Oh friends, today is both Valentine's day and Ash Wednesday, a day we give over to LOVE, and the Lenten season we give over to prayer, fasting and purging of our souls and spirits. Holiness and sacrifices are expected in these forty days of soul searching. And it's not easy, but it's a time when we contemplate the tenets of our faith and how we are personally fulfilling them. There's no need to beat ourselves up, if we're not doing as well as we ought to, or think we should. No! What we need to do is go to our heavenly Father in all sincerity and truth and talk to Him about what we consider our shortcomings. And He will mercifully and graciously show us what to do. There's no need to be afraid; just open our hearts and lay it all before the Lord! Much LOVE!