V-Day & The Dark River

 I'm a little late posting, but alas...

Little Man had his class party last Thursday. 

Sister and I had a little time to kill before the party, so we "roughed" it in the car...donuts, coffee, and milk!

The lady at the counter gave us valentines from Krispy Kreme! (We are SO going to KK next February for valentines donuts! SCORE!)

And all this while doing a little homeschool!

Number 38 is hands down one of my very favorite catechism questions!!! I luv to hear my babies recite this one:

I'll ask, "How sinful are you by nature?"

And I smile when their sweet voices answer, "I am corrupt in every part of my being." 

Because that is truth. Truth for all of us. We are all corrupt in every part of our being. And God is gracious. And He is good. He alone saves. And we rejoice in His salvation. 

Sister, I perceived, felt a tad left out when Little Man dumped his bag of valentines. He cared only for the candy, but Sister cared for the valentines and bagged them and treasured them as her own. This made me a little sad. You know, most girls enjoy their valentines...I always did. So I asked Sister if she wanted to have a Valentine Party. Of course, she did. So we did. 

Prior to the party, The Engineer picked up on the fact that Sister was missing out on some valentines, so he bought a box, filled 'em out, and strategically hid them ALL over the house over the course of several days. How sweet is that? She felt so treasured and special. (I hope he does this every year for our girls...I love to see him love our children!)

We left our paper heart chandelier as decor. Sister planned the party: pink lemonade, french onion soup (a girl after my own heart) and grilled chicken salad. We settled on a "valentine donut cake" complete with little paper umbrellas and candles. Nice. She made favors - packed with paper umbrellas and one, yes, ONE conversation heart. The rest she left in the bag as a centerpiece, which she cut open just so, so it would "look like an advertisement with flowers in the background." (But we didn't have any flowers.)

It was chaos. I'm painting the kitchen cabinets...again...so everything in our cabinets was all over the table in the kitchen, and I'd spent the day painting the breakfast room, so that room was a wreck, and still sticky/wet in some places. And I was still in my paint clothes when our guests arrived...and I never changed. It made me thankful for sweet friends who love even when life (and houses) are a mess. And the party - it was really fun. We might need to make that a Valentine's Day tradition. It sure beat waiting in line in an over crowded restaurant and trying not to notice Groping Gary and Tina Tween - I mean, WHERE ARE their parents???

In addition to celebrating Valentine's Day, it's been a big week in many other ways...and as I read Little Pilgrim's Progress to the children today, this struck a chord in my heart...

But little Christian's eyes had grown dim with fear, and he could not see the light beyond the river. He shivered as he looked at the water and then he turned once more to the Shining Ones. "It is deep!" he said. "We shall drown if we try to cross it!"

"No," replied the Shining Ones, "you will not find it too deep. You must not look at the water - you must lift up your eyes to the light, and the King will help you."

Right now, part of life looks like a dark river. I stare down at the raging waters and fear grips my heart - "what good can possibly come of this? What is there to give thanks for in the midst of such heartache?" And I am reminded to lift my eyes to the Lord. He is my help. And He is good. Always.