Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day can of course be viewed both negatively and positively depending on who you ask.  I am constantly reminded what this day is like from a single teenage girl's perspective since I am around this age A LOT.  It's interesting because LOVE does not exist outside of God since Scripture says "GOD IS LOVE."  Therefore, I love to remind teenage girls that above all else we can celebrate the LOVE that exists only because of FATHER whether we have an 'earthly' love or not (plus can a guy really 'love' you with agape love if he doesn't love God?!?!)

On Valentine's Day, 4 of the girls in my discipleship group came over to hang out and spend the night and just be together on "LOVE" day.  We were all pretty pumped about the evening but it even blew my expectations out of the water.  WE HAD A BALL.  First of all, these 4 girls are all SO very different so that brings a whole new dimension to an evening together. 

I have to admit - I asked the Lord (and even had a couple of friends and my husband pray for this too) to grant me the gift of being able to stay up until midnight simply so I could enjoy every moment possible with them.  I AM NOT A NIGHT OWL and that became even worse when I got pregnant so asking the Lord for a midnight bedtime was a stretch.  What is SO fun is that the Lord granted my request above and beyond.  Not only did I not get sleepy by midnight but it was after 1 am before I finally thought "I am getting sleepy!"  Hallelujah to the Lamb for a sweet gift to my heart. 

The evening consisted of a pizza date at Anthony's pizza in Bryson City, singing at the top of our lungs to praise & worship music on the car ride, Lindy daring everyone to run outside barefooted in the snow (yes she's the daredevil in the group but everyone did it), lots of talks, Kaitlyn leading us in more praise & worship on her guitar, watching an awesome movie (Grace Unplugged), playing 'would you rather' and 'make it or break it' and finally crashing right before 2am (but that was just me...they stayed up much later).  


Our night in pictures...

Kaitlyn, Anna, Lindy and I (before Autumn arrived)

DATE NIGHT!!!!!!!!

Oh pizza you have never looked so good!

So excited she was able to come home from
college to hang with us!

Coondog & Gina



Kaitlyn & Anna
(both seniors graduating this year)



GROUP SHOT!

HAHAHAHAHA!

Picture #1...

...and #2

AND #3!

Just for laughs - these are pictures I find on my phone later of Gina (real name Autumn)......................................

so can you guess her personality?!

 

 

What you think?!

Saturday morning, Rance made his 'special' pancakes for everyone with their choice of bananas, chocolate chip, or a mixture!  OF COURSE, we had some Nahunta Pork Center bacon to go along with it and eggs too.

I pray these girls will continue pursuing the Lord and wait for a Godly man who will love the Lord first & foremost, who will lead them, love them, understand them, and honor them, and who will encourage their walk with the Lord daily. 
 
To wrap it up, I am not really big into flowers and all that jazz  (unless you are picking up some from the grocery store or off the side of the mountain for free) so the way I feel most loved by my husband is through acts of service (in other words - DO THINGS for me), quality time, or he can always buy me a pair of tennis shoes, a tshirt, or some yoga pants! 

So YES - this was REAL HOT to me on Valentine's Day!