"Won't you Be My Valentine?"

takes on deeper meaning

when one looks into the person for whom this day is named

Valentine was a man of long ago who shared his faith in Jesus Christ at a time

when it was illegal to publicly profess such faith.

And as a result, he was executed on February 14th.

His message was expressing a belief in Jesus,

and the love of God seen in Jesus Christ

He understood he was loved by God through Jesus Christ.

We share our love for one another if we are truly

in the spirit of St. Valentine because God loves us first

and we understand enough to be gripped

by that truth and respond to it, embracing a faith

in which God sent Jesus

We can learn of this love in His book, the Bible.

Its a journey into all kinds of possibilities.

If we want to know where God does His best

work in transforming our lives,

look no further than taking in the words of His book

but do so with open eyes and heart

The Words in His book are truly the Words of life.

Eternal Words.

Man's words are not eternal, they will pass, as will our candy,

cards, and flowers, which are expressions of our love.

And yet there is much more to this day for expressing our love.

God loves us - we often stop there.

But He loves us too much to allow usto stay the way we are.

He plans to grow us up to the image of His Son Jesus Christ

so we can be His image on earth to love Him, and to fellow man.

it is a process that begins on earth and is completed when we

meet Jesus face to face in heaven or upon His return to earth.

There is plenty of growth and change yet to come in our lives.

We will not become mature on our own;

but as we mature we can begin to see God in the world

and see that as an invitation to join Him in His work

Worship is focused upon God

and includes being engaged in the lives of other believers

to wrestle with God and what He calls us to in scripture

We are able to love because He first loved us -

we come to love the God and the overflow of that love will be seen

in our love for fellow man:

those who believe, those who have yet to believe,

and those who will refuse to believe.

That my friend, is what St. Valentine represented.

So shower God's love upon those you love,

and upon those who need love.

Truth For Life

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him (Jesus) a question, testing Him,

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?"

And He said to him,

'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

"This is the greatest and foremost commandment.

"The second is like it,

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

"On these two commandments depend

the whole Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 22:35-40

Tea Time

in Las Vegas

I had the opportunity to visit Las Vegas with my husband

and while he was busy at his work related seminar

I met up with a tea friend I've only known through our online tea group

theteafriends@yahoogroups.com

After a morning and early afternoon of shopping 'our' kind of stores:

TJMaxx, Stein Mart, Big Lots!

we wrapped up our time together by enjoying afternoon tea at a new tea spot.

Its one that if you are ever in Las Vegas and you enjoy afternoon tea. . .

you must plan to have tea here, if not that, plan breakfast or lunch!

The place?

Why the tea room at Simple Elegance In Cake Design

3655 South Durango

South of Spring Mountain Road

Las Vegas, NV 89147

vegasweddingcakes.com

It is easy to find and oh, so worth the time to make a reservation!

Look inside!

Here are 2 views. . .

My place setting, my napkin was already

in my lap, in case you are wondering

A just poured cup, our host poured

each and every cup we sipped

My tea needed just a drop of honey and it, too,

was served by the host,Dane Barthea

The honey was served from the cutest honey bee server!

The tea sandwiches!

They included chicken salad, egg salad, cucumber,

sausage roll, and salmon mousse and

were served with grace and style

a close up of the selection,

so many to choose from

and then it was time for freshly baked, warm scones!

They were baked with love.

We each were served two, one heart shaped

and scones are not complete with out

very berry jam, lemon and lime curds, and 'devonshire cream'

all made by our host

when we were about to say 'no more!'

our host brought forth the sweet treats of:

praline pecan cheesecake oval,

rum bread pudding,

mini-palmiers with a swirl of his buttercream icing

(the icing was for our tasting - we had asked

to try his own recipe for his cakes)

and there were delicious heart pastries

filled with something that escapes my memory,

too many taste sensations,

I was on overload! (but smiling!)

Here is Dane and my teafriend Lady Patricia

And yours truly with Lady Patricia after the

delightful and simply elegant afternoon tea.

There is nothing quite like meeting a friend you have

known like a pen pal for years,

and then one day, at last,

you have the occasion to meet in person!

We spoke non-talk from the moment

I exited my rental car in her driveway.

We sipped cups and cups of tea,

shopped, sipped, nibbled, laughed,

compared notes, and laughed and laughed.

It was a treasured tea time!

We gave our afternoon tea at

Simple Elegance a 4 teapot rating!

Thank you, Dane!

Truth For Life

Peace be to you

The friends greet you

Greet the friends by name.

3 John 1:15

Here is a second one:

More Truth For Life

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:2

(You just knew I'd find a verse that 'fit' this occasion as usual, didn't you?)