Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day 2014

Valentine’s Day is considered to be a day for lovers and friends.  There is a large media push, almost similar to Christmas, for men to go out and get the perfect gift.  I promise you that there will be a mad dash to the stores between now and about 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night.

Parents will also run to the stores in search of Valentine cards for their children, who will have to pass them out at school.  There will be an overabundance of flowers and candy, along with choices of restaurants.

People feel that this is a day to tell your loved ones how much you care about them.

Stay with me for a moment, because I want to know something.  How many people wait until Christmas to give a gift?  How many of you wait until Valentine’s Day to tell your significant other that you love them?  I’m willing to bet that there aren’t that many.

If you know like I know, life is too short to do that.  If you wait until a particular day on the calendar, then you might miss your opportunity.  There are two things that are sure…death and taxes.  Other than that, you may want to tell the people you love every chance you get that your life would not be the same without them.

So, with that being said, I have some people to say some things to:

My Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ, the only One who loves me in spite of all my shortcomings and failings.

My mother, who will be celebrating a milestone birthday in a few days.  I thank God for using her to bring me into the earth, and am blessed by her love, care and concern.  Thankful for the matriarch of our family, and the example of holiness that she displays to our family and the body of Christ.

My husband, who has put up with my craziness for almost 22 years, and still smiles at me and holds my hand through it all.  Other than the Lord, my life isn’t complete without you, and I thank you for your love, patience and humor through it all.

My children.  I brag on them, publically and privately.  No matter where you go in life, Mommy is always your biggest cheerleader!  I am blessed and honored to be the stepmom and mother to some great kids that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.  Thank You, Lord for the wonderful gifts that You have given to me.

My grandchildren, who make my heart glad.  I love my babies, and thank God for them every day.  They are amazing, and I pray that God will keep His hands on their lives.  I am a proud grandmother, aka Lala.

I also thank God for the two women who share the distinct pleasure of being a grandmother with.  They are amazing people that God has brought into my life to walk this journey called life.  I hope we get to do a road trip with the kids soon, lol!

My siblings, who put a smile on my face.  They are accomplished professionals, and God’s hands are on their lives in all that they do.  Even though I’m the baby, I am proud of them, and pray for God to enlarge their territory.

My nieces and nephews, near and far!  They are some wonderful young people who not only follow God’s precepts, but follow their dreams, and have achieved them.  I am a proud (and cool, I might add) auntie!

My in laws (brothers in law, sister in law, and my husband’s parents).  I love my brothers in law.  They are two of the funniest people I know, but they are also men after God’s own heart.  I pray that God continues to bless them on this journey.  I thank God for my sister in law, who is a God fearing woman, and has an amazing testimony.  I thank God for her making my brother the happiest man on the planet.  I also honor my father in law, who I didn’t get a chance to meet, but if he is anything like my husband, he must have been a wonderful man.  I honor my mother in law, who left us in 2006.  Her legacy lives on, and I miss her presence.  I enjoy the stories that my husband tells about her from back in the day.

I thank God for true friends, who love me, and don’t have a problem with telling me about myself when I need to hear it.  Faithful are the wounds of a friend, and it takes a mature individual to accept constructive criticism.  Consider the source, and act accordingly.

I thank God for every person who has crossed my path in one way, shape or form.  May the Lord bless you abundantly, and Happy Valentine’s Day!