Happy Valentine's Day!

What a great day to celebrate the love of my life! We shared some small gifts with each other and ensured the kids felt like they were a part of the excitement by giving them a little candy as well. It's hard to believe Nancy and I have enjoyed all these years together (and we are looking forward to so many more!). God has been so gracious to our family and we are so thankful for all that we enjoy. Hard work and faith seem to play a large part of all that, although some would just mark that up as fate. Fate seems like such an empty word, and it appears that there is much, much more to life than just random fortunes to hand around wherever the proverbial winds of fate so choose to blow.

The Scriptures tell us that God has a plan for each and every one of us, and that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139 verse 14). It also shares in some versions of the Bible that our steps are "ordered." This can also be translated as making our steps "firm." I'm speaking of Psalm 37 verse 23 which says: "If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm" (NIV). Although there is plenty of "darkness" to go around and bad things do happen to good people, I don't believe that was God's original plan. Albeit, part of God's plan is to be involved with His creation and that would be you and me!

It's pretty cool that the God of all the universe actually cares about us individually. He cares about our day-to-day joys and struggles as well as our children, relationships, and decisions that loom ahead of us at times. He does all that because He loves us far more than we could ever love Him. And on this wonderful Valentine's Day, perhaps it's time to allow God's love to permeate each of our hearts, and renew them once again with a special kind of love that will not only bless our loved ones, but those people all around us who we come in contact with every day of our lives.