Writing all those Valentine's, I couldn't wait to get to school and pass them out. Then later came the flower grams in high school, where you paid to have a flower delivered to your friend. Since my boyfriend went to another high school, I had one delivered to myself for him.
Oh the fun of Valentine's Day, it wasn't until I was all grown up that I heard the story of Saint Valentine. Anybody remember him, the day after all was named in honor of him and the day he died.
Valentine was a pastor and lived in the time of a king who decided that his men were to distracted when fighting if they were married. After all a wife and children at home are such a distraction to those fighting for the country. So this king decided to make marriage illegal.
Valentine on the other hand saw marriage as a blessing. After all, wouldn't a man fighting for his country be even better at defending it if he had a family to protect. So Valentine kept marrying people even if it meant him being arrested and put to death. Yeah, marriage between and a man and a woman was that important.
So while he was marrying a couple, he was arrested and imprisoned. Here he met the guard's daughter who was blind. She had tried all kinds of things to regain her sight, but couldn't until she believed in Jesus whom Valentine gladly told her about. Soon after her sight was restored. She was then forbidden to come and work at the jail. So Valentine sent her and many others letters of encouragement until the day he was killed. Yep, that date would be February 14th.
So Valentine's day is a little more than a sappy day to spend with your spouse. It's a day to remember someone having the courage to go against the government and do what he thought God called him too. He defended marriage and knew the importance of it.
I just hope I have the courage to do what God calls me too, even if I have to go against the crowd.
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