Be Glad

Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

Hi Friends!

Recently, I came across a company called DwellDifferently that picks a verse each month to memorize & makes a scripture design that includes the first letter of each word in the verse to aid in memorization. (Great idea, right??!!) One of their designs last year was based on Psalm 90:14. And with everything that has been going on in the world- Covid, shut downs, social and political unrest- this verse really got me thinking. Psalm 90 is a Psalm of Moses written when he and the Israelites were in the wilderness. The wilderness was rough! Moses knew that their responses to the hard times had angered God at times. But he also knew God, our loving and merciful Father. And, he cried this prayer out to God in the midst of his pain. So let's look at this particular verse.

"Satisfy us"- Satisfy is defined as "to make happy or contented," "to give sufficient or ample provision," "to fulfill the desires, expectations, or needs of a person," "to give full contentment to." Moses is looking to God for all this. And we should too.

"in the morning"- The NLT version says "each" morning. We should begin our days, each day, with God. Even if it is just for a few minutes, that time with Him is crucial.

"with Your unfailing love"- His love is what satisfies us. And His love is unfailing- unconditional, reliable and constant, never ending, never changing.

"that we may sing for joy"- This is the result of us being satisfied by His love- we sing for joy. Our level of joy shouldn't be based on our circumstances. His unfailing love is what we should base our joy on!

"and be glad all our days."- Along with joy, His love brings gladness, not to just some of our days, but to ALL of our days. Yes, all- even the day I lose my job or get a diagnosis or lose someone I love or when the world seems like it's falling apart around me. His love is still there. And it can still bring us joy and gladness.

There are numerous verses in the Bible that speak to joy in hard times. As I thought about this particular verse, what stood out to me was the reason I can sing for joy & be glad all my days. It's because of His unfailing love. That's all I need. It's all any of us needs. No matter what, He loves us. No matter what, we can rest in His love. No matter what, we can hope in Him. No matter what, we can sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Page details:

I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets for this page: Lollipop Alpha, Send Me, All in All, Fruits of the Spirit, Faith Wordfetti, and Healer of My Heart. I stamped the earth, then masked it with a mask I made by stamping it onto a post-it note and cutting it out. I then applied distress oxides to the page with sponge daubers. I used 2 stencils and darker distress oxides to create the sun rays and the stars. I colored the earth with Prismacolor pencils and used Gamosol to smooth out the pencil lines. I wanted the Lollipop letters to pop. So I stamped them onto sticker paper and cut them out. I stamped the rest of the wording and adhered the letter stickers to the page.

The page opposite of this page just happens to be the page I journaled when the first "shelter in place" orders were made. Good reminder to find joy and gladness through it all. 

Join me and choose joy this week! Blessings! Andrea

Life is So Sweet

Galatians 5:22

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, 

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Against such things there is no law."

I think most of us are familiar with this verse about the fruits of the spirit! It's essentially a list of the traits God wants us to portray in our lives. I mean what's easier than a checklist to follow right?!? Last year, our women's ministry at church focused on this verse and each time we met, we broke down a different trait from the verse. And along with each trait we associated a piece of fabric, so by the end of the year we had a collection of fabrics that we called our "Grace Clothes". 

Every morning, each of us wakes up and can decide for ourselves how our day is going to go. Do we have control over the things that happen to us every day? No of course not. But we do have control over how we react to what happens. 

God calls for us to show:

• love
• joy
• peace
• patience
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

Am I able to check off every item on that list EVERY day?? Nope. I'll admit it. I sure do try to though! It the busyness and fast pace of today's society, it's really too easy to lose sight of what's important and especially how we treat others. It's real easy to throw some nasty words or comments towards someone online when you don't have to see them face to face, but there's still a real person on the other side of that screen. Our daily actions say a lot about us and who we are as individuals. 

The ladies in our women's ministry looked at it like this: " Today, when I wake up I'm choosing to shed these nasty clothes of the materialistic world like Greed, Hate, Jealousy, etc.... and I'm going to put on my Grace Clothes! The fruit of the spirit!" That's a great way to think about it right?!? Taking off the old ways that aren't working for you and replacing them with the new! Life is too sweet to be sour! Our lives are full of amazing blessings from Him, and we need to spread his love and his word through our own actions and the way we live our daily lives. We want someone to look and see the light inside of us, and want to know more about where that light comes from!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

IG: faith.and.creativity

See below for the stamps I used and their links to grab them for yourself! 😉

Life and Lemons

Life in Jesus

Teeny Alpha

Outline Alpha

The Sweetest Fellowship

If we are living in the light of God's presence,

just as Christ does, we have wonderful fellowship

and joy with each other.

1 John 1:7

Though this page was unplanned for the purpose I now see in it, my two page spread makes a perfect last post as a design team member of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and Creative Worship.  I've shared with owner, Korin Sutherland, and all the other design team members my reasons for stepping down. I can already see ways God is blessing that decision.  A brief background, and then on to the real post.  Recently, my 92 year old mother decided to permanently live with my husband and me.  I'm so grateful she is well enough to engage in life and our extended family.  While her care is minimal, it is still requires time and energy.  Simultaneously, I'm about to start homeschooling my preschool grandson, Lukas.  Two very important people in my life who deserve my time, care and focused attention.  I believe with all my heart God has appointed these tasks to me.  And I believe He has prepared my heart to relinquish this much loved position on the SNSS/CW design team.  He is not tearing it away from me.  He is blessing me as I joyfully submit to closing this chapter and beginning a new one.  As I look forward, I want to pause and share with you why the blessing of fellowship with sisters in Christ is so sweet and so vital.  

Being on this design team has blessed me in so many ways, but the primary blessing lies in our shared foundation...Jesus.  Each of us has a passion to serve Him and to share Him through our creative efforts.  Most people don't get a glimpse of the tender and sweet moments we share together behind the scenes.  We have laughed together, cried together and prayed earnestly for one another.  We have indeed had a wonderful, precious fellowship and we take joy in one another.  Because of Christ, this bond, this fellowship cannot be broken.  I'm not saying goodbye to these sisters.  How could I?  We will spend eternity together! I'm dating myself, but does anyone remember the iconic romance movie of 1970, Love Story, with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal?  There was a line in the story that was actually quite vacuous, "Love means never having to say you're sorry."  That could be another post.  I have a better one.  "Being in Christ means never having to say goodbye."  

My days will be filled with other tasks now, and while I will still do scripture art, I will not do it on a schedule.  I'll take a bit of a different path from my precious sisters, but we will remain in fellowship with one another.  Because that's how fellowship with other believers works.   That's why maintaining the health and harmony of our fellowship is vitally important to Christ.  We are a part of His Church, His Bride and we must protect the gift of fellowship.   In the 100 Days of Bible Promises and this two-page spread, there are some powerful scriptures listed encouraging this very thought.  

I also love what author Shanna Noel shared, "When your soul strings are tied with other Jesus lovers and prayer warriors, you body, mind and spirit develop an impenetrable shield that keeps hope alive and tells Satan to take a dive."  Isn't that sweet!?  My soul strings are definitely tied to the sisters in this design team.  I'm so grateful to God for the opportunity, the gift to exalt the name of the Lord with them through Creative Worship.  What an honor it has been to promote this Christ-based business and Korin who is more than a forever-friend.  

If you are in a church built on New Testament truth, you are in a wonderful fellowship...one ordained by God as the Bride of Christ.  In our fellowships, we should be concerned for one another, promote love and harmony and encourage each other in faith and good works.  We should not abandon that fellowship, but should commit to it, to participate and serve and enjoy corporate worship.  Again, Shanna said it well, "Making church a priority is, well, a priority.  So keep going."   

As I close this last post here on this blog, I'm not saying goodbye to you either.  I will continue creating and posting in several FB groups including Creative Worship, on Instagram (@dianesdaydreamdesigns) and on my personal FB page.  I will delight in seeing what my sisters on this team and what you create as well.  May we simple continue to enjoy this special and very sweet fellowship of creative worshipers we've come to love so much.  

Sets Used:

Girl Power 2

Typewriter Block Alpha

Texture Tiles 1

Fruits of the Spirit

Sweet Offerings

The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Jeremiah 24:1-2

Dear friends,
God showed Jeremiah a vision of 2 baskets of figs that represented the exiles from Judah and King Zedekiah, his officials, and survivors from Jerusalem. The former were the good figs; the latter were the bad figs. So, what can we learn from this lesson? Do you want to be the good figs or the bad figs? I think all of us would say the good figs, of course! How can we be the good figs? By the fruit of our lives. Romans 12:1 tells us, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship." So, we are to be a living sacrifice. The things we do, the things we say should bear fruit that is pleasing to God. And in that, we are worshiping Him. All we do should be for His glory. Worshiping God isn't just for church, it's not just singing worship songs. We can worship Him by our very words and actions. How cool is that? Be sweet for Him!

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Fruits of the Spirit and Bitty Minnie Alpha. To get the lighter fruit images, I inked up the stamps and then stamped them on a piece of paper before stamping them on the Bible page without reinking. I didn't want the fruit images to over power the words. I used watercolor crayons for the color.

Be sweet my friends! And may you have a Happy New Year, and God's blessings. Andrea

Today and Always Be Thankful

I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart. Psalm 138:1a

Good morning, Friends!

It's so easy for me to take things for granted! When I read this verse, it brought to mind 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything give thanks." There are so many verses in the Bible that tell us to be thankful. And we should be! In general, I'm pretty thankful for the "big" stuff. But, as I said, a lot of times, I take the "small" stuff for granted. So this verse was a great reminder for me to stop and be thankful for the little stuff too....that pumpkin spice latte, the laughter of children, the sunset, running water, a call from a friend...so many things to be thankful for. When I focus on what I'm grateful for, it's easier to be joyful and more content all around. So, that's my focus- taking time to be thankful instead of taking things for granted.

For the page, I used 2 new sets and an oldie but goodie set from Sweet n Sassy Stamps: Incredibly Blessed, Fruits of the Spirit, and Fill Me Up. (I had to get that pumpkin spice latte on the page!)

I used watercolor crayons for the background. I used the banner stamp from Incredibly Blessed to make all 3 banners. I just stamped one end, then the other, and filled in the line with a Micron pen for the longer banners.

What are you thankful for? Have a blessed week! Andrea

Be a Fruit Smoothie!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Hi Friends!

This passage is probably familiar to you. We know that when we become believers, we are instantly indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This fruit of the Spirit is the result of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. As we submit to Him, the Holy Spirit conforms us into His image, making us more like Christ. Of course, we will not be completely rid of our sinful natures here on earth. But, the goal is to progressively allow the Holy Spirit to produce more and more of His fruit in our lives. Through Him, it is possible! So, let's be a fruit smoothie! Blend the fruit throughout our lives and serve it to all we meet. When they see Him in us, they will be drawn to Him.

Page Details: I had such fun with new Sweet n Sassy Stamps set Fruits of the Spirit! There is so much versatility with it as you could use it with any verses talking about fruit or sweetness. I also used the following sets: Skinny Caps, Fill Me Up, and Whimsy Bouquet (the blueberries were a stamp from this set).

To make the smoothie glass, I masked off the top of the coffee cup from the Fill Me Up set. Then I drew in the smoothie line and the straw. I used watercolor crayons to color the page.

Have a blessed week my friends! Andrea