Love is...

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  8 Love never fails.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

1 Corinthians 13 is a definition of love--God's perfect, pure love.  I'm a teacher.  When I assign my students vocabulary words, I often have them do it in a Frayer Model-style.  This is a model to help students fully understand a concept by identifying a word's definition, its characteristics, its examples, and its non-examples.  Basically, it helps to understand what something is by also understanding what it isn't. Here is what the model looks like for the word "turtle":

1 Corinthians 13, although not technically a Frayer Model in design, uses the same characteristics to help us understand the concept of love.  It describes love, giving examples, as well as non-examples.

Love is...

Love does not...

Love always...

Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, knew that describing what love wasn't would help them understand what love was.  And what it wasn't was more like the love this world has to offer.  Paul contrasts God's perfect love to the imperfect love that we usually see and experience in this world.  The only time we can experience this perfect love is when God is in the picture. This love is God's character; and only when we allow His character to reign in our hearts can we love with this God-character love described in these verses.  

Art Talk:

For this page, I used some patterned papers that a dear, sweet friend sent to me.  I stamped the letters L-O-V-E with the In Stitches Alpha stamp set and cut them out.  Then I stamped and fussy cut a series of hearts onto the papers using this month's Stamp-of-the-Month Filigree Hearts. I printed out the verses 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 onto card stock, cut out each phrase, and then pasted a phrase onto each of the little cut-out hearts.  I made a tag that says LOVE, and then used a vellum envelope to store the little hearts. I created a background on the Bible page with some Shimmerz Inklingz (A Rose by Any Other Name), some stamping and splattering.  I then embossed a heart and the cursive "love" (using the His Love set) onto the front of the vellum envelope.  I placed a scrap of hymn paper inside it, as well as all the little hearts.  I added a tag to the top of the page with some washi, and then adhered the large LOVE tag to the page.  

These little hearts can be removed from or viewed through the vellum envelope.

Thanks for joining me today.  I pray that you'll be able to experience God's true, perfect love today.  

Blessings--

Julie

FILIGREE HEARTS

Redeemed

"And Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech’s, and all that was Chilion’s and Mahlon’s, from the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the widow of Mahlon, I have acquired as my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead through his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brethren and from his position at the gate. You are witnesses this day.” (Ruth 4:9-10)

The story of Ruth and Boaz is one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  Ruth was a widow, living in a foreign land.  Boaz, a relative of her dead husband, purchases the land that once belonged to her (also dead) father-in-law.  But he doesn't do it for his own gain--he engages in this business transaction in an effort to redeem the land for his relative, Ruth and her destitute mother-in-law, Naomi.  In so doing, they now have the means to provide for themselves.  However, there's even more to this transaction.  By purchasing the land, he also purchases Ruth, and agrees to take her on as his own wife.  

My inner feminist screams that this is disgusting!  Women aren't to be purchased like property!  However, I must consider the cultural context of the story, and the patriarchal society in which Ruth and Boaz existed.  Unmarried, and especially widowed, women had little to no means to provide for themselves, and no opportunity to acquire any.  But when Boaz legally redeemed Ruth, he made her his own wife--and as the rest of the story shows--he indeed loved her and cherished her and provided for her.  

This story is a picture of what Christ has done for us.  We are destitute sinners, with absolutely no means to provide for our salvation.  However, Christ purchased us with His blood at the Cross, and took us as His own.  He loves and cherishes and cares for us.  And even more importantly, His act of redemption provides a way of salvation for us!  

What a beautiful story!  I decided to journal this in my Bible with a few different stamp sets.  I wanted to go all pink, because it's my favorite color, and I wanted to emphasize the personal fact that I AM REDEEMED!  For the background, I used the houndstooth-style texture stamp from Texture Tiles 4, which is the Stamp of the Month for October.  I used Worn Lipstick Distress Oxide Ink, and stamped the background continuously.  I also stamped this same pattern in black on some pink cardstock, to cut out a tab and to use for a shirt for my girl, which was the next step. 

I used the Girl Power set to create a tag with the top-bun girl.  I stamped her with pink glasses to carry the pink theme, and colored her with watercolor pencils.  I affixed the tag onto pink cardstock, and tied it off with black checked ribbon.  I used double-sided foam tape to give the tag some dimension. 

Finally, I used the Hello, My Name Is stamp set to stamp "Redeemed" as my title, and then the following into wordfetti strips:  100%, beyond measure, once & for all, no matter what.  I marked off my verses, and then added some journaling, some pink and black paint splatter, and the date.  

I love the pink-ness of this page, but I love the reminder even more of how Jesus has 100% redeemed me!  He's redeemed you too, friend!  

Thanks for hanging out with me today...

Julie

Girl Power

Hello, My Name Is...

Texture Tiles 4