Have To or Want To?

Whew . . . we made it!  Another February 14th has passed by and along with it, in one way or another, the romance and/or angst experienced by just about everyone - whether spoken for or single.  I couldn't help but once again notice the wide-ranging expressions of gushing jubilation and sad frustration that Valentine's Day ( or Single Awareness Day ) brought with it.  But even if you weren't acknowledging S.A.D. and you are in a relationship, there was the full spectrum of status updates on Facebook - from the squeals describing the semi-truck load of roses & chocolates delivered . . . to the "gee, thanks for the generic card" reactions.  It has almost become like a 2-month early precursor to Tax Day on April 15 because your perspective on it depends on if you owe the IRS . . . or if you will be getting a big fat refund ( or a measly generic one ).
Some people have a wonderful time celebrating with the love of their life - Tracy and I got to spend the afternoon in NYC going to the "free" David Letterman Show ( and briefly getting on camera in the audience ).  Some people would have rather just skipped ahead from Feb 13th to Feb 15th.
The debate over whether this holiday is a conspiracy perpetuated by companies like Hallmark & Russell Stover will continue to rage throughout time, but celebrating love ( which 1 Corinthians 13 says...is patient, kind...does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered...keeps no record of wrongs...does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth...always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres...and never fails ) should not carry with it the unnecessary pressure of "I HAVE to do something" instead it should be "I WANT to do something" to show it.

P.S. - I am probably going against some kind of "Dad-of-teenage-daughters-code" here, but I have to give props to the boyfriends of our 2 daughters.  They did pretty well on Valentine's Day - Struan took Makenna out to see a movie . . . and even though Chris had to work until late at night, he still brought over a dozen roses for Emily.  So, to Struan and Chris I say . . . well done, and you've earned yourself at least another week of hanging out with our girls.