St. Valentine's

Day, with its emphasis on matters of the heart, falls in February, and

that may be reason enough to focus on health, especially heart health.

Reason enough

for Sue Blackburn, a nurse and pastoral care coordinator who heads up

the Health Cabinet at Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church in Peachtree

City. "February is the month that the American Heart Association

has selected as a time to pay special attention to heart health,"

Blackburn said.

She and other

congregational leaders are emphasizing the care of one's own body in a

number of programs being offered to the congregation and the community

this month. Melissa Stephens, a registered pharmacist, answered questions

about medications one Sunday, and health care and wellness information

currently appears on a series of displays in the narthex.

Saturday, Feb.

24, Chester Cannaday of the Peachtree City Fire Department will conduct

a four-hour CPR course at the church, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The AHA recommends

that every household have at least one person trained in CPR especially

if there are older people or youths of baby-sitting age in the family.

The session

will include a brief introduction to the automatic external defibrillator

the congregation purchased recently. The AED is a device that delivers

an electric shock needed to restart the heart's normal rhythm in the event

of cardiac arrest.

Christ Our

Shepherd, which hosts community groups daily in addition to its own members,

is the first church facility in Peachtree City to have this life-saving

machine on site. The CPR course will cost $10 per person, and pre-registration

is a must, said Blackburn. If space allows, she said, the public may participate.

The church office number is 770-487-8717.

Blackburn said

she also wants to encourage people to think about making life-style changes,

adding good habits like exercise and weight control and eliminating bad

ones such as smoking. "Get a checkup, including cholesterol screening,

blood pressure check, and cancer screening tests," she said. "Get

enough rest. Laugh out loud every day.

"Even

the smallest change can start us on the road to better health," she

added. "Take time for yourself. When you enjoy good physical and

spiritual health you can care for others so much better."