Happy Valentine's Day--Cough, Cough!

Valentine's Day today began before four A.M.

Jonathan was heaving with wild paroxysms of coughs along with a fever. When he finally got up to turn on the lamp in helpless heaves, I got my groggy self up, too.

I forgot about it being Valentines Day.

All I could think about was how to find something to help calm those coughs.

The night before I had rubbed some essential oil and Deep Blue cream on his chest. (Deep Blue is a combination of several oils that calm pain, but they also help cough, we've found.)

Now I was plastering his feet with Walgreens Chest Rub and putting more olive oil, thyme oil, and Deep Blue on his big hairy chest.

Then we went back to bed.
A few hours later, as we got up together, he admitted, "Whatever you put on me worked! I was able to sleep!"
And then he remembered.
"Happy Valentine's Day!"

And I got all folded up in a big snuggle against that same hairy chest that still smelled strongly of peppermint and thyme!
As this sweet door hanging says, which Naomi French brought out a couple weeks ago to supper,
"Love each moment!"

 Otherwise so far it has been a pretty normal day, with me sauteing veggies for my sweetheart along with his scrambled egg before sending him off to work for the day.

I thought that he didn't need to bring me a Valentine bouquet because look how our geranium is blooming red in February!

While the children did their chores--dishes, sweeping and other chores, I managed to mix up a batch of Murphy's Oil Soap water to wipe down cabinets--
these beautiful wooden cabinets that Jonathan put together for me 17 1/2 years ago when we built the house. They are still intact, with a few minor repairs and renovations through the years!

All morning there was school--helping Timmy with Algebra, (which required calling another home school mom who is a whiz at math and asking for help tomorrow!), checking lessons, giving spelling tests, helping with a book report and other lessons.
Carrie made a ham chowder and garlic toast for lunch.

After a history quiz during lunch and going over of our ABC Bible promises (we're up to H now), it was time to lay out a history test for Danny and find his textbook which had gotten lost,

give Hannah a piano lesson,

and lay out stencils and papers and pictures from my school file

to work on Spanish visuals to send with Jonathan to Guatemala.

 I am doing that to contribute to the trip since I can't go, and it helps me focus on something positive rather than wishing I could go along or that he would not have to go somewhere that the missionary got stoned twice already.

Right now they tell us it is very safe in that area of Guatemala--there on the big mountain which is actually a dormant volcano.
Yeah, I said that right. A volcano.
I bought two CD's of Spanish children's choruses to send down with Jonathan, of familiar choruses translated into Spanish. I printed the words in large print, hoping it might help the children learn some new choruses. I really hope they will be useful.

Here is a beautiful article that came in today that you might be interested in, about having a loving heart. 
https://christyfitzwater.com/the-best-decisions-come-out-of-a-pre-shaped-heart/

Today I thought of the verse about how God so loved the world.
And I guess I've been thinking about valuing people, and how much it means to me when I am valued as a person, and how painful it is when I'm not valued at all or devalued and discounted.
I thought of how the verse would sound if we replaced the word "loved" with "valued."
"For God so valued the world that He gave His only Son."

God so loved.
God valued the world so much.
God gave.
We love Him because He first loved us. 

Jesus, on this Valentine's Day, I have gone to my sunny window more than once asking for things from You--

things like strength for my day,

help in my problems,

grace for the hurting places in my heart.

What if I also went for a few moments just to love You?

Writing is my best way of communicating my thoughts, in contrast to some who think well on their feet and speak well, too.

So today, alongside the prayer requests sitting on my window sill, I placed a little love note.

"Dear Jesus,

I love You!..."

To you it probably doesn't really matter what I said.

But I hope that perhaps it meant something to Him.