Crafty Schmafty Fridays 9 . . . SPREADING LOVE!

Oh . . . love . . . . it's a wonderful thing, isn't it?
To give it.

To receive it.

To spread it all over the world.

 

Welcome, dear friends, to

 

 

Here we are . . . gathering for our weekly festival of inspiration and fun. As always - I am thrilled to have you. And as always - I have a story to tell.

 

I don't know what it is . . . call me kooky . . . but I've been feeling the need to Spread LOVE in the universe lately. Maybe it's all those darn episodes of "The Bible" that I've watched on the History Channel (ok . . . there is something wrong with the fact that I am calling the episodes of "THE BIBLE" 'darn episodes', don't you think? Ah, please forgive! I digress.) Whatever it is, I decided it was time to spread love out to our teeny little neighborhood in the great big world.

 

Because my friends . . . it all starts right there. And if we want to change the world, we better start at home, don't you think? So . . . spreading love. That's what this is all about. And like most things I do  . . . I'm going to not only make it crafty, but I'm going to turn it into a lesson for my daughters.

 

So, we are on Spring Break this week, and after recovering from a really bad bout of the flu (we all had it), we were in great need of some major out door 'breathing the fresh air in' time. I planned a great Spring Scavenger Hunt for Katie, Ella and a couple of their friends. And in addition to some finding some fun outdoorsie nature stuff, I tasked them in bringing back a number of rocks for my "SPREAD LOVE" movement. I'll share more about the scavenger hunt in a day or two. But for now, I start this week's Crafty Schmafty project with some newly washed rocks, and paint . . .

Then I painted the rocks in a variety of bright colors . . .

 

 . . . followed by a heart . . . on each and every rock . . . like this . . .

Are you feeling the LOVE!!!

Finally, I added a little message on some of them. Some said "Spread Love", some had the word "Love" on its own, and the small rocks had only the red heart. The message was pretty clear on all of them, though, I would imagine.

Once done, I sprayed a sealer on all the rocks and let them dry so they would survive a hard rain, if need be.

The next day, Katie, Ella and 6 of their dear friends piled in my mini-van and we traveled around our neighborhood leaving little traces of "love" for all to find.

I stood in front of them with my bag-o-rocks and explained my vision . . . of how everyone needs to feel love, and sometimes a small little heart on a rock might remind someone just how precious it truly is. While I'm certain the girls thought I must have fallen off my rocker hard this time, they reached in and eagerly spread the rocks all around our blocks.

Some hid them in special places around the park, while most can be found by one tree or the next in many park ways. Just sitting there . . . without notice . . . spreading . . . LOVE.

. . . or near a twig . . .

But all of them get the message out there.

SPREAD LOVE.

It's good, don't you think?

Katie was upset when she came home from the park later that afternoon. It appears one of the neighborhood boys had found some of the rocks left at the park and took it upon himself to throw them around at other kids, while teasing the girls.

"Don't worry about that, honey," I told her. "He must not need any love right now. It's ok . . . don't let him bother you. Let's hope those who really need them will see it. That's who we did it for." 

Like for the house with the elderly couple, and the wife who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer . . . let them find a heart, and know that they are not alone.

Or, like the house with the couple going through a bad divorce . . . let them find a heart, and know that they will find love again.

Or, the house going through foreclosure . . . let them find a heart and remember that all they really need is each other and they will get through this time.

Or, the house that just had a baby, that could probably use a little extra love to help them through those first few sleepless months . . . let them find a heart and know that they are doing everything just fine.

Or, the house with the rebellious teenager who is trying to express himself . . . let them find a heart and remember what is really important.

So, yes . . . this weeks Crafty Schmafty Friday project is a simple one. But I challenge each of you to do it. Get some rocks - paint them - and spread love in your neighborhood.

My dream is to fill the world with love. And I believe we could do it . . . together.

Wishing you peace, my friends . . . and LOVE (of course!)