let’s count it all joy
welcome!
Welcome to February and a time to live loved.
God is love. Right? That’s the big thing about God and that’s the song that’s been running through my head since I was a preschooler attending Sunday school. “Praise Him, Praise Him, All ye little children, God is love, God is love.🎵”
So I really shouldn’t have been surprised when I went to make a verse list for this month’s insert and was nearly overwhelmed with options. If God is love and the Bible is His Word, of course, the Bible is going to be full of words on love. All that to say, your verse list, this month, is just a teeny fraction of all that God has to say about love.
And also to say, love is the big thing.
We celebrate it with the rest of our commercialized world, each February. But we know that God’s love is an always thing. And we know that He is the source of love. As such, we have both the privilege and the opportunity to live loved.
Another song comes to mind, “…and they’ll know we are Christian’s by our love, by our love.🎵”
I hope that the words included in some of the art, this month, will encourage you to look and see where you’ve grown in God’s love and look for opportunities to share it with those in your sphere of influence.
I pray that Jesus’ love for YOU is something you can know and recognize in this season - and always.
And - something small, but good - your “Count It All Joy” mailer has arrived!
Your mailer includes ten little bits of goodness that I hope will bring your faith and your joy in Jesus to mind whenever you see or use them. More than anything, I would love for you to USE the goods from this mailer - to weave them into your projects and your personal devotions, to add color to your spaces, and to gift them to others.
on this special “subscribers only” page, you will find:
A video on the inspiration behind this collection and on the ways I’ve used the products in this month’s mailer.
Some additional (JOY related) quotes.
Images showcasing the ways I used the products.
Journaling prompts.
A prayer.
Links to all supporting supplies that I used (sketchbooks, frames, art supplies, etc.). Please note that many, but not all of the supply links are affiliate links. And if I missed anything that you are curious about, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.
PROJECT VIDEO
quotes on all things love
Christian love must be chased after, aspired to, and practiced. -Gary L. Thomas
Love is the doorway through which the human soul passes from selfishness to service. -Jack Hyles
Guard your heart from those that only love you in the shallow end; when you’re all made up, and out with friends. You were made for more than satisfying the eyes and momentary affections of those passing by. Your Maker has set a glorious depth in you, filled with purpose, intentions, grace and truth. And to love you, they must love Him, far beyond the shallow end. -Morgan Harper Nichols
Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. -Rick Warren
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable. -C.S. Lewis
To love someone means to see him as God intended him. -Fyodor Dostoevsky
Forgive and give as if it were your last opportunity. Love like there’s no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again. -Max Lucado
The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. -Helen Keller
The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. -Victor Hugo
The wild, unrestricted love of God is not simply and inspiring idea. When it imposes itself on mind and heart with the stark reality of truth, it determines why and at what time you get up in the morning, how you pass your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you hear and who you hang with. It affects what breaks your heart, what amazes you and what makes you happy. -Morgan Harper Nichols
The great thing to remember is that though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not. -C.S. Lewis
a prayer
(excerpted from the valley of vision)
Teach me that genuine love is different in kind
from that wrought by rational arguments or the motive of self-interest,
that such love is a pleasing passion affording joy to the mind where it is.
Grant me grace to distinguish between the genuine and the false,
and to rest in thee who art all love.
journaling prompts
I process my thoughts (and pray!) through writing. Perhaps you do too. If this is something you haven’t tried before, I would encourage you to give it a go. Sometimes, a little prompt is all it takes to get started.
What would it look like to truly live loved?
Make a list of ways God shows you His love.
Copy your favorite “love” quote from above and write a related prayer.
What does it mean to be “open to love”? What do you risk when you are?
Write out your favorite verses on love.
Something beautiful you saw today.
How can you show God’s love to someone who feels “difficult"?
How can you show God’s love to someone very close to you?
Write about where you have seen God at work in your life, recently.
A letter to Jesus expressing thanks for His love in your life.
SUPPLIES I USED alongside THIS MONTH’S MAILER CONTENTS
Frames/Matting:
5x7 frame is a RIBBA frame from IKEA (many years ago)
I also have more framing and matting suggestions in my Amazon shop.
Journals:
6x8 Album (I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I believe the brand is The Paper Studio.)
If there’s something I missed, don’t hesitate to ask!
“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inhertiance that can never perish, spoil or fade. ”