The Day of Love...

"...to grasp how wide, and long, and high, and deep is the love of Christ..."

Eric and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day together. It was absolutely wonderful, with some unexpected surprises. Eric surprised me by taking me on a picnic. Right by our house there is a small creek that I discovered one day. I have been wanting to go on a picnic there, so Eric thought it would be a good Valentine's Day place. Your probably wondering if we froze, first of all it is the middle of February and secondly Eric is good at picking cold days to do important things, (namely proposing, that's a completely different story for a different time though), This day, however was perfect. It was a little chilly but we sat in the sun and the day couldn't have been better. After we ate our lunch we explored the creek a little. there was only one complication, the creek is near a neighborhood by the woods, hidden by a small hill. Anyway, at one of the houses we kept hearing gun shots, like someone was having target practice or something. Well, we were a little bit nervous that we might be mistaken for an animal or something, so as we were exploring the creek we looked over to where the guy was target shooting and it looked as though he was positioned right towards us. That made us scurry out of there really quickly back to the protection of the hill. We didn't think it would make for a very fun Valentine's Day to have one of us get shot...go figure.

Anyway, later that evening Eric had to go and work at something called "loaves and fishes" for K-Institute. I stayed home so I could surprise Eric when he got back. So there I am at home scurrying around trying to get supper cooked and the house all ready, knowing that I only have a short amount of time and being the kind of person that I am (one who is very dependent on routines) I expected Eric to call me, like he usually does, before he got home. Well, as you have probably guessed, the usual routine was thrown out as Eric walked through the door taking me completely off guard. There I was, the candles weren't lit, the sparkling grape juice wasn't on ice and dinner wasn't completely ready. Horror, right? Eric being, the astute husband that he is guessed something was probably wrong when I wasn't that thrilled to see him. But he offered to pray for the meal before he realized that I was crying. Shocking isn't it. Poor Eric... Well, it turned out fine. We had a lovely evening and a wonderful first Valentine's Day!

So Valentine's Day is a day that has everything to do with love, right. The day for Eric and I was not only one to remind us how much we care for each other, but a good time to look back at all that God has been doing in our lives over the past month. Many of you know that I was looking for a job and Eric had gotten laid off. We had reached a point where we really didn't know how God was going to provide. We knew HE would, but when and how? Thankfully we do serve a God whose timing is perfect. I was able to get a job at my church as part time secretary and Eric was hired to paint a friend's condo. Along with these jobs there have been other small jobs that the Lord has given us. God's love truly is wider and longer and higher and deeper, then our finite minds could ever grasp. We praise HIM for HIS provision and care for us!!