Yay for February!

I'm so excited this month is here. For me, it means I'm so much closer to holding this baby boy. AND it means I get to spend the next two weeks focusing on the subject of "love" in preparation for Valentine's Day.

This year I've decided to go all-out for Valentine's Day. I mean, seriously, who doesn't want to celebrate love? Since God is love, this is most certainly what we call a "God holiday" and a great excuse to do some intentional studies to help us know Him better.

Here are some of the things we're doing:

1. First, I replaced our Christmas cards with paper hearts that all describe characteristics of love, taken from 1 Corinthians 13. This only took about 30 minutes and cost us nothing since we had all the supplies. Here's how it turned out:



I plan to choose one or two characteristics each day to focus on and try to implement as I go about my usual business. And as crazy as it might sound, I'm trying to familiarize Riley with some of the more simpler characteristics, like patience and kindness, trusting that it will take root and we'll see fruit in the future.

2. We're also doing an intense study of 1 John. Now, the NIV Bible mentions a form of the word "love" 697 times, so obviously there were tons of passages I could have chosen to study in honor of Valentine's Day. But I chose 1 John because it contains a bulk of those mentions and it truly focuses on the basics of Christianity. I have always thought it would be wise to read 1 John at least once a year, as it forces you to truly probe your heart and evaluate your life. So why not make it a Valentine's Day tradition? That's simple enough and fun, too!

3. Lastly, we're studying the true story of Valentinus, a courageous Christian man who lived in third century Rome. From what I've read so far, he seems like a true hero and I can't wait to learn more! Here's a book I plan to buy for Riley when she gets older so we can read about his life together:



Unfortunately, I couldn't find any children's books about Valentinus at our local library. Oh well.

4. And of course, I want to do at least one or two crafts with Riley, but they will have to be super SIMPLE. Crayons alone make her crazy with excitement so I don't want to do too much. If anyone has any ideas of some very easy Valentine crafts, let me know!