Or in my case, a set of words. I knew, as soon as I saw the call out for this particular hop, that I wanted to participate. I love words! Words are incredibly important to me. But then I struggled for weeks trying to figure out what word/words I should use.
Duh.
It finally struck me. The name of my blog. Hello! Count it *all* JOY!!!
For me, this became an exercise not in coming up with a quilty project, but an explanation of why those words are so important to me. And they're important not just because of those four words ... but because of the thirty-two words that follow, too . . .
Count it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.
--James 1:2-4
This passage of scripture out of James has been my life verse ... but I selected it long before I understood the full implications of it. At first I got all hung up on the joy part . . .
Without paying attention to the "count it all" part.
That's tough. And it took me a while to realize that I didn't have to count the hard stuff as joyful stuff -- I didn't have to laugh and be merry in times of sorrow -- it meant that I was to count it a joy when that hard stuff caused me to lean on the Lord. When it caused me to seek His strength, peace and comfort. Because that's how He perfects me ... that's how He strengthens my faith. And that's why I can Count it *all* JOY!!!
So, there you have it!! Be sure to check out all the 'word' participants today . . .
Jane's Fabrics (Jane R.)
Jane's Quilting (Jane C.)
Nuts 4 Redwork (Heide W.)
Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio (Cherry G.)
Bits and Pieces (Martha R.)
Life in Every Breath (Jennifer B.)
Quilting Lines (Patricia L.)
Travel Thru Greece (Mara)
Meadowbrook (Kristen K.)
Count It All Joy! (Denise P.)**you are here!
Sophie Junction (Sophie W.)
And a big thank you to both Linda, from Buzzing and Bumbling -- our head cheerleader for this hop -- and Mdm Samm. They've both done a *marvelous* job with this hop and it's been SUCH fun!!
:)
