Pride

I would tell you that I don't really have trouble with pride..........but I'm thinking that might be prideful!  What do you think?

No Need of the Sun

The page speaks for itself!  We had beautiful weather today!  Don't know the actual temp, but I'd say 60ish!  I'm soooooo ready for spring! 

Helmet of Salvation

Don't laugh too hard when you see this!

Jessica J. the "experiment" is in the mail!  Should be received at the "lab" Monday or Tuesday!  :D

OK, all "code" talk aside, I think I am ready to tackle the rest of the ski masks!  Elisabeth, after getting this one done, I KNOW for a fact that doing them in single crochet will keep the owner VERY warm!  I'm going to need some measurements to make sure I get the little ones the right size, however, but I'll get with you on that in a separate e-mail.

Can I "assume" that hunting season is over?  If so, I think I will use a color I have on hand for Brad and Ryan's "helmets!"  :D  Yours and Hannah's will still be the off white color, however.  I'm going to rip the one apart and start over with the single crochet stitch.

Jessica J.  I've still got your cowl scarf in mind.  I just haven't been able to find a black with red speck in it.  I might have to get creative on that one!  :D  And we all know that I CAN get VERY creative!  :D

I used my Winter Wonders kit on this page.

One more thing before I forget.........Happy Birthday to my dearly departed mother who would have been 77 earth years today!  I miss you, mom! 

From the Hand of God

Yes, God is so Good, even in the seemingly unimportant areas of our lives.  He loves us as a Father and wants to give us our desires!  Leaving even the smallest of areas in His hands will result in blessings!

I used my "Love, the Greatest of These" kit.

Our Warfare

Tim and I did something different than our usual thrift stores this week.  We went 2 hours south of us to the Special Ops Museum in Fayetteville, NC.  Very interesting!  I got lots of good pictures, but something about this figure's eyes caught my attention!  I imagined all kinds of thoughts that could possibly have been going through someone's mind in the midst of a war and watching for the enemy on every side.  I could ONLY imagine!  Thank God for brave men and women who fight for our freedom!

The second picture............I was caught off guard when I rounded the corner and saw this "guy" hiding behind the wall with the gun aimed right at me!  WHEW!  My heart skipped a few beats!

We actually did find a not-so-good Goodwill today while in Fayetteville!  Also stopped at a "thrift" store but after we got in there, it was mostly new or slightly used furniture and no-so-thrifty prices!

Friends

I knew my new kit, "Love, the Greatest of These," would make really cute Valentine Cards!  And, I was right!  :D  IMHO, of course!

Tried by Fire

Tim and I watched a really good Christian movie, "Fireproof."  I highly recommend it!  There will always be times in your marriage where you disagree with your spouse, but it doesn't have to lead to divorce!  I'll never forget the time that our family was all in the car after school one afternoon.  Tim and I disagreed about something, not really thinking about what affect it would have on the kids, even though it was, I'm sure, a petty thing.  Nathanael, who was maybe 6 asked, "Does this mean you are going to get a divorce?"  I was shocked!  We explained that just because we disagree doesn't mean that we don't still love each other.  But that taught me a lesson to watch my words and try to watch the tone of my voice.  I'm the one whose voice usually escalates while Tim is very calm.  WHEW!  I hope the kids saw very few incidents like that!

I used my new kit, "Love, the Greatest of These."

Catch Up

I've been working hard on some new product, so I'm late getting my pages posted!  Check out my Today's Scrap blog if you want to see the new product!  :D

Physical Food!

 Spiritual Food!

 No Food........yet!

Earth and Seas

I finally saw the Cardinal at the bird feeder that Michael told Tim he saw last weekend!  BEAUTIFUL is the only word to describe them!  I barely got a picture because he was sitting on the back side of the bird feeder away from the house and I was just able to catch this picture as the wind turned the feeder.  Today I cleaned the fish tank and as I was stirring up the debris some baby fish swam up out of the muck and mire.  I found 4, but one was barely alive and finally died.  The other momma fish looks like she could have babies any day.  I had planned on putting the older babies into the tank with the rest anyway today, but even more so since I had more babies!  It is hard to believe how much the older babies grew this past week!

I used my portion of a charity kit, Jesus Loves the Little Children.  I really like the bg paper!  Fits very well with today's pictures of the fish, too!

Heart and Soul

Jessica gave me a pretty box probably a year or more ago that I want to use as inspiration for a kit.  But, I haven't gotten "a round tuit" yet, lol!  I moved it closer to my computer desk thinking that might inspire me!  Not so much........yet!  But, I was looking at the box today and read the saying on it and decided that it should be applied to my life as a Christian, and every other Christian's life, for that matter!

I used my kit, Love, the Greatest of These, which will be ready for the store soon!

THE Way

Another thought-provoking church sign for this week.  The question someone should ask is, "What is Plan A?"  Jesus answered this question Himself................

I used my "Precious Gifts" kit and addon

O Wretched Man

And I'm not talking about Tim, either!  I'm speaking of myself!

My page today is made using a quick page from my Winter Wonders kit.

Our Get-together Layouts

We had such a good time this weekend!  Lots of fun!  Games, toys, laughs, hugs, kisses.........and sickness!  Both Jessica's, our daughter and our daughter-in-love, had nausea.  Little Ryan had the pukies after he left.  You can read about that lovely trip home here.  Thank the LORD Ryan is better now and no one else got "it," whatever "it" was!  Our daughter, Jessica felt horrible all day yesterday.....and then had to drive a 6 hour trip to home on top of that.  Little Michael was feeling pukie on the drive home, garbage bag in hand.  Hope he is better, too!

That's the bad news.  Here's the good news!  Thanks to everyone for the wonderful time, love and gifts!  We love you all!  And, we sure missed Nat and Cheryl being there!  Hope you can be with us the next time we gather!

I used my (In the) NICK of Time! kit

I used my Winter Wonders kit

I used my Precious Gifts kit and addon

Faithful and Wise Steward and Rejoice Evermore

Short and sweet because Liz and family are here for the weekend!  :D
Since I forgot to post my page for yesterday, you get 2 to look at today.  I'll let the journaling tell you everything!  :D

The Beauty of Old Men

Bet that title intrigued you, didn't it?!  :D

Today we made a visit to our shut-in member of the church.  Over the last several months he has become increasingly more and more unsteady on his feet.  After all, he's ONLY almost 100 years old!  I pray I can get around as well when I become his age!  I'm believing more and more from the condition of the world that by that time the rapture will have taken place and those of us who are Christians will ALL be moving around VERY well and in perfect bodies!  It is hard for this finite mind to comprehend!  It is only by God's amazing Grace that I can even begin to believe it!

Anyway, I got sidetracked.  Since none of us know the exact number of days the LORD is going to allow us to live on earth, I wanted to take a few pictures of our visit today.  He has such a sharp mind, and is very interesting to listen to as he talks about some of the history of his family.  And my friend, Karabeth, will appreciate the fact that he has done some genealogical recording of his family history.  Not research to the extent that Karabeth has done, but more than most, including me!  And I really think that his age has a lot to do with all the information he has written down.  In other words, he is still alive to tell the story of his family!  He has found that his last name has not always been spelled the way it is today.  Depending on how it was pronounced is how it was spelled in years gone by.  My friend, Karabeth, has found this to be true in her own family research.

I blurred his face in this page because I did not ask for permission to post this page.  That is why I have been very careful not to mention his name.  We will show these pictures during our New Years Eve service/fellowship and everyone will smile.  And SHOULD the LORD call him home before that time, the smile will be even broader as they think of him walking effortlessly on streets of pure gold!  And should I be the one the LORD calls home, I hope the smiles will be broad, too!  :D


I could have used a couple of verses with today's page, but I chose this one because the picture represents the strength of youth, not that I'm THAT young, and the beauty of the gray, (I'm talking about HIS), not to mention bald, head!  My blessing today is strength to still come and go and do as I please!  I used my WINTER WONDERS kit for the page, btw.

Forgiven

Every week Tim gives me what he wants on the church sign.  I usually change it on Monday, unless Tuesday's forecast is warmer than Monday, LOL!  Not so much this week!  Like most of the south eastern portion of the US, the forecast was snow and more snow!  And for us, ice on top of the snow!  Not good!  So, I braved the cold and with my rubber gloves and letters I went to work! 

Today when I got up, the first thing I did was to check to see how much of that white stuff we had gotten over night!  I opened the front door to take a picture and as the church sign came into view with the snow all around, the first thing that popped into my mind was the passage of scripture in Isaiah that talks about our sins being as scarlet but that God can make them white as snow when He forgives our sin as we put our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ!  My blessing today.............I'M FORGIVEN!!!  I pray that you are, too!

I used my "Winter Wonders" kit for this page.  Tim snapped the first picture while I was working on the sign yesterday.

Merchants' Ships

Did some grocery shopping for this coming weekend with the kids coming.  We spend ALOT of time at Walmart, but it's not because I have to buy fresh meat and dairy products each day..........thank the LORD!  I sure am thankful for my refrigerators!  But, if you didn't know any differently, like the Jews in Bible times, then it wouldn't bother you, would it?!  BUT, I'm still thankful for my MODERN refrigeration!!!

I used my new kit I'm still working on to create this page today.  I wanted to see what it was looking like!  :D

And God Said.......

When I'm sitting at my computer, I can take a break while I'm still sitting there!  I watch the fish in the tank right next to my computer desk.  Very relaxing!  And, what beauty in God's creatures!

I used Wishin' I Were Fishin' for this page.

Filthy Rags

Saturday is laundry day.  You would think with only 2 people that I could get it done in no time!  But, it generally takes me all day, especially if I am trying to multi task, which is ALWAYS the case!  Working on the computer, cleaning, getting SS lessons finished...............

Today's laundry duty turned my thoughts to filthy rags.  Tim uses an illustration of taking a bunch of dirty, filthy rags from where the oil has been changed on a car and offering those to God in exchange for admittance into heaven.  While my laundry (usually) is never that dirty, I still don't think God would take it in exchange for admittance into heaven.  As a matter-of-fact, I KNOW He wouldn't!  The Bible is plain when it says Jesus is the only way in!

I pray that those who read this post will understand that you can't be good enough to get into heaven!  And you can't do enough good things to get in, either!  "Ye MUST be born again!"  That means that you have come to realize that you are a sinner; that's the bad news.  But the Good News is that Jesus died for sinners!  And, if you will believe that He died for your sins, and ask Him to forgive you, and put your faith and trust in what He did on the cross to save you, then you will be saved!  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment.

Today's page is made using my A Fresh Start kit.

Cloudless Days

Today's verse in my page is the weekly verse for the Providence 365 project that I am participating in at Faith Sisters this year.  Since the week started kinda off, due to the holiday, I decided I would use the verse every 7th day.  Today was cloudy and the wind was blowing and it was pretty chilly even though it was supposed to be in the 40s.  Don't know if it made it that high or not with the cloud cover.  But, the cloud cover was perfect for my picture for today!  And the more I thought about the inheritance each of us have received as God's children, I thought about the cloudless days that we will enjoy in heaven!  And the inspiration went even further and this little poem was worked up from my inspired brain!  :D

I used my "Morning Has Broken" kit for this page.  The scripture verse word art is by Precepts and Promises at Faith Sisters, who gave us the verse for this week.

The Fool Hath Said

The thing that just amazes me about God is why He chooses the people He does to give believing faith to, me included!  When I think of what a dirty, rotten sinner I am and the love and grace He showed when He decided to save me, it makes me weep!  I will never understand it!  Not with this feeble mind, anyway!  But, oh how thankful I am that He, in His sovereignty did so!  My blessing today:  believing faith!

Here's my page for today using my Winter Wonders kit.

Who can find a Virtuous Woman?

Today was the first day in a very loooooooooooooooong time that I stayed in my pj's, put on a housecoat and sat in the living room and crocheted.  It was very enjoyable!  I certainly was NOT being the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31, who must be on the go non stop!  But, I still thought about those verses and couldn't help but wonder if I could be thought of as a virtuous woman.  I hope so!  My blessing today:  being able to stay at home.

Here's my page for today, using my (In the) NICK of Time! kit.

Take No Thought

This is the first year since moving to NC that I've put up the bird feeders.  I always enjoy watching the birds eating at them!  While putting them up today I thought of the verses in Matthew, but opted to use the one in Luke because they were just a tad shorter for my page. 

I remember a time when Michael was a baby and we lived in Hebron, KY on River Road near the town of Taylorsport, that I was down to my last 2 jars of baby food.  Both jars were green beans.  I fed one jar to Michael but he was still hungry, as you can imagine since strained green beans are practically nothing but green water, so I fed him the other jar.  When he realized it was more green beans, he didn't want them.  But I kept feeding them to him til the jar was empty.  The next thing I knew, Michael was throwing those strained green beans up all over me!  I had pushed his button that caused him to throw up very easily.  And when I talk about Michael throwing up, it was not just a little spit up.............it was a gushing fountain!  And the stream would go far and wide!  The term I want to use has escaped me, but he threw up like that his whole childhood!  One time when he was sick he was standing at the top of the stairs and I ran down the stairs to grab a trash can for him, but as I hit the landing, so did Michael's vomit.........all over the back of me........projectile vomiting is the term I was thinking of!  We lived in Addyston, OH at the time, and this was an old house with a very steep staircase, probably 15 ft from one floor to the next as the ceilings were 12 foot ceilings!  Anyway, what a mess that particular event made!  All I can say is that I hope it has gotten better for him as an adult!

My blessing for the day:  The LORD has more than abundantly supplied all our needs, especially in the food area!

I used my Winter Wonders kit for this page.

Precious Gifts

As much as I hate to see the grandkids grow up so fast, it is such a joy to be able to have a conversation with them on the phone, with the exception of the youngest one, Sawyer.  Monday is the night I try to remember to call them.  When I talk to Kara, she paces back and forth on the floor.  And when I ask her a question like, "Did you have fun in the airport?" she will say, "Did I have fun in the airport?  Oh, yes! very much!"  And for whatever reason, she reminds me of Shirley Temple with that little Big girl sort of voice!  Hannah, when asked what she is doing, she says that she is playing a proceeds to tell me all about her (toy) baby cat that she had to take to the Dr. and how she had to take special care of her and how she got crazy at certain times.  I asked her if she went back to school today and her pretending continued as she told me about taking the cat to school.  I really only said a few things to her as she carried on the whole conversation!  It was too funny!  What an imagination she has!  I really think she might be a Doctor when she grows up because every time she plays, a doctor visit is involved!  And tonight Ryan was her pet dog, so he said, "Hi, mamaw" one time and barked and then said, "Do you want to talk to mommy now?"  My conversation with Michael was about school, which he really likes this year, even though his mommy might tell you his grades don't really prove he likes to study!  I asked him what his favorite class was, to which he replied, "Science!"  Who knows!  He might be the next Einstein!  My blessing for the day:  having 5 precious gifts (almost 6) that are called GRANDchildren!

Here's my page for today using my Precious Gifts Addon:

Safely Through Another Week

Does it bother you when you go to church and hardly anyone makes the effort, for whatever reason, to come for the Sunday School hour?  It does me!  Forget the fact that teachers have worked all week preparing lessons and forget the fact that it is commanded that we "forsake not the assembling of ourselves together."  And I'm not talking about people who are sick, or shut in, or have to work.  It just seems to me that Christians should be so thankful that the LORD chose to save them that they would WANT to be in His house as much as possible!!!   Can you say.....GRATITUDE!!!   And how about the mid-week services?  Again, I'm not talking about those who have to work....but the rest of God's people should be in His house to get the spiritual refueling they need (from God's man who has studied HARD)  to carry them through the rest of the week!  ARRRRRGGGHHHH!!!   Anyway.....my blessing for today:  thanks to mom and dad who made sure we were in church every time the doors were open, come hail or high water, so we would come to realize how important His church is in our lives!  Do I hear an AMEN on that! 

Here's my Providence 365 page for today, using my kit, Precious Gifts.

Safely Through Another Week

Goals and Resolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Been thinking about goals and resolutions?  I have.  I'm not a "resolution keeper" but every year I set a goal for myself of reading my Bible and praying EVERY day.  And, every year I fail to one degree or another!  I did better in 2010 than I ever have, but I still failed, in my eyes.

The LORD, in His divine way of doing things, brought a verse to my attention this week.  And, it all started with the possession of a book mark that I have had for several years.  In fact, it was given to me by someone, probably a secret sister from our days at BBC, but I just don't remember.  I usually don't keep bookmarks in my Bible because, to me, they get in the way.  But this book mark is so pretty and DELIGHTful that I have kept it on my computer desk.  Well, when I started thinking about my failures this week, this book mark sorta, kinda jumped out at me!  The verse is Psalm 37:4, "DELIGHT thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."  (The word "also" is there because verse 3 instructs us to Trust in the LORD.)  The LORD spoke to me with this verse.  He "told" me that I was not DELIGHTing myself in the "chore" of reading my Bible and praying every day!  Do you see where I'm going with this?  If you and I DELIGHT in "something," we make sure we get to do that "something," don't we?  You know how it is.   You can ALWAYS make time to do the things you REALLY want to do!  I really think this has been my problem in my Bible reading and prayer life.  It has been a CHORE to me.........not a DELIGHT!  I don't HAVE to do it............I GET to do it!  I didn't have this attitude intentionally!  I really think the devil had something to do with it, but now that I know, I can do something about it!  After all, the first offense is a good defense!

That being said, MY verse for 2011 is Psalm 37:4.  And MY word for 2011 is DELIGHT!  You see, my new desire is that I "WANT TO" DELIGHT myself in the LORD!  I feel confident that this is the answer to my problem of not keeping my goal to read my Bible and pray every day!

How about you?  Have you made any New Year's resolutions or goals?

There is going to be a new "challenge" at Faith Sisters called Providence 365.  It focuses on the blessings of God in our lives.  I would encourage each of you to check it out.  Maybe you can take the challenge and, if you don't want to do the digi scrapping thing, create your own version of the challenge!  I intended to begin the 365 project again this year, anyway, but now, it will be called "Providence 365."  As soon as I find the forum and gallery, I'll post the links.

Here's my cover:

Providence 365 Cover using A Fresh Start and today's page using Wishin' I Were Fishin' by Today's Scrap