Almost Valentine's Nine Years Later.....

Nine years ago, about right now (to the minute) I was driving home from the most confusing first-date of my life. It was "almost Valentine's Day". The day before when sad couples that can't get sitters; or even sadder couples that are cheating on one or both of their other parties go out for a "romantic" night. We met for dinner, we laughed and talked. He wore a ball cap the whole time (which totally turned me off) and it didn't look like he had shaved in a week. I on the other hand had shaved, had my hair done, bought new make up and a new outfit... My shoes were killer stilettos that KILLED my feet. He didn't seem to notice.

My back up "do you have an emergency" caller called and I told her no it was going great, I didn't have an emergency. After dinner we rode around town a little and ended up driving by my favorite night spot in town and I asked him if he wanted to go in for a little while. He said....... NO. NO?!? What the heck??? He said he better get back to pine hill (wherever that was). It was late (8:15) and he better not stay too long (uhmmmm... okay??). We said good night and I drove home.

Driving home, I'm thinking, "he's just not that into me. I'm a mature enough woman to see the signs. Obviously he wants something different." After many other excuses, I emailed him (yes, email, cause i'm a giant social chicken) the next day and told him we weren't going to work out. Nice knowing him and what not. I thought that was it, but a week later I couldn't find anyone to go out with on my birthday and I called him, what have I got to lose, right?!? Turns out he was ticked and he really did like me but he was just a gentleman and didn't think it was appropriate to stay out too late on a first date. After a little convincing on my part he agreed to see me again.

We met for the second first date at my favorite nightspot and he had shaved, he had his hair cut, no ball cap, and he had on nice clothes.... I on the other hand had not put a thought into what I had on except to appear as uncaring as humanly possible. We danced and laughed and talked and talked and the rest is history. I am so glad that I went to eat with him on Feb 13 and I am so glad that I was lonely on my birthday and called him back and convinced him to see me again! I love this man (it's Jason if you hadn't guessed) and will love him for many more almost valentine's days even if he doesn't shave (he hardly ever wears a ball cap though, I won that one).

So here we are, nine years later. He's putting in a movie for Emily (part of their nightly routine). He'll follow by saying "Ummm-Ummm! Muahhh! Love you Pumkin!" He'll then wait for her to fall asleep, cut off her night lights, lock all the doors and cut out the fifty lights that I left burning when I went to bed. He's tired, he's worked all day (most days) but he still has time for me too. I adore this man. I'm so glad he answered the phone on my birthday.

St. Valentine and the Devil

Earlier tonight, I may have ruffled a few feathers earlier when I mentioned Satan and Valentine's Day in the same sentence. My original post was, "Valentine's may just be a holiday devised by Satan to destroy loving relationships..... I don't think I have ever had one that didn't start or end with a fight. Opinions? and even success stories are welcomed...." I'm not implying that Satan is responsible for Valentine's day or that celebrating Valentine's day some how invokes Satan. What I am saying is that we allow Satan to totally ambush and ruin our sweet Valentine's day. Everything that Hallmark tells us to expect is ruined by sin. We have to compete with our friends and wish that our husbands give us a Facebook worthy gift. We secretly (because of that devil on our shoulder) hope that we get a better, more expensive gift than that girl that has the Facebook perfect husband. This often turns into seeds of resentment or jealousy or envy in our own relationships. We resent the fact that our husbands only got us a box of drugstore chocolate when Facebook Fannie's husband got them a watch. We are jealous that Neighbor Nancy got earrings when all we got was a watch. We are envious that Perfect Patricia's husband got her a car when all we got was a night out on the town. The thing is that real husbands, real men, don't think about valentine's day. It slips up on them. They are too busy thinking about their wives every single day of the year. They are too busy making every day special to care about one single day. The other thing is that all those women with the fabulous gifts wish that they could spend one Thursday afternoon just talking to their husbands. They wish for once that their husband's would stop them in the midst of cooking and cleaning and tell them that they are beautiful and that they are loved. My point is that Satan takes every opportunity to seep into our lives and tell us that we aren't good enough, or pretty enough, or loved enough. Valentine's Day is an excellent opportunity for him to do just that. It's happened in my life before. It will almost assuredly happen again. In the meantime, I'm gonna focus on the fact that I am loved and cherished, even though he may not always have time to pick out the perfect card. I know he loves me and whether it be flowers or candy or a smack on the cheek I'm not gonna let Satan ruin those special moments in our marriage. I'm learning this one step at a time.... "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in LOVE. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." Eph. 4:2-3