Creative ways to say “I love you!”…

“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people”
~Vincent Van Gogh

I love you!  Easy peasy to say, right?
Well it was easy for me to type that to the web world … and even to mean it!
We say these words about a lot of things.   I love my kids.  I love pizza.  I love my dog.  I love reading.
It’s kind of sad that in English we only have one word for “love”… it leaves a lot of ambiguity!
And so, over time, these precious words can get quite watered down.  They can lose a little bit of the passion and power that are intended to express our affection and care and well… LOVE for one another.

And then there are those folks that just take some extra creativity to love.  
They’re a little prickly.  They’re a little persnickety.  They’re a little pointy and sharp.
->If you want to read more about the real definition for this word, versus what we burden ourselves with, I wrote a post about loving my prodigal child.  God was so gracious to me and showed me what TRUE love really is.
It’s not what you might think!

Whether it’s taking a major effort today to say “I Love You” to a prickly person, or whether you just want to show your love in a new way to dash out the mundane use, I’ve got some creative, artistic ideas to say those 3 words with passion, meaning, and power-  I LOVE YOU!
And we are in good company, as Van Gogh (a pretty passionate, artistic and creative guy!!) said-  loving people is ARTISTIC!

BUT I HAVE NO ARTISTIC TALENT!!
Are any of you reading these words and thinking that you are NOT going to do well with this activity?!
I was born into the midst of two really talented artists.  You can read about that in my “About” page… also explains where my unique name and the name of this website came from.  😀  However, the artistic genes that I wish were mine, completely skipped over my DNA.  I am one of those artistically challenged folks.  Thankfully however, the LOVE of all things creative was instilled in me from my first breath.  I was surrounded by color, and texture, and passion, and life expressed!  Perhaps the greatest thing my parents passed on to me was the APPRECIATION of beauty.  You can find it anywhere if you open your eyes and SEE!  Even in the most dismal places on earth (or the hardest, rockiest people in your life), there’s something beautiful there to be discovered.

Loving people is an art!
It takes recognizing what is in YOUR heart, and finding a way to EXPRESS it with all it’s truth and fullness of meaning!!  It takes seeing BEAUTY in strange places and less than ideal circumstances.  It takes open eyes and an open heart… and honestly some blood, sweat, and tears are usually involved.

So get ready to get CREATIVE and become an ARTIST !!

–10 Ways to Say  ‘I Love You!’
(The wipe-off note board is such a great idea!)
–21 Ways To Love Like Jesus
–Jesus And The 5 Love Languages
(What happens when you STOP saying ‘I love you’ for a whole week?)
–Creative Ways to Say ‘I Love You’
(This is geared toward adults, thus the alcohol suggestions.  There are some really cute ideas that would work for any age though!)
–130 Ways To Say ‘I Love You’ To Your Child
–25 Ways to Make Your Child’s Birthday Special
(Why wait?  Pick a day & make it special ! )
–How To Love Your Kids Like Jesus

And to all you mamas out there, I’d make you a cup of steaming tea & a warm scone and sit and chat about what’s happening in YOUR life for awhile if I could.
I would tell you that as one of you, I so appreciate all the little things you do each day to make your family happy & healthy and your home a sanctuary of peace!
Praying that someone encourages your soul today as you feed the people in your life!

I love you all!
~Chenoah