Valentine's Day

The trip to Nashville went really well. It was pretty cold, but not too bad, and it stayed dry. Virginia's mom is doing well, and we were able to spend some time with her. It was also really nice to visit with Kent, Susan and Ryan, as well as Mark, Jean, Lydia, Marcus, Hope, Heidi, and Jarrod. We were able to soak up a lot of family time.

Thirty-five and one half years ago Virginia and I walked down a grassy aisle in a beautiful backyard in the hills outside Oxnard, California, and agreed to spend our lives together. For that reason, Valentine's Day has always been a bit special to us... that half-anniversary. In the early years we set aside today for a date of some sort, formally recognizing the half-anniversary thing because we were married on her birthday, and I didn't want her to feel discounted in any way. For a long time now we've been less formal about that, but we the day still reminds both of us that we are committed to each other for a lifetime.

It's really neat that today, with going on 36 years together, a daughter who turns 30 this summer, both kids married to wonderful spouses and doing well, and one grand kid and another on the way, when I look at Virginia I still see that intelligent, talented, and beautiful girl I married all those years ago. Oh... there are some differences... some of those physical things that happen to all of us over time... but the main change I see is that she has grown to love God more deeply and richly over the years and that has allowed her to love me more fully as well.

So, as we "celebrate" Valentine's Day by going to praise team rehearsal tonight and by getting to bed early enough to be rested for tomorrow, I thank God for blessing my life (and the lives of others as well) with this special lady whom I am honored to call my wife. It just doesn't get much better than this!!