Today is Valentines Day! We now have a beautiful heart hanging in our kitchen window. Here’s what we did. I taped down a white doily heart inside a rimmed cookie sheet. I put blobs of Crayola Washable Paint, red/pink/purple, all around the tray.
Now came the really messy and fun part. I put a small rubber bouncy ball on the tray and let the boys take turns tilting the tray. As the ball rolls, it goes through the paint and leaves a colorful pattern on the heart. It got messy when James was too enthusiastic and rolled the ball off the sheet. Remember this is a bouncy ball and it bounced all over the kitchen leaving color prints until I caught it. The boys just laughed and thought it was funny watching an almost 40yr old chase after a ball leaving bright color everywhere. I declared the painting done when the boys had paint all over their hands and most of the white couldn’t be seen.
We set it aside to dry and the end result is a beautiful marbled heart.
While making crafts is oh so fun for all three of us, crafts are not the focus of our lives. We made a beautiful paper heart. What about catching the hearts of my boys? How do I take that feeling of love and adoration that we see on Valentines Day and move it to adoration of God? Today especially, it has been on my mind to talk about the love of God, that Jesus died for us and that Mommy & Daddy love God. While driving in the car I’ve talked about God’s love. So that covers today. What about the rest of the year? I heard from one of my patients, back when I worked, that the actual offense that your children do isn’t the main thing to focus on. I need to be looking into the heart issue. Did they do something out of pride, peer pressure, or anger? That is what I need to be focusing on. There is a million things that my boys can do that are wrong and tackling every little thing would drive a mom crazy, as it does some days literally. But there are only a handful of heart issues and a handful of issues is much easier to get your mind around. The heart issues are not easier to deal with, they are just more important. The actual offence and the heart are linked together. If I want my boys to have a beautiful heart, I must remember to work on both. For a heart caught by the Lord and all His ways is a very beautiful thing indeed. My those little hearts become beautiful by adoring the true God.
Mercies Raining Down 