Blog Hop

Here is your invitation to the Friends of Faith Blog Hop on November 14, 2009. Please pass the word. grateFUL HEART blog will be participating along with Women to Women Sharing Jesus and many other blogs.

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

He likes me...

Our last few Fall days have been very chilly... brrrrr... we woke up to snow on the rooftop this morning... of course it didn't stay, but that is okay! Once again I am preoccupied with a "to do list"... you can know for sure that posting on my blog is always on my list, but doesn't always get done... sorry.

I had an order for a dozen cards from a great lady at our church... this is the 3rd time she has gotten cards from me. So over the next few days I will be sharing the different cards I did for her pack. This is a nice SU set called "Wings of Friendship"... did 2 in each color combo. The first being turquoise

and the second is an old "in color" called Marigold Morning. Used my brayer & some heat embossing.

I came across this verse this morning:

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"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1

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I am reading a book called "The Original Sanctuary"... it is about finding the true freedom Christ has for us... what He gave himself for... He was condemned so we wouldn't be. Since I started this book I have been thinking a lot about how many times I "condemn" myself over some of the silliest things. One of my favorite verses is:

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"For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things." I John 3:20

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God has created each one of us as the special people that we are... He loves you and me. What I have recently come to know is He LIKES me too. In my mind I know He is God... He has to love me because He is God, but I never really thought about Him liking me. Have you ever thought about Him liking you? Do you think of God in that way?

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One more thing to check off my list... thanks for stopping... with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Off and running...

Had to take the time to post something today... I miss my blogging... I have just gotten too busy being busy! How does it get so out of control at times... I know there are plenty of people out there in the same predicament... where do I jump off??? Take a moment & check out Stressed or Blessed at WTW... it is just what I needed to be reminded of... now how do I do something about it??? You would think that a person that has no "real" job should have all the time in the world, but there is so much I want to get done & so little time to get it all done.

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I am reading a book called, "The Original Sanctuary"... I am only in the 4th chapter & I have gotten so much out of it... it is mind blowing for me. The writers of this book will be speaking at our church next weekend & at Night Out For Ladies too... I am really hoping to finish the book before than. So I thought I would share a little paragraph from the book that has to do with my busyness. This is from a section of the book titled, "from the heart of God to me."

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"Your value lies not in what you do, but in what you are. And you are My child! You have endowed abilities and talents given to you out of My resources to complete the tasks that I have set before you. If you are pursuing My plans and My Kingdom, the resources from which you will draw are endlessly Mine. However, if the plans are yours, you are on your own."

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Are my plans God's or am I running my own agenda??? Something to think about.

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Also, wanted to share this card I did at the scrapbooking retreat last weekend... it is a "wiper" card... that SU "bambi" set is so cute... once again it is my sister's set not mine.

Today is the Harvest Festival at church so I need to get scooting... Luke & I are "team leaders" of the inflatables... yes, that is right what we use to call "moon walks"... should be fun.

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

Here for you...

I am home once again. Had a good week with my family in the Thumb, but I am glad to be home. Although today I feel like I am running around like a chicken with its head cut off... so to speak. I have so much I want to get at but seem to be spinning my wheels.

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It was a great scrapbooking retreat. The devotions were great... really made me think... not only think but change what needs to be changed. We had a journal contest at the retreat... they gave everyone a notebook & we were to each design a cover. This is mine... I didn't win, but I did get to keep the journal. I like that peacock stamp from SU... I don't have that set but my sis does, so it was fun using her stuff! Thanks Na! You can't tell in the pic, but I put diamond stickles on the tail feathers... it looks so glisteny & sparkly.

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Are there ever times in your life you hesitate to say or do what you know God would want you to because you are afraid of making people around you uncomfortable? I have had those times... why do I let others' feelings come before my obedience to God? I now see that in those times I am putting more value on the creation then on the Creator. God loves me without end... He should always be at the forefront of my actions... I am His child.

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"Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ is, they don't know who we are. My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is." I John 3:1-2

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Thanks for stopping... I am really hoping to start posting a little more regularly.

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with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Trick or retreat...

Today is the first day of the scrapbooking retreat at Bay Shore Camp in Sebewaing (pronounced "Seab-wing)... hope to be there by noon. I am excited since I have never been, so I don't know what to expect... I know God is gonna do something good though. My "old" friend Wendy is the devotional speaker for the weekend... I have a lot of history with Wendy & I am so thrilled she has been moved by God to do what she is doing. My sister, Renee, & I had a part in Wendy coming to Christ when we were teenagers, so I feel that I have a part in her ministry even if it is just my love, prayer & support. Plus, she is a little crazy & so much fun... you know I have a little crazy in me too!

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Anyway, they have a silent auction at the retreat so I am giving these Pampered Chef Prep Bowls with some yummy kisses in them to be auctioned off. Would you bid on these if you could?

Here is a quote for the day: "the closer we walk with God, the clearer we see His guidance." I pray I am right on His heals today!

with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Love, believe, hope, endure...

Today is a dreary Fall day, so it was a good day to stay in & help my sister with a little project. I am at my parent's in the Thumb. The last 2 days I helped with moving/unpacking things at my sister's house... still not quite ready to move in completely, but getting closer (6 months today).

Renee is a vendor at a scrapbook retreat this weekend, which I am going to also, so I helped get these little nugget boxes made for little gifts for attendees. I am looking forward to it & I know my sis can use the time to just "be". (sorry the picture isn't the best)


When Luke & I got married, one of the verses we used was I Corinthians 13:13 -

"Now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." I was reading about this chapter... what is this love?... do I show this love?... am I letting God's love flow through me to be used to help others in pain? I have to admit I get so caught up in my own life "stuff" that I am sure I don't have a clue how many opportunities I am missing to show love.

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In verse 7 of that chapter it says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Have you ever been so down or in emotional pain that you lost your hope... you wondered if you could go on? Maybe when there are people in that state that we come in contact with... those are the times we need to be ready to have enough love to believe, hope & endure for those people... is that what God's love is?

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with a grateFUL HEART, carin

Light of Creation...

Just had to post this beautiful sunrise God blessed me with this morning. I know a sunrise this gorgeous usually means not nice weather, but it was still eye-opening on this early morning.

I am heading off to the Thumb this morning to help where I can with the transition back home for my sis & her family. I am feeling so blessed to be able to go & help... we'll see if I feel the same way by the end of this week! *Ü*

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Had a great day yesterday. Our pastor gave us a great message... I feel like God is really trying to say something big to me, just don't quite know what it is yet. Sometimes I sit & wait for God to speak to me in a quiet "voice" when actually He is speaking to me I just can't hear His voice through all the clutter in my mind & my heart.

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"God does great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things without number." —Job 5:9

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I want to live my life with more wonderment... like a child. What happened in my life that made me lose that... I know we grow-up... we mature (at least some do), but we are called children of God not grown-ups of God. I really don't know where I am going with this... just a thought that I needed to put down... if I find out where this is leading I will let you know... you can count on it.

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Here's a quote I came across, "When we cease to wonder, we cease to worship." Hmmmm... interesting.

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with a grateFUL HEART, carin