The Root....

{jane bosi}

I'm sharing my first journaling project of 2017!  I'm not much for resolutions and stuff like that.  I try to take life day to day and am always trying to be my best self!

I did, however, spend the first weekend of the new year, like I spend many, creating and reflecting on the Word.  This is also my first free hand drawing....it was scary-ish, but I had some awesome alphabet sets from Sweet 'N Sassy to pull it all together.  All of Me Alpha, Shake It Off Caps, Shake It Off  Lowercase.

My study started with Romans 12 and the advice to not conform to this world but to be transformed.....sage and wonderful advice!  You can see from my under lines, I find this message noteworthy and to be remembered.  As it happens often, my study turned to a wandering through the word backwards from where I was (kind of like how my life works) and I found a true gem without meaning to look for it.  I love how His Word so richly meets us where we are and provides insight and inspiration we aren't even aware we need!

Romans 11:18-20:  "...remember it is not you who supports the root, but the root that supports you.  Then you will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."  This is true.  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith.  So do not become proud, but fear."

All those times I try to fix or figure things for myself--I need to be reminded that it is not me, but the Root that supports me.....such a hard lesson at times, but a good place to dwell, especially at the start of a new year.

 Enjoy--Jane

I got crafty with:

Forgiveness

{jane bosi}  Hello, Sweet Friends!  I've been thinking a lot about forgiveness lately.  Probably because I made a gigantic mistake that ended up bringing pain into the life of someone I love beyond measure.  The long and the short of it is--my mistake left my loved one feeling....forgotten, unloved and looked over.

Gosh, but those are feelings I know all too well.  To realize I was the cause of someone else feeling this way, really made me think. 

1.  I did seek forgiveness from the one I had wronged.  I was dismayed that the response didn't match the depth of my sadness over the event.  My apology was not instantly accepted!  I struggled to understand why the truth of my heart wasn't enough to change things.  I imagine this is often how Jesus has felt in reverse.  He is offering all that He is and, yet, so many of His beloved ignore the gift, or fail to understand how precious of a gift it is.

2.  I really had to give some thought to all of the people and situations that had left me feeling forgotten or unloved.  I KNOW my recent situation and the truth is, my mistake had nothing to do with the other person--who I love more than my own life--it had everything to do with my own selfishness, my own weakness.  How often does our own brokenness affect others?  It really made me think with more compassion about those who I've felt had wronged me.  Again, in my selfishness, I've only considered my feelings.  Bearing with one another means, I must consider their story--I don't have to know it to consider that it is powerful; to offer compassion and understanding rather than jumping to the conclusion that "they're so mean!!"

Colossians 3:12-13:  "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and , if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you forgive."  Oh, what a world it would be if only we could master this!

I'll keep trying--will you join me?

Be Awesome, Jane

I got crafty with:  Scribble Flowers and Words of Life, Collection 2