Yesterday during school Siah asked me what Valentine's Day was all about. "I know what I think it's about," I told him, "But we can google it and find out the history of it all..."
"YA!! Let's google it Mom. I LOVE google-ing (is that even a word?) " :)
It is such a different world from when I was a kid... My five-year loves google-ing... We google stuff ALLLL the time. Mainly because I have a boy with thousands of questions flying off his tongue every day and this Mama, plain and simple, rarely knows the answer... But google knows everything! So I guess I'm in luck! :)
Anyways, we found several different histories on where Valentines Day might have originated, but this was my favorite one, so we're sticking with this one...
"A man named Valentine (who was in prison for helping persecuted christians) witnessed to his jailor and ended up converting his entire family to Chirsitianity. The jailor also had a daughter, Julia, that Valentine ended up falling in love with (as well as restoring her sight). Love did not prevail though. On the morning of Valentine's execution, he sent a message to the daughter,
signed, "From Your Valentine."
I thought it was kinda sweet... even though the ending wasn't so good...
Anyways, if you've known me for awhile, you know how much I LOVE Valentines Day! Not because I'm so in love with the holiday itself as much as I just LOVE, Love. Real love is messy great. It takes the bad with the good and makes something beautiful that might have otherwise been thrown out, over-looked, or maybe even ugly.
"His love was not cautious, but extravagant. He did not love in order to get something from us, but to give all of himself to us. Love like that!" Ephesians 5 (The Message).
And that's how we wanna love around here. I know it's a bit early for Valentine's Day, but it's never to early to love on the ones you love most.
So this year we're getting started in January...
These cute mail boxes with the kid's names on them sit on a window sill near our kitchen table.
We decorated giant hearts, made from card stock... I hung them from the window.
Then last night before Papa packed for his business trip, him and I sat on the couch with a pile of blank, multi-colored note cards, and chatted about the specific things that we love about each one of our treasures. Some we wrote together, some separate. Some had a sentence or two from their "Heavenly Father," just pointing out their kind hearts, desires to pray freely and innocently, stuff like that.
And from now until Valentine's Day we stick one little note card in the mail box each morning before they rise.
This morning they rushed down the stairs and ran to their mail boxes... "Can you read me mine Mama? Please?" I read the words on Halee's card...
"I love the way that you are so quick to forgive.
Love, Papa"
Her face lights up and cheeks blush a bit.
"I'm a good forgiver Mama," she says with a smile.
She holds the card all through breakfast. Her eyes pretend read the words over and over again as we sit together at the table.
Then it's Reesie's turn...
"I love how you love to give me bear hugs.
Love, Papa"
Her shy smile creeps across her face and she does her deep voice chuckle. Her heart is happy and it's showing up all over her face.
Siah slips his in his uniform pocket as he slips out the door to go to his morning classes.
"I want to show my friends and my teachers what my Papa loves about me," he explains to this Mama as he pulls his hand back out of his pocket.
A sentence on a note card... and they know that they are loved! Valentines Day is everyday really. Every day can be a day of Extravagant Love!
