Fall in Michigan...

Ok, I guess this is Fall in northern Michigan... but I am not liking it right now. It is cold, rainy & windy... 46º... almost that cold in the house too! Brrrrrr! This is me whining about the cold, but actually Fall is my favorite time of year... when it is nice & cool... not cold & rainy! I can give thanks that I am indoors & not outside today!

Had a beautiful weekend... went to a pig roast with our church family out in God's nature. The colors are not turned too much yet but it will be gorgeous soon... if this wind doesn't blow all the leaves off the trees! Luke & I did take a little hike into the woods & I had him take this picture of a leaf in "transition"... still a little green, but the beauty of Fall is starting to cover it.

That is kind of how I feel my spiritual life is sometimes... God is taking me in my natural state (green) & little by little He is helping me see His beauty all over me. Just like on the leaf there are those mars & imperfections, but overall you see the beauty God created.

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"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." II Corinthians 3:18

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with a grateFUL HEART, carin

He's here...

I am still here... although my pictures are not uploading to blogger from my mom's computer... what is with that??? Anyway, I am at my parents' house for the week... everything is good. I am trying to help where I can with all that is going on with my sister's family and their fire restoration... mostly moral support on my part. Let me review the last 6 months of what has happened with my sister & her family:


- in late March they had a pile of wood catch fire in their yard... with high winds the fire department was called.

- in late April they had a fire in their basement... causing the whole house to have severe smoke damage. The fire chief said that 10 more minutes & the smoke would have made it impossible to get out.

- my sister & brother-in-law have been living with our parents. My 2 nieces have been living with my younger sister, along with their dog & 2 cats.

- the youngest daughter graduated from high school in June.

- BIL had thyroid surgery in July, which resulted in a cancer diagnosis for him & second surgery to remove all of his thyroid.

- August found sister & BIL in Detroit area for 5 days while he received cancer treatments.

- last Saturday my BIL's pickup motor blew... now they are without a vehicle for him to get to work.


I say all this to ask you the question... what would you do if you were dealing with all this? I realize there are so many worse things that could happen... no one died... no one got hurt, but when you have times like these in your life what do you do? When you cry out to God & He seems to be silent... I was trying to encourage my sis that this may be her time in the "wilderness." The wilderness makes us stronger & we know God is always there with us, but what do you do when He seems to be silent? This verse came to my mind:

"And he said unto me, 'My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." II Corinthians 12:9

How powerful is that! Where would I be... where would my family be without God? I share all this with you to say that no matter the circumstances... God is still holding onto His children... that is my assurance. Oh & if you have an extra prayer or two say one for my family. Through it all I will praise Him. Praise Him in the good... praise Him in the bad... just praise Him.

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Good Measure...

Today has been a good Saturday! I am getting ready to go to the Thumb for a few days to be with my family, so I am trying to get things in order for Luke before I leave... not that he needs me to do that, but I want to... I don't like being gone from him, but I really want to be in the Thumb to be with my sister as they are getting closer to being back in their home... 5 months since the fire!

Had a great day yesterday with PFF girls (Pink Flip Flop girls... don't ask!)... I actually did a little, very little scrap booking. Yes, this 2 page layout is all I got done, but we did a lot of chatting & of course a little nibbling too... they are great friends! I am blessed with all kinds of great friends in my life.

I have been thinking lately about blessing people with my actions, words, service, financially... I was raised with the drive to bless others when possible, so that is fairly easy for me... I love to give! However, since I lost my job almost 1 1/2 years ago, the finances have really started to be low... which in turn makes it not as easy to do for others like I would like to. Now, for one of the many lessons God is teaching me through this whole thing is that sometimes I have to be the one to receive the blessing from others... that is a hard one for me! In the past when I have tried to bless someone & they were reluctant to receive, I said the same thing, "I am blessed by blessing you & sometimes you need to not deny me of that blessing"... easier to say than to live... for me anyway. I was talking with my sister earlier today & she just told me to stop being selfish & let someone bless me... she will be happy to know I actually listened to something she said to me. *Ü* I wonder what any of you think on this subject... in general... would you share your thoughts with me?

This verse came to mind today & knew it was what I needed to share with you:

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

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Thanks for stopping... with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Walk in light...

Walkin' through Wednesday... first off today was WW weigh-in day... I did have a loss, but I am going to tell you my grand total (so far) at the end of my post today... I know... oh the suspense!

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We have a store in Cadillac called Merchandise Outlet... they have some really cool bargains, so I have to limit my visits, but the other day I was in there & came across this really neat yarn, which I used on this card... it was 115 yards for a buck! See what a bargain! Ok, I know I am easily excited by strange things... ah... I find joy in little things. *Ü* So I made this card with mega color... it reminds me of Summer & I am not quite ready to give it up yet... the layout came from a card I saw from Deann Oliver a long time ago. I know it is bright, but it also is happy!

As I was growing up I always had to have a night light on in the hall at night... in fact I still don't like the room to be totally dark... we have a night light in our bathroom just off our bedroom. That was something Luke had to get use to when we got married, but he just wants me to be comfy to sleep so he sacrificed... besides he is a sound sleeper... you could drop a bomb on his head & he wouldn't wake up! So when I came across this verse today... the idea of the light thrills me... I don't ever have to walk in darkness again... through the love of God in Christ He made that my reality... is it yours? I hope so.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" Ephesians 5:8

Ok, now the total weight loss after 3 weeks is... 5 pounds! May not seem like much to some but I am so happy... think I'll celebrate with a piece of cake! Just kidding!

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Taking time to praise Him...

Quick post today... busy day. I have some important things to share... well important to me anyway.

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First, Women to Women Sharing Jesus has a new devotional today by moi... please check it out & let me know what you think. I pray it will speak to people just like it spoke to me as I wrote it.

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I had to share this beautiful rose with you from our rose garden... not sure of the name of the rose, but it is gorgeous just the same. Psalm 103:22 "All of God's creation and all that he rules, come and praise your LORD! With all my heart I praise the LORD!"

We have Night Out for Ladies tonight at church, so that makes for a busy day, but it will be a great night! This other pic is of some simple bookmarks I did to add to gift bags for NOFL. Simple... but I think cute... had to add a little bling with stickles!

Have a blessed day... with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Fruit anyone?

It is Wednesday... WW weigh-in day... down one more pound for this week, which brings my total for 2 weeks to... drum roll please... 4.2 pounds... yay!

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Had lunch with 3 beautiful, sweet friends... love them to pieces! It was my friend, Sharon's birthday lunch, so we nibbled & chatted for a couple hours... very nice afternoon. So for her gift I made her this little "purse" filled with note cards. Actually it is a take on the Top Note Purse, but I used my Cricut to cut the "top note" pieces. Used Versa Mark and heat embossed on the SU Choc. Chip cs with a build a brad for the center.

Used my favorite set "God's Beauty" for the cards with Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral, Mellow Moss; heat embossed the butterfly too.
She really seemed to like it, so that is all that matters! What do you think?

I am gonna give you a little serving of "fruit" today --

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"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,...let your mind dwell on these things." Philippians 4:8

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with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Tuesday Mojo...

Just a quick post... I know 2 in 1 day! Posting this card I did for Mojo Monday over at the Verve blog. Used some of my SU Raspberry Tart... soon I will not have any left... that is hard for me being the hoarder that I am! Also used another one of my new stamps from Verve... really enjoy my new word stamps from there!

That's it... off to make supper... oh yeah I will be back tomorrow... it is weigh-in day at WW... second week... harder for me then the first... just sayin'.

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Comforting thoughts...

Hope you all had an outstanding weekend! Ours was very laid-back... the only place we went was to church, but that was okay... it was just what we wanted. Luke made some home-made ice cream & we did share a little of that with the neighbors/friends. Yummy for the tummy not so great for the WW! *ö*

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We (Luke) also got my birdhouse up in our yard... don't know if any birds will live there but I just love having it there! My daddy built it for me & then I painted it the color I wanted... my dad is "Mr Woodworking" he has his own handyman business & he makes different birdhouses & special order furniture... he is very talented... I am thinking maybe he should get an etsy account to sell his wares!

Here is a simple little card I put together for a friend's birthday... I love that fat cat! I heat-embossed him & then cut him out to make him "pop" off the card.
Came across these verses this morning... knew I had to share them with you --
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"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." II Corinthians 1:3-4

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You never know who you might come across today that needs that little bit of comfort.

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with a grateFUL HEART, carin

It's the stillness...

This has been a remarkable day... I haven't done anything too spectacular... just odd & end things around the house. What makes it so fantastic is that I had an incredible quiet-time this morning... it was one of those times I just knew I needed to let things go & let my Heavenly Papa take me in His arms. Do know what I am talking about? When you keep caring this garbage around with you... and you know you just don't need to be caring it. It is so refreshing... which leads me to this card I created...

I just adore how it turned out... am I aloud to say that about my own creation??? Oh well, I did! *Ü*

I get emails from Michelle Zindorf's blog & she had this card... well, not exactly this card, but mine is a variation of hers. Plus, in the mail today I got my new Verve verse stamps... their stamps are so sweet! I just knew I had to take some of the clear sheet from SU & stamp Psalm 46:10 with Staz-on to put on this card.

I just had to buy 4 verse stamps from Verve (what they call "Plain Janes" I think). My friend, Teresa Kline aka Enjoy the VA Sunshine, was just named one of their new "Divas" on Verve, check out this post to find out how to receive a discount, but hurry it is only good Sept. 1 - 8... congratulations Teresa!

Things are going good with WW, but I am getting hungry so best get at supper before something goes into my mouth that shouldn't... I am a snacker!

Have a blessed weekend!

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Mums the word...

Happy Labor Day Weekend to all of you! Can you believe it is Labor Day already? This time of the year always made me feel a little sad... that is when I was still in school. End of summer break... back to school... sorry to say I was not a big fan of school. I did good in school... you know that perfectionism thing... but I really didn't like school. So I feel for the kids going back to school.

Here is a simple little card I did using my friend, Ruth's butterfly die. Really like that die... plus it feeds my butterfly fascination.

I was out pulling weeds & dead-heading flowers this morning... my annuals are pretty well shot, but the perennials & mums are just getting beautiful... I love my flowers & the garden, but I hate the weeds! Just like in life you have to nurture the good (flowers) and keep the bad (weeds) from growing out of control.

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7

I need to sow what I want to reap... if I want goodness & joy then I best be sowing goodness & joy into other peoples lives. If I sow hurt & misery in others lives that is what I will reap in my own. This was a new thought for me, but it does make perfect sense to me... I know it might be a little deep, but I really felt like sharing it for myself... and maybe for someone else out there in "blog land"... *Ü*

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Thanks for stopping... hope all of you have a great weekend!

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Choices...

Do you ever think about the choices you make in your life... I think so many times I just move through life on "auto-pilot" never really paying close attention to my choices. I am not talking about major choices but mostly little everyday choices. Right now our pastor is doing a series of messages on choices, called "Multiple Choice - every choice leads somewhere." It has made me think about my choices... and too since I went back to Weight Watchers last week... that is all about choices. BTW - today was weigh-in day... drum roll please... I lost 3.2 pounds! That is the payoff for making wise food choices & walking for exercise. Now if I can just keep the momentum.

I went on a little overnight trip with a couple friends to visit my family in the Thumb & shopping at IKEA near Detroit. We had so much fun... I don't know if I have ever laughed so much. It made me see how much God has blessed me with such great friends. I think about the choice Luke & I made to follow God's leading & move to the Cadillac area... it brings me to tears (I know a real surprise!) to think that if we hadn't made that choice then I would never have been blessed to know these great women I am privileged to call my friends & sisters.

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly (sisterly) love; give preference to one another in honor." Romans 12:10

Now, about this card... it is a "wiper card"... I found the directions on SCS... the joke is it only took me 6 hours to complete this card. It was a very busy, very distracting paper-craft day at my friends, so I really wasn't working none stop for 6 hours on it!

When you pull the 2 sides the "wiper" part comes up... I thought it was kind of cool & I really like the colors... what do you think?

Watching & waiting for my hubby to get home from his Canadian fishing trip... I really missed him!

with a grateFUL HEART, carin