Busy but Blessed Valentine's Day

As I've mentioned, Abby is quite the little artist and spends hours a day at the kitchen table. Earlier this week she began making Valentine's for her great-Grandma and several others.

That got me thinking and soon a plan formed in my mind. Our church is somewhat unusual than most churches in that we have lunch together every Sunday following the morning service and then we have another service after that. It is not a duplicated service, but an additional one in which all are encouraged to stay for. It is shorter and the message is usually more practically oriented the the main service. Anyway, a few years ago we moved half of our afternoon services (the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month) about a mile away to the Sequoia Assisted Living Community. We have about dozen or so residents that regularly attend our service there. I personally don't go as often as I'd like to (because of the boys' nap times and whatnot), but when I'm able (i.e. Kevin's not fishing and can take the boys home, or, my mom offers to take them home), Abby and I go together and it is always a good experience. So what does this have to do with Valentine's Day? Well, I asked Abby if she could make 15-20 of them for the residents at Sequoia that attend our church's service and for a few elderly ladies from our church (my idea was influenced by this experience here in 2009 when she delivered her first Valentine balloon to my Grandma in a nursing home). She was as excited as I was and got right to work, spending every spare moment for the next three days at the table making her gorgeous, all-completely-unique hearts and pasting them onto cards, carefully coloring the inside which I'd printed on the computer, and writing "Love, Abby, Ben and Jake." This is no easy feat for a 5-year-old! She faithfully worked hours and hours on this project.

Ben and Jake helped me make Valentine's cookies and we also bought $1 heart balloons for Fred Meyer and potted primrose plants from Costco.

Wednesdays (the day before Valentine's Day this year) are very busy for us with Bible Study in the morning and AWANA/church in the evening, so we were frantically trying to get it all done in time! Things got even crazier when Kevin called and said that he would be coming to shore on Valentine's Day, but wouldn't be able to come home. We couldn't and didn't want to back out on our Valentine's plans, so we just added a trip to Westport to our Valentine's Day schedule and hoped to make it there by noon in order to see the crab get unloaded from the boat. As is usual, I underestimated the time it would take to get everything ready for our deliveries and to head out to Westport (Kevin needed a pretty extensive list of things from groceries to another crab log book from the fisheries department). So, I ended up staying up until 2am wrapping primroses in cellophane and ribbon, doing a 2-case tuna order that came in at the last second, and putting the cookies into their little Valentine's baggies. Whew! Next year, I need to start earlier if I am going to take on such an ambitious project. :)

We arrived at Sequoia and were immediately rescued by the kind bus driver who came over to help us bring our things in and then she offered to take a picture of us when she saw my camera.

We were given a cart and proceeded to deliver cheer and blessings to 13 residents over the next hour and a half. Abby gave them one of her special cards, Ben gave them a balloon, Jake carried in a wrapped cookie and I presented them with the primrose. Often, all three children gave out hugs too. As expected, the elderly folks adored the children and most were visibly touched and thankful. We wished we could stay longer with each resident, but we hurried along since I knew good behavior from the children wouldn't last forever and we couldn't wait to get going to Westport to see Kevin!

There was one resident who especially touched my heart. Her name is Joyce and she is a small, frail lady. When we knocked on her door we heard a muffled reply and so we tentatively entered her room. It was dark - the shades were drawn and the lights were off. I looked around but didn't see anyone, until I looked around the corner and saw her lying on her bed facing the wall. I began to give my "intro" about being from the Bible Presbyterian Church and that we had a Valentine for her, but she made no effort to turn toward me or respond. While I said this, Abby simply walked around the bed and got right close to her and said, "I have a card for you." At once Joyce sat up and looked around, overjoyed to see the children and meet each one. She oohed and aahed over Abby's card and the rest of the gifts. She turned on her light and got out of bed. She showed the children various items in her room and remarked over and over, "This made my day!" and "Now I have energy to face the rest of the day!" She was so happy and I was so blessed to be able to be a blessing to her. That's why we did it and it made it worth every bit of trouble/lack of sleep/not getting to see Kevin sooner. And what a wonderful experience for my dear children too!

After a couple more stops to deliver Valentine's to some folks from our church, we headed back home for a quick lunch and to pack up the car with Kevin's stuff and then it was off to Westport. I had grand plans to greet Kevin with each child holding one of three balloons that together would read, "We Love Daddy" and capturing that perfect picture. Well, when are arrived I could see Kevin's boat wasn't in his regular slip and I finally spotted it over at the fuel dock. So much for my grand plans. :) Sadly, we had long missed the crab unloading (it was 3pm when we arrived). We wandered over to the fuel dock and ended up watching the rest of the fueling process and then hopped a ride back over to Kevin's slip during which Ben got to drive the boat for the first time. :) The kids were so excited to see Kevin in person as he'd been gone for 23 days!!

First few moments with Daddy, as they watched the deckhands fuel the boat up.

Pulling away from the fuel dock.

We had a fun Valentine's party on the boat with Kevin's parents, snacking on the leftover Valentine cookies we'd brought and enjoying the brownies and fudge my mother-in-law brought. Ben and Jake, but Jake especially, had lots of fun exploring the boat. There was one crab pot on the back deck that got quite a bit of interest from them.
 

Jake is identifying the rope in the crab pot as, "Green!" :)

I forgot to change Jake's shoes before we left home and didn't want his leather-soled Robeez to get ruined, so we rubber-banded plastic to his feet! Ha! :)

Kevin's parents heading out - it was completely dark by time we left the boat.

Sometime during the late afternoon Kevin told me that he might come home for the night as there was a change of plans because of boat work and getting bait. But he couldn't make up his mind since he was very tired after fishing for 23 days around the clock and really wanted a full night's sleep (they take turns driving between strings, so they get naps for a few hours here and there, but fish straight through the night during the beginning of the season). We talked him into coming home, and although he ended up having to leave at 5am the following morning and didn't get as much sleep as if he'd stayed on the boat, he was glad he came home too. That was a nice and unexpected Valentine's Day surprise to have my hubby home for a few hours. :)

My Valentine's Day was far from the typical flowers-for-the-wife-and-a-relaxing-dinner-out kind of celebration. In fact it was pretty much the opposite. We had chicken nuggets and hot dogs for dinner in a stinky, dirty boat cabin with kids getting into everything (I even had to stand up to eat) and I was exhausted by all the activities and the incredible busyness of the day. Elderly folks' homes and fishing boats are about the farthest thing from romantic as you can get, but I think that this Valentine's Day will stand out as more special and memorable than many before it. And I think it was closer to the true meaning of love and a lot closer to the verse at the bottom of Abby's Valentine's cards, "We love because He loved us first." (1 John 4:19) What a blessing it is to bless others!

Abby has been spreading Valentine's cheer since 2009. :)