What is LOVE?
The age old question that us adults have probably asked ourselves a million and one times. During this specific month of the year, we make it a point to show our love for one another. Acts of love and affection are intentional. Love is such a powerful force in this world, and this year, for Valentine’s Day, I really wanted to focus on what it truly meant–in terms of motherhood. I love all of the hearts, and pink, and kisses, but I really want to take it up a notch this year. I want to teach my girls what the Bible says about love.
When I asked Raegan how we show people we love them, she said “kisses and hugs.” Which is certainly correct. Raegan is so good at expressing her love. It comes completely natural for her. She will hug and hold you until her arms fall off. I love that about her. Asking her about love, led us down a really fun conversation path. I love her audible runon sentences about flowers, love bugs, and how she knows I love daddy because I always give him the biggest piece of meat at dinner.
Then I asked her if she knew what the Bible tells us about love. I told her it says that “love is patient, love is kind…” (1 Corinthians 13:4) It also says that we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) So, I am basically making it my mission to discuss love and show it in our actions this month–specifically through patience and kindness.
Kindness is a pretty familiar word for us. My husband and I use it often in our parenting, but I want to make sure that I am teaching our girls the difference between niceness and kindness. You can be nice to someone without feeling anything, and without showing them kindness. I want them to know that it’s less about being polite, and more about showing you care.
Our explanation for patience has always been that patience means waiting without whining. So, in this specific context, I told her that we can love people by waiting for/on them without getting upset or complaining. We can show patience by controlling our tempers, with delayed gratification, and through sharing. I also explaining to her that this isn’t a very easy thing for most people…even for mommy and daddy. I told her that this month we would make sure to think about how to love through patience, and that I needed her help along the way.
We have a chalkboard wall in our kitchen that I will often cover in holiday messages and art. We spend A TON of time in this corner of the house, so I knew it would be a good place to document our patience and kindness. I’ve written our love scripture up there (1 COR 13:4), and under it I wrote “How have we loved today?” Each day we are going to write out how we showed our love by being patient and kind!
My girls are visual learners, and toddlers love to document their achievements. I thought this was a perfect idea to get them into being intentional. I also love that when my husband gets home from work, he can see the updated chalkboard, and that can lead us into family discussions about how are loving one another.
I am going to try to use current events/situations as prompts for the girls, but I have also come up with a couple of ideas to get the ball rolling. For example: my girls will fuss with one another over a toy in a heartbeat. Literally they’re just fine one second, and the next I hear them screaming to the top of their lungs over a Barbie doll. I am going to really make an effort to show them love through practicing my own patience in situations like these…because there are times when I totally lose my mind over the squabbling. My prayer is to be an example, and then to ask them to do the same with one another. How can we take turns? How can we show our sister kindness right now? What does being patient look like? How does Jesus want us to behave in this moment?
This is not meant to be tedious or overly complicated. I really just want to use everyday moments to intentionally be loving–to be kind–to be patient. I will be sharing our chalk wall with you all throughout the month, on Instagram and Facebook. I would LOVE for you to share ways you’re making this happen in your own home/community!
Comment below or shoot me a message! Let’s empower one another to by intentional in our love this Valentines Day!
xo
Shakira
4 Responses
Love this so much!!!! We talk about showing Jesus’ love year around to other people, but I love the intentional ness of the holiday. I’m not great at traditions so I might try to implement this way with more guidance the week of Valentine’s Day or at least once we begin prepping for the day in general! Haha.
You’re the best! Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave some feedback! I appreciate it, and glad you were able to grab something from it!
This is such a brilliant, beautiful way to practice intentionality and to subtly teach our babes. Definitely going to find a way to implement this here in my home. Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading through and for your kind comment. Glad you were able to pull something from it, friend!