Happy Valentine's Day

I recently read part of an article on CNN.com that stated, “Saudi Arabia has asked florists and gift shops to remove all red items until after Valentine's Day, calling the celebration of such a holiday a sin”. It went on to quote one scholar in Islamic studies as saying, “As Muslims we shouldn't celebrate a non-Muslim celebration, especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women.”

Is that what Valentine’s Day is all about? Even as Christians, is this how we view the holiday today – as “one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women”? I say, NO! This is not how we should view V-Day. Though our culture does over-market (in my opinion) and many unmarried do participate in immoral relations on this day (and many other days) I think it is important to celebrate Valentines’s Day and celebrate love as God intended it. As married couples we celebrate love to one another which ultimately points to a greater love – one between the Saviour and His bride (the church). This is very worthy of celebration. And as married and unmarried alike, believers should celebrate the love of Christ as displayed through His life, death and resurrection on the cross on our behalf. This is most worthy of celebration.

Though we will probably not find these noble reasons for celebrating Valentine’s Day on a Hallmark greeting card, I think it is important to see this day as an opportunity when all the nation is focused on love to display for them our joy in the Author of Love. We do this every day and today is a unique opportunity to testify before all that “God is love.”

Some of you may be familiar with this book quote, but I never tire of reading it. Happy Valentine’s Day to you – enjoy the celebration!

“He loves you with a first love and with a free love. He loves you with a tender and compassionate love, with an active or doing love, with a passive or suffering love. His love is infinite, without bounds of limits; it is superlative, without comparison; transcendent, beyond comprehension; everlasting, without change; and will have no end or conclusion. He loved you when you were polluted in your sins, and washed you with His own blood; He loved you when you were naked in your soul, and clothed you with robes of His righteousness. He loves you in your sickness and sorrows, and is your Comforter; He loves you in your wants and straits, and is your Benefactor. He loves you in life and is the life of your soul; He loves you at death, and is the stay of your heart; and He loves you after death, and will be your portion forever”. ~Thomas Vincent

Prayer Request

Doug asked me to post this for him. Please keep him in prayer this weekend!

This weekend I am traveling to my mom's to meet with her along with her financial advisor to make some decisions. There is a great need for wisdom as my mom ,sister and I are going to discuss lots of issues, both financial and others. I realize that my input will affect my mom's future and I want to steer her in a good direction.

A Group That Prays

I keep thinking about how Bryan described us as “a group that prays” when we met for the first time this year. What better group to be in than one that cares for each other by consistently lifting each other up in prayer. I look forward having a regularly updated list so that we know better how to pray for each other. On this subject, I would like to ask you all to be in prayer for my family, and for my dad in particular.
My dad turned 69 in January. He has always been the consummate athlete—played high school football, basketball & baseball and coached these sports for many years. He continues to work out regularly, I honestly can’t remember him ever spending the day sick in bed, he has never been hospitalized (a farm boy, wasn’t even born in one) and I am pretty sure he has had only one cavity filled in his entire life. My point in telling you all of this is that, statistically, he would appear to be the kind of person who would live for many more years. My dad has never had the greatest memory, which has kind of been a joke within my family. He has, however, always had a great memory for numbers. I have said before that he would have a better chance at remembering people if we introduced ourselves with our social security numbers instead of our names. A couple of years ago he became concerned because he was having difficulty remembering numbers. Not remembering people or events wasn’t particularly a concern because that had always been a weakness, but numbers were always his thing. He has been put on medications that he has found helpful, but recently has become more confused and has had difficulty remembering to do things that he had just talked about doing. He saw a neurologist last month who believes that he is in the early stages of alzheimer’s. This would be difficult in any situation, but considering his physical condition and his age, it makes it even harder to imagine him living for 20 more years with a diminished mental capacity. This is something that has been difficult for me to talk about, but I did want to begin asking people to pray. Here are some specific requests:
*For God’s mercy on him—from what I can tell, there are varying degrees and progressions of this disease, and we pray that he would be spared from some of the worst symptoms and that the progression would be slow.
*For God’s grace on all of us as we walk through this trial.
*For wisdom in knowing what, when and how much to tell our children—my parents have 28 grandchildren and have close relationships with all of them (at this point I have told Emily but have not said anything to the others).

I also want to add that God has already been gracious in meeting us. The day that I received the most recent update from my stepmom was also the day that Brian V posted a link to Mark Altrogge’s blog with a post about his mom who had suffered from this disease. His post was very encouraging and I was able to share it with the rest of the family. Later that same day I received an email from a college professor who I had reconnected with. His wife has had alzheimer’s for a few years and his note was very positive and full of thanksgiving for how God continues to bless them. I am also grateful that they are members of this church and will receive care from the pastors and their friends and CG members. They plan to meet with Brian soon…another evidence of God’s grace, that he has recently begun a ministry specifically for these types of situations.

Thanks again for your prayers and for the genuine care that you all have for us and for each other.