We spent Valentine’s Day making cards for each other, cutting, pasting, sketching, and composing for hours. Love was certainly in the air–and in itty-bitty pieces all over the study floor…and on the chest in my bedroom where most of the cards ended up that night. But all the mess was worth it. The Lone Ranger used enough supplies to keep the paper companies in business, and Songbird and Think Tank loved turning our card making into a grand competition. Of course, as mom (and reigning champ), I rose above it all. I got joy from sending love letters to my little people, etching memories on their hearts and not just on card stock.
Someone I know etched her own memory on my heart years ago. I’m sad to say she died unexpectedly last week. Ingrid’s commitment to Christ and family inspired me then, when I was a young mother. She continues motivating me now, though I hadn’t seen her since the Crusader was knee high. When I read about her Christian discipleship, kindness, and selfless care for her husband, five children, and her community I consider my own impact on the world spinning within and beyond my four walls. I wonder what messages I communicate before I’ve had my coffee, after a long day, or when only God is looking. I pray my hands and feet are helping my mouth spread the message, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:12-14) This is the Good News, the only love letter worth its weight in hearts and flowers.
My testimony certainly doesn’t flow as poetically as a Valentine’s card; everything won’t fit on a 3 x 5-inch piece of paper. It’s messy, held together with a little glue and splashed with beautiful, vibrant color to hide the mistakes. Yes, there are some days I’d rather forget, like the stack of paper my little people left behind, but altogether I see life as a wonderful gift from God with a card that reads, “Dear Robin, Be Mine, and remember: …let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth… (1 John 3:18). Love always, God.”
