Trust in Him at All Times...

Hi friends,

Our world is looking pretty alarming right now isn't it? Whether it's from a health perspective, economic perspective or relational perspective, things are tough for a lot of people right now. It is so easy to read the news about the spread of the virus and worry about what this means for us, for our families, our jobs or our country.

For me personally I have found it difficult that the college where I have been working and studying for the last three years was closed abruptly for 12 weeks, which meant that I had to leave with no farewell parties or even farewell hugs, because in 12 weeks I am due to have started a new job in a new city. But that requires us selling and buying a house, which at the moment is not exactly easy. There are so many reasons to become anxious about the future and what may happen, and so many emotions to process in the present.

Psalm 62:8 tells us to "Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." This phrase "at all times" really struck me as I've been thinking and processing over the last week. Times like this are a real challenge to our faith: can we trust the Lord at all times or just in the good times? Can we trust him when things seems hopeless or when we have no control over the situation we are facing? That is the kind of relationship we are invited to have with our Heavenly Father - one of complete trust, no matter what.

As difficult as this season is, it is also an opportunity to grow in trust in God, and to practice casting our every anxiety upon him (because he cares for us!). Every time fear or worry creeps into our mind, we have the choice to entertain it and meditate on the negatives, or we can choose to fix our minds on the Lord and meditate on his goodness and his power and his faithfulness. It is only by meditating on these things that we can learn to trust him in ALL times.

I created this page in my Journaling Psalter by creating a background with acrylic paints and stencilling a clock image with white paint over the top. The pretty flowers from Lovely Lotus were stamped on watercolour paper, coloured with watercolours, then cut out and glued onto the page. The verse was stamped using a combination of Trust in the Lord, Messy Stamped Alpha and Outline Alpha. I added a dragonfly from Dragonfly Dreams which I embossed on vellum using platinum embossing powder. Here are the sets I used:

May we all seek to trust in the Lord at all times, and may his Holy Spirit guide us through this time and teach us to trust our Father in heaven with every aspect of our present and our future.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

Know God

And so I will show My greatness and My holiness, and I will make Myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 

Ezekiel 38:23

Dear Friends,

Ezekiel 38 tells us about a future time when Israel will be attacked; and God will supernaturally protect and save them. The final verse of this chapter tells us God's purpose- that the world will see His greatness and holiness, that He will be known around the world as the one true God.

A lot can change in a couple of weeks, can't it? Personally, I've gone from working in a school to being at home and waiting to see what role I will have to continue to educate the students in our district. I moved my college daughter home as the university housing and campus closed to go to online only classes. And my husband will be working from home more. I'm sure you have had similar experiences. We've all seen empty shelves and reports about COVID-19. We've all had our lives disrupted in some way. So I asked myself, what is God trying to teach me...us?

We can't depend on our jobs. We can't depend on our finances. At this point, we can't really depend on each other in ways we have in the past due to social distancing. But, we can depend on God now, forever and always. These are difficult times, but what an opportunity for us to focus on God, depend on Him, trust Him, and share Him with others. I loved how our team members started the faith over fear project. I love how people are helping each other in ways they may not have before. While it's sad we can't meet with our church families in person, now that many are online, think about how many people those online services can reach! God is with us in this. And He has a purpose in it. And I believe that purpose is exactly what Ezekiel 38:20 says, "And so I will show My greatness and My holiness, and I will make Myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

I'm praying for everyone infected with this virus and those who know someone who is. I'm praying that we all can use this time to draw closer to God. I'm praying for the governments around the world, that they make wise decisions. And, I'm praying that God will stop the spread. Right now, we all must trust God and pray. He has a purpose. Let Him be known to all the nations!

Page Details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Messy Stamped Alpha, Dragonfly Dreams, and Texture Tiles 1. The background was done by applying distress oxides with a sponge dauber. The colors I used are Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, and Abandoned Coral.

Have a blessed week! Andrea

Grow Hope

Winter is a tough season for many people.  The shorter, colder days (and in some places, lots of snow) keep us from getting out anymore than necessary.  Thankfully, signs of spring are starting to pop up in many areas.  One of the earliest signs that winter is losing it's cold grip are daffodils pushing their cheerful yellow heads out of the frosty ground.  It seems this year, they are emerging earlier than usual in my area, but none to soon for my warm weather loving heart.  They were the inspiration for my page today.  

As one of the first flowers of spring, daffodils symbolize rebirth and new beginnings.  Daffodils are often given on 10 year wedding anniversaries to mean joy, cheerfulness, and happiness.  They represent hope for a cure for cancer for the American Cancer Society and are the March birth flower.  

As the daffodils grow and bloom, we have hope that the winter is coming to an end and spring is coming.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Romans 15:13

Friends, we should have hope for a far greater reason than the end of winter, however.  We have hope for eternal life in Heaven!  If we believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sins and rose again after 3 days, we are promised a place in Heaven.  He sits at the right hand of God, covering us with His grace.  What greater hope is there?!?

If you are without hope today, pray for God to fill you up with His overflowing peace, love and joy.  Grow the hope your soul longs for by watering it with the Word of God.  Trust that He is the fountain of hope that never runs dry.  Give your fears and worries over to the one who can wash way every burden and sin.   

Page Details:

To create this page, I traced an outline image of some daffodils from a free download.  I added some line detail to the image with a micron pen and colored in loosely using Inktense blocks.  I splattered some paint on the page and used the script stamp from Texture Tiles 1 in the background.  I stamped my title using the Loop da Loop Alpha and added a dragonfly using the Dragonfly Dreams set.  I finished it off with some washi tape, a bow clip and my date stamp.

Until next time friends, you can catch up with me on Instagram @simplyjillsjourney. 

Praying you are abounding in joy & peace,

Jill

Mercy over Judgment

Hi friends,

Recently I have been challenged about my attitude to other drivers as I drive to and from college each day. It is a long journey with lots of traffic and there are certain points that test my patience a LOT!

The other day I had a moment where I was once again irritated by drivers cutting in front of me when they were in the wrong lane (in my mind, often deliberately, so they can cut the queue!). As I drove along I had a thought: as a driver I can either be a 'tax collector', a Pharisee or Jesus. What I mean by that is that I can either do the wrong thing blatantly (get in the wrong lane and cut in front of other drivers) or I can do the right thing (stay in the right lane) but with the wrong attitude - an attitude of judgment and resentment toward those doing the wrong thing. And that is the attitude of a Pharisee... yikes!

So what would Jesus do? I think, based on the way he lived his life as we see in the Gospels, that he would do the right thing (he fulfilled the law after all) but he would also extend mercy and grace to those who do the wrong thing (the tax collectors and prostitutes seen in the New Testament). Now that is a challenge to follow!

In James 2:13, the brother of Jesus writes that judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. What a profoundly challenging but also encouraging statement. This should encourage us because God's mercy toward us triumphs over any judgments that should be rendered to us. But it is also challenging because we do not get to stand in judgment over anyone (whether for their driving, or more serious offences). Our job is to extend mercy, just as our Heavenly Father has been merciful to us.

I had fun using Inktense blocks on these solid images from Dragonfly Dreams to achieve this watercolour effect (I demonstrated this technique in a LIVE video on Sweet 'n Sassy's FB page which is now available on replay if you want to catch it). The verse is a combination of Life in Jesus, Skinny Lowercase Alpha and Mini Grunge Typewriter Alpha. Here are the sets I used:

I know this verse has challenged me... maybe it has also challenged you? Let's remember how merciful Jesus is to us and to everyone, and seek his help in extending that mercy to those around us.

Be blessed...

x Amy x

The World is Yours

Psalm 89:11

"The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours.

The world and everything in it --- you founded them."

When you stop and think, it really is just so amazing that God created everything in our world. Everything from the mountains and the valleys, down to things as small as the insects and flowers! God created everything and everything has a purpose. Some things gross us out like mosquitos and bats, BUT, everything has its purpose! My kids will often ask things like, "Did God make our house? Did he make our car?" While it makes me smile, I always tell them that the people God created made those things, and God gifted us the knowledge and talent to make all the other things in life that we use everyday! 

The world and everything in it, He founded them!

I wanted to share a fun little "happy accident" I discovered on my page. I happen to breath hard on my page and noticed the wings moved on my dragonfly! How fun right?!?! So I thought I'd share how I created it. :) 

I first stamped the dragonfly wings separately on regular old tissue paper. Just the thin stuff you find to wrap your presents.

Then I cut the wings out VERY carefully! The paper is so thin that you really need to cut slowly and hold the paper lightly. I decided to separate the wings so you wouldn't see the white tissue paper between them.

I stamped the solid body stamp for the dragonfly in a green/blue color, then stamped the outline body image in black. I carefully cut out the body and used a small dab of glue on each wing to attach them to the body.

Lastly, I got some small squares of double sided foam tape, cut them in half, and placed them on the underside of the dragonfly body only. This leaves the tissue wings free to move around! :)

I hope you enjoyed this page! If you have any questions or need help creating your own, let me know! I'm happy to help!! :) You'll find all the stamps I used for this page linked below!

xoxo,

Stephanie Gammon

@faith.and.creativity

Dragonfly Dreams

Loop da Loop Alpha 

Typewriter Block Alpha 

Mini Grunge Type Alpha 

Mercy

"The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy."

Psalm 103:8

"Mercy for others will reveal your ongoing need for mercy, driving you to the end of yourself and into the arms of your merciful Savior." - Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies

In all honesty, I had a completely different topic picked out for today's blog post. But then my devotional covered the topic of mercy, my Sunday School class was on the topic of mercy, and my pastor preached on mercy in his Sunday evening sermon. You think just *maybe* God's trying to tell me something? 

To be completely transparent with you, I have not felt very merciful these last couple weeks. Not. At. All. People have been hurtful and unkind to me and my family and my first response is to immediately give them a piece of my mind. You feel me? After all, it's wrong and they need to know it! But then I have to stop. Just stop. Think. Take a deep breath. Pray. And remember the mercy that God has given me each and every day. 

"Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to they word. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word."

Psalm 119:41-42

God has a plan for me to live in freedom and liberty (read down to verse 45), and that plan includes my living in mercy so I can give mercy. If I don't have a plan for living in and giving mercy, I will live in a state of perpetual irritation - being hurt and offended by everyone and everything that slights me in any way. I don't know about you, but that is not how I want to live.

I love this excerpt from Paul David Tripp's New Morning Mercies devotional:

"We celebrate God's mercy but scream at our children when they mess up. We sing of amazing grace but punish our spouses with silence when they offend us. We praise God for his love but forsake a friendship because someone has been momentarily disloyal. We are thankful that we've been forgiven but say that a person who is suffering the result of his decisions is getting what he deserves. We bask in God's grace but throw the law at others. We're simply not that good at mercy because we tend to see ourselves as more deserving than the poor and needy."

Ouch. That hits where it hurts. God has granted me mercy and wants me to extend that same mercy to others; and when I show mercy to the people or situations that hurt or offend me, I grow (II Peter 3:18). 🎕

This week, I am praying for God's mercy to be real to me, not just for me, but so that I can share mercy with others and ultimately point them back to a loving, merciful God.

Page Details

If you know me, you know I love doing anything and everything with Distress Oxides. They are my go-to medium for all art pages! This page was especially fun because it was a beautiful mixed media disaster (kinda like me, haha). 😉 I used a 5" x 7" art journal I received as a gift at a recent retreat. Here is my step-by-step process:

1. I did put down a couple layers of Diane Wakley Clear Gesso on the page before starting my art. I used to never use gesso, but then I watched a great video by Colleen on whether or not to gesso with Distress Oxides (watch the video here) and have been gessoing ever since. I really like how the water reacts on the page when I gesso. Definitely creates more of an effect. 
2. I used a blending tool to blend two colors of Distress Oxides randomly on my page: Seedless Preserves and Peacock Feathers. I work fast when I do this! I get a bunch of ink on my blending tool and then swirl around on the page. Since this is messy page, I wasn't worried about actually blending the colors together - just about getting them down on the page. 
3. As soon as I had my base color down, I spritzed the page with my Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer. I like to get big droplets of water on the page and then tilt the page around to get runny water splotches. 
4. I used my heat dryer to dry my current progress. 
5. I then pulled out my brand, new Distress Ink Spray and sprayed some splotches on the page. This is the first time I've ever used Distress Spray and it was fun, but it's definitely going to take some practice. 😉 I did like how it reacted on my page, but since I had gessoed the page, it took a bit longer to dry. So be aware of that.
6. Dry again.
7. I smooshed the Seedless Preserves Distress Oxides down on my plastic page background, grabbed a paint brush, dipped it in water, and made my own little DIY watercolor with the smooshed oxides and splattered it all over the page. This added some purple splatters to go along with the blue splatters. 
8. Dry again.
9. I then used texture paste and stencils to created some flowers on the page corners. I smooshed down my Distress Oxides in Shaded Lilac (I wanted to add a different purple color for dimension) on my plastic page background, mixed a little bit of glitter acrylic paint that I picked up at Michael's, and texture paste to create a light purpley, glittery texture. I then very thinly spread that over my stencils where I wanted my flowers to go. 
10. Dry again. 
11. I then stamped down my images and title using the new Dragonfly Dreams, Loop da Loop, and Texture Tiles 5 stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I love these sets! I used Versafine Black Ink to stamp the images. I have found that this ink gives me the best images when I'm doing stamping, but be careful not to smudge the stamp when you are stamping on gesso!
12. Dry again.
13. I filled in some of the stamped hearts with my white gel pen to add a bit more dimension. 
14. Added a few small strips of coordinating color washi tape.
15. Wrote my devotional note.
16. Date stamped (always date stamp!!).
17. Made sure everything is dry again. 
18. FINISHED!

All in all, this page took almost an hour to do just because of all the layers and I was working with new mediums but, boy, was it FUN! I would highly encourage you to do something similar. This kind of messy art is therapeutic to me. In fact, how would you feel about me creating a video with this process? It won't be anything you haven't seen before with some other mixed media pros, but it could be fun to make an art mess together. What do you think? Leave me a comment if you'd like me to do a live video and journal together!! 😊

Thanks for hanging out with me today. I hope you are reminded to show mercy to the people in your life today. For further encouragement, take a moment and read Psalm 103. 💜

Much love in Christ, 

Janelle

@journalingjoy

Here are the stamp sets I used to create this page: