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

Renewal...

It is a beautiful Fall day... a little chilly, but bright sun & blue skies... what more can you ask for??? Today is WW weigh-in day... I started 7 weeks ago... I am still hanging in there... I did pretty good while on vacation last week. It was when I got home that I had a problem... so I was dreading weigh-in today... also I am blotted & crampy if you get what I mean... and a little no a lot hormonal... I felt like just staying in bed this morning, but I didn't. If it wasn't for my friend who is going too I probably wouldn't have gone. Now, for the bare truth... I was down 1.2 pounds! That is 8 pounds in 7 weeks... not quite like the "biggest loser" but my motto is "slow & steady wins the race".

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On to more interesting things... I am going to a scrapbooking retreat next Friday (23) thru Sunday. My sis, Renee, who is the SU demo, has attended it for years & it finally worked out for me to go too. I am not a real big scrapbooker, but I try... it should be a great time with Christian ladies & a good friend of ours is doing the devotions for the weekend. So, I said all that to get to this name tag I made... my sis asked me to help her out by coming up with a crafty name tag for the leaders at the retreat. I used my Cricut, along with SU Old Olive, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, and some stickles too! She hasn't seen it yet so don't know if it is what she had in mind... what do you think???

I have this other cool picture I took while we were hiking on vacation... I thought this tree looked like it was trying to hang in there... bare roots & all. I feel like that some days... over-stretched, over-exposed, losing my "grip", but through God's strength I am still hanging in there. Do you ever have those days?

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" II Corinthians 4:16-17

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

Strokes of Fall...

We got back yesterday from 5 days away... I can't even tell you how great it was... I am so thankful for the relaxing time God gave us. Was the weather the best??? No, but we didn't let that stop us... my BHF (best hubby forever) is the kind of guy who just pulls up his boot straps & keeps on going, which is so good for me, because I am not always that adaptable... hard to believe I know!

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The Fall colors here in northern Michigan are just gorgeous... God is really painting it up right this year. On Monday we hiked to the top of Avalanche Mountain in Boyne City... there are steps built into the side of the hill... 462 steps to be exact! The award for reaching the top is a beautiful over-look of the whole town, Lake Charlevoix & beyond.

Here are a couple of the choice pics Luke took from that vantage point... see gorgeous.... don't you think? Just in the few days we were there the colors really started changing. We wanted to take the hike again on Thursday, but I over-worked my calves on Monday & just couldn't do it... I could have climbed up there, but it was the downward motion that would have given me a problem... oh well maybe next time.

We saw our first snow this afternoon, so I felt it appropriate to share this snowflake card with you... this is the only snowflake I want to see for awhile.

Missed my blogging for the week... the place where we stay has computers in the clubhouse but just enough to check my emails... I told Luke we need a laptop since all the condos there have DSL service.

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Time to start supper... with a grateFUL HEART, carin

This & that...

Happy World Card Making Day! I have not gotten the things done today I had hoped to, but at least I finished the first challenge on SCS. The challenge was to create a card making a quote or saying the focal point. It is simple but my DH said it was pretty... even without me asking! My gallery on SCS is under the name Carin Melissa.

I have to update you on my WW weigh-in from Wednesday... remember I was visiting my family all last week & they are not the easiest people to be around when I am trying to behave myself! So my loss for the week was almost 2 pounds... to be exact 1.8 pounds... total is 7.8 pounds. Slow & steady wins the race! I am noticing my pants fitting looser around the waist... that is fabulous!

Luke & I are heading north tomorrow afternoon until Friday... I know we live in Michigan's "playland" but we have to go farther north to "play"... Boyne Mountain for quiet relaxing few days. Can't wait to go... not looking forward to the packing! Hopefully the weather will be a little nice & the Fall colors will be beautiful!

with a grateFUL HEART, carin