Valentine’s Day: Trivial and Not So Trivial

By Robin J. Steinweg

*15% of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.

*3% of pet owners give their pets valentines. (awww)

*Do you wear your heart on your sleeve? The expression started in the Middle Ages; young men and women drew names from a bowl to discover who would be their valentine. They wore these names on their sleeves for one week.

*I add a little red food coloring to the batter for pink heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine’s Day. For supper. With crispy bacon, sausages, and real Wisconsin maple syrup, candles, and my choice of music (just this once, please). And no boy-type body noises at the table.

*64% of men in the U. S. don’t make advance plans for a Valentine’s date with their sweeties. (Hurry! You still have twenty-four hours, fellas!)

*Sir Alexander Fleming introduced penicillin on February 14, 1929, the same day as Chicago’s Valentine’s Day Massacre. Same year the stock market crashed. On the upside, TinTin and Popeye made their debuts that year.

*People spend millions on Valentine’s Day for food, flowers, cards, gifts, and—chocolate!

*Some of the most expensive gifts:

• A six and a half million dollar pink diamond ring by Harry Winston. (’wonder how much a white one is?)

• A purse by Chanel for over two hundred thousand dollars. (no loose change inside)

• A Guerlain lipstick for over sixty thousand dollars. (doesn’t include poofy lips)

• Nearly three thousand for Manolo Blahnik alligator halter shoes. (I never saw an alligator in a halter, nor in shoes) (uff-da)

One of history’s great gifts of love is the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in memorial of his wife. It took nearly 22 years to build.

The costliest and greatest gift ever? Freedom from sin and the grave!

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now…

…love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:18-21, 22b NIV).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Robin J. Steinweg thinks life is sweet right in the middle of homeschooling, writing children’s books, directing, writing and arranging music, teaching music, and listening for the Music of the Master’s voice. Among other things, Robin writes devotionals for the online magazine The Christian Pulse.