Thrive

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Jeremiah 29:4-7

When people think of Jeremiah 29, they often think of verse 11. But just a few verses before that, there is a beautiful passage of how to live in circumstances in which you might not want to be. You see, Jeremiah was writing to the Jewish people who had been sent into exile. And that exile lasted 70 years! Yep, not 7, not 17, but 70 years. And God told them to flourish, to build houses and plant gardens, to marry and have families- to build a life, a good life. We may not be living in exile, but there are probably circumstances of your life that are difficult. You may not be living where you want to live. You may not have the life you expected to have. Your community may not be thriving. But God is there just like He was there for the Jews these verses were written to. And He wants you to thrive anyway.

He also told them to pray for their community. The cities they found themselves in, in exile, they were to pray for peace and prosperity. So what should we do? We should PRAY!!

These instructions, although given to the Jews a long time ago, can be applied in our lives. My nation has been struggling and the state of this nation isn’t where I want it to be. But nonetheless, I am to make the best of my circumstances, to build a house and a family, to plant gardens of love and unity and Jesus’ light, to pray for my city, my state, my country- peace and prosperity for them all regardless of whether I voted for the people in office or not. Plant gardens, my friends, and pray. If your city/state/nation prospers, you too will prosper.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Boss Lady Alpha, Welcome Home, and Love Your Neighbor. To shadow the words, I used a pencil. I love using a pencil because you can erase it if you mess up and make it darker or lighter depending on what you want it to look like.

Thrive wherever you are because God is there too. Andrea

Just Enough

 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth." 1 Kings 17:14

Hi Friends,

Have you ever felt desperate? I think that's probably what this widow was feeling when Elijah spoke to her. She had so very little that she was planning to prepare the last meal for herself and her son. And Elijah asked her to use what she had on him. When we're desperate, we often don't think about others outside of our closest family and friends, certainly not a stranger. But when Elijah made his request, he also gave her a promise from God. She would have just enough. Just enough flour and just enough oil to make it through until the end of the drought. And she had just enough faith to do what Elijah asked.

Just enough. We often think that "just enough" is not enough. In the western world, it's all about excess. We want more and more. We have to keep up with the Joneses. We need the newest, the biggest, and the brightest.

I think this story is beautiful in the fact that God provided for them but it wasn't all at once. It wasn't in excess. It was just enough. God can certainly give us more than enough and He often does. But sometimes we need to be satisfied with just enough. And when we've got just enough, aren't we more dependent on God? Aren't we more likely to go to Him? When we have more than enough it's easy to begin thinking we are self-sufficient.

Just enough can be hard for those of us used to more than enough. But what a rich experience it can be!

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Boss Lady Alpha, Watch Your Mouth, and In His image. Simple page of stamping. I used a pencil to shadow the letters.

Have a blessed week! Andrea 

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

Dear Friends,

This is one of my favorite verses! I've journaled this verse many times, and even written a blog on it before. And here it is again! LOL 

This verse shows how amazingly forgiving our God is. It tells us how far God separates us from our sin when He forgives us. Have you ever thought of how far the east is from the west? Think about it. If you travel north, you eventually get to the North Pole and start going south. However, if you travel east, no matter how far you travel, you will NEVER start going west! And if you travel west, you will NEVER start going east. So, that's how far God has removed our sin from us- it can't be measured because it's never ending! Wow! Wow! Wow!

It can be hard for us to understand just how forgiving our God is because we tend to be just a bit less forgiving, right? I know I'm far, far less forgiving than Him. But Colossians 3:13 tells us "as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive." Eeeek!  OK, so God wants me to forgive when someone says they're sorry. Yes. But, what about when they aren't sorry? Guess what, God still wants us to forgive them. Our forgiving others is NOT dependent on whether they are sorry or necessarily deserving of that forgiveness. We need to forgive others solely because God forgave us, pure and simple. And honestly, when we forgive, it does as much good for us as it does the other party because we can let go of the bad feelings. Is it always easy to forgive? No. But remember, God is with you. He has removed your sin as far as the east is from the west!! He will help you to forgive others just as He has forgiven you.

Page details: I used a brand new alpha set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Boss Lady Alpha. It's great! I love all the alphas!! And there are dies to go with it!!! My black ink was a little funky. I didn't get good coverage on all the letters for some reason. That's what you see in the photo (the letters that look shiny), but I just decided to go with it. :) I also used 2 SNSS stencils: Starry Night and Sunburst. The Starburst is a 2 step stencil and really cool!

Have a blessed week, and remember how forgiven you are! Andrea