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Subject: JUST  PUSH

 A man was sleeping one night in his  cabin when suddenly his room
filled with light,and God appeared. The  Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large  rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to  Push against the rock with all his might... So, this  the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to  sundown,his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive
surface  of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!
 

Each night  the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, Feeling that his  whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture
by  placing thoughts into the weary mind: (He will do it every  time)!

You have been pushing against that rock for a long time  and it
hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the  task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts  discouraged and disheartened the man. Satan said, "Why  kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough." That's what the  weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of Prayer and  to take his troubled thoughts to The Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I  have labored long and hard in Your Service,
putting all my strength to  do that which you have asked. Yet, after all
this time,I have not even  budged that rock by half a millimeter. What iswrong? Why am I  failing?"
The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when  I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task  was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have  done.
 
Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to  move it.
Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your  strength spent,thinking that you have failed.
But, is  that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled,  your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant  pressure, your legs have become massive and hard. Through  opposition you have grown much,and your abilities now surpass that  which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be Obedient and to push and to exercise your Faith and trust in My Wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock." At times, when we hear a word from God, we  tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He Wants, when actually  what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in  Him.

 By all means, exercise the Faith that moves mountains,but  know that it is still God Who moves The Mountains.
When everything seems to go wrong..........................Just
P.U.S.H.

 When the job gets you
down............................,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Just
  P.U.S.H.

When people don't do as you think they  should...............Just
P.U.S.H.

 When your money is  "gone" and the bills are due...............Just
 P.U.S.H.

When people just don't understand  you.........................Just
 P.U.S.H.

 P =  Pray
 U = Until
 S = Something
 H =  Happens

 "Though no one can go back  and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand  new ending." Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet  when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

May God Bless  You.

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History of Valentine's Day

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day -- and its patron saint -- is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial -- which probably occurred around 270 A.D -- others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February -- Valentine's Day -- should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)

Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".

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