God blesses us daily. I know there are times when that may not feel so, but under the struggles there is always God's Love. One of the many blessings God affords so many of us are the gifts of companionship, friendship, and Love. And for many, our significant other is all three in one.

Valentine's Day is a uniquely Christian holiday. A Christian Feast Day honoring early Christian martyrs... yes it spelled plural intentionally. Historians tells us there was likely more than one origin for St. Valentine. One a Roman Priest who secretly performed weddings in the 3rd century. He was caught and imprison and lore states he healed his captors blind daughter, before becoming a martyr on February 14 and before he was martyred he sent the girl a note signed, Your Valentine.

Another was the Bishop of Terni who also suffered martyrdom for also conducting secret weddings often for soldiers who were not allowed to marry.

Another origin could be an English poet in the middle ages. Yet another theory is that Christians created Valentine's Day to supplant the older Roman holiday of Lupercalia on February 15th. Christians swingers may want to pay special attention to this as the tradition for Lupercalia was to have women write their names on clay tablets which men then drew from a jar, pairing up random couples for the duration of the festival.

There is much rich history, theory, and stories behind Valentine's Day, too many to go into this simple posting. My hope is that this history, when you read it this morning, will inspire you take a moment to be thankful for the ones you love. Do something special for them on this day. Even if it is the simplest of things.

One rose, one chocolate, one kiss, one dinner, one moment, one card, one note, one candy heart in their pocket to find later in the day, one "I Love You Because..."