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

Everlasting Light

The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Isaiah 60:19

Hi Friends!

I don't know if you were affected by the bitter cold of the past 2 weeks, but I was. We live in KS and a couple of mornings the wind-chill was -30! I also have family in TX that experienced cold that TX hasn't seen in many years. The cold went all the way down to Mexico. And with that cold, some experienced power outages and other difficulties. Prayers to all who have been affected.

Power outages bring darkness. And in our day and age, we see that as an inconvenience. The sun and moon can bring us light, or a candle or flashlight. But our world is also full of spiritual darkness. And there's only one Light that can fight that. The good news is that one day our Lord will literally be our light.

Isaiah 60 speaks of Israel at the time of the millennial kingdom. When Jesus reigns here on earth, Jerusalem will be the capital of His kingdom. Israel will be redeemed. And verse 19 tells us that during that time, the sun and moon will not provide light because instead Jesus will and His light will last forever.

I've always loved the illustration of Jesus, of the Word, being the Light because it's something we can experience, and have experienced. Each of us has been in darkness before. We know what happens when a light is turned on. Darkness cannot fight the light. When the light is turned on, darkness goes away. It's that simple. Spiritually, Jesus is our light. When He is in our lives, the darkness flees. It has to. It doesn't have a choice! And not only is He spiritually Light, He is literally Light as this verse describes. In His glory, He shines brighter than the sun. Wow! I can only imagine!

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Marquee Alpha, Lollipop Alpha, Love Your Neighbor, Texture Tiles 8, and Trust in the Lord. I LOVE alpha stamps. I'm pretty sure I own all of the SNSS alphas. For Bible journaling, I think they are great to have, especially if you don't like to hand letter or you're still developing that skill. Love Your Neighbor is another versatile set as it has a bunch of common words. It's a cute set with the houses that's great. But I also often use just the common words from it. I used acrylic paints for the back ground. I sprayed my page with water to help the acrylics blend and move on the page. I also used acrylics to stamp the dots. I applied the paint to the stamp with a foam brush. The important thing to remember if you use acrylics with stamps is to wash the stamp as soon as you're done. You don't want the paint to dry on the stamp. Lastly, I used a white pen to highlight the letters.

Have a great week, my friends! Andrea

Do not quarrel on the way...

Hi friends,

I was reading through Genesis a while ago and noticed a little detail I hadn't really seen before in the story of Joseph. After he had revealed his identity to his brothers in Egypt (Gen 45), he tells them to go back to Canaan and bring his father to dwell in the Egypt. Joseph and Pharaoh supply the brothers with lots of goods for the journey, and as Joseph sends them on their way is parting words are, "do not quarrel on the way."

This got my attention for two reasons. First, it could be that Joseph is having a little dig at them because of their previous terrible behaviour toward him, when they wanted to kill him but decided instead to sell him into slavery. He knows their tendency toward jealousy and strife and so issues this reminder that they need to refrain from quarrelling as they travel back home. The second reason it struck me was because of how easy it is to quarrel on a journey! Anyone else had arguments with their spouse on a car journey (maybe over directions...!)? Anyone have to mediate in arguments between children? There is something about being on a journey - maybe it's the confined space, the boredom, or the unique challenges of new environments or routes - that increases the likelihood of quarrelling!

When I was creating this page, I started thinking about the fact that as Christians, we are on a journey over the whole of our lives. This is sometimes called a pilgrimage, where we are journeying to our home with Jesus. There is much language in the Bible that supports this view. This made me think about our relationships with one another as Christians on this journey. As I look around the Church in the world today, I see a lot of quarrelling. Social media seems to be rife with nit-picking of doctrine and denouncing of words and practice at the moment. We haven't adopted this wise advice from Joseph to his brothers not to quarrel as we journey together, and it is making the journey more difficult as a result.

I created this page by stamping the caravan from Happy Camper onto the page, then created the background with watercolours. These hills reminded me of the beautiful Lancashire hills that we can see from our new home that we moved to recently. The text was stamped using a combination of Bold & Outline Caps Alpha, Love Ya Like a Sister Alpha and Love Your Neighbor (which I also used to stamp the tree and clouds).

Let's commit to listening to the wisdom of Joseph (which is ultimately the wisdom of God). Let's not quarrel with one another one our journey of faith together. Let's encourage one another, build each other up, challenge and correct one another where needed, but let's not quarrel.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Holy Spirit, You Are Welcome Here

Even on My servants, both men and women, 

I will pour out My Spirit in those days. Joel 2:29

Hello Friends!

Today, we are in Joel 2. He is speaking of the last days- a future time when, ultimately, Christ will return. At that time, the Holy Spirit will be very active. The great news is that, even though much of Joel's prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit began on Pentecost when the apostles were filled with the Spirit. From that day on, all believers have been and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

So, my question is this: do we welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives? Jesus told the disciples in John 14:26, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." The Holy Spirit is our Helper. He teaches us. He reveals the truth to us. So, we should welcome Him enthusiastically!

Believers, as God's children, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But we shouldn't treat Him as a visiting guest. We want to welcome Him home in our hearts. Our focus should be on the will of God and the work of Jesus. By praying, Bible reading and studying, worshiping, we will welcome the Spirit. And He will guide and empower us in all we do. Holy Spirit, You are most definitely welcome here!

Page Details:
I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Happy Camper, Love Your Neighbor, and Holy Spirit. I am loving the new Happy Camper set! Isn't it the cutest??!! It's so versatile with all the "embellishment" stamps. I used watercolor crayons and a Micron pen as well.

Have a great week! Andrea

Purer in Heart

Purer in heart, O God, help me to be.

Hi Friends!
I have an old hymnal in which I've been journaling. As I was flipping through it, I came across this hymn- Purer in Heart, O God. It really spoke to me. It's a prayer that God help us be purer in heart- that's the first line and it's repeated in each hymn verse. Here are some of the characteristics this hymnal prayer asks God to help with:

• Whole devotion to God in our lives
• That God watch  and guide our wayward feet
• That God teach us to do His will
• That He be our Friend and Guide
• That we abide with Him
• That He keep us from sin
• That He reign in our souls

Wow! I want all of that. And those characteristics are what being pure in heart is all about. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus tells us, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Do you want to see God? I sure do! Being pure in heart means that we are focused on God and desire to please Him throughout our lives. And the only way we can truly be pure in heart is through Jesus. Only He can cleanse us. Psalm 51:10 tells us, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." God is the one who makes our hearts pure. We can't do it ourselves. And that's what this hymn is all about- asking God to help us day in and day out devote ourselves to Him. O that I may be purer in heart, Lord!

Page Details:

I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets for this page: Set Apart, All Your Heart, Walk Humbly, and Love Your Neighbor. I used watercolor crayons and a white pen as well.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Prayer recalibrated...

Hi friends,

Can I be honest with you? I have always found prayer a struggle. Whether it's remembering, concentrating or understanding, there are a number of factors that have inhibited my prayer life over the years. That is why I so relate to the disciples when they said to Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray." And I am so grateful for Jesus' response in what we now know as The Lord's Prayer.

When I am struggling to find the words, this beautiful, profound prayer helps me to approach God with adoration, confession and supplication. Over the past year I have really appreciated saying this every day in our morning chapel services and there have been certain lines that have resonated very strongly with me and helped me to work through issues like forgiveness in my life.

One of the parts of this prayer that challenges the way we pray is 'your kingdom come, your will be done.' I know for me, prayers in the past have been more like, 'my kingdom come, my will be done' as I petition God for my wants and needs based on my limited perception of life. This is why these words are so helpful and so counter-cultural. Instead of demanding what we want, like God is some form of vending machine in the sky where a prayer goes in and an answer pops out, prayer is actually supposed to be an act of submission to the lordship of Christ and the all-knowing, all-wise will of the Father.

Although this kind of praying is harder sometimes, because we need to relinquish control of our lives (and those of others!), it is such a wonderfully powerful prayer that is completely in line with God's will, and therefore we know that he will answer. Whenever we are struggling to pray or overwhelmed by a situation or multiple situations, we can bring these words to our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus: "your kingdom come, your will be done."

I used the beautiful Stamp of the Month, Peony Cluster, on this page in my Interleaved Bible. I stamped the peonies with Sage Versamagic ink, then coloured the images with pencils, trying a no-line colouring effect. This took a LONG time (multiple evenings of colouring!) but the result was worth it and it gave me the opportunity to meditate on this verse for an extended time. The text is mainly taken from the new Joint Heirs set, combined with Teeny Alpha, Love Your Neighbor (which is SO fab for tiny little words!) and His Name. I couldn't resist adding a couple of dimensional butterfly stickers form my stash to finish this off! Here are the sets I used:

I pray that God's kingdom would come and that God's will will be done in your lives and mine, and in the world around us!

x Amy x

The Gift of Comfort...

Hi friends,

What brings you comfort? Often, we offer to others who need comfort the things that we find comforting. Think about it - if we find food a comfort, then we tend to offer food to those who need comforting. If we are comforted by a hug, we will probably want to hug others who need to be comforted. Whether it's a cup of tea, a chat over coffee, a handmade card or a piece of chocolate cake, we both receive and give comfort in particular ways.

The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1 writes of how he and his ministry partners had been comforted by 'the God of all comfort' in the midst of their affliction. He then explains that because they had received the comfort of God, they could then comfort others who were in affliction.

It is so vital that we are comforted by God because it is only out of experiencing his comfort that we are able to minister true comfort to other people. This chain of comfort connects us to God and to one another as we continually give and receive. Let's draw near to the God of all comfort in those times are heartache, pain, confusion, testing and loneliness, and allow him to comfort us with his love and peace that surpasses understanding. Then, let's pass that comfort onto others who are in desperate need.

I created the background for this page using Distress Oxide inks after applying a few layers of gesso to the page first. The text was stamped with a number of different sets, including the new Healer of my Heart and Typewriter Blocks, along with Love Your Neighbor. I also used a few alpha stickers. I used the beautiful butterflies from Made New (the Stamp of the Month for February) as well as Poppies and Greetings for the pretty flowers.

I pray that we would all know the comfort of God and then in turn may be able to pass that comfort along to others!

x Amy x

God's House

Lord, I love the house where You live, the place where Your glory dwells. 

Psalm 26:8

Hello Sweet 'n Sassy Friends!
Where do you love to hang out? David loved to hang out with God. If I'm honest, I can't say that my most favorite place to be is with God. It should be! I want to say that! But, looking at my life, I let too many things take my attention- work, family, the TV, shopping, etc. Sometimes, unfortunately, God is an afterthought. I want to be more like David! I need to put God first and focus on His presence with me through all the things I do. I need to use some of my time better. I want to get to a point where I'm glorifying God and He is my priority in all I do and say and how I live.  We are fortunate in that God now indwells believers in a way that He didn't in David's time. His glory is with us always. We just need to focus on it!

For the page, I used one of the newly released sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Home for the Holidays. I absolutely LOVE this door stamp!! But, it has a lot of great images and it's a versatile set- not just for Christmas! I also used the following sets: Love Your Neighbor, Sing Loud, and The Good News. I used watercolor crayons too, and a white pen to highlight.



There's no other place we should want to be than hanging out with God! Praying we all spend some focused time with Him this week!
Andrea