The most important fact about the drawing is that great big curved lines defining smiles dominate both of the round faces.

LOVE WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS

Appreciating Our Moments of Grace

    It's less than 5 inches long and about 3 inches wide. The top edge, held together by tape, reveals that it was once part of a small, flip-top, spiral notebook. On the top left-hand corner, a circle with lines coming out of it has been turned into a sun by the color yellow. Underneath, scribbled red lines gradually rise in such a jagged manner that, in spite of their color, I interpret them as mountains.
     Then comes my favorite part. Another red line crosses the page, this one descending and breaking the bottom image from the mountains above. At the center of the bottom, two stick drawings, one with an outline, see-through body, the other body colored dark with a pencil. Neither person has hair, but I've always read myself as the dark-bodied one in spite of the fact that it is the smallest figure. The most important fact about the drawing is that great big curved lines defining smiles dominate both of the round faces.
     I'm not sure why this particular Mother's Day present has stuck with me. Perhaps it was its simplicity. Or the oversized smile on each of our faces. I probably remember it with special fondness because it was a simple gift given to me from the heart of my oldest child and lovingly titled, "Christopher and Mom."
     Although not as clever as my children, 1, too, try to make a point to surprise those I love with handmade creations. When our daughter was away at summer camp for two weeks last year, I made a point of writing her letters describing how the house felt without her. As I left on a recent trip, I surprised my husband with a note on his pillow, thanking him for his help as I got ready to leave. And for my son's 18th birthday, I wrote him a letter, written in my own handwriting, expressing to him not only my love but also my hopes and dreams and prayers for his future. I hope someday he will find it at the bottom of a box or tucked into an old book and really read it.
     There is something quite extraordinary that we instinctively appreciate about handmade gifts, no matter what or who the source. Unlike a fancy and expensive pearl, these priceless gems are often tied to the memory of a treasured moment in our lives or a person we hold dear. In a very real way, they become objects of grace.
     One of the greatest services we can offer our children is to learn to receive with honest appreciation the myriad of handmade stick figures, glimmering hearts and hand-glued flowers that they love to make for us. When we do so, we allow them to experience the happiness of giving. As St. Paul said, "There is more happiness in giving than receiving" (Acts 20:35). Even teenagers who are way too cool to draw stick figures notice the fact that their "I love you!" note is taped to my computer monitor or to the bathroom mirror. '
     I don't think that the reason I treasure these items is merely sentimental. While it is true that a drawing of two stick figures done by a 4-year-old does have a way of blocking out the bad and stirring only the good memories in my mind, I believe it's about more than gushy emotion. These gifts remind me that someone who loves me made an effort to give of themselves - and they chose to do it for me. Perhaps like nothing else in life, these handmade gifts - whether a handwritten love note from my husband or my daughter's picture of an eye, a heart and a "u" spelling out "I love you" are symbols for me of God's unconditional love.
     There are no expectations attached in this act of love. Since they are often meant to surprise me when I am alone, the giver doesn't even get the satisfaction of seeing the smile on my face!

    My prayer is that I not only have the eyes to see the beauty in these small acts, but that I have the heart to recognize them as vivid and tangible manifestations of what my friend Pat calls "God in the skin." Or, in the case of the small drawing taped to the inside of my Bible, skinless stick figures standing under red mountains with great big smiles full of love.