by this, we know love.

good morning, truth seekers.

i went to bed last night hoping in someone else to make me happy, and when i awoke i was still hoping in that person to fulfill me. you know what i got? absolute zero fulfillment. Jesus was gently wooing me unto Himself this morning, but i wanted another person to fill me up with security, love, and hope.

thinking through this concept; i turned to 1 John 3, which is soaked in the truth of all that Jesus' love offers. I don't know about you, but I think I have feared going deeper into the love of Jesus. something within me shouts, "don't do it, you'll be disappointed! He isn't really going to love you the way He promises!" and like a foolish girl, I listen to it. I nod my head and tell myself, youre right. there is no way Jesus could love me completely and fully. I walk away defeated and find myself trying to find that love elsewhere. Have any of you ever done this same thing?

friends, this is a lie straight from the enemy. he wants us to believe that Jesus' love will come up void so that we do not dive further into it; discovering the truth, that it IS in fact all the Bible promises it to be! I will tell you this, the more I am diving into Jesus' heart I am finding this; His love really is beyond all that we could ever ask or imagine. within His presence is fullness and abundance of joy.

"By this we know LOVE, that He laid down His life for us..."--1 John 3:16 (ESV)

think about that for a second. read it three or four times.
Jesus laid down His life for us, and we dare to tell Him there is no way He could love us through our sin? that what we did was far too terrible, too sinful, for Him to extend love and grace to?

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."--Romans 5:8 (NIV). 


wow. He looked into our filth, grime, dirt, and sin; and spoke words of Love. so much that He was willing to die for it. I don't know about you, but I am humbled. after reading all of this I was of course, moved into a craft. I played some Kari Jobe and did quite a simple craft for today. today, I will show you how to make decorative clothes pins to hang photos, invitations, or anything you want!

start with plain wooden clothespins. you find a pack of them at hobby lobby for about 3 dollars. get some acrylic paint, and don't be afraid to mix! i mixed yellow with dark green and it created this lovely shade of light green.

paint away! paint them all tons of colors and don't be afraid to experiment. the worst that can happen is you make one you don't like. :)

for the design part of the clothes pins, i used a rather small brush so i could paint flowers or little designs.


voila! lovely little clothespins all painted and dressed up. I think I will hang them on some twine in my room for photos. what will you do with them?

stepping further into His heart,
meredith.

thursday crafternoonin'.

welcome, fellow birds.

i don't know about you, but sometimes i have a difficult time expressing what's going on inside my head and my heart to Jesus. i find myself with my bible open, journal in hand, and no words are coming out. do you ever feel that way?

if so, then embark on this journey with me. a wise professor in college once told me that i must do lots of personal art projects in order to keep my art for school fresh (i was an art major in college). yeah, that seemed easy enough. it definitely is NOT. the busyness of life takes over, and suddenly i was only doing art because i had to, not because i wanted to.

for my senior art exhibit, Melancholia, i did a personal project. i was going through a very rough and dark time in my life, and i used my artwork to express how i felt. the beautiful thing was that Jesus met me right where i was, in the midst of all the pain, depression, and sadness.

so here i am again, feeling swallowed up inside the busyness of life, unable to communicate fully with the King of kings. therefore, i have started different art projects. when i create, i learn more about Jesus. i turn up the worship music and just sit and listen for awhile and let my hands move. don't worry if you aren't artistic, it doesn't matter.

my hope for this blog is that as you follow along with my projects, you may try some of your own. who cares what the end product ends up looking like anyway? it's all for Him. or try something different and comment about it here. share it with all of. share your way of meeting Jesus personally. i will try to post as often as i can, but i make no promises. whenever i find the time i will post. sometimes it may be a step by step craft you can do, a photography project, who knows? i'm just excited about the journey.

there is a song by jillian edwards that has inspired this whole project. i want to take time to slow down, create, and learn more about my Savior's heart. the song says,
"Used to want time to run so quickly
Now crawling is fine
Cause the older I get the more
I see I need every moment
To let my roots grow down deep"

let us allow every moment to teach us to allow our roots to grow down deep. firmly rooted in Jesus Christ.
"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

so, what was the craft for today you might ask? well, this one is pretty simple and i'm pretty excited about it. i went to hobby lobby in their clearance aisle and found this cool old wooden frame on sale. then i got some fake flowers and cut them down the right size. i hot glued to the right corner, and inserted gold large thumbtacks to secure and for looks. i also took some leftover lace i had and hot glued it to the back. voila! a cool and original frame to hang on my wall. total cost? $18 or so. pretty whimsical.

thank you for reading and i hope you will continue to embark on this journey with me, and also embark on a journey with Jesus yourself. i pray we learn to let our roots grow down deep.

learning and embarking,
meredith.