Thursday, February 15, 2007
A Clean Heart
The thoughts of Valentine's Day and all it represents has me thinking...with all the hearts we have been making,big ones,little ones,pink ones,red ones...giving each other Valentine's saying I love you...etc. I am reminded of scripture that relates to our hearts. I desire for a clean heart before God. But,what does having a clean heart involve? I realize God gives us a clean heart,but what is our responsibility in that?
John MacArthur says:
Create in me a clean heart,O God,and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
We are having our annual family Valentine's candlelight dinner tonight,due to our busy schedule the last couple of days. I will be serving filet mignon,twice baked potatoes,salad,heart shaped biscuits and the strawberry dessert-recipe from the Monday menu for this week. If I can get this all done in between school,orthodontist appointments,piano lessons,etc! The twice baked potatoes may end up being once baked potatoes if my time gets crunched! We have some red dishes we will be using. Evie and I made some Valentine placemats for everyone,using construction paper,with animals made out of heart shapes...yes,I told you we have been making a lot of hearts! I have big red candles for our table and lots of little inexpensive fun gifts for everybody! It will be a fun evening. The most important thing we will do is read 1 Corinthians 13...TRUE LOVE defined!
I'd love to hear how all of you celebrated Valentine's day! Do you have any special traditions? Do you buys gifts or just chocolates? Do you go out with your husband for a quiet romantic dinner? I love to hear everyone else's ideas and traditions!
Have a wonderful day,friends!
John MacArthur says:
True confession cannot happen without repentance. Many times we don't confess our sins because we are not ready to let go of it....I reached a milestone in my spiritual life when I began to say,"Lord,thank You for forgiving those sins. I know they did not please You, and I never want to do them again." That can be hard to say because sometimes we want to commit certain sins again....For your confession to be genuine,you must turn from your sins.
Create in me a clean heart,O God,and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10
We are having our annual family Valentine's candlelight dinner tonight,due to our busy schedule the last couple of days. I will be serving filet mignon,twice baked potatoes,salad,heart shaped biscuits and the strawberry dessert-recipe from the Monday menu for this week. If I can get this all done in between school,orthodontist appointments,piano lessons,etc! The twice baked potatoes may end up being once baked potatoes if my time gets crunched! We have some red dishes we will be using. Evie and I made some Valentine placemats for everyone,using construction paper,with animals made out of heart shapes...yes,I told you we have been making a lot of hearts! I have big red candles for our table and lots of little inexpensive fun gifts for everybody! It will be a fun evening. The most important thing we will do is read 1 Corinthians 13...TRUE LOVE defined!
I'd love to hear how all of you celebrated Valentine's day! Do you have any special traditions? Do you buys gifts or just chocolates? Do you go out with your husband for a quiet romantic dinner? I love to hear everyone else's ideas and traditions!
Have a wonderful day,friends!
I am a stay at home mother to 4. I am very blessed to have a godly husband who loves the Lord and his family. I welcome the days of much needed grace,the times of sweet victories,and the tears of trials,knowing it is all for God's glory. I want my lifesong to sing to Him,the author and finisher of my faith. Soli Deo Gloria--To the Glory of God alone.
20 Comments:
The post I wrote yesterday goes into a bit more detail of my growing view of Valentine's Day.
As for specifically what we did yesterday... I treated the family to dinner at Pizza Hut (we don't go often so it's a treat for us) with my personal money.
Does that count? You asked...
That sounds like a great night w/your family.
I wrote a little bit about ours yesterday too.
Kim--I love that you read 1 Corinthians 13 at your Valentines dinner--perfect! I'll have to file that away for next year. I am anxiously awaiting a "real" date with my husband tomorrow night--a "real" babysitter and all! We haven't done that in sooo long--our kids are 3 1/2 and 22 months, so it's just hard sometimes. We do have occasional nights out, but usually with the grandparents keeping the kids for a couple of hours. So I'm anxious for the "real thing"!
We always exchange cards and usually my husband and I (no kids - yet!) go out to dinner somewhere fancy; this year we had reservations for an upscale authentic Italian restaurant but we got snowed in and never got to leave to house! We improvised though and my hubby made us a lovely meal of chicken cordon bleu, smashed potatoes & green beans - we lit some candles, shared some wine and just relaxed. We've never put a lot of money or expectation into the day and actually after seeing all the sales today I think I am going to suggest to him about setting our own Valentine's Day Date so we can still celebrate love, romance and the like but be able to capitalize on the sale prices on everything! I think I would enjoy the day more that way!
And to comment on your post...your meal sounded absoultely de-lish!!! I think it's awesome how you have so many established traditions.
Kim,
I just wanted you to know what an encouragement todays message "create in me a clean heart' was as I've had a rough day with one of my daughters. I got to share that scripture with her and tell her what it meant to me.
I've really enjoyed your site, thanks to my girlfriend for sending me the link! Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks!
Hi Kim! You can come over and see our pics of what we did this year. I plan on making it a tradition, because we loved it! My hubby really spoils my PandaGirl and me. I love your filet mignon idea. Next year, I will go for a great dinner as well. I want to CELEBRATE anything I can and V-Day is one of my favorite. Red is my favorite color with pink being not too far behind, so how can I go wrong with a day devoted to LOVE and my fav colors?! I love to make a party out of just about anything. So surfing the web and scoping out blogger's ideas has been a HUGE kick for me...I have found some great new ways to experience life just by checking out other bloggers...including YOU! Have a great weekend with your family! ; )
Woops! I just saw that you have already visited me! You commented on the post below that V-day one so I missed it. Sorry! ; )
Ann Marie,
Thank You! You do not know how much that has encouraged my heart today! I will be praying for your daughter...God knows what those needs are even though I do not.
This is really what my blog is all about. Thank You!
Kim
Hope you have a wonderful dinner tonight, sounds like it is going to be a real treat! Just curious, what are "Twice baked" potatoes??
It is baked potatoes...that you remove all the potatoes out of the shell after halfing them...mix with butter,sour cream,cheese,chives...then put it back in the potato halves and bake again...they are yummy,but time consuming!
Kim
Oh, your dinner sounds so wonderful. What a fabulous family tradition. We spent last evening at church. Since the kids are so involved in their activities, our class decided to meet even though some people had other plans. I am so glad we went. We are in the middle of a marriage class called Extraordinary Marriage and it was so great to spend Valentine's Day with other couples learning how to bring their marriage closer to God. I'm on the every other Valentine's day rotation with my husband right now. The army gets him one year, I get him the next...UGH! He was in Iraq last year and will be there next year.
Have a wonderful evening.
Your dinner sounds great, Kim. I love twice baked potatoes. It's been awhile since I've made them - I need to.
Eric and I haven't celebrated yet. He took my 5 year old out for breakfast before school and gave her flowers. She loved her date with her daddy.
We don't really do anything, hubby thinks Valentine's Day is ...well...dumb. I kind of like it, so I was really happy when I noticed a note on our dresser, with a DVD that I've been wanting. (Pride and Prejudice) Sigh. How sweet!
And yes, my heart could use a GOOD scrubbing!
Oh I LOVE it! I'd love to see some pictures of the beautiful dinner. It sounds sooooo sweet!
Your evening sounded beautiful. I also made a special dinner for my family with my daughter's favorite...chocolate dipped strawberries. Unfortunately Hubby had to work late :(
Laura
I absolutely love the idea of having a family dinner celebrating Valentines day. I thought of heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. But, a candlelight dinner for the family - that is awesome. I'm using that one next year for sure!! Thanks!
I love the way you celebrated with your whole family. We did a bit of that in the morning, but I'd love to make it more special throughout the day as well. Reading 1 Cor. as a family is wonderful! Thanks for visiting. I love your site and look forward to reading more.
Thank you for drawing my thoughts to God on Valentine's Day.
We had a dinner at home by candlelight too. My 2 year old daughter couldn't understand why we had the lights out though! I tried to explain eating by candlelight is pretty and special, but she just didn't get it. Oh well! Then after dinner, we went and got donuts. I think that is going to be our new Valentine's day tradition.
Great post. I am moving toward having a heat more devoted to God.
You inspire me.
Hugs,
Elizabeth
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