Valentine's Blog Hop 2012

Welcome to the Word Art Wednesday / Stampin' Sisters in Christ Valentine's Blog Hop! (See the end of this post if you need more details.) The theme for this year's hop takes us far beyond the world's superficial concepts of love and romance -- it is a celebration of God's Love. All participating artists used word art of John 15:9 - "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love."


That verse is worth some reflection! How has the Father loved Jesus? He refers to Jesus as His "Beloved Son," in whom He is "well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). That, in turn, is how Jesus loves us. John 1:12 says that we become His children when we believe in His name. He loves us so much that He died on the cross so that we could spend eternity with Him (John 3:16). And it is our choice to follow His instruction to remain in that love and enjoy an abundant life in Christ while we live this life on earth (John 10:10). I, for one, wish to remain in His love! How about you?


I wrestled for a long time with how to represent this verse in my art. On the one hand, I was drawn to using typical Valentine's imagery and colours. However, when I began a collage along those lines, I just wasn't finding a way to depict the meaning in my images and design elements. So, I flipped through some Usborne art activity books for some inspiration, and this is what I came up with:

The person represents Jesus, with loving arms outstretched. Those arms are  suggestive of the cross on which He demonstrated the depth of His love for us -- and they are the arms of God inviting a warm embrace -- for eternity. What safer, more peaceful place could there be than the arms of our Saviour? That is truly the experience of real Love.


Personally, I am finding Rest and Security in those arms. I hope you are, too! 


Now, in regards to the official blog hop -- if you arrived at my blog from Miesje's Craft Room with a View (and via Word Art Wednesday), you're in the right place. But if you found me by chance, please go back and start at Word Art Wednesday to enjoy the whole hop.  As I mentioned, we are celebrating LOVE......God's love.  All you need to do is visit each stop on the blog hop and leave a comment on each blog to be eligible for the Grand Prize from Stampin' Up. The prize winner will be announced on February 14th.


After you've left your comment here, go to Roses By My Window,  the next stop on the hop, and I know Peggysue has something lovely for you to see.  We hope you enjoy the blog hop, and we'd love to have you visit us regularly at Word Art Wednesday.  


Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed day!