If you’ve been reading FlyLady’s emails for a while, you know the #1 thing she focuses on is teaching you how to FLY, which stands for “Finally Loving Yourself.” I was a little skeptical of this at first — I’m not a big fan of self-help philosophies that take away from the work of Jesus — but that’s not what she’s trying to do.

Actually, it’s not FlyLady herself that expresses what FLY’ing means — it’s the wonderful testimonials I read every week from people who write to her. Do you read those? She said she gets thousands of emails a day. Wow — she’s definitely found her calling.

FLY’ing in my case this week has meant to accept the fact that I can’t do it all — and that’s OK. I’ll do what I can and ask Christ to give me a spirit of love and joy in my home — without comparing myself to others.

So … I’ll go ahead and tell you that we’ve BOUGHT our Valentines this year. Yes! We spent less than two minutes picking out three different mass-produced kinds: Narnia, Star Wars, and Puppies/Kittens. We bought strawberry cream chocolate kisses (who invented those?), and I’ve given the kids scotch tape and stickers. They’ve done all their Valentine-making on their own this year. And had a great time!

This was not the case a few years ago. I was involved in a group that had the world’s most humongous Valentine’s party, and only the slacker moms bought Valentines. I say that tongue-in-cheek of course — but I’m telling you, these ladies did some magnificent things with googly eyes, foam cut-outs, and pipe cleaners. I always thought that one day I would invent the most creative, amazing Valentine ever — using googly eyes of course.

But not this year. Not if I want to balance things I do for my kids with some things just for me — which this week included interviewing an author in France and becoming a mini-expert on a state park.

So, as you move through your weekend preparing for Valentine’s Day, remember that God loves you for who you are. He made you perfect in His image, and He’s given you talents that nobody else has. Ask Him to reveal what His calling is for you … and then look in the mirror and love the person who looks back at you.

P.S. If you’re heading to the movies this weekend, Lisa Rice has a cute review in Crosswalk, On Adorable Scale, “Curious George” is a 10.