I had every intention of posting these before Valentine’s day, but it just didn’t happen. In fact, I have a few valentine posts, so I guess you’ll just have to suffer through them this week.

Well, of course I always love to make photo valentine’s for my kids. And, of course, the night before class parties when I am tying them to a million treat bags, my husband is always rolling his eyes and wondering why I didn’t just buy the ones from the store. At that point, I’m usually wondering too. I actually give the kids a choice on whether or not they want to do them (or just buy them at the store) and then they get to select a theme. I thought for sure this year that my second grader would rather buy some Star Wars ones at Target, but he still asked me to make his.

So here they are. Each of them is so totally ‘them’, which I love! (Even though I don’t love the fact that our house was a cave when I took the bed jumping ones (so no good light AT ALL), and the outside ones were FREEZING.) I got the cutest little handrawn elements from this etsy seller. SO cute! Love her etsy shop!

Jump for Joy

Instant Friend

Rock and Roll

And just because we had fun doing these, here are some pictures that didn’t make it on to the cards. Happy (late) Valentine’s Day!

For the last few weeks, I have been right there with the rest of the world. Captivated, shocked, and heartbroken for the people of Haiti. Praying for their safety and relief.

Haunted by stories like these.

To see those photos of orphaned children, of homeless families, of injured elderly, of a city that is just so broken is truly heartbreaking. And we only have to imagine how bad it must be. They have to live it.

I know you are just like me and have felt moved to help.

I mean, how could we not?

We see tragedy and we are motivated to do our part. It’s been uplifting to see millions of dollars donated to the relief efforts. To know that people truly care. And while it will take much, much more for their restoration, it’s refreshing to see that there are great teams of people who will use those donations to make it happen. To rebuild and restore something that is so broken.

But goodness, even though we have ‘helped’ by giving our resources, I have to say that its left me feeling a little bit helpless. Because despite the fact that nothing could be accomplished without monetary donations, I am feeling helpless because I am physically unable to be there making a difference. Frustrated by feeling like there is no way to really do my part.

In our Wednesday night Bible study with our youth group, we have been studying Proverbs. We spent some time on these 2 verses from Chapter 3 last week.

²⁷ Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act.

²⁸ Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow”—

when you now have it with you.

While sharing these verses with the awesome teenagers in my group, I could totally feel God convicting me.  I started wondering why I was so willing and eager to help in another country of need (not that there is anything wrong with that; we need people to help!). But why was I not always freely giving to those in need all around me? Right here?

The media has done a great job making us aware of the needs in Haiti. It’s been on our hearts and minds constantly. And we have longed to helped. And I got to thinking that if I was more aware of the needs of those around me, that they would be on my heart and mind constantly. And I would feel that same longing and eagerness to help.

Because while we are obviously not in the middle of the kind of massive destruction that the people of Haiti are undergoing, there are still massive needs all around us. Friends on the brink of divorce, emotionally struggling teenagers, people suffering from the loss of a job, neighbors in need of encouragement, lonely people in need of a friend.  And while physically making a difference in Haiti will likely be no more than a longing for most of us, physically making a difference here can be a reality if we step out of our comfort zone just a bit.

I’m praying I will become more aware and do just that.