valentine's weekend.

Wow--where do I begin? 

I had a terrific weekend. So terrific that I am beat (extremely tired). 

Chris and I spent so much time this past week at Home Depot, TJ Max, Marshall’s and Hobby Lobby that he actually said he’s sick of those places. And I agreed. Ha! 

We were there so many times this past week that even Chris was embarrassed when the same check out person recognized him on our last trip and smiled at him-- she was actually on her way in to work. I laughed so hard. 

But I will say this: Hobby Lobby is now my second all time favorite place. The local nursery where I buy so many plants for my garden is number one. 

So many little things that mattered to me got done at the church and I was so impressed with the hard work and attention to detail that my husband and a couple of men from the church put in to make everything just perfect. They are highly appreciated for investing in the house of God and blessing so many couples! 

On Friday night before the evening marriage seminar, we picked up my brother and his wife and Chris’ brother and wife at the hotel, loaded into our van and went out for dinner at a romantic quaint Italian restaurant in the old historic part of our town. 

To say that I had a great time along with some really good laughs would be an understatement. It was refreshing and ministered deeply to my soul. Just what I needed. Being with family who are also friends. And since we’re all in ministry we could share some stories (not in the gossiping way, but sharing in the ups and downs, the struggles and the joys). 

The service at the restaurant was SO SLOW, but since I loved our dinner companions I didn’t mind too much. When we first arrived a little before 6pm, we were the only ones in the place (not surprising the night BEFORE Valentines). We were there for almost two hours and I didn’t become stressed until it started to seem like we were going to be late to the meeting. Thankfully we had a few men open up the church for us. 

My older kids who were not sick helped so much by baking lots of goodies for the Friday and Saturday services. They truly are blessings. At a time in our society when so many parents want to get rid of their kids or have so many problems with them, it was really nice to hear our brothers and their wives say what great kids they had as well. You just don’t hear parents say their children are blessings that much nowadays. 

As the marriage retreat came to a close this morning, I was so encouraged and blessed by the messages. One thing the preacher said that really stood out to me had to do with Adam giving and calling the animals their names.  He asked us what we called our marriages... and what words we used to speak about them. Wow! I will surely be allowing that  to soak in this week. 

All in all I had a beautiful weekend. 

I actually went to breakfast twice (something we rarely do) this weekend with my hubby because he took Friday off from work. 

We have weathered the storm of sickness that raged through our home as no one seems to be sick anymore. I am definitely too tired to have a baby right now, and really need to get some rest, yet I can honestly say that I don’t want this season of my life to end. Or my kids to ever grow up. I am extremely grateful for the life God has blessed me with.