Happy Valentine's Day!

As one who loves cooking, family dinners, and well...food, I've deeply enjoyed the series that the Girl Talk blog has featured in recent weeks. The memories, traditions, and connections; the lessons, worship, and security; oh, and the laughter...these are the things we value as we sit around our family table.

Last evening our family enjoyed our Valentine's Day celebration. The boys dined at the regular hour on kid-friendly fare; my husband and I enjoyed a romantic dinner for two once the boys were in bed.

I'd set the table and the mood for our boys, even dimming the lights and lighting a couple of candles. Upon entering the dining room, one of them declared, "It's too dark in here," promptly turning the lights back up. Before long, the lace tablecloth was no longer smoothly draped across the table, and the energetic voices of boys drowned out the mood-setting music that was playing.

But as my husband and I sat with them while they ate their dinner, my heart was full as I studied each of my future men. Before long (but not too soon), they won't be sitting at a candlelit table with their dad and mom on Valentine's Day. And I hope that, whether they appreciate it or not at this point, the memories we're making and the lessons we're teaching will ring in their hearts as they learn how to love another.

So here's their Valentine dinner, boy-style, featuring their requested corn dogs and pizza-flavored Pringles.

And here is round 2, big-boy style. Our romantic Valentine dinner for two featured Shrimp with Basil-Mango sauce, Spring Greens with Pears, Gorgonzola, and Carmelized Pecans, Chicken Marsala, and sparkling grape juice.



"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. " 1 John 4:7-11