So Much More to Valentine's Day

To say I'm an expert on the history of Valentines day would be a rather large lie considering my research consists of 3 articles written.  But I thought it was interesting enough to share with you.

article found here:  

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure.

You can read more on Valentines Day in the article.  It shares a lot of Rome's traditions and gods.  Oddly, reading about Roman culture always makes me feel a little better about the culture we live in today.  

How we can use this Holiday:

In my mind, Valentine's Day is very much a secular holiday with how society celebrates it. However, we have a chance as Christians to use this holiday to preach, yes preach it,  or just share two of the greatest commandments in the Christian faith.  Love God and love people.  There is so much more to the Christian faith than just love but if we do not have love we do not have faith.  Think about that last sentence.  If we do not have love, we do not have faith.  

Love is plastered and taught all throughout the Old and New Testament.  Love is why God created the world, love is what sent God's plan into motion after Adam and Eve (we) walked away from him.  Love is behind the Exodus.  Love is behind the promised Messiah.  Love is what sent Jesus (God himself) down to earth for us.  Love, the ultimate, sacrificial love is what sent Jesus to the Cross for you and me.  And Love is us obeying the Great Commission and sharing Jesus's name throughout the world.

As Valentine's Day comes, take this next week to take in the love of God, share with your children what true love looks like, and live out his love to those who surround you.  We often speak of purpose in our lives.  Well, this is our purpose.  To love God and love others and be on mission for He who deeply loves us.  

Shop LOVE items here or click on the image to bring you to the direct link.

Winter Love Donations

How amazing are you guys!

Over the last month through your orders and donations, we have donated:

• 3 vests
• 13 jackets
• 1 snowpant
• 8 scarves
• 60 hats
• 4 headbands
• 1 ear muff
• 35 gloves and mittens

That is a whole lot of love in the form of warm clothes heading out the door and into the arms of some very appreciative kids.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart in joining us in this mission.  You all seriously rock my socks off.  I'm so excited to give these to the kids.  What an amazing gift you have given them through your generiousity.  

Blessings to you all.

L O V E In Action

 

Our goal with Six Notes is to Be The Good with each new line launch.  Last Fall we donated tees to the Amborella House.  This winter we will be giving back to some amazing kids at Life Prep School St. Paul, MN.  With each order we'll be donating mittens and hats to kids in need.

So why here?
Because they freezing! That's why.

I have a friend who teaches at Life Prep. She told me one day that she helped walk three siblings home from school who only had on a light jacket, no hats, no boots and no mittens.  

My heart broke because it was one of those freezing days that you walk outside and the cold literally made your face hurt.  Then she told me that many students depend on school to have a warm place to be and food to eat.  Winter weather gear is a luxury many of these kids don't have.

So I said, 'let's change that!'

With each order over the next 2 weeks, Six Notes will donate hats and mittens to these children.  And hopefully even some boots and super cozy warm socks. 

Our new clothing Line is called our L*O*V*E Line.   One of the verses is showing our love through action.  Let's take action together and show these beautiful faces how loved they are and how great the love of Christ is.

If you would rather not order but are still interested in donating any winter gear, please email me at carly@sixnotesclothing.com and we can make arrangements with you. 

Live Out Love - Convicted

"Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."  Tim Kizziar.

It never ceases to amaze me when a word or phrase show up in different areas of my life to drive a point down in real deep.  Like you just ate a jalapeno and you can still feel it burn your stomach lining deep.

And sometimes it's that startling.

Over the last few weeks we are preparing for the launch of our "Love" line.  (spoiler alert)  God put verses on my heart that I'm in love with.  I've studied these verses to understand them, to write about them, and to design for them. 

At this same time,  it just happens to be when my children have fought more than anything and lacked in love towards each other.  So I have to discipline and correct/instruct on love. 

Then my husband hands me a Five Love languages "test." for his mentoring group. Talk about a failure front on my loving him.  (at least I hit his number 1)

Then I decide to read this amazing/conflicting/ponder-some (if that's a word)/reality hitting/make you want to change your life book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I mean he's throwing me truth bombs and scripture grenades and self-check bullets.  So as you can imagine I've had some conflicting moments in my life over the last couple weeks over my "level of love" for others and more importantly for God.

One verse that we'll be launching is 1 John 3:18. "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." We chose this verse as a way to challenge us into action.  I'll save more on that for when we actually launch.  But my reading today hit home on this verse.  There is so much to share from my reading but to save on your time and so your fingers don't get tired of scrolling, I'll bullet point out my list. These are all my underlined notes, so basically I underlined the whole chapter:

• He measures our lives by how we love.
• Paul writes, "if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, by have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Cor. 13:2-3
• We are here to love.  Not much else really matters.
• Following Christ isn't something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side.  It's not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are.
• If life is like a river, then pursuing Christ requires swimming upstream.  When we stop swimming, or actively following Him, we automatically begin to be swept downstream.
• I believe that much of the American churchgoing population, while not specifically swimming downstream, is floating away from Christ.  It isn't a conscious choice, but it is nonetheless happening because little in their lives propels them toward Christ.
• We are saved by grace, through faith, by the gift of God, and that true faith manifests itself through our actions.
• What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? - Luke 9:25
• nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made.
• When we love, we're free! When we are loving, we can't sin.
• The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.  Is loving God - and, by extension, loving people - what you are about?

Then he challenges us to an exercise.  Read 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8  an all to familiar passage.  But insert your name for the word love. For example, "Carly is patient, carly is kind, she does not envy, she does not boast..." and do it for every phrase after.  

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, 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. 

Can you say that's true.  Or as Chan puts it,  don't you feel like a liar?  If I am meant to represent what love is, then I often fail to love people well.

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This post is not meant to make us look down on ourselves but give us a reality check on our level of love and how essential love is to our faith.  We say God is love and if God is the center of our life, then loving him and loving others needs to be there too.

So really take a moment today, tomorrow, the next and every day after and think about how you are loving others.  Do you just talk about it?  Or is there action in your love.  Then realize, to love others more deeply you need God more deeply.  Fall deeply in love with God.

#BeReminded  

#LoveDeeply #LiveOutLove

Questioning God

I know I just quoted a Francis Chan quote from his book, Crazy Love, but I had to again.  This one hit home.  It was one of those 'whoa' moments for me.  Those moments that if I were with my niece in nephew they would with great exaggeration throw out their arms, fluff up their chest and exclaim "BOOM! POP!"  And if we aren't 8 or 10, maybe a simple, "Mic Drop." would suffice.

I literally read this and felt conviction.  Did a head nod.  And went "huh."  So read his words below.  I threw in a the Boom. Pop. so you knew exactly when his words squeezed my heart and made me self-check.  There is nothing like a good convicting challenge.

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"Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers of rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him."

Don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?

Psalm 115:3 reveals, "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him."  Yet we keep on questioning Him: "why did You make me with this body, instead of that one?"  "Why are so many people dying of starvation?" "Why are there so many planets with nothing living on them?"  "Why is my family so messed up?"  "Why don't You make Yourself more obvious to the people who need You?"

The answer to each of these questions is simply this: because He's God.  He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving. As much as we want God to explain Himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us.

"All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.  He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth.  No one can hold back his hand or say to him: "What have you done?"  - Daniel 4:35

(get ready for it)

Can you worship a God who isn't obligated to explain His actions to you?  Could it be your arrogance (Boom. Pop.) that makes you think God owes you an explanation? 

Do you really believe that compared to God, "all the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing," including you?

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Hard hitting right?!  But how often do we question God.  We might not be doing it in a way where we question his existence or even his goodness but we still do it.  When Chan wrote "He has more  of a right to ask us why so many people are starving..." that put things quickly into perspective.  So often in life, we question and quickly point our fingers else where.  Today, I challenge us to turn our questions inward.  

This world is broken and sinful.  More questions are bound to rise up in our brains.  And I think it's okay.  But when the questions come, train your brain not to accuse but rather look up to a loving, eternal, all-powerful, just God and praise him for his sovereignty and hope.  

Then maybe even dare to take action.