When my #4 child
Was a threenager
He couldn’t write yet
So when he was really mad at us
He would get a Post-it note
And draw a heart on it
With an angry line through it
So we would know
How he felt.
We called them
Hate cards.

He loved to write them
And put them
On our pillows
So we would be sure
To find it
As we were getting ready
To go to bed.
No one was immune –
Except his sister.

By the time he was 5
He would also write us
Love cards.
A Post-it note
With just a heart.
And no line through it.

And one day,
There was an incident
Involving his little brother,
Who had made him so mad
That he stormed into my room
And declared:
“HE’S NOT MY BROTHER ANYMORE!”
And you know,
There was no way
I was about to tell him
That’s not really
How it works,
Lest I risk
Getting a hate card myself.

But after a little while
He presented this drawing
And this explanation:
“Mom, there is a heart
Because we are brothers again.”

Phew.

And recently,
I was thinking about
How God writes us
Love cards.
Little things
That remind us
That He still loves us
No matter how we feel
In that moment.

And one in particular
Is the way
He sacrificed His son
So we would never forget
How loved we are
By Him.

And I want to write that
On a love card
On a Post-it,
And put it on my pillow
So I can always remember.

Read more about how much God loves us here