Messages of Love

I've been getting all of these wonderful little love notes lately...from my 5 year old! Let me preface this by saying that my son Luke is a bona fide 100% through-and-through holiday fanatic. He he adores them all. He decorates for them fiendishly, anxiously counts down on the calendar...he eats, sleeps and breathes them (Chip off the old block! I, too, am a holiday nut!). Well, with the approach of Valentine's Day Luke has been in full "cupid mode." He's been turning out more paper hearts than a greeting card company! And the sweetest thing of all has been that *I* have been the biggest recipient of these little beauties!


Completely unbeknownst to me Luke gets an inspiration, sits down with his paper and scissors and gets to work. 10 minutes later he proudly trots over to me, ear-to-ear grin on his face and says, "Mommy, I have a surprise for you!" And my heart melts as placed in my hands is the most perfectly crooked and lopsided free-form paper heart reading, "I luv yoo." (with a backwards "y" to boot!) It just doesn't get much better than that. Misspelling and all. The most incredible part for me is considering that this is a completely spontaneous act of pure love. A free gift.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the crystal clear messages we are given from God--messages of love. They come sometimes at the most seemingly random of times. As a mom, (I'm sure all of you fellow moms can relate to this!) I am often amazed by the overwhelming sense of love I feel for my children. The love of a parent for their child is given freely, without reservation, without expecting anything in return. The Lord feels this very same love for us-in all its manifestations-a thousand times over. What an amazing thing it is--to be loved so greatly, so deeply--all the time. It is almost overwhelming to take in. The love between parent and child is this amazing gift of insight for us to know how loved we truly are by God.


God loves us just as we are, always. He loves us when we're feeling crabby, He loves us when we feel alone. He loves us when we are in desperate need of a shower (not that that ever happens to *me* of course, ahem...) and just want to stay in bed. He loves us in triumphant times and in worrisome times. AT ALL TIMES. In fact, we are precious to Him. As the bible states:

" Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!"(Lk 12:24-5)

In Matthew we read:

"Indeed, even the hairs on your head have all been counted!" (Mt. 10:30)

Imagine that!

As if that weren't mind-boggling enough, God's love for us runs even deeper. In fact, He loves us so much that He died for us:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

As the famous church hymn proclaims, "What greater love is this O my soul, O my soul." Indeed.


I am so incredibly thankful for the immeasurable love I've had the opportunity to both give and receive in my life, as I reflect on this Valentine's Day. As we pass out cards, bake a treat or two or maybe even have a special night out with our sweetheart I hope that all of these acts serve as a reminder of the perfect, continuous and everlasting love from above.

Happy Valentine's Day!