Trading for love

The Silhouette blog is having a design trade contest right now. You can submit a die cut design and then get one from their online store for free. I decided to try it and see if my "LOVE" design ends up on their store. I think I'll submit my butterfly sucker holder too. From a money standpoint, they are making way more off of free submitted designs than the price of a $1.99 download. But, it's my first time trying this out so I don't mind. One lucky person will be picked to receive a $50 gift card to their store. That's what I really want! I found the cutest little strawberry box design on there as my trade. I'm not sure when I'll use it - maybe for Valentine's day next year.

Speaking of "LOVE", Valentine's Day has always been my favorite holiday. Maybe it's because of all the pink and red (my favorite colors) sprinkled around. There's not much to it, just a simple day of showing love to the people in your life. And if you have a special someone to share it with, that makes it much more fun. I have a friend who calls it "Single Awareness Day." LOL. But when you look at the holiday with childlike faith, you realize that God is the one who loves us each one of us without abandon. He longs to be our special Valentine. This year I gave my kids simple Valentine hearts with "Jesus Loves You" and 2 verses on them...

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for His friends." John 15:13

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

I want them to know the Biblical definition of true love. And that love has been perfected in Jesus Christ. When I allow myself to be a vessel of His sacrificial love (not my own imperfect love), my family is happy, I am happy and God is glorified. Now that's what I call a real design trade - trading human love for God's love! Surrender your imperfect love today and let God perfectly love others through you.