Senior Girls 3

I so loved being with you wed.night. Your journal pages are fabulous! I so hope you are enjoying creating your art journal as much as I am! You are doing such an amazing job and you inspire me to both create and write!
The past couple of weeks we've talked about justification. Remember the very simple definition? Just as if I 'd never sinned? By grace we are saved by faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9) God sweetly and freely takes our sin away and sees us as righteous.
When Eddie and I were newly married I will never forget my first birthday. First let me say I'm not a big gift person so I really did not give my sweet husband any help on choosing a birthday present for me. I'm big on spending time together. My favorite gift is being with Eddie by myself even if we are just riding around in his truck with an icee. However, being my first birthday since being married I understand his need to have something for me with a bow on it. My birthday finally arrived and my baby could hardly wait for me to open my gifts. I say "gifts" but I really only remember one gift. It was a good size box with lots of pink ribbon and a "Laura Ashley" sticker on top. I loved Laura Ashley clothes. They were big florals with ruffles and ribbon, Kinda reminds me of what Lilly Pulitzer is today. Anyway I began to open the package and I must admit I was a little nervous about the contents of the box, but the look of excitement on Eddie's face anticipating my reaction was so sweet! It did not matter if it was empty, I was going to be fired up because he'd really gone all out with his gift. I lifted the top from the box and took in the yummy aroma from the Laura Ashley store. I folded back the tissue and there laid a beautiful strapless pink and green cotton dress that took my breath away. My response was a genuine feeling of being completely overwhelmed. I loved it. I could hardly wait to put it on. I began to list all the places I could wear it. Eddie was so proud. Then... I lifted the dress from the box and eyed the tag for the first time. There would be no trying the dress on that day. My sweet baby had gotten me a size  0. Sweet thing he said he just held it up and it looked like it would fit. Oh how we laughed!
This makes me think of our sweet Savior. His gift to you is that He willingly took your sin from you and clothed you in robes of righteousness. His righteousness. Though we are not righteous, He sees us as righteous and His robes fit perfectly. There is no greater gift than the Father's love for you. No matter what you've done or where you've been, if you have completely given Him your heart there is nothing that can separate you from His Love.
I love you! Ruthie