinner and a movie and sometimes we send the kids off to one of the grandparents and get an entire night alone together.  This year we get a night alone!  My kids are excited - even now their suitcases are packed and they're anxiously waiting for me.  The grandparents enjoy a night with the grandchildren.  Joel and I enjoy getting to be just us once again.

Tomorrow I'll get my children back and I will be happy to wrap my arms around them and hear about all the ways they got spoiled while they were at their grandparents house, but for tonight, I get to go back in time and just be with my Valentine.  Those precious moments are sometimes hard for parents to grasp, but so important.  It's nice to have an evening where we're not "mom" and "dad", we're just Joel and Courtney.

I hope you are able to spend time with your loved ones this Valentine's Day, but even if you're alone, remember that 1 John 4:10 says "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."  There's no greater love than that!  Happy Valentine's Day!