A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

Two months ago yesterday, I married my best friend. It has been a tremendous blessing and joy to share life with him.

Here are a few of my favorite snapshots from our special day:

My wonderful bridesmaids

My Family

His Family

Our fun, crazy bridal party

Us with the cutest little people

Cake time!

Settling into married life has been wonderful, although it has had its moments of transition. One of the lessons to learn has been prioritizing time for the things that truly matter in life. I feel like it is a huge lesson that the Father has been teaching me lately. I'd like to share more on that soon and look forward to sharing more posts in the future (now that wedding planning is behind me!) :)

Happy heart

It's officially summertime for me. *Happy dance!* Another year of teaching has come and gone and as usual it brings feelings of bittersweetness. However, this summer will be like none other. This summer I marry my best friend and my heart couldn't be happier. :)

I've been meaning to share some of our engagement pictures with you, but haven't had time until now. Credit goes to the wonderful talent of Tawanda Faye Photography. She did a phenomenal job and we thoroughly enjoyed our photo shoot with her. Plus it was a gorgeous spring afternoon.

[My favorite]

Our Heavenly Father has blessed both of us more than we could've ever imagined. My heart is continually overwhelmed by His goodness. My prayer is that our love would be an example to those around us of the Father's love for each one of them as unique, cherished individuals created in the Father's image and for His glory.

Oh, How He Loves

The song, How He Loves, has been so special to me in recent months. On one occasion when it was played, it literally brought tears to my face as I thought about how much He does love me.

Misc 1
(PRE-CHORUS)
Oh how He loves us so
Oh how He loves us
How He loves us so
(REPEAT)

Chorus 1
(Yeah) He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves us
Oh how He loves
(REPEAT)

Verse 1
He is jealous for me loves like a hurricane
I am a tree bending beneath
The weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of
These afflictions eclipsed by glory
I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me

Verse 2
We are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So Heaven meets earth
Like a sloppy wet (unforeseen) kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way that

~John Mark McMillan
© 2005 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
{CCLI License # 291289}

 

Now everytime I hear this song, it brings back meaningful memories.

 

I am reminded every day of a million ways in which He loves me. I wanted to share just a few with you:

 

A breathtaking sunrise on my way to school

 

A heart in a mugful of hot chocolate

 

Blessing me with a loving friend who got me flowers, just because

 

I can almost hear Him whisper, "Yes, Janelle, oh, how I love you."

And oh, how He loves you too!



Valentines From God

         A dozen valentines just for you...

{This is a bulletin board that I did at school last year.} 

Here is what each valentine says:

•  "The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love...'" Jeremiah 31:3
• "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." Psalms 103:8
• "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are..." 1 John 3:1
• "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."        John 3:16
• "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.  His love endures forever." Psalms 136:1
• "'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has compassion on you." Isaiah 54:10
• "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me." Proverbs 8:17
• "...how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ..." Ephesians 3:18
• "In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will-" Ephesians 1:4-5
• "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail." Lamentations 3:22
• "For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." Psalms 57:10
• "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

This Valentine's Day, no matter where you are or who you're with, just remember that you are loved by your creator. His love for you is more than you can fathom.

But the greatest of these is LOVE

My Grandma is so special to me.  The older I get the more I appreciate her and all that she does for our entire family.  I've had some extra opportunities recently to reflect on her love for me from the times that I've spent with her.  What a blessing it is to have her live literally 5 minutes from the school that I teach at!  When we have evening meetings or conferences, I can go over to her house to eat dinner with her before returning to school.  I did just that this past week.  Even though I brought the food since it was the day after her birthday, she still spoiled me.  She fed me scrumptious dessert and insisted that I take nearly all the leftovers from the meal for my lunch the next day.  Well, turns out, Grandma, you gave me enough of food for two lunches!  :)  When I was finished at school, I returned to Grandma's to stay overnight.   One of the best parts of staying with her is that I always get to park in the garage when I'm there.  I don't even get that privilege at home!  Grandma even got up early the next morning to turn on the coffee pot and make me a delicious breakfast.  Grandma is known for her cooking.  Any food or beverage (she's the best juice-maker!) from her kitchen is amazing.  And she never sits down to eat when the whole family's over for a meal.  We have to tell her to do that.  Haha!  What an example of being a servant!  Anytime I'm at her house, she tells me to make myself at home and use whatever she has that I need.

She loves each one of us selflessly.  As I reflected on Grandma's heart of love for her family and others, it made me realize what an example she is of showing Christ-like love.  I want to be more like that!  How often do I show hospitality to those around me, offering them everything I have to please them and meet their needs?  How often do I work for the benefit of others instead of myself?  Do I really implement J.O.Y. (Jesus, Others, Yourself) in my life on a regular basis?  I'm afraid I know the answers to these questions.  Christ loved us with a humble love coming from a servant's heart.  He asks us to become like Him and serve one another in love.

I leave you with these verses from 1 Corinthians 13 (4-8a, 13), known to many as the love chapter:

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."

What is Love?

I've never been one to go crazy over Valentine's Day.  I guess it's because it's so commercialized and "couple" oriented.  For singles like me, it can just be another reminder that we're still waiting on God's perfect timing and person for us.  This year, I decided to dig a little deeper and focus on God's deep love for me.  I taught Sunday School this morning and decided to ask my Kindergarteners and First Graders what they think love is.  Here are their answers:

~ "I love you."
~ "I heart you."  :)
~ "Something that Jesus made."  This one made me go "YES...this is what love really is."  It's not about hearts, roses, chocolate, or a candlelit dinner, etc.  It's about the Father's Love for you and for me!

Then I asked- "How do you show someone you love them?"

~"You don't be mean to them."
~"You can go out to dinner with your boyfriend."  Hahaha!  This little guy made me laugh!

My answer is a verse I read the other night: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."  1 Peter 4:8

How do you show someone you love them?  You love them.  Love them when it's the last thing you want to do.  Love them when you don't get anything back in return.  Love them because Christ loves you and He expects you to extend that love!

Oh, I almost forgot.  After I had this question and answer session with my students, they began singing: "Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so!"  What a great reminder to me and hopefully to you too.

Check out this great video by Rend Collective Experiment.  It's Jesus Loves Me with a twist!

Stay tuned for a post on Valentine's from God!

Remember...You are loved!