monkey love

This year my 4-year old wanted to make some "monkey" valentines for her preschool class. She seems to be as active as a little monkey, so it seemed appropriate. :) We picked out some foam shapes at the store and some cute valentine pencils. Add it all to a simple card with a Bible verse and we're done! I set-up my file so there were 8 cards on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock (2.75" x 4.25" each), then printed the verse and trimmed it out. We punched the top and bottom with an old heart punch. It really helps to print a little circle where the punch will be so you know where to place it. I punched the corners with a corner rounder so little hands won't get scratched. My little girl had to do a lot of work sticking on foam stickers and writing her name 17 times. That's quite a lot for a 4-year old. We made these over 3 days so it wouldn't be overwhelming.

By the way, the foam shapes make great pencil toppers too. Just stick 2 large hearts together around the pencil top and squish like crazy until it's stuck. Then decorate with more foam stickers - the more the merrier. My 6-year old has been doing her homework with her special Valentine pencil, which makes it more fun.

"...if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11

How ought we to love each other? The way God does. God's love is sacrificial, always giving, never-ending, not based on feelings, but based on His enduring commitment to us even when we don't love Him back. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) What a great love we are called to show to each other, even our enemies! I know I can't love even my own husband like that without God's help. The good news is that He is ready and willing to help us. All we need to do is ask Him and believe that He will.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!