Do you enjoy Valentine’s Day? I must confess that Valentine’s Day was never a holiday for which I made a great hullabaloo. But I enjoy it more with each passing year. I feel particularly blessed to have my husband, my children, my parents, my brother and his family, my in-laws, and my friends. And most of all, I feel peace. I feel the peace of God in my mind, my heart, and my soul. There is absolutely nothing as wonderful as the love of God. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us.” – 1 John 3:16
Below are a few ideas for surprising your family this Valentine’s Day. Please comment with your own ideas!
When we entered motherhood, we entered a brand new world of authority and responsibility. In a flash, our little bundles were entrusted to us by God, and we became the ultimate source of health and happiness for our children. From trying to decide if our baby is ready for cereal to figuring out how to discipline them, to potty training, and far beyond, we saw ourselves in that position of authority and importance day in and day out. That position of loving authority is what we’ve thrown our entire being into, and it matters so much to us that we parent and nurture our children as well as possible. So what happens when we don’t feel in control or perfect or even on target?
Several times on the road, while texting or checking a map or viewing an email, I have noticed how gradually irresponsible I have become about using my phone while driving. It’s also frightening how invincible I feel while doing it. I have known that I needed to be more careful, but I just pushed away the idea that I could be in an accident and kill my own children or someone else or myself. That wasn’t very likely to happen, right? So, I continued being, well, stupid.
While being a stay-at-home mom has its own kind of freedom, which I value and enjoy, it is also a position that completely exhausts my mind and body. Why is it that I had more energy after an 8 hour day at the office than I now have at home by lunchtime? Part of it is because it takes a huge amount of mental energy to hear all those voices all over the house all day long, while still tuning in to what they are saying and processing how you can appropriately respond or solve the problem at hand. Part of it is because running on three bites of cold dinner isn’t exactly a balanced diet, and part of it is that the weekend is no more relaxing than the middle of the week. Most of it, though, is because loving the people in our lives requires more continuous pouring out of ourselves and all our resources than making money at any job. We simply have a lot of heart and a lot of hope that we are gladly and lovingly handing out by the bucket loads all day, every day.
Whether you are with your children all day, as I am, or you don’t see them until the evening most days, we all sometimes need a fresh reminder that we have the overwhelmingly amazing blessing of caring for the precious people in our life. And when I can see past the dirty laundry and deep scratches on my pretty dining room table and focus instead on the people whom I am serving, then I have begun the more important journey of ministering to my family. Investing in them. Cherishing them. Lifting them to the Lord in prayer, and inviting His presence into our home through praise.
And on those super tough days when it’s still too overwhelming, and you’re like me and maybe feeling under-appreciated, remember that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We are even part of something bigger than our home. We are part of the body of Christ, and His kingdom. Our Lord sees our efforts, knows our hearts, hears our prayers, and is protecting our homes as we continually seek Him and teach our families to do the same. We aren’t only keeping house, overseeing education, paying bills, and running errands – We are doing so much more.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord – not for men; since you know it is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23
There are many variations of passages of Lorem Ipsum available, but the majority have suffered alteration in some form, by injected humour, or randomised words which don’t look even slightly believable.
Ava is 5, and she did the painting. I just drew the butterfly for her.
I decided to add an additional piece to Ava and Landon’ room. The tree. It has a simplistic version of their family tree (going back to their great-great-grandparents) on it. My husband’s side of the tree isn’t complete yet, because I’m in the process of confirming some names with my mother-in-law, but soon it will be complete!
If you want to create your own original artwork, but you and/or your children aren’t very artistic, remembering to only use colors that are in the room, will help you out – a lot! Also, if you are wanting to do something more than stripes or color blocks, you can search Google Images for “_______ drawing” and you’ll probably find some inspiration that you can recreate with pencil onto the canvas before painting.
Happy painting!
A few weeks ago, my sweet grandmother went to be with the Lord. I know that most everyone reading this blog has lost someone dear to them, so I don’t need to go in depth describing all my sentiments; besides, some emotions and experiences are too deep and personal for me to want to share them via a blog post. But what I do want to share is still personal, and it is about how the death of someone dear has understandably and drastically increased my awareness of my own carnality.
I turn all of these thoughts inward toward myself, reflecting on how short our lives truly are. Whether we live to be 30 or live to be 90, our lives are fleeting. And when they have ended, they have ended. Praise God that if we belong to Him, we do go on living for eternity with Him! Death for the believer is beautiful and joyous, not something to be feared or dreaded. But our hope of heaven does not make our time on earth less precious. The time God has given us on this earth IS precious and VERY important, because it is the only window of time in the continuum of eternity when we have eternal impact on others and ourselves. These few short years we are living are determining our eternity and they are affecting the spiritual lives of everyone with whom we come in contact.
These are indeed introspective and somber thoughts, but these thoughts are also stirring and motivating. They remind me to focus on what matters and to go forward with passion and liberty and the fullness of God. Because every moment that I am obeying God, every moment that I am sharing Him with others, every moment that I am reaching out to someone in the name of Jesus, every moment that I am using my resources and abilities for my Father matters. It matters. It matters forever. It’s not lost or forgotten or unrecognized or unappreciated. It is lasting and purposeful and fulfilling and good.
We must develop a keen sense of awareness and care that keeps us spiritually awake during our lives here on this earth. Spiritually speaking, there is no time to sleep. We have an important journey from infancy to however long we are blessed to be here. We must continually walk as children of the light, so our lives will matter for the glory of God. We must live with passion for the Lord and sincere love for others, so they will see His love and plan for them, as well.
Thank you, God, that you have given us this time on earth and sent your precious Holy Spirit so that we can truly know you and make the choice to love and serve you. Help me not squander the days of my life, but help me diligently and gladly spend the days of my life showing you how much I love you and how grateful and thankful and moved I am that You first loved me. I want You to see for the duration of my life on this earth that I love and am devoted to You, that when I see you in heaven and I speak words of love and adoration to You, it will be no surprise at all.
Philippians 2:12-18
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
Colossians 3:23, 24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
We needed a quick, affordable, thoughtful way to give our neighbor some Easter candy and share the message of Jesus – and we came up with this! An empty graham cracker box almost made it to the trash before we rescued it and turned it into a handsome, sturdy basket.
It’s perfect for tossing in some candy, eggs, money, or any other little gift. It would also be a cute way to present a small Mother’s Day gift.
Just follow the photos below, and I believe you’ll get the idea of how we did it!
We love Colonial Williamsburg. I went there multiple times with my family when I was growing up (I remember mom making me a write a report on our visit.), and my husband and I went a couple times before we had children. We have since been a couple more times with our children, and I’m so glad they love it, too. If you are studying Colonial Times and would like an activity to go along with it, this may be one to try.
