What ARE Your Plans? Are They Flexible?

Hi all - well let's try this again....  it all disappeared as I was working on it....  something went wonky....

But is that true of things in our lives - they don't go as we plan.  We need to learn, especially as parents to go with the flow - be ready to change our plans as needed.  Or we will miss great opportunities to teach our children, or to even meet a need - emotionally or spiritually.

This morning as I was having my quiet time with God, my 2 year old awoke.  She settled down in my lap for awhile, so all was fine.  But after about 5 minutes she became too distracting.  So it was time to change my plans - I know as a Mom of 9 blessings, I need to take care of them.  That is my responsibility - that is my pleasure.  I look at my children as blessings - even when they are driving me crazy at times....  My 2 year old can be hard to keep up with (I will be 46 in Feb) -- and sometimes I think "how am I going to do it" (raising such a young, active toddler) - but then she will give me that look, or a huge hug - and I Praise God for blessing us again!!!

But this got me thinking about life and it's busy-ness....

The Bible tells us....  Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, this is the main project that Jesus asked for us to do.  Pretty much everything is summed up in this command.  So how are you sharing your Faith in Christ???  Who are you sharing your faith with???  Your neighbors next door, down the street;  people you meet while shopping;  your friends, aquaintences, co-workers, etc???  How about your family???  How about your own children???

Sometimes we are busy doing for everyone else that we forget about discipling / training our children.  They are important ones that God has blessed us with - they are precious to HIM as well as the world around us.  They should be more precious to us - since they are from our own flesh....  I challenge you to take the time to train your children - to share your faith with them.  Let them know why you trusted Christ as Your Saviour!!!

Be sure to do this today, look for an opportunity to talk to your children / family!!!

I Praise You God - for Blessing us with a Wonderful Family!!!


Today is Tuesday's Twists (I just updated the names).....  I challenge you to do a LO - but Journal about your faith / something God has been doing in your life lately.  But, here is the twist - make it as a kids LO.  Write it to your children - explain it so that they understand it....

I will upload mine later - as we are in the middle of school.....  I do things, especially in the beginning of our school day - hanging around if they need help with their math etc....  :)

Here is my LO....

Nothing IS Impossible with God

Hi all,

This morning in my quiet time - I have been studying the names of God, this mornings was about Jehovah Jirah - My God will supply.  I was wondering how God was going to show Himself today.  Wow I could not have imagined what would happen as the morning progressed.

So I come downstairs and start my morning - checking my computer, reading emails etc and getting ready to start school.  Well around 10 am, I get this phone call from my best friend - she had some interesting news to tell me.  Last night, we were talking about my daughter's best friend - we had not seen or heard from her and there might be something going on that we don't understand - none of us know - but it sounds weird.  You see, my daughter's 19y friend has lung cancer.  Everyone is astounded at how SHE could have cancer - there is no exposure to anything that should have caused it....

So my friend's call was about this young lady.  Over the weekend, she was having problems breathing etc, so she went to the hospital - to find out that the cancer was now stage 4 - she now had large masses of cancer in both lungs as well as the outside.  The cancer had been shrinking - responding well to chemo.  But NOW all of a sudden - they were only giving her 2-4 months to live if she only did the chemo.  So they were preparing to take her to Texas to the best Chemo treatment center.

This morning she went to go get a PET scan (for the trip) and the cancer was virtually gone.  There is only a tiny bit left that should be cleared up within 2 weeks with Chemo.  GOD healed her body - it was there yesterday - it is gone today.  Needless to say - we all have had a hard time concentrating today - GOD IS SO AWESOME!!!

Today, as little things / itty bitty trials would come up, I would think - "oh this is difficult".... then I would remember how GOD worked in such a wondrous way this morning.  ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD.  No matter what happens in my life - I am so THANKFUL that GOD KNOWS and CARES!!!  I am thankful that nothing is bigger than HIM!!!

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I want to start giving away my scrapbook kits.  Today I am offering a sampler from my US Army Forever Remix kit.  Come to Faith Scraps and get this free mini-kit and see how you can easily get the full kit....

There Is Love

HI all,

Today I want to share with you a LO I made today!


kit - Sunshine Artz' My Little World

With the economy being the way it is, I know there is a lot of people out there whose immediate future maybe shaky.... People losing jobs, money not going as far as it used to, cost of gas, food etc..... Sometimes these things can seem so overwhelming. There is only one place we can go for peace of mind - to God. He is the one who is in control! He knows our needs. He can give us the peace that we need to face the Giants that are before us.

I did a Theme Thursday Challenge over at Hummie's World today. The theme was "Blah" and I wondered how I would be able to scrap something blah. I am generally a cheerful person - resting in the Peace that only God can give. But today, I was struggling. In fact, I was in a pretty "blah" mood. But I did not want to scrap about that.... when I started to look at the kits I had, I knew that I had nothing that was blah either.... So as I was thinking about what I could do, I was listening to my Christ Tomlin CD "Hello Love"...... as I was listening I thought about how the blahs were going away - as I listened to how God is with us in everything we do. When I heard the song above, I knew it was the one I needed to do the challenge about....

I thank GOD that HE IS in CONTROL!!! That HE will take care of us - that HE LOVES us so much that HE sent HIS only Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and that He rose again on the 3rd day and lives in Heaven! I thank GOD that Jesus' death completely paid the price for our sin - which was death. Have you trusted in Jesus - that He died for YOUR sins? Please do so today.... we don't know what tomorrow will bring. This might be your last chance to choose HIM....

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Come to Faith Scraps and get these Brag Book pages for free...

Finally Back

Hi all,

Well I have been gone for a few weeks - we went to a family reunion in MI.  We had a great time - but it is good to be home again.  I am also trying to recouperate.... lol  My middle daughter is at camp this week - had to get up early yesterday to take her to church... and today I am up early to go to the dentist - I have something going on that is causing me to have quite a bit of pain in my cheek bone....

well I have an appt tomorrow morning with an oral surgeon - to see whether I need a root canal or a crown.....  hopefully we will figure this out.... LOL

Sunday's message at church was great!  Our music pastor preached - he has such a passion for God - all of our Pastors do....  here is a synopsis of this message....

1st, he spoke on Hosea - about how he redeemed his wife Gomer etc....  I am going to share some of his ending points....

1.  When we sin - we are sinning against God.  We are spitting in His face - saying "I don't want to do the things you want me to do",  "I want to do what I want to do - know matter who it hurts".....

2.  When we repent - we must turn away from the sin.  Are we sorry that we got "caught" in our sin?  Or are we sorry about the sin itself - that we committed it???  True repentance realizes the gravity of what we have done wrong.  We must recognize how sin is against God.  We must truly look to God - He has given us the means to know how He wants us to live - it is so much better than anything we can come up with.....

3.  We must seek forgiveness - through the cross.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  He paid the full payment for our sins.  There is nothing that we can do to earn forgiveness - except believing in Jesus, Our Savior.

4.  We must recognize God's love for us.  Yes Jesus loved us so much that He died for our sins!  But that is just the beginning - God has now adopted us as HIS own.  He could have just forgiven us and left it at that - but He went the next step..,,  we are now HIS BELOVED!!!

Have you realized that you are a sinner???  Do you realize how your sin breaks God's heart?  Or have you turned your life over to God ??? - trusting in His Son Jesus - knowing that He has paid the full payment for your disobedience!!!  Have you experienced the full LOVE of God???  He is wanting for you to totally trust in HIM - today!!! 

If you would like to hear this message in whole - please go here....

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Come here to Faith Scraps to get this QP for free...

VBS .... busy busy busy

Wow last week was extremely busy with VBS - and this week I have been recouperating... LOL  I was in charge of the 4-5 year olds...  we were one of the biggest classes - 23-25 kids each night....  just imagine that many very energetic kids running around..... LOL

We did have a wonderful week - it was a lot of fun teaching them the marvelous truths found in God's Word!!!  We studied... Abraham and Isaac; King Josiah; Mary and birth of Jesus; Peter; Good Samaritan...  and we went thru the plan of salvation every day as well as play games and do crafts.  Our theme this year was Polar Extreme....  it was fun seeing all those people running around in hats / scarves / winter coats etc in the middle of summer.....

I would like to share with you a simple plan of salvation - it is 5 point so you can use your fingers (we learned this a long time ago from one of our pastors).

1 (thumb pointing down)  We all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23

2 (index finger sweep away) We are separated from God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life - Romans 6:23

3 (middle finger in front of index - Jesus taking our place) substitution - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life - John 3:16

4 (raise ring finger ) resurrection - Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.  1 Cor 16:3-4

5 (raise pinky) Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.  Acts 16:31

This is a fun way to share the gospel - plus it is easy enough that children can easily learn it.  It is something that can reinforce and teach the truth to all.....

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Come to Faith Scraps to get this QP for free...

Is This Your Life?

There is so much wisdom in the verse for today. (There is so much wisdom in all Scripture verses....)

James 3:17-18

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

God has given His wisdom through HIS Word - we can discover key things that can help us to live good lives....

• Purity - "having no faults; sinless"; we need to live lives that are good, we are "holy" - set apart for God.
• Peaceable - "freedom from disputes"; we need to live lives where we are making peace with others - no discord.
• Gentle - "kindly or tender nature"; we need to live lives that are kind to others - caring, loving - considerate.
• Open to Reason - "willing to yield"; we need to live lives where we don't have to get our own way all the time.
• Full of Mercy - "not getting the punishment that we deserve"; we need to live lives that are compassionate to others - we were forgiven of much - we need to forgive others so much more....
• Full of Good Fruits - we need to live lives that reproduce - are we sharing the love of God with others???
• Impartial - "Free from undue bias"; we need to live lives that is fair, loving towards ALL people - no matter what - this is "unconditional" love in action...
• Sincere - " In accordance with truth"; we need to live lives that are genuine, are we Sunday Christians only - or does our love for God permeate our whole lives?

If we are living a life that reflects these principles - we will have a happy good life. We will be living in peace with others - we will see this righteous living reflected in peace.

I am so thankful that God loves us so much that He gives us principles to live by. Our lives are so much more pleasant when we are considerate of those around us. We CAN live happy productive lives - with God's help.

Do you have God's help??? Do you know that God loved us so much - even in our sinful, rebellious state - that He sent His only Son, Jesus - to die on the cross for ALL of our sins??? God is waiting, with open arms to welcome you back - He greatly desires to have a relationship with you! Do you also know, that Jesus rose from the grave - He no longer is dead - He is a living Savior - He is God over all the universe? He knows and cares what is happening to you.

Run home - to the God who LOVES you so much....

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Come to Faith Scraps to see how to get this Word Art for free...





 

A Busy Life

Hi all,

Wow April has been really busy. I am not sure if you know, my hubby is deployed - so I am trying to keep up with everything while he is gone. We have 9 kids - I homeschool, design digi-scrap kits etc - so sometimes life gets very, very busy! That is just normal everyday life.... but when we are having to deal with little crisis - ie about $1000 in van repairs - life gets crazy.... LOL

But through all of these crisis etc - I have been doing well this month. What is the secret of my success - a relationship with Jesus Christ! I know that God is in control - no matter what happens - I see God's hand. He provides friends to help replace car parts - safety in getting home etc. I know that whatever happens that God is with me - and He loves me.

Today in "Keys For Kids" - we were reading about the firm foundation we have in Christ. When we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins - we have that firm foundation. When the storms / crisis come into our lives we can stand firm - relying on Jesus to take us through. We don't have weak foundation - we have a foundation that will stand firm!!!

I thank God that He loves us so much - that He gave His only Son to die in our place - that He walks with us in all of our storms / crisis!!!

Have you trusted Jesus? DO you believe that He died for your sins, so that you can have eternal life with God? God loves you so much that He does not want for you to perish! Trust Him today!!!

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Come to Faith Scraps and get this template for free...

What kind of Legacy are you leaving?

What kind of LEGACY are you leaving behind?  What will people remember you by?  I know that this is an important to us as scrapbookers - as this is our goal in doing LOs - to leave a legacy of our lives. 

But what about more important things - spending time with family, making those meaningful moments with our family.  Are we so busy scrapping, designing etc that we miss these opportunities???

How about life / death???  Do you know where you will be when you die?  Will you be greeting your Saviour - Jesus Christ? 

The verse for today talks about this....

“who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” (2 Timothy 1:9)

God wants a relationship with us - he planned it before the beginning of time.... He knew that we would need a Perfect payment for our sins - anything less would not suffice.  So He sent His one and only Son - Jesus - the only perfect one (He NEVER sinned) to die in our place.  He took our penalty for sin - our prison sentence (so to speak) - He took our punishment on Himself so that we could live forever with God.  Have you accepted Jesus' great love for you??? - He died for YOU!!! 

If you have accepted what Jesus is offering to you, what are you doing with His great love?  Are you sharing this Good News with others?  Are you spreading His great love with your family, friends?  Are you sharing your love in your LOs. 

Let's leave a legacy that really counts!  Make sure that future generations know where you stood in Christ!!!

Proverbs 3:35
The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools.

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Speaking of Legacy...  Here is a LO I did of my daughter...



Here is the Word Art I made for you....



Download here

If you like my freebies - please leave me some feedback.  I want to know whether or not anyone finds these items useful....  THANK YOU!!!

What About Me???

God is so good.... I should not be surprised when He amazes me so. It is so neat how His Word, from different sources all link together - today.....

The verse for the day...
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

Goes so well with other verses I have read for today.... I am doing a daily devotional in the morning - as well as other things throughout the day - when time permits. I am being so encouraged & empowered by God!!!

I could have titled today's inspiration as - How could God use me? There are so many others who are equipped more than us - know more - studied more.... but God has chosen each of us to spread the "Good News"..... If we look at the Bible Heroes of the Faith - their great deeds they did for God can be so discouraging.... but look again - they each were sinners. They just let God use them in their weaknesses.

A good friend of mine sent me this last night - it really touches home on this subject....

If we truly believe what God says about our VALUE to Him, (more valuable than many sparrows that God clothes & feeds) our lives will be dramatically altered.

1. Believing our great value to God frees us from much hypocrisy.

- The bottom line of hypocrisy is the need for people to think more highly of us than we really are. Let's face it. It's easier to act than to clean up our act.

2. Believing our great value to God frees us from unnecessary fear.

- If we are in His fold and are called His friends, Christ's word to us is this: don't be afraid; you are worth more.

3. Believing our great value to God frees us to acknowledge Him shamelessly.

- If He is not ashamed of us, in all our imperfections, how can we be ashamed of Him, our Redeemer and our Deliverer?

4. Believing our great value to God frees us from the need for riches.

- If we believe our value to God and believe our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions, why do we have such an abundance of possessions?

5. Believing our great value to God frees us from much worry.

- Christ's remedy for worry is to be like the ravens and lilies--trust God to do His job.

- Am I going to trust my worries or trust God?

I pray that with this FREEDOM you can be BOLD for God - let's spread the Good News that Jesus died on the cross for our sins!!!

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Happy Kite was my very 1st kit - it was inspired my an outfit I had for my little girls....



Happy Kite Kit

Have Mercy....

What is mercy?

mercy = compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power


In Matthew 9, we find that Jesus went to eat with sinners - and the Pharisees started to complain. Jesus was showing these people mercy / compassion - "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." He was walking the walk - His actions were reflecting what He talked about. He was not being a hypocrite....

The verse for today is... “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)

Are we sharing this good news to EVERYONE around us - not just who we deem as "good". None of us are "good" - we all have sinned. Jesus was the ultimate example of what He wants us to do.... He ate with sinners, He had compassion on sinners, He healed sinners - He sacrificed His life for sinners..... He LOVES sinners!!!

How are we doing as Christians? Are we true "Christ-followers"? Do we do like Jesus did/does?

Are we afraid of what others might think??? Or are we willing to talk to / fellowship with / those whom Jesus came to die for??? The Gospel - GOOD NEWS is meant for sinners!!!

* Are you willing to know the Good News of God's mercy??? That He sent His only Son to die for your sins....

* Are you willing to make God's mercy an important part of your life??? Study God's Word, memorize it - make it part of who you are - live by it's word....

* Are you willing to tell others how God loves them so much??? "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

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Come here and read about how you can get this freebie...

Today, I just made this LO of oldest son - I can't believe he will be 17 in a couple of weeks....

What Are Your Plans???

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13

Does you life reflect your faith in God? Do you believe that He wants what is best for you? Do you seek Him with all your heart?

Ask yourself these questions...

* Do I serve as He served? Remember how He humbled Himself as a servant (washed the disciples feet - the lowest of servants had this job).

* Do I forgive as He forgave? Remember how He forgave all sinners (He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery - "He who is without sin, cast the first stone..." He said I forgive you).

* Do I Pray as He prayed? Remember how He would prayed for God's strength (even before the cross - He prayed drops of blood.... earnestly praying to God).

* Do I Sacrifice as He sacrificed? Remember how He gave up HIS throne - to come to earth, become a man, became a humble servant, died on the cross for our sins - NOT HIS (Jesus was sinless).

God loves us so much that He gave us HIS only Son Jesus to die in our stead. He wants us to live with Him in eternity. He cares about us - our lives, what is happening, our needs. We only need to seek Him - look to Him for our comfort during times of trouble - rejoice with Him in times of joy!

I am so thankful to God - and I pray that I can be a good example of Jesus' love to others.

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Come here and see how you can get this QP for free...

One thing I am thankful is the relationship that my 2nd oldest and 2nd youngest daughters have. They have always been close.... Here is a LO of a recent birthday celebration....

Busy-ness, LO shares and fun

Hi all,

Well life is busy.  We started school this week - it is going well. 

Our oldest daughter stayed in MI with grandparents - she is almost 21.  So we are giving her bedroom to the two youngest girls 16 months and almost 7 years.  At least the older one is sleeping in there.  The other day, Jessica pulled the small plastic play kitchen on top of her - it is not very sturdy - so I want to get them a new one.  Well yesterday, I found this cool play kitchen made out of an entertainment center.  SO today I went and bought one for $20 - it is sooooo heavy ( ooops).....  I will be showing before, during and after pics - and I am sure I will be making a LO of it....  I know this will be a lot of fun to make it.  I also decided to make some felt food - there are some great patterns on etsy.... plus I found some free ones I am going to try first.... who knows, I may even just make up my own patterns....

I finally was able to do some scrapping - I got 4 LOs done the other day.  Well I am on the Digitals Team CT - it is a lot of fun - working with all the different designers.  So these are all using Maddy Fernandez' Summer Bloom and Summer Leisure kits.  I also used 2 of Hummie's templates - they really inspired me to make these LOs....











It is so nice to get some scrapping done!!!  Next, I am going to work on the challenges at KJOI Studios.  One is to scrap one photo a week to account for what happened.  So I am going to try and do this for January to catch up - there might be a lot of journaling rather than as many photos.  I think it might be good to journal our year - especially with hubby being gone....

So now onto doing some LOs ....

Firm Resolutions

Hi all - do you find yourself making resolutions at this time of the year?  Are you making keepable resolutions?  How about joining us in the challenge at Faith Sisters and make Firm Resolutions in Christ!

We have made mini-kits to help you to scrap your resolutions - this is mine...



Here is my LO...



I have made this LO into a QP.

Download Here

I hope you will join us in making Firm Resolutions In Christ!