Homemade Valentines are the Best

Grace was really grumpy yesterday, Emily was really getting on her nerves. So I asked Grace if she wanted me to set up her own little table in the playroom where she could work on making her valentines alone. She agreed and asked me if I could come and help her. I sat down and began to cut some hearts out of purple foam. She decided they were suitable for her use, and I asked her if she knew the secret to making the most special valentine. She wasn’t really in the mood for conversation and shrugged her shoulders at me. “The most important part is to make them with love. You have to pour your love in them. That is what makes them so special,” I said. She kind of rolled her eyes at me. “I’m serious,” I said, “That’s what makes me such a good cook.” That got her attention. (The girls tell me I’m the best “cooker”, especially when I make mac & cheese out of the box.) “It’s true!” I insisted, “The best dinners I make are when I think about how much I love the people I’m making it for and try to make it the best I can so that it is really good and good for them.”
“So you should pour your love into the valentine…”
I don’t know if she got it. Maybe it will be like one of those things my mother told me that was really important but at the time I wasn’t in the mood to accept. Things that were simple yet powerful enough stick with me and become a part of me.
Kind of like when she would tell me that I’m a daughter of the King. I know I used to role my eyes at her when she would say that. But it’s a truth I carry with me to this day. I am a daughter of the King. I am royalty. I am His. It has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with Him. In fact, I’m the apple of His eye. Someone told me He says that to all the girls. Yet somehow, it’s still true.
Thank you, Mom, for instilling that truth in me. I’ll pass it on to my girls. And Mom—don’t forget--you’re His daughter too.
By the way this is your homemade valentine.
I love you!