February 14, 2017 (Tuesday)
If you are giving someone a Valentine card today, congratulations. You are giving one of one billion such cards. Only Christmas (2.6 billion) can brag of more cards.
If you want to get some flowers for your Valentine, too bad. This is the busiest day of the year for florists, and they probably stopped taking orders days ago. It’s too late to order today.
Valentine’s day has been around in one way or another since around 500 B.C. Exchanging greetings for this occasion has been a part of the observance in America since around 1840. Published cards have been around since about 1900. The big red heart as a symbol is everywhere to be seen today.
Today is extra special for my daughter, Dianna, and her husband, Mark Hinze. It is their wedding anniversary. Thirty years! They have two wonderful children, Sean and Chloe.
Debbie’s three great sons, Andy, Alex and Austin, are also members of their family.
A song from the sixties reminded us, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” The need is still great. The subject is so important that the New Testament is filled with verses urging us to love one another.
We all know that love is the most important quality of life. Too often we do not give it priority. Valentine’s Day serves as a reminder to us that love is the lifeblood of civilization. You just cannot love too much.
“God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT). “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).