The Simple Things: Redefining the Good Life

Hey y'all. Hope you had a great weekend! Ours was busier than normal, but full of good times. Friday morning I walked into the dining room to find my Valentine's Day gift from Dennis sitting in front of my computer - the Nashville Season Two CD, and a family-sized pack of Chips Ahoy cookies. He speaks my language. I popped the CD in on the way to pick up Micah from preschool and promptly proceeded to listen to "A Life That's Good" by Lennon & Maisy about 300 times. Not only are the girls ridiculously cute, but they're also crazy talented, and the song is so, so good. It's the sole reason I wanted the CD in the first place. Here: see for yourself.

This song. It preaches to me. At the end of the day, all that really matters is that I have a life that's good and pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. Nothing else really matters.

This crazy culture that we live in wants us to believe that material things are the most important things in life. That we work hard so we can buy the next best thing. That what we have isn't good enough, impressive enough, new enough, and the-next-best-thing enough.

It's time to push back against that lie and say enough is enough. Because the words of the song are true. At the end of the day, the things that I need are simple indeed. Two arms around me. Heaven to ground me. A family that always calls me home. Four wheels to get there. Enough love to share. A sweet, sweet song. At the end of the day, Lord I pray, I have a life that's good.

What are you praying for today?

Until next time, grace and peace.

My Little Loves

Happy Valentine's Day from my little loves. These two have taught me much and more about what it means to love and be loved. Special thanks to my big sister for the cute Valentine shirts. My girly girls love them!

Hope your day is filled with lots of love and laughter.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Free Printable Valentine: You're a Real Gem

It's that time of year again. Moms everywhere are scrambling to come up with cute Valentines for their kids to deliver to all their little friends. As one of those moms, let me just go ahead and say that I shocked myself by getting these completed in time not only to take to preschool next week, but also to post on the blog. I'm never this ahead of the game.

Aren't these the cutest little rings? Last week I was wandering through Target sans kiddos (a rare treat in itself) when I saw these colorful eraser rings in the Valentine section. I knew they would be perfect for Micah to take to preschool, so I whipped up a sweet little tag for her to sign on the back before attaching them to the rings.

She also has to take some Valentines to church for a grandparents' brunch, so I created some cards that she can sign on the bottom without attaching the rings.

If you can't find eraser rings, these Valentines would also work well with ring pops or play jewelry. You can cut out the hearts from the cards as we did, or you can pop the rings in little bags and attach the full-sized cards. If you're anything like me, you're all about options.

I hope you enjoy these little gems. Download your free printable You're a Real Gem Valentines here. Hope your little one loves them as much as mine!

THE SMALL PRINT: You may not accept credit for the design of this card or sell it to anyone. Leslie Ann Jones retains the copyright. If you wish to share the digital file with others, please direct them to this post. Do not e-mail the file all over the world. Please don’t link directly to the download file. Click to download your Free Printable You're a Gem Valentines!

Check out my other free printables

You can see my entire collection of free printables, including these Love Bug Smarties Valentines in the freebies section. Happy printing!

Until next time, grace and peace.