Everyone is familiar with the Valentine image of Cupid or a heart with an arrow shot through it. I've never thought too much of it before, but as I've planned out our Love at Home devotionals and activities, I came across Dieter F. Uchtdorf's "Aiming at the Center" article and it has given real purpose and meaning to this symbol for me (and I hope now, my family).
While I read the entire article to my children (and please do read the entire thing) the point I emphasized was that Christ taught us to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Mattew 22:37-40) This means that every other commandment, every other thing we are supposed to do or not do, come back to being categorized under these two commandments. (I had the kids name off commandments off the top of their heads and we tested each one to see if these two great commandments were at the "heart" of every other we could think of. They are!) Then I asked the kids who their closest "neighbors" were. Each other, of course!
Elder Uchtdorf had begun his article with the example of archery, and how you shoot at a target that already exists, not that you shoot the arrow at a blank wall and then draw the target around it. Using this powerful archery example and the scripture, I wanted to turn the Valentine symbol into something with more meaning, to remind us of what we're aiming for: LOVE. Loving God and loving each other.
Here is the end product:
We followed this up with...
This would make a great Family Home Evening lesson and treat!
And if you're wondering what I'm doing with things like this little project...
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