PEACE

Peace.  It's wrapped itself all around each one of the Velvet Lime Girls lately. Around Laura, with a husband just coming out of the Emory Hospital ICU, around Marybeth, with a daughter overcoming a concussion, and around Rebecca, as she and her amazing team oversee the 1000+ children at Northpoint Church.
Yeah, we've each experienced a peace that transcends all comprehension lately, and we just had to let you know, if you're facing some kind of challenge or amazing busyness this Christmas season, there really is a peace that can hold you and calm you.  
So, we've created a simple graphic for you today as a gentle reminder that the Prince of Peace wants to come into your life and bring a calm that can settle any storm or any busyness you may be facing today.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

Wrapped in His Peace, 
The Velvet Lime Girls 

P.S. If you're in need of a little extra comfort today, pour yourself a cup of tea, and settle-in to the words of this Comfort Song.  Even if the music style isn't your cup of tea, the soothing words here promise to bring healing to any heavy hearts out there. There are long pauses, so soak in the whole ten minutes of comfort and peace.

Christmas has come.

Yesterday afternoon we all received this message from Marybeth. “Well, Katie & I have accomplished one thing for Christmas!” Attached was this photo of their Nativity scene. It was, as if, regardless of whether anything else was accomplished, the most important thing about Christmas in their family had been done. The manger scene that tells the story of Christmas was up. Christmas had arrived in their home. And in the hearts of us who received her message.

Earlier in the day, as we had all worked in the studio on our new collection for 2012 we had laughed at how none of us had really prepared our homes for Christmas yet. Well, Rebecca, had decorated a bit, but Christmas cards were not done. Marybeth & I (Laura) had mailed Christmas cards, but there wasn’t even a speck of tinsel or sprig of greenery in either of our homes yet. These comments came from girls who normally have everything up the day after Thanksgiving J.

In the absolute joy of creating a new collection of artwork for Velvet Lime Girls ((it debuts in January at the Atlanta Mart) and working at our regular jobs, we’ve all looked up in pleasant surprise and realized… it’s almost Christmas.

And yet, when we all received this text and photo from Marybeth, we realized how simple it is to allow Christmas to arrive in our homes. A single nativity set, placed on a mantle, brought a pause and stillness to our hearts. Each piece gently placed on the ledge now retold the story of Christmas and calmed our hearts.

The Christmas trees will be put up, the lights hung, the presents wrapped … eventually. But, after the nativity photo came, a new sense of calm came. It caused us to reflect and remember the real story of Christmas … to remind ourselves what this wonderful celebration is really all about. The birth of Jesus Christ.

So, for all of you, like us, who have yet to complete your lists for Christmas, we hope you will pause and enjoy the simple scene in the photo above that tells the real story of Christmas. And let Christmas arrive in your heart.

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. The stocking in the photo with the “B” is for Biscuit, the guinea pig. Marybeth's daughter, Katie, was afraid no one would get him anything for Christmas and she asked for a stocking. Slightly lower, but not pictured, is Maggie Waggie Wydock's stocking, which belongs to their dog. And there may be more! A stocking request from Madison, her other daughter, has recently been presented ... for her fish "Spa".

Prince of Peace

Prince of Peace. It’s the second piece in our descriptive name & crown series we created and one of our favorites. Most people understand the concept of a Prince, but the definition of peace is quite inspiring when you go back and look at the original Hebrew word. The word is shalom. It’s meaning encompasses much more than calm peace. Like a mother gathering up all her children in her arms and carrying them away to a safer place, when shalom is spoken, it extends an embrace of complete wholeness to the recipient. It gathers up meanings of good welfare, health, safety, soundness, tranquility, harmony, absence of discord, favor, prosperity, rest, and well being and carries them into the life of the receiver. The expression of shalom brings them to a place where things are made whole … nothing missing, nothing broken, a place of restoration.

That’s the kind of peace that comes when the Prince of Peace arrives in your life. Regardless of your situations and surroundings, His presence, the very meaning of His name, brings a change. Brings wholeness. Brings Shalom.

“He will be called, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6

The Velvet Lime Girls

Rhythms of Grace

“Live in the unhurried rhythms of grace” … we loved this phrase the first time we read it in The Message years ago. Last year we began creating artwork to convey this thought and a lovely blue heron came to mind. The blue heron is recognized as a solitary feeder. Her nourishment comes in moments of solitude, as she silently seeks her food ... a quiet reminder for us to also receive nourishment in moments of solitude with God. Our heron, with her graceful long neck and calm stance, was washed in watercolor shades of coastal colors. We wanted her to convey the calm, deliberate, simple life that is available to us. The life not weighed down with cares and unnecessary obligations. The life lived in the unhurried rhythms of grace.

Imagine our delight at discovering an entire book about living in the rhythms of grace! (We found a book review of this treasure in life:beautiful magazine.) The book is Abundant Simplicity - Discovering the unhurried rhythms of grace. The author, Jan Johnson, has drawn a picture with her writing pen of the stillness, the calm, and the peace that comes as we begin to live simply and in connection with God. Here’s one of our favorite quotes from the book ... “To live deliberately means to move slowly, to look people in the eyes when they speak to us and to follow up on the ideas that the Spirit has possibly nudged us with.”

We can’t tell you how this inspired us and we hope it inspires you! So, since we’ve been nudged to follow up on the ideas the Spirit has given us…we are dusting off our blue heron and finishing her! When she’s finished, she’ll have a lot to say, dressed in her simple stance and calm colors. And we hope her sentiment will “look you in the eyes when they speak” and remind you to “live in the unhurried rhythms of grace”. She’ll make an unhurried debut in our 2012 coastal collection. (We think she must somehow be related to the elegant swan above.)

Living simply,

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. More inspiration from the book and Jan Johnson @ http://janjohnson.org/book_table.html