Happy Valentine's Day

Until my husband came along, I never once had a "valentine" on Valentine's Day. Never. (ummm....that I can remember)

And you can probably guess how happy I was (not) about that situation year after year after year….especially watching other lovely happy couples.

And then – finally- along came "My ONE." And the whole world shifted.

And oddly enough, Valentine's lost its significance.

It's not that we don't make sure that the other knows they are loved, it's just that we do that (pretty much) every day, so where is the difference of today?

And I'm not knocking all those who LOVE this day. It's kinda fun. And I enjoy reading everyone's sappy comments on Facebook. And I sure didn't mind the loads of sugary items that landed on my desk today (at least not until I got queasy from them!).

But I'm not holding my breath waiting to see what my husband brings home for me today. Because it probably won't be anything.

Once upon a time, he'd bring flowers. Until I told him (somewhere around the time that we were trying really hard to get ourselves in a position to buy a house) that it was killing me that he was spending that much money on flowers that were just going to die.

So – once or twice – he tried bringing me flowering plants. (Those closest to me are cracking up right now, knowing what is coming.) It didn't take long before we came to the realization that a bouquet of really good fresh cut flowers just might survive longer in this house than plants. I'm terrible.

Besides the fact that "receiving gifts" does not seem to be my love language, the truth is that this point in basketball season is just not a good time to be expecting much of anything "above-and-beyond" from my husband. Half the time he has a game –either his own or his freshman he needs to watch – and the other half of the time, he's thinking about a game. It's not that he loves me any less, and I know it. It's that – somewhere along the way – I made a conscious decision to remove my expectations of him for this day. And that has made all the difference…

In fact, here's our text messages from this morning, after I had driven to school:

Me: Hey, you know what would make a great Valentine's gift today? If you would put windshield wiper fluid in the van tonight so I can see through the windshield on my way to school tomorrow. Thanks!

Him: What? I thought we weren't doing that V-day thing anymore!

Yep. Gotta keep those low expectations.

Although he will be adding that wiper fluid…he's a smart guy, remember?

So Happy Valentine's Day to you all….whether your expectations were high or low, whether they are met or not.  Because honestly, although I'm pretty crummy at remembering this myself, earthly love isn't what we're all living for anyway: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…"

Love you guys!  And to "my ONE": I thank you - with all that is in me - for being the love of my life, for giving me three beautiful kids to love, and for loving all of us so completely and unconditionally.  I love you.

**Updated:  Gotta say, not only did I get windshield wiper fluid in my van, he also came home with 2 cards for me, flowers for the girls (my thought, but his effort), and tulips in a pot for me.  I'm now taking bets on what dies first: the bouquets for the girls or the plant of mine!  Oh, and he got to be home for about 20 minutes - long enough to eat supper with us.  I can live with that....