Valentine's and Family Day...and February!

Man, February is a crazy month for myself and my family.  I'll explain why in a just a minute, but first, I said I'd post about the 'rockstar' gift I got for my wife on Valentine's Day...the answer?  A haircut!  You're probably thinking...what?  But see, my wife is amazing.  She got bangs for the first time last year and really loved them.  I also liked them, but personally I liked her hair longer.  So she's been growing her hair out for me over the past year, even though she's really wanted bangs.  That was sooooo sweet of her, so I got her gift certificate for a haircut for Valentines.

Now, as to the craziness of February for my family...there's valentine's day and family day.  As for birthday's, my dad's is February 3rd, my uncle's the 15th, my cousin's husband the 18th, and mine is the 19th (yesterday!).  OH, and my parents anniversary is the 18th...  yeah, December and February are the more expensive months for our family, lol.

But I had a great 30th birthday yesterday, celebrating with friends and family, and of course my awesome wife.  After the fun weekend, I stopped and reflected this morning on all the good things God has given as blessings.  Made me so thankful.  Life can be tough.  There are so many difficulties along the way sometimes, unexpected troubles come up.  But when we remember that we have a God that really cares, and that blesses us along the way, that really helps.  I enjoyed some good reflection this weekend.

Valentine's Day!

So I got my wife a rockstar gift...but I can't tell you want it is because I haven't given it to her yet.  In fact she doesn't even know I got her a gift.  I'm pretty excited about it.  Check back tomorrow and I'll let you know what it is.  You may not think it's amazing, but I know she'll love it!

But on a larger scale...what do you think of Valentine's Day?  Being a history buff, I like to look into the origins of things, to see why we celebrate what we do.  However, it appears that Valentine's Day is the one day (the only one?  I'm not sure) whose origins no one actually knows for sure.  Here's a brief history lesson.

For us Christians, the most honourable Valentine's Day origin - and actually the one that appears to be the most common in general - is St. Valentine, a Christian who was put to death for refusing to deny his faith.  How that actually relates to Valentine's Day is unclear.  There are also claims that Valentine's started as a Roman celebration called 'Lupercalia,' and it was Pope Gelasius in 496AD who switched Lupercalia into Valentine's Day to celebrate St. Valentine.  Finally, apparantly the Catholic Encyclopedia says there were actually three saints named Valentine, who were all martyred on February 14th.

Whatever the origins are, Valentine's Day has morphed into the commercialized dealio it is today.  Some love it, some can't stand it.  But if we can get past that, I think at the root of it is something beautiful - showing the one you love just how much you love them.

Now all that being said - if you celebrate Singles Awareness Day, then Happy Singles Awareness Day to you!