“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you.”
1 Thessalonians 3:12
It has always bothered me that Valentine’s Day lands right in the middle of February. I mean if February is “Love Month” then shouldn’t it be at the end, like a huge ending celebration of an entire month of sending love notes, watching corny romantic movies, and getting surprised with flowers and chocolates? Maybe it is just me, but it seems like the “love-hype” starts on Feb 1st and then ends Feb 14th. But what about the rest of the month (poor Feb.15th…)? What about the rest of the year?
After discussing this with my husband earlier this month, we decided that we were going to challenge ourselves to intentionally show love to others the week after Valentine’s Day. To keep ourselves accountable, I made what I like to call a “Love Branch”. Our Love Branch holds “Love Challenges”. Love Challenges are simply daily challenges to love on someone else.
The plan is, for one week, we will read a love challenge before going to work, and then we will seek opportunities throughout the day to accomplish it, just as 1 Thessalonians 3:12 encourages. This particular DIY is festive, fun and has the ability to bring sweet joy to you and others!
To make your own “Love Branch”, follow these steps :
Create a way to display your daily challenges. I chose a branch from my front yard. My husband smoothed down the sides and ends with a sander, and then we nailed two picture hangers into the back side. I also gathered pink, red and white felt, various ribbons and kraft paper gift tags to complete my project.
Next, I made flaps out of kraft paper and hot glued the flaps to the backsides of the gift tags so we could keep each challenge a secret until the day we open it.
Write seven (7) different love challenges that stretch you and that will be appreciated by others. Here are a few we chose: compliment a stranger, call someone you admire and tell them why, and lend a hand to a co-worker. (A few other ideas could be: visit the elderly in a nursing home, make dinner for a neighbor, or watch your pastor’s kids so he and his wife can have an unexpected date night.)
Choose different color and patterned ribbons then tie a ribbon to each tag, cutting it at different lengths. Then tie each tag to your branch! I made felt hearts to hang from the branch and then glued them on each tag to indicate which day it was. (Ex: Day 3 has three hearts on the front of the tag.) Once you’ve attached all your ribbons, hang your “Love Branch” somewhere visible so you can easily read your challenges at the beginning of each day.
That’s it!
The fun part is that you can create and celebrate love using your “Love Branch” anytime of the year because we are called to love one another always, not just in February. If Valentine’s Day craftin’ wore you out, maybe try something similar by using your phone calendar as your daily challenge reminder. It can be as simple as that!
As humans, we all desire to know and experience love. And as wonderful as it is to receive it, it is just as important to show it!
Happy Love Month Friends!
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