Valentine’s Day, Courtship and Flowers

Beth’s Valentine rosesAfter a violent storm last week (no power for 2 days, trees down, 7 barns gone) it’s been great to have some good weather and to enjoy some flowers on the special day for love- Feb. 14th. Beth and I celebrated with some friends from church at Porcini’s last night. It was very good food (shrimp for me), great conversation and loads of laughs as 3 new couples were gathered up front for the “Cathy Mitchell version” of the Newlywed game. For those of you who attended, you know what I’m talking about 🙂 For the rest, imagine trying to guess your spouse’s answer to some trivial question about your honeymoon while everyone else (who already know the answer) stare at you, grinning from ear to ear. Beth’s Valentine roses- in the sunlightApparently, Beth & I have managed to avoid the spotlight for these annual events, so Cathy has sworn to get us up there next year. <note to self: begin planning west coast business trip for next Feb….> We’ll see!

Now, for the curious among you, who have noticed a word in the title I haven’t mentioned yet… yes, both the Lord and Sarah are focused on marriage these days (for her) and He has brought someone new into the picture– Rainey Hartman. Sarah’s VD flowersHe is originally from Florida, came to work in Chattanooga for a property management and investment firm, and is a member of her church. He is also, apparently, a good dancer! We met and spent some time with him last month, and we are impressed with both his character and his focus on doing courtship right. To put it in a nutshell, American (secular) dating is good divorce practice; Biblical courtship is focused on preparing for a successful marriage. Rainey seems to be hitting all the right notes in this regard, and for that we are most happy and thankful. Sarah’s VD flowersTo illustrate what we mean, you can see here pics of some of the many flowers this young man has showered on our daughter recently. I understand there was also dinner out on Valentine’s, featuring a bouquet and chocolate truffles (homemade). Wow! [To see a bigger picture, just click on each thumbnail in turn.]

We believe plans include a trip home to KY to meet everyone during Easter weekend, so stay tuned…

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