Full hearts

Yesterday was the best Valentine’s Day I ever had. We started out with a gourmet breakfast cooked by Chef Jeff. He made pancakes (with flour grown from wheat fields nearby) topped with whipped cream (Jeff makes his own from the cows’ milk we get here on the farm), potatoes (from the farm) and eggs (from the chickens down the street), and hot chocolate(with milk from the cows). It was especially delicious because these are flavors we rarely taste here. We savored every bite!
Amanda and I made cards for the boys together one afternoon this week at our apartment. On each card, we wrote John 4:19: "We love because He first loved us." In the evening, we took the party to the houses where the boys live…first to the youngest ones. We knocked on their door and said, “Surprise! We’re having a Valentine’s party!!!” They were thrilled to receive peanuts, numkin (a spicy Indian snack mix), and two cookies to frost. We don’t have paper plates here, so we just used paper for them to put their goodies on. “Thank you, mam” they said when we gave them their Valentines and treats. So precious. Many of them said they will save the Valentines in their Bibles. Amanda handed out “conversation heart” candies and the boys laughed to see which ones she gave them. John (age 11) got one that read “All Mine.” He asked me, “Mam, what does that mean?” I thought how ironic it was that he wouldn’t know “all mine,” the phrase that kids learn at such a young age when they don’t want to share.
Clay and Emma loved that they got to celebrate two parties on Valentine’s Day! To our surprise, the boys liked to put peanuts and spicy numkin ON their frosted cookies. It was so sweet to make their day bright and to see their happy smiles as we hugged them, told them how much we loved them, and said good night. Our hearts are so full.This morning at church, Ashutosh (age 11) came up with a huge smile and said in his broken English, "Mam, yesterday so much fun!" Yes, Ashutosh...so much fun.