Valentine's Day! The day designated all around the world as a celebration of love. Cards are delivered in scented envelopes from that "Special Someone" addressed to "The One I Love." Bouquets of flowers arrive at the busiest time of the office workday, personally delivered for all to see. Reservations are made for romantic candlelit dinners for two in cozy little hideaways across the country. Lovers look dreamily into each other's eyes while espousing their appreciation and everlasting love for one another. A very special day indeed... and then it's over. What happens on the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that?

What makes Valentine's Day so very special? Perhaps because for most it is something unusual: an extraordinary display of love, attention and affection that is seemingly withheld or ignored most other days of the year. Granted the reality and busyness of life does not always allow for romantic getaways at posh hotels or luxurious bed and breakfast inns, and most budgets cannot afford the delivery of floral bouquets every day of the year... but what about the things we can afford and make time to do?

What makes Valentine's Day so special for you? Is it a punctuated pause in an otherwise mundane and monotonous routine? Is it a perfunctory or obligatory giving of gifts or cards of more style than substance that serve as a sort of insurance against the potential or perceived hazard of not giving those things? Is it one of the few times of the year (maybe the only time of the year) that you can muster up the courage or consideration to express how you really feel?

It's nice to receive special or even lavish gifts on a special day. But gifts of "love" without the weight of supportive and meaningful relationships to reinforce the giving of such gifts on "ordinary" days are like a rainbow in the sky after a rainfall: it is a beautiful thing to behold in the moment, but you know it will be gone in a little while. Valentine's Day should be a comma instead of an exclamation mark in the life of our daily relationships.

The last time I checked, a 'thank you,' 'good morning,' and 'I love you' were free; a smile was relatively inexpensive (unless your pride, comfort level or selfishness were at stake); a compliment, affirmation, or word of encouragement didn't cost a penny; a "just thinking of you" phone call or email note cost only a few minutes of your time. Expressions of kindness, consideration, appreciation, and affirmation are gifts that we can show or give daily and we don't even have to be someone's "Sweetheart" to participate.

I enjoy Valentine's Day as much as the next person, but I'd much rather have Valentine's Days where each and every day is spent giving and receiving gifts that have lasting value: gifts that affect not just the senses and memories, but gifts that permeate and strengthen the soul, character, and outlook of our relationships. What about you? Happy Valentine's Days!

Aleathea Dupree is the author of Though The Vision Tarry: Waiting For My Promised Mate and the Administrator of the Deep Waters website/forum. Copyright © 2005. All Rights Reserved. For permission to reprint, please contact: administrator@deepwaters.info.

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OVERCOMERS MINISTRIES is a ministry with a focus on spiritual deliverance, in particular, from sexual brokenness. The ministry has served the needs of countless men and women across the nation, providing Christian counseling to those who have been held captive within the clutches of sexual perversion. The ministry is advancing its newest phase—CHAINBREAKERS—group meetings for those pursuing or maintaining deliverance from homosexuality.

Sessions will be held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm - 9:30pm, at the Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church, 610 Rhode Island Ave., NE, Washington, DC in Classroom #3). For more information, please call (301) 332-6456.

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Boundaries: When to Say YES, When to Say NO, To Take Control of Your Life
by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

Having clear boundaries is essential to a healthy, balanced lifestyle. A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, boundaries define who we are and who we are not. Boundaries impact all areas of our lives: Physical boundaries help us determine who may touch us, mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts, emotional boundaries help us to deal with our own emotions and spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God's will from our own. This book presents a biblical treatment of boundaries, identifies how boundaries are developed and how they become injured, shows Christian misconceptions of their function and purpose, targets areas in our lives that have boundary conflicts, and gives a program for developing and maintaining healthy, biblical limits.

Share the resources that have been a blessing and inspiration in your life (books, tapes, videos, websites, ministries, etc.) in our Freshwater Pearls section of the forum.

View this newsletter online at: http://www.deepwaters.info/deeper_vol11.htm

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Deep Waters is Designed and Maintained by Dathea. Copyright © 2005. All rights reserved.

Deep Waters is a resource website and online forum that provides biblically-based answers to questions that have to do with relationships. The forum includes categories/topics for: singles, men's issues, women's issues, sexual purity/identity, marriage, abuse, finances, divorce/remarriage/separation, and life issues affecting relationships. Get the help you need to make better relationship decisions.

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"Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory." - Proverbs 11:14
(New American Standard Bible)

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