Valentine's Day is Coming!

Valentine's Day will be here in just a couple of days. It's often a day filled with romantic sentiments, expressions of love, and chocolate! Yum.

For one of the Velvet Lime Girls, Valentine's Day always brings back sweet memories of a dear Grandmother.  She always remembered each of her nine grandchildren with a Valentine's Day card. When times were lean, the card came, when her health was challenged, the card came, and when time was precious, the card still came. Each card carried the feeling of being so very loved, so very remembered on Valentine's Day.  The cards, now treasured in boxes, and soft places of the heart, still release their message of love from the Grandmother. After a full life this Grandmother moved to Heaven with a joy that comes from a life well-lived. Hers was a life well-lived because it was a life well-loved. It was a life patterned after the Love chapter of the Bible, found in 1 Corinthians 13.  We referenced this passage in our artwork for the glass plate pictured above and we'd like to share the full text with you right here. 

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

Now that's real love. It never gives up, looks for the best and keeps going to the end!

We hope you find someone to shower with love this Valentine's Day.  And don't forget the chocolates!

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. The LOVE glass plates we designed for Enesco/GreggGift, pictured above, can be ordered through Sweet Spirit-Parable Christian Store
We're thrilled to finally have a local store to direct you all to in the Georgia area. They also have a lovely online store that you can visit.

YOU- A Sparkling Jewel!

With all the love-shaped sentiments swirling this week, as Valentine's Day approaches, our hearts were drawn to a favorite "love-expression" from the One who loves us the most. 

"Oh, afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.  I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels and all your walls of precious stones."  Isaiah 54:11-12

Wow.  Now that's real love.  A promise to each of us that even when we're feeling a bit "storm-tossed", "not-comforted", or "afflicted", we will be made established, firm and as rock-solid as a precious stone.

We've always been a bit intrigued by that word "antimony" mentioned in the first part of this expression. What exactly is it? We were pretty sure it meant something good.  Today we discovered that this substance has a very, unique characteristic.  It's "resistant to fire".  Yeah, it's actually used as a "fire-retardant". So, the promise above took on some new meaning for us today, a deeper expression of love and care actually.  It's as if God is not only letting us know He'll shape us up into a precious jewel, He's saying, no matter how hot the "fires" or challenges may burn in our lives, He's wrapping a fire-resistant shield around us. He's "setting our stones", our lives, in antimony. It's fire-resistant. It's real love.

So, today, if you're facing a few "fires" in life, or feeling as rough-cut as these raw stones above, remember you have a real lover of your soul who is waiting to "set" your life into antimony... into a fire-resistant, firm foundation. A settled place, a beautiful place, a loved place.  A place where you will become a sparkling jewel, a battlement of rubies, a wall of precious stones.  Oh, you are so strong wrapped in His love.

The Velvet Lime Girls

Journal Samples!

 

Samples of the journals we did for Divinity Boutique have arrived!

We're just thrilled with the quality and the crisp colors.  

Our favorite part was opening up the first journal page and seeing the personalized tag that says, 

" This journal belongs to..."

Our hearts just leapt with joy when we began to think of the people who will write their name here, and then capture thoughts, dreams, sketches, whispers, and prayers on these pages.  We hope the scripture that graces each page will inspire, encourage and lift the hearts of each journal writer, doodler or dreamer. 

The journals are available at many Christian bookstores now.  If you'd like to find a store in your area that carries these journals, please contact the the wonderful company we've had the joy of working with, Divinity Boutique, on their website highlighted here - Divinity Boutique

Capturing life in new journals today,

The Velvet Lime Girls

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."  Psalm 126:3