The moment the children hear those words, faces change. Eyes widen. Smiles appear. Sometimes, there’s even a little hooray.
Today, the tables are filled with icing, marshmallows, gummy bears and jelly beans. In front of each child are two heart-shaped cookie boxes waiting to be decorated. One to keep. One to give away.
The idea comes from the words of Jesus in John 15:12: “Love each other as I have loved you.”
And for a few hours, that love takes a wonderfully simple form.
Small fingers carefully choose the brightest sweets. Someone squeezes a little too much icing. Another decides there can never be too many marshmallows. There is concentration, laughter and the quiet pride of making something with your own hands.
For the volunteers who return each month, perhaps this is part of the gift too: witnessing how much joy can live inside an ordinary moment.
Because childhood needs moments like these.
Moments to make something.
To laugh. To belong.
To make a memory worth keeping.
A table. A little icing. A handful of sweets.
And two little hearts.
One to keep.
And one to give away.
