Love and relationships

The best way to celebrate St. Valentine's Day is to attend church together. "Using a national sample of about 1,600 adults ages 18-59 in romantic relationships, the researchers, Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia and Nicholas H. Wolfinger of the University of Utah, found that shared religious attendance and a man’s religious attendance are associated with higher relationship quality."

The same study also showed  shared prayer was a stronger predictor of relationship quality than all other factors measured in the study, including the education and age of couples.

 http://dailysignal.com/2016/02/12/want-to-improve-your-relationship-go-to-church-with-your-spouse/

On this day in 269 "Valentine was martyred the day before the pagan festival to the goddess Februata Juno at which boys drew girls' names for acts of sexual promiscuity. Were legends about the martyr's death modified to replace the heathen custom? No one knows for sure. In fact, there may have been two or even three martyrs named Valentine who died in different parts of the empire at about the same time. We know little or nothing about any of them."

 http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/martyrdom-of-st-valentine-11629626.html

St. Valentine's stories in the news

As a former librarian, I know that selection is the key to a collection.  Banning or promoting a point of view starts in the back room where the purchasing decisions are made.  Public library librarians are 123:1 liberal to conservative, so that determines what is purchased, which determines what people read, which determines what they believe. Same with the news.  How news sources differ just by selection of story was evident with these two human interest stories--St. Valentine's day (tomorrow). Innocent.  Fun.  ABC was on the kitchen, Fox News in my office. I'm walking back and forth. Fox has a report on what people are doing on St. Valentine's day--reported on a soldier sending some home a valentine surprise and a child taking something to dad--I think it was Chic filet. ABC reported on President Obama's plans.

Another news story difference which may indicate who is beating the drum for fear and division. Fox reported on the 5th police officer killed recently (he was black, but that wasn't mentioned--there was a photo); ABC reported on a court case where a police officer had killed a black man. Race was prominent in that story. Both the number and rate of those killed in the course of committing a crime is higher for whites than blacks, but would you know that from news reporting? Why the pressure on the corporate news sources to divide the nation along racial lines?

PDHC gets ready for St. Valentine's Day

At Pregnancy Decision Health Center (PDHC) we help mothers in crisis pregnancies, and also help them with maternity and baby clothes. We're all ready for little sweethearts this February.

 The women take parenting classes and receive "Earn while you learn" points which are used to purchase these items. However, there are also many free items, like the books under the table, and the play clothes in the bins on the right. Maternity fashions are up to date. All services are free and non-judgmental. Disposable diapers are always in demand. Hundreds of churches in central Ohio support this program, either as part of their annual budget or special fund raising like filling baby bottles with coins and collecting them. Some women's groups knit booties; others make quilts and receiving blankets for newborns.

Love at first sight

Does love at first sight exist? (Question at Fox and Friends this morning) My husband told me on our first date he was going to marry me. Not exactly first sight, since we had met a few weeks before, but close. I just thought he was being silly. But married people are healthier and financially more secure, even if their eye sight and heart aren't linked. Single men have mortality rates that are 250% higher than married men. Single women have mortality rates that are 50% higher than married women. Based on life expectancies, nine of ten married men and women alive at age 48 are alive at 65, while only six of ten single men and eight of ten single women make it to 65. And of course, children raised by married parents have only an 8% chance of growing up in poverty, so that statistic transfers to parents. Also, and I know you've been waiting for this, married couples have more sex than unmarried couples living together. Living together before marriage decreases the chances of a strong, healthy marriage and increases the chance of divorce.

 

The case for marriage

Love is

Valentinus (St. Valentine) was condemned to be beaten with clubs, then beheaded, February 14, 269 A.D. His crime? He was conducting weddings and marriages in secret in defiance of the emperor's decree. He was declared a saint in 496. Feb. 14 was chosen for his execution because it was a festival day for a Roman goddess. According to tradition, Valentine sent love letters to his parishioners from prison.

My Valentine Dinner Party

Last night I hosted a dinner for three friends and I just finished the wonderful Godiva chocolates one brought as a hostess gift. Yum! I served broccoli soup, a boneless pork roast with a BBQ sauce, potato salad, baked butternut squash, fresh fruit bowl (blue berries, cantaloupe, grapes, pineapple and strawberries), wheat rolls, and peanut butter chocolate pie. To go with my color theme I made a drink of 1/3 pineapple juice mixed with red raspberry sugar-free soda. This was my first time to use the bowls I bought in July to go with my good china. My china is Syracuse, Countess pattern, purchased in the 1960s and now discontinued, with bowls going for about $50-60 on e-bay. I found an almost-match at the Discovery Shop of King's Court, Wedding Band pattern, for $4 each. At night, under the dining room light, I couldn't see any difference, but in the daylight, you can see a very slight color difference. Anyway, I was very pleased with my find, and finally being able to serve a soup with dinner!

My guests stayed until after 10 p.m., and we talked of many things--our faith, our careers, laws and regulations (usually pertaining to our specialties), and "past lives." One topic was, "what advice would you give a young woman, post-college, just beginning in your career field." It was a great evening. Every woman should have a "ladies only" dinner at least once--we even dressed up.