I want to love you like Jesus loves you!
Our family loves to celebrate! We love celebrating each other, celebrating births of new babies, a time of Thanksgiving, and all the above that has anything to do with a grateful heart towards the Lord. He gave us the people in our lives to love, cherish, cultivate those relationships, and we purpose in our family to praise and encourage one another daily.
One particular tradition we enjoy at the beginning of each year is to make goals for the season of life we are currently in. In our home, we like to hold an annual “I Love You” celebration in February. Due to the way we structure around the seasons of life, that particular time of year works really well for us to celebrate how much we care for one another. Jason has never been one to emphasize the traditional Valentines Day, but has purposed to set aside a time to have a big party for encouragement, serving one another, a vision for the year, counsel on anything in question, and praises for each child.
Each year looks different, but it all has its main theme of how much we are grateful for each other. We decorate the house, write cards and handwritten notes, play games, give gifts, and make some really fun desserts to go with the main course. We try and make this day very special because you can not ever let the ones you love know enough how much they mean to you. Tomorrow is never promised to any of us, so making this a special, intentional day is important to us as parents.
This little bundle of joy is my sweet 6th born. She loves the details that go into the “I Love You” celebration. Every year she wants to be behind the scenes serving in areas where it often goes unnoticed. In this picture, she is carefully making homemade chocolate-peanut butter hearts. She is a thorough girl and loves her role for the party.
The next thing she loves to do is make jello-jiggler hearts. Her daddy loves jello and she loves to surprise him with new ways to come up with making this special treat for him. We all love her creativity and her heart for family!
San Valentino was a 3rd-century Roman priest who was martyred for his faith. He ministered to persecuted Christians which, at that time, was coming against the authority of the land, emperor Claudius. There are a lot of legends surrounding this martyr, but none the less we do know for sure that he did everything in his power to love God’s people and help the poor and destitute however he could. He showed sacrificial love for God’s people, even in his prison cell, until he was put to death. Our family learns a lot from persecuted Christians and we want to be a vessel for however God wants to use us in this time in history. We want to make every effort in our home to let the ones we love the most know how much God loves them, and the special qualities He has equipped them with to further His Kingdom.
Natalie