Saturday, March 31, 2012

Journaling Post - Empty



I think my quiet time from the last post is finished. Actually that's not true; I've been avoiding the next prompt on my list -- I need to empty my soul of anger.

This one has been very frustrating for me. I know there must be some anger some place in my soul. All I seem to be finding is a little bit of frustration here and there. I decided that this must be good; God is at work helping me to overcome anger, the Holy Spirit is guiding me to rid myself of old hurts & anger. I look back through my life & know that there have been times when I've been very angry; so angry that I'm sure my blood pressure was elevated! Now when I look back at those situation I can see where they led me & I'm in a much better place than I was then, than I would have been if I had taken the road where anger was leading. If it hadn't been for the incidents that caused the anger, I wouldn't have been able to move down a new path. I would guess that if there's anyone that I haven't truly forgiven it would be the one person that caused so much stress in Andy's life. Perhaps if she hadn't caused so much stress he would still be here with us. I used to cringe every time she called after he died; I used to delete any messages from her so I didn't even have to see her name in my email; sometimes I'd even put posts on his Face Book account so her posts didn't show when I opened it up -- I was even about to the point that I thought about blocking her posts. But I know she needs that outlet too to get over his death. I can't say that I'm angry with her now. Yes, I'm still annoyed with her, appalled even, but not angry. I am glad she's across the country from me & I don't have to run into her around town.
Maybe there is still anger there, but it is whisked away when I turn it over to God.
Maybe I'm deluding myself & there is anger in my soul that I don't recognize.
Can it be possible that for three days I've been trying to put my finger on something I'm angry about & not find anything? I wonder if satan snuck in this prompt to make us stirred up to anger; or maybe to give us a sense of false pride?
No, I'm going to give this one over to God & praise Him for the peace that He has given me. A peace that can come from only Him! Thank you God for Your loving mercy; for Your presence; for Your peace!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Journal Post Three - Whisper

In the quiet comes a whisper; guess the last few days have been so noisy that I haven't heard the whisper. At least I haven't heard it clearly enough to take time to write about it. But I have been thinking a lot about it. Sometimes life gets so busy that we forget to listen for the still small voice of God. He's always there, all we have to do is stop & listen!
There has been a gentle breeze lately & the weather was warm enough last week to put out my wind chimes. I've been collecting them for about six years now I think. Each time we take a vacation I try to find a new one & my husband & kids have been giving them to me for gifts too. Now I think I have about 20 hanging on the patio. You may think it would be loud & distracting, but it's really not. I like to think of them not only as a reminder of the trips we've taken & the love of my family but also of God's whispers as they chime in the breeze. They have many different tones from little tingles to wooden claps (soft ones) and that makes me think of the many ways that God inspires me & talks to me. Sometimes it's just a nudge to do something I should; other times He has to almost hit me up the side of my head to get my attention. As I grow in my faith, I'm learning more & more to listen for His instruction before I go out & do it on my own. How about you? What are some ways that you listen for/to God?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Journaling Prompt Two

Sunday -A union with Him brings loving grace.
God's grace is an awesome thing. He gives it so freely, all we have to do is say "YES!" and we receive grace & salvation. But it does go beyond just saying yes; we need to bring glory to God in our life every day -- this should be our mission in life.
This morning's sermon by Jean was one of glorifying God. She used John 12:20-33 for her scripture base and talked about how a seed must die before it produces any fruit. Metaphorically Jesus was saying that He must die before His mission here on earth will come to fruition. And we are left behind to glorify God & spread His word throughout the world; this message was not just for the Jews, but to the whole world.
The take-away points that I wrote down in my Bible were as follows:
1. This passage does not to mean that we should not like our life here on earth, but rather that we should look beyond our life here to an eternity with Him.
2. What we do to glorify God is limited only by our imagination.
3. Our Christian life should be like the path that a lamp lighter left as he traveled down the road; one that is visible to all who gazed down the road, lighting the path that he took. He certainly walked in the light as we should; he made the path light for others to see as we should strive to do in our daily walk while we are here on earth. And who would want to walk toward Christ if we hated our life here?
4. Our desire should be to glorify God daily & receive His give of salvation.
So today I come to God in praise & adoration; glorifying His goodness & mercy - thanking Him for His gift of life for eternity and lighting the way for all who follow!


Saturday, March 24, 2012

Journaling Prompt One

Prompt - It is startling to realize the miracles occurring.

It is amazing to think about all the miracles that happen around us everyday. As spring approaches, the miracle of rebirth surrounds us. The leaves emerging; the flower buds forming & some even in full bloom already; we need to take time to thank God for His marvelous creation. He is totally awesome! And at this season of Lent we are reminded to dwell on the sacrifice Christ made to save us from our sinful nature.

Friday, March 23, 2012

More of the Rat-A-Tat-Tat -- A Duet Even!

Another exciting day in the birding world. We have been hearing the pileated woodpecker for about a week now; actually he makes quite an loud call & his rat-a-tat-tat is almost deafening. If you want to listen to it go here, scroll down listen - http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id/ac  When Dave spotted him yesterday it was thrilling. Today was even more thrilling because he was in a tree in the back yard...and there were two of them. I tried to get a photo of them, but didn't manage. I did get a poor quality shot of one of them (it was a rainy, dreary day - not good for using the camera.)

It is amazing to me to watch the birds that are here. When I think of the way nature works together I am in awe of the way that God created the universe & I thank Him for making me aware of what there is to watch & learn from. I have learned to keep my eyes & ears open; I have learned to pay attention to what the birds & critters are doing. And as I think on this, I work hard to keep my eyes & ears on my Lord for I have much to learn from Him.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Rat-A-Tat-Tat

We are so excited! We've been hearing a very loud woodpecker lately and hoping that it might just be a Pileated Woodpecker. Dave spotted a pair of them this afternoon. By the time I got out there, I saw them flying down river but didn't have enough time to capture them with my camera. All evening we heard them off & on very near here -- sounded like there was a pecking on metal, but Dave says that they sound like that on a tree. After listening to them on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (great website!) I quite agree with him. And we've been hearing their call too, wondered what it was...now I know!
This is one of the birds that we've seen only occasionally for the last 39 years we've lived here & one that we've been wanting to add to our photo collection. Now we'll be watching for them more closely. Soon I hope to be able to post one here. :)

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Word for the Day - Hope

Today we had our last Lenten Study at the church. We've been using Adam Hamilton's book Why? Making Sense of God's Will. This lesson was about why God's love prevails. One of the things that God gives us is "Hope". I've been having some ideas about scrapping a page or two on the concept of hope. At first I was going to use this: H-His; O-Omniscient; P-Power; E-Eternally. Then I thought perhaps the P should be for Presence. Lastly I thought of Peace. Now I'm thinking perhaps I should use all three. It's coming around in my mind & I know that God will guide me to do an awesome page.
I'm really excited that I finally decided to do an 8x8 book for my Faithbook. And the ideas are really flowing. I think I want to do 2 double pages based on the study we just finished.
I'm also very tired this evening, so this one is going to be very short; but I wanted to get these ideas down somewhere so I can remember my thoughts.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

First Day of Spring

It certainly has been like spring the last week or so. Dave is sun burned -- who would have thought that one could get outside enough to be sunburned in the middle of March in northern Indiana? He even mowed yesterday; the earliest he's ever done that.
Today we hung the wind chimes. Also got out the umbrella because it was so bright & sunny & to protect Dave from the son while he was out back. Now, with the ivy done on the patio side of the trellis, it seems like our normal patio setting (minus the flowers of course.) I hope the trees that are coming out won't be harmed by cold weather. Our weeping cherry is fabulous right now. Here's a shot, sorry it's stitched because I couldn't get it all in the camera & I was almost over at Angelo's when I took it -- had my telephoto lens on the camera.


My verse for today has been Jeremiah 29:11. "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." I seem to be overwhelmed this week with all that I need to do in the next few weeks; so I'm concentrating on the "my future with hope" portion & faith that God will help me get everything finished up on time.
On that note, I think I'll get started. Have a blessed day!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

God Is Good

Thanks be to God for the wonders of this earth.
Thanks be to God for His grace & mercy.
Thanks be to God for another day to worship Him.
Church today was based on John 3:14-21. Pastor Jean told of how Moses protecting the Israelites from snake bites as instructed by the Lord (found in the book of Numbers) was like Jesus being on the cross and those who turn to worship Him are protected from the bites of Satan. Also in verse 16 it says that we "have" eternal life -- not "will have"; we have eternal life already! And the last thing that I wrote in my Bible was that God rejects our rejection!
One last thought from Charles Stanley -- "The cross is where the worst of man met the best of God."

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Unseasonably Warm Weather

The weather has been so unusual this winter. Now with spring "officially" starting next Tuesday, one would think that we'd expect it to be like spring -- but it's not usually so. This year it appears to already be here! We've already been using the grill & enjoying sitting on the patio. It's so good to hear the birds & frogs and to enjoy God's beautiful world. Yesterday we took a drive over to the state grounds, it was so exciting to see some of the birds we don't see at home; the sand hill cranes, swans & coots (which I had never seen before).



Then there were those that we do see a lot around home, but I got some good pictures of them too:



And we stopped by the trout rearing station. Most of the pictures there were not so great, but will make good overlays for very interesting background papers to scrap with.  I did get this one of a big guy in there:


And one more -- the frogs have been deafening this year & I was so excited to be able to get a shot of one:


It's always so much fun to go see what's going on in God's world, there is so much to learn from stopping and taking a good look at what's happening, I'm going to enjoy this weather because you never know what tomorrow may bring.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

It's Officially on the Blog!

Dawn has posted my information on the Faithfully Yours Blog! You can find it here: http://faithfullyyours.net/Blog/digitally-inspired/
I'm hoping that I can help them out as much as she makes it sound. If there's anyone who has questions about digital scrapping please feel free to ask me. If I don't know the answer, I'll find out. People have asked what program I use to digital scrap & I thought, wow this can get expensive. But then when I watched a video about traditional scrapping I realized that it was perhaps even more expensive. They have all sorts of gadgets to create their pages -- stamps, cutting systems, fancy scissors, brushes, paper cutters, containers to store all the supplies; not to mention the papers, ribbons, paint, glitter, glue & adhesives that are all consumable. And oh the mess that you have to clean up when you are done.
Now if you scrap digitally, you have the expense of the program you use -- unless of course you use Gimp which is a free download. There are all kinds of free supplies as well, and fonts, brushes, patterns, styles, and so much more for your program. Lots of free tutorials on how to achieve the look you want. When you use a photo, you don't have to print it out or have it printed at the store then cut it  to size only to find that it's not quite big enough to fit your space. With digital you can resize it, of course it's not too good to enlarge it too much. You can blend it into the background paper for an effect you can't get with the traditional method. You can reuse your papers to coordinate an album without purchasing several sheets. You can reuse your embellishments the same. And it all stores on your computer, or an external hard drive.
If you like to go to crops, it's also much easier. When I think of the times I've had my trunk full of supplies for scrapping. Now I just pack up my computer & I'm ready to go. (I use a laptop!) Even if I take my EHD, my Bamboo & maybe a few magazines to get ideas from it doesn't take too much.
So, give it a try. I started in 2006. Gradually I did more digital & less traditional. By 2008 I had pretty much gone totally digital. I still have a lot of my traditional supplies, but I'm ready to clean them out now.
I've gone on long enough, but it's something that I really believe in, something I really enjoy, and I feel blessed & honored to be a part of Faithfully Yours. And I feel blessed & honored that God has led me to take the steps down this path. I pray that I will be able to bring glory to God in the venture.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Spring Fever

If I didn't have spring fever before today, it certainly kicked in today! It was so nice we decided to go out to Pine Knob for our first walk of the season. Although there aren't any flowers blooming & we didn't see many birds - just a few sparrows & a blue jay -- it sounded so great to hear the frogs. Their chorus was astoundingly loud & continuous most of the time we were on the trail. You know they are one of God's ways of telling us that spring is just around the corner. After three times of hearing the frogs there will be no more frost according to Mrs. Wall. Makes me wish I had written down all of the things she told us about looking at what was happening in nature to know what was in store for each season. Some of them I do remember; like the frogs.
The Holy Spirit has been guiding me so much the last week! It is exciting! I have all kinds of ideas running around my head & I've been trying to get them down in my word processor & filed on my computer for reference as I build kits & make layouts about my journey with God. I thank him daily that He led me to apply for the DT at Faithfully Yours.
Tonight I'm exhausted, so I will only look over my emails -- no designing this evening. :)

Monday, March 12, 2012

First Tornado Watch of the Season

The tornado season has started. Actually it started in southern Indiana a few weeks ago. That was so fresh on my mind this evening it got me thinking about sitting in the basement when the kids were young. It made me think about how Andy would get so upset that he would actually make himself sick. It made me think about the Psalm Sunday tornadoes when I was in high school. We weren't hit as bad as west of us, but there was a lot of damage, power outages for three days, and 22 deaths in the county. When I think on these things, it can bring fear into my heart. But there's no room for fear for God has filled all those areas with His peace. So when fear starts to enter & bubble up, I turn to God. I take His hand & let Him calm me down.
The storms have passed for now. I know that God is with me & will keep me safe no matter what comes tomorrow or the tomorrow after that. Thank you Lord!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Glorious Sunday -- Spring Fever

It's been a beautiful day here, the sun was shining & it was unseasonably warm. Church was great this morning -- great sermon, great music & great friends. God is good all the time!
Dave & I decided it was a good day for an outing so we headed east, did a little shopping at the Outlet Mall & topped it off with lunch at Bubba's.
Since it's supposed to rain tomorrow Dave fertilized the lawn & picked up the sticks that had blown out this winter. He's going to be sore tomorrow!
I went down to see Mom. Had a good chat with her & with Fritz. I was pleased that she went down to the dining room for her supper this evening.
Tonight I get to do something that I haven't done in a very long time. Janessa is here for the night & she lost her first tooth this afternoon -- I get to play "Tooth Fairy"! Sounds like a scrapbook page in the works. :)
Last night I put together another layout for Faithfully Yours. I have a few more rolling around in my head. But that will have to wait for another day. Here's the one from last night:

Saturday, March 10, 2012

First LO uploaded to Faithfully Yours

We're on our way! I have my first LO done for Faithfully Yours as a part of the Design Team. :) What an exciting journey it is turning out to be. It seems everywhere I turn there is a confirmation that I am indeed following God's will for my life. When I asked for prayers from my friends at Makeover 2012 & posted it, there was an answer up there before I hit the enter button -- but after I started typing the request. Now that's quick work Lord -- THANK YOU! Since then there have been numerous little "God"incidents everywhere I turn -- in my daily devotionals; on different websites; on FB; and even in person. God is good all the time!
Ideas are flowing for what will come next & I know that they are truly inspired through the leading of the Holy Spirit. I just need to keep listening & giving God ALL the glory!
Here's the LO from the "No Fear" kit available at Faithfully Yours:


Have a glorious day!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

WooHoo!

I am so excited this evening. I got called to the Design Team at Faithfully Yours. And on top of that I've seen God answering prayers almost before they were uttered!
Fritz, Dave & I went down to Mom's house this morning to move things out of the way for the vinyl & carpet to be installed tomorrow. We are a little concerned about Mom's reaction though. She's been a little depressed & we came to the conclusion that it's because of us getting the house ready to put on the market & that we are having to go through all her treasures & make decisions what will be saved & what won't be saved. All I can say is that there is a ton of work to do down there. Fritz would like to have it on the market by the end of the month -- that's only 3 weeks to get it all done!
When we got home I checked the email & found one from Dawn at Faithfully Yours. I've applied to several websites/designers to be a part of their Creative or Design Team but have always gotten rejection letters. That was what I was expecting because she had sent out an email saying there were so many applications that it was taking longer than they expected, but would have a decision made the first week in March. My biggest concern about this is the fact that this website leans mostly to paper scrapping, not digital. One of the reasons I applied was the fact that they are trying to have more digital things available. So I decided that I'd really like to get in on the ground floor of the digital aspect. Reading the email from Dawn, it sounded a lot like they are expecting paper designers. I can do that, but I'm not sure that I want to go back to that -- digital is so much more creative in my mind. I needed to pray about it before I gave my answer.
After lunch we went to the Lenten study up at the church. It was a good session where we talked about prayers; lots of discussion about images people have of prayer. One of those is people who only pray when they have problems. Then there are those who thank the Lord for every little thing & give Him credit for opening up a parking space at the mall. We need to remember that God doesn't always answer prayers the way we think He should. He's not going to answer your prayers that would cause someone else to become like a puppet or to go against natural laws. Although God does perform miracles, it is not the norm. To me prayer is simply communing with God -- and a part of communing is listening. Yes, I ask for healing, for miracles from time to time, and for help in making decisions. That's what I asked for at the study class today. When we got home I decided answer Dawn's questions, but wait for an answer from God about whether I should accept the position or not.
When I finished I thought why not put out a plea on the Makeover 2012 group on Facebook to be able to know God's will for me in this situation. As I was typing my post Kathy was typing another post. In her post was the following "HE made each of us beautiful in our own way and gave us 'wings with which to fly'......He knows our abilities and limitations......it's up to us to use the "wings" He's given us to the best of our ability......"  I got my answer. Thank you Lord.
Now I've gotten an email from Dawn answering my question about the digital thing -- and I'm the digital designer on the team! Oh wow, now I need prayers to do my best & I give all the glory to God! Praise the Lord!!!

Monday, March 5, 2012

With God's Help We Did It & Even More

I managed to get all done that I had planned on thanks to the strength of God! Even a few more errands that needed to be taken care of.

This evening was totally out of control for a while. We had gotten an email last week about Jane Fonda. I almost deleted it before Dave could see it -- I will if any more come in like that! At any rate, it really bothered him and spiraled into a severe panic/anxiety attack this evening. After a lot of prayers and a visit from Pastor Jean he seems to be calmed down. Exhaustion has taken over & he's sleeping now, praying that he will be able to stay asleep for the night & will wake up in the morning refreshed & improved. God is in control, my prayers are now that in some way He will be able to use this to help someone else who is troubled.

Good Monday Morning!

It was such a pleasure to turn on my computer this morning & see my new wallpaper. And I read it out loud to get it into my head & turn my day over to God.
Today is back to the rat-race with lots of busy things happening. Janessa was here last night & didn't feel well this morning. She stayed home from school & her mom will be here soon to pick her up. Dave is off running errands. Mom hasn't been feeling well either so I'll go down there before I go up to the church. Will do bulletins for next Sunday when I finally get to work. Then sometime we need to go to the funeral home today, read our Lenten study book and then there's always preparing meals. Oh, I need to go to the grocery store when I'm done at Mom's. I just pray that I can keep focused on God all day long; listening to Him prompt me when I need to witness for Him...give Him the glory in everything I do.
Had to laugh at Janessa, we were watching the Mourning Doves this morning & the way they move their heads when they walk; she called them Rock Stars. I think I feel a layout coming on, certainly have lots of pictures of the doves!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Looking Better

I still have a horrible headache, but the day is so much brighter. Just finished listening to Dr. Charles Stanley & he inspired me to create a new desktop wallpaper for my laptop. Thought I'd share it here:


It will be so nice to gaze at my computer each morning & to have a reminder to trust God with my whole day -- no matter what the circumstances! He's just been filling my days more and more -- PTL!!!!

Sunday Morning Blahs

Not feeling so well this morning. There's lots of bugs going around and the weather is up & down with high this week ranging from 32 to 63! I'm ready for spring and it just keeps teasing us!

My prayers this morning are for Julia & her family as they grieve the loss of Norm. We all knew it was coming soon, but that doesn't make it any easier. Stopped by yesterday & Julia seems to be handling things well at the moment. The hard time will be when life continues; after everyone goes back home to their routine & she finds herself alone in the home that she & Norm shared together for so many years & she tries to set new routines. May God be with her as she travels this new path in her life.

Last night I had a new experience, Dave & I went to the Coconut Hut and this time I was the one who was talking to the young people there. My focus was on being an enabler in the past. But more important than that how I relied on Christ for my strength and what an important part prayer played in getting through the rough times. Dave said I did a good job, I'm not so sure. If I was able to help just one of the kids there, then it was good. The main thing was that I felt that God wanted me to share the things I did share. I turned my words over to Him & let Him guide me. That's the most important thing! Logan did come over & give me a hug after I was done, that was a good feeling.

I'm feeling the need to get more organized. I've got so many projects lined up that I'm not getting any of them done. Priority is what I need right now. I need to get my accountability calendar out & updated. Guess I'll just do that right now!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Ahhhh......

Whew, finally a day to relax a little bit!
First, yesterday's Lenten study went well. Our subject was "Why do the innocent suffer?" Good advice on relating to those who are suffering. Of course if you have suffered something similar, you can truly sympathize. But if you haven't what do you say to someone who is having to deal with a heavy load? I can't help but think of my friend Julie whose husband has just come home for the hospital. Hospice is there and we all know that things don't look good for Norm. He's been battling cancer for a number of years, but I don't think he's going to make it this time.
Julie & I can relate to one another because we have both lost a son. But I can't relate to losing a spouse (for which I am very thankful.) So often people try to comfort you with something like "It's God's will" or "It was his time to go." But really, what comfort is that? I think what I learned the most is that I need to be a good listener -- to Julie & to Norm right now; but more importantly I need to listen to the Holy Spirit who will give me the words that are just right for the two of them. The closer I get to God, the better equipped I am to be able to help others. And isn't that what we're all here for - to help others?

And on a lighter note, I've been downloading scrapbooking supplies today. The new pixel club is up at Gotta Pixel; the new Scrap Club is up at Scrap Girls; and there is a new Blog Train rolling through the Internet. Oh wow, am I gonna do some scrapping? You bet I am!