Jars of Love

As the temperatures dipped below the freezing point when our children were young, we felt a feel a special kind of warmth inside our home as we kicked off our annual Valentine's Challenge.

This challenge began with an empty Ball jar, which I placed in the center of our dining room table each February 1st. Next came the fun part, as each child selected their color from the bag of SweetTart candy hearts (other colored candies work just as well). Our sons usually went with the blue and green hearts. While our daughter wavered between

pink and purple.

After the colors were selected, I would remind our children of the objective of our annual Valentine's Challenge, which was to fill our Ball jar with candy hearts before February 14th. This was done one candy heart at a time. However, there was caveat. The hearts could only be earned by showing love to someone else. If our children did or said something kind to another person, they would get one of their colored hearts to place in the Ball jar, as well as a second heart that they could eat as a sweet reward.

However, there was a flip side. Just as easily as the candy hearts could be earned, they could also be taken away. If our children were

"less than loving", they would lose one of their colored hearts from the jar. This kept everyone on their best behavior, at least until February 14th. As the days went by, the once empty Ball jar became a visual reminder of the good deeds that were being done by our children.

There was always an uptick in loving acts as we inched closer to our deadline. As the layers of candy hearts reached the top of the jar, we knew we had accomplished our Valentine's Challenge once again. To celebrate, we would go on a family outing. The long Presidents' Day weekend comes off the heels of Valentine's Day, making it the perfect time to plan a winter getaway. Although, this outing wasn't planned by a parent. It was planned by the child with the most colored hearts in the jar (with some parental guidance). Our children came up with some pretty creative ideas over the years, as they learned how to stretch the family budget by making the most of winter discounts that were offered over the Presidents' Day weekend.

The annual Valentine's Challenge gave our family something fun to focus on during the long, cold months of winter. As we did so, we learned to be more aware of those around us. Seeking out ways to serve others not only warmed our hearts, it brightened our days and strengthened our family.

Our Jar of Love today.