A few thoughts....

Nothing crafty for today, but I have been wanting to share a bit of my Faith Journey here on my blog. 

I set a goal at the beginning of the year that I would have quiet time EVERY morning with the Lord. It was not just going to be reading a devotional or a scripture verse but to write a reflection as well. I know that for me if I don't sit and write out the thoughts then I don't really think about it. For the most part, I have reached that goal. I am finding God is reaching out to me and teaching me so much during this time spent reading and studying His Word. However, He has also shown me that it's not just about reading and learning His Word but about living it. 

The other day this was the Bible verse in my Daily Devotional Reading - 

 Philippians 2:13

 "For it is God who works in you to will and act according to good purpose.

I use the Life Application NIV version of the Bible which has helped me to not only better understand scripture but to also put it in context. I read through the notes on this verse which basically stated that I need to submit completely to God and allow Him to work in me to make the changes that HE wants made.

Here was my reflection on this verse -

Many times in my life with many things(spiritual, physical, and mental) i have been good at reading and learning about what I should do and change. I have done that so often in my walk with God and still do. I have come to realize that I take in all these shoulds and try make all these changes at once. This of course leads me to being overwhelmed and then I give up and do nothing but find something new to read and learn about only making the situation ,worse. This morning God told me to work on one area and only one area at a time. For today He told me to be gentle and kind in my tone of voice and words that I say to others. So that's 

what I am going to do!!!

The best part of the whole day was at night, when I realized that God had been right there with me all day. He helped me to speak to others in my life with kind and gentle words all day. I know for some that may come naturally but I know one of my personal struggles is with being short-tempered. It is something I will continue to work on letting God create the change in me!!

Thanks for coming by!! I hope to find time to share more of my journey!!

Many Blessings and Hugs,

Faith Goals 2012 - The Journey Starts...

As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of my major goals this year is to grow closer to our Lord. In my journey to accomplish that I have set up goals to keep me focused on doing that.  I purchased the beautiful Faith Goals kit from Dawn at Faithfully Yours store but wasn't quite sure how I wanted to use it. 

Then last weekend at a crop, a friend I hadn't seen in a long time and I spent much of our time scrapping and chatting mostly about our faith. As a result of those conversations, she suggested that I set up my journal in a monthly manner and I knew that was my answer.

My first instinct was to create all the monthly dividers right away so they were ready to go. I had already decided that instead of One Little Word for the whole year ala Ali Edwards; I would go month by month. I am letting the Lord show me the way on this. So my plan now is to create the month's divider and layouts the following month. (Hope that makes sense). I do my daily Bible Study on good old fashioned notebook paper so it works great to pop open my binder and put the month's study pages in there. Then I can look through them, pray, reflect and create LO's about the word of the month as lead by the Lord.

My word for January was Grace It was originally my One Little Word until God pointed me in a different direction for February hence my new approach.  Here is my divider I created yesterday for January.  I will keep reflecting and listening to the Lord about this word and add to the section throughout the year.

February's word came to me a little differently. I thought it would be surrender but then as I read through all the verses that the Lord had me study in February, I knew it was Strength - not in myself but from and in Him.  I'll be working on that divider next.

At this point my March word, appears to be humility but again I will wait and see how the Lord leads me!!

The Faith Goals kit has already helped me to document my faith journey for the year of 2012 in a very doable way. Not to mention the papers are gorgeous. It comes in a Kraft colored binder which I have still not decorated but that will come with time.  Dawn has also created all of the papers in digital format as well!! :-)

I am so excited to have reconnected with Dawn and Faithfully Yours which is much more than just a store. It is an incredible resource of ideas for including your faith in your daily scrapbooks, creating a faith book and wonderful devotional thoughts. You can also find some wonderful conversation and support taking place in the Facebook group and I invite you to join us there. 

I am really looking forward to my year of building my relationship with God and learning how to make sure my life focuses on "thy will be done" rather than my will be done!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope your week ahead is filled with many blessings!!

Blessings and Hugs,

My Faith Goals for 2012

As I mentioned last week, I am going to include my faith more in my creative projects.  This is a layout I did about my Faith Goals for 2012.  I attended a webinar at Faithfully Yours at the end of December and realized if I was truly going to include the Lord in my life I needed some goals for doing so. 

I created this layout using the new Faith Goals kit from Faithfully Yours and various other embellishments from my stash.  I was really excited that Dawn asked if she could feature it on the Faithfully Yours blog yesterday. If you visit the blog you can read a bit more about the story behind the layout.  They also have a wonderful Facebook group if you are interested in joining. 

It has been a rough 6 months but the one strong and steady has been the Lord. I do not fully understand His purpose for me and my life but trust that in his time I will. 

Romans 8:28 
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Thanks for coming by!! Blessings and Hugs!!