Heart To Heart

If you view my 365 Days blog, this is a repeat. Sorry! I thought this was a good parenting story and wanted to share it here, too.
If you haven't read 365 (why aren't you?), enjoy this! You will need to visit http://365daysofresolutions.blogspot.com/ if you want to see pictures of the artwork, as blogger isn't letting me add pics to this post for some reason.

Last year, I was introduced to The Jericho House, a Christ-centered addiction recovery program located in Georgia. Someone I care deeply about was struggling with substance abuse and other dependencies, so I wanted to learn all I could about what he was going through. I was reading the website for The Jericho House and shared with Elsa and Lucas some news. They had always been concerned that my friend wasn't able to see his children as often as he would have liked. They were saddened even more to hear that some of the residents of the house had no contact with their family members. Not wanting anyone to feel unhappy and lonely, the kids came up with the idea to mail decorated heart ornaments to the folks at the house.

Since they had such a good time sending their love, I thought this year making hearts for Valentine's Day would be ideal. We decided to get our neighbors involved as well. (We are so fortunate to live in a wonderful community filled with compassionate, caring people.) With 8 kids and 4 adults participating, we were able to create enough goodness to forward to The Jericho House, and also to our local senior center. The kids and I are excited to be going to the center this week to drop off the greetings and some other goodies!

It took me many years to figure out that it isn't the cost, brand, or location of where you purchase a gift that makes it meaningful. What makes a gift special is that the gesture of giving it be rooted in kindness and love. We hope you'll find creative ways to let others know they are loved! Don't wait! xoxo