Give me, give me, give me...

Hi friends, Elizabeth here! I am delighted to be one of the newest members of the creative worship team and to share my 1st blog post with you. I'm pretty much over the moon excited to be here! One of the 1st things you will learn about me is that I don't do mornings!!! Truth be told, I loathe mornings. I enjoy the freshness of the air and the stillness in my heart but man, that crawling out of my snuggly warm bed just isn't fun for this dedicated night owl. My mornings are not as productive as some would suggest however when I take a step back and look at what a normal "morning" around my place looks like, I see a different view. When I look at it I see that's it's not about how much I can get done, but that the time spent with my Daddy God IS indeed fruitful. You see, it's not about what time you wake up but what you do with that first bit of time that matters.

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Psalm 143:8 NLT

Yes, I want to hear His voice each & every morning & yes, I want to be reminded of His great love for me- who doesn't? It's that last part of the verse that speaks to me the most. He's gonna show me where to go IF I give myself to Him first. 

The Bible talks of bringing your "first fruits" to the Lord in Exodus 34. Verse 26 shares how as you begin your work harvesting your crops, bring the very best of the first part of it to God. I believe we can apply this to our lives. We give Him our very best and the first parts of our day.  May I suggest our time spent with Him in the morning as our 'first fruits' offering? I think of my morning times with Jesus as me giving Him my offering of worship. Since we are often at our best in the morning we can give God our "first fruits' by making His time a priority before we start with all of our tasks and to do lists.

We live in a society and generation that has a problem of the "give me's". Anyone know what I mean? Everyone wants something. "Give me a ride", "Give me some money honey", "Give me a break"... etc. Well, the Lord has some "give Me's" too. He says "Give Me your time, give Me your talents, Give Me your resources" but above that He says "Give Me your heart". 

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Matthew 22:37

What I got to say about that is "just give me JESUS". I want Him to give me more of Himself everyday and that looks a whole lot like me giving my 'first fruits' to Him each day in worship, prayer, & Bible study. Will you join me and committing to offer your 'first fruits' offering to Him each morning when you rise?

Art: For the background I used a large flat brush & 3 shades of yellow/orange acrylic paint blending and working quickly while the paint was still wet. I used the masking technique to stamp the sun  & clouds from the Love Your Neighbor set then masking/stamping each portion of the phrase for Give me Jesus set. For the chicken I selected a google image, uploaded it to Cricut Design Studio, and cut out a stencil. Using the stencil & the highly sophisticated ;) baby wipe finger technique I "painted" in the chicken. Added washi, a cute tab, and finished off with black splatters - my fave. 

Give me Jesus!

 Elizabeth - @icolorinmybible

If you are like me and have to have these stamp sets then you can snag In the Morning for yourself here or Love Your Neighbor set here. Check out Instagram & Facebook too for lots more inspiration on these new releases. Can't wait to see what you create!

In The Morning

Hey there. 

So how many of y'all are list makers? You schedule out your days, you know what tomorrow looks like before you fall asleep tonight. It helps keep you focused. Less anxious. It helps everything get done. You are the planner queens. Is that you? 

Now how many of you just fly by the seat of your pants? You have some what of schedule, but really you just do it when you feel like it. And if you never feel like it, well you just function until it's chaos and then you do it?  Or you are just calm, and when its done, its done. Is that you? 

Maybe you are an inbetween person.  You sometimes follow a list when its super important. Or you are feeling overwhelmed. Or it's a new year. Or you have a new goal?

So what's all this list talk anyway? Maybe it's not even relevant... But here's where I am going. We make time for the things we value and are important. We just do. Whether we mentally establish a plan or we write it out. We have a game plan. And we get it done. We might wake up late or pull an all nighter. But we do it. 

So why do I so often push my time with God to the bottom of the list? Anyone else fall in this trap? With my words I will tell you God is first, but sometimes, if I'm being honest, He isn't. The schedule is what is controlling my time. 5 more minutes of social media. Or the kids need me, or the crafting is calling my name. There is always something that is pulling me a different direction.

It's about priorities. Lists or a schedule are an act of discipline to keep us in check. They dictate what and who is important. However you manage your time, guess what relationship should be worked on first? 

Jesus spent time with the Father. He got up early. Ok. Ok. I know us sleepy-and-not-so-happy morning people can't handle that. But I think there is something valid about the first part of your day. Praying to God and starting your day with Him. Whether in the shower, during your morning coffee, on your drive to work, or wherever you are in the morning. Taking time to talk with Him. Bring your heart before Him. It's that beautiful quiet space where your heart meets His.

This is such a simple concept. Yet so difficult to follow through... my prayer for myself and all of us, is that we seek Him first. Whether it's right when our feet hit the ground. Or the moment we remember. We give Him our time. We give Him priority. Amen. Amen. 

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 

Mark 1:35 ESV

Let's talk about Art

I used watercolor for the background. I did an online search for watercolor backgrounds with a sunrise. Then used those for inspiration. I started from the bottom up, starting dark to light. Moved  on while the colors were still wet and blended together. Then I dried it, and added more layers to give it a bit of dimension. 

The tree was fun. It's always scary using black. But I just went for it. Drew the trunk. Then I made tree branches all over. You can't see much of them. But I did the whole tree. Then dabbed around in a half circle to make the leaves. This honestly was more a happy accident then planned. Leaving random space in between leaves helped show the branches which gave it a natural like effect. So cool. Last I stamped the IN THE MORNING stamp set. And finished with a tab and washi. 

Thanks so much for joining me on my first blog post with Creative Worship. You can pick up this stamp set here. You can also follow me at Stir the SOUL. 

PS, if you've not heard Fernando Ortego's song, Just Give Me Jesus, go search and listen. Beautiful words and voice. 

Blessings,

Colleen

Leave Your Neighborhood

Hi there! My name is Gayle, but many of you know me on social media as Patio Ponderings.  I’m excited to have the privilege to share a few things with you all today.  

Have any of you ever been asked to do something, but you didn’t have all of the details laid out in front of you? You knew what step one was, but you didn’t have steps two through five. Imagine how Abram must’ve felt when God told him to “leave your native country...and go to the land that I will show you.”

“Whoa! Wait just a minute here God. Go to what land? Where exactly is it? How long will it take? What will I find when I get there? Besides, I like being right here. Why do I have to move?” 

Or do we respond like Abram?  “So Abram departed as the Lord instructed." Period.  He had such great faith in the Lord, that he didn’t need steps two through five laid out before he took step one.  

Neither did Abram question God's instructions, even though it meant leaving his family, his home,  and his neighborhood.  Abram was obedient, trusted God, and went to "a land that I will show you."

May I be obedient and have faith like Abram.

The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you...So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed."
Genesis 12:1, 4a



For my journaling, I stamped the edge of my Bible page with the Love Your Neighbor set using permanent black ink. Where the trees and the houses overlapped, I created a mask of the image, so I could stamp a second time and achieve the depth in the design.

I used watercolor pencils and a water brush to color the design. The words “go” and “leave” are hand lettered.

There are so many uses for this set. Stop by the Sweet ‘n Sassy pages on Instagram and Facebook for more great ideas. To get these cute stamps for yourself, hop over the Sweet ‘n Sassy website where you’ll find them, and many others, to brighten your day!

Lord Build My Home

Psalm 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain."

Hello Friends my name is Jenn, I am a new creative team member. I am seriously busting with excitement to share my first journaling page with you all! When I first started digging into my Bible for verses that fit this stinking adorable stamp set (Love Your Neighbor) I came across this verse in Psalm.  Which got me thinking who is building my home? Is it me or God? This is such a great reminder to let our heavenly Father build up our homes.

To begin this page I pulled a few tiny patterned papers that coordinated well together. I thought it would be super cute and fun to stamp the houses and sun on the papers and fussy cut them out. Small confession, I love fussy cutting and find it super therapeutic and relaxing giving me more time to really meditate and think over the verse. I stamped a few hearts coming out of the chimneys of the houses, because love should always flow from our homes. Added a few touches of watercolor, stamped the title and journaled my heart.

I can't wait to see how you all use these stamps jump on over to the store and pick them up HERE. Also feel free to share on Facebook in our group Sweet N' Sassy Stamps and Creative Worship or on Instagram using #sweetnsassystamps and #snss we all love seeing your creativity and worship. Thanks for stopping by!

Have a blessed week sweet friends!

Jenn @creativegurl85

When I Rise Give Me Jesus.... and Java!

 Hey everyone! I'm Stephanie Gammon, a new member of the Creative Worship Creative Team and I am so excited to be here with you guys!! I'll be completely honest with you all, this is my first EVER blog post... period... so hang in there with me as I figure this all out 😊.

Psalm 63:1 

"You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. " 

I'm going to be completely honest with you guys again. Before I discovered bible journaling, hardly ever did I open my bible. Sad, I know. I carried it to church when we would go, but the time in between those visits.....it sat on my nightstand.....collecting dust 😔. But I am so happy and proud to say that after discovering bible journaling I have a renewed "thirst" for the Lord and scripture. I long to be in his word in some form every single day! And that is a blessing! Now, I don't have time to journal every single day, let's be real, I have two small kids at home! But what I have started doing is setting my alarm to wake up in the morning before my kids, and I start my day with God's word and a cup of coffee! That one small change has made a drastic difference in my life! I find I have a renewed attitude and disposition than if I was to just jump out of bed and hit the ground running when my kids wake me up. If I go a few days sleeping in, pushing my reading or journaling off till later because I'm "just too busy today" I find it's just as Psalm 63:1 says, "...I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you...". If you make that time for Him, each day, you will see the difference it makes when you give a part of your morning to the Lord, start it with Him, and base it around Him! 

For this page I used the newly released In The Morning stamp. This stamp is so versatile you can use it in so many ways! But for me, I actually have a teal mug with this exact phrase on it! I hand drew the books and the mug, used my awesome stamp, and then colored everything in with Prismacolor pencils. I also used left over coffee to create some coffee rings and splatters to "stain" the page. What kind of fun things can you come up with for this stamp?! Be sure to share it with us on the Creative Worship Bible Journaling Facebook Page!!

Thanks for taking to time to stop by the blog and read my first post!! I hope you all have an amazing day!

xoxo,

Stephanie

Big House

Friends, remember the song by Audio Adrenaline, "Big House"?  I love that song, and when I saw the new set, Love Your Neighbor, I knew I had to journal it.

In John 14:1-3, Jesus tells us, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am." Jesus is preparing a place for us. And He will come back and take us with Him. Thank You, sweet Jesus! I am continuously amazed at how He loves us and what He does for us. He is an amazing God! I want to go to the Father's house. Don't you?

Come and go with Me

to My Father's house.

Come and go with Me

to My Father's house.

It's a big, big house

with lots and lots a room...

For the page, I used the following Sweet n Sassy Stamps sets: Love Your Neighbor, Send Me, All Your Heart, Skinny Caps, and Fly High.

Have a blessed week, sweet friends! Jesus loves you! Andrea

A House for God

For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.

  Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, 

to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 

but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. 

And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence 

and our boasting in our hope.

Hebrews 3: 4-6 (ESV) 

When my husband and I married, we had a small but precious service.  My sons were 7 and 10. I had sheltered them and provided for them for seven long years as a single mom.  Our older son barely remembered his father and our younger son was born as our marriage was dissolving.  They never saw their dad from that point.  So they were starved for the attention, love and protection of a father.  When dating David, I took such joy in how their eyes would light up every time this man of God stepped into our home.  God taught me many things as a single mom, and I would never trade that time of deep dependence on Him.  He took the ashes of my life and made it beautiful.  The day David and I married was a miracle for me.  But not just for me, for my sons too.  They had a daddy! When we said our vows, we asked the boys to come up on either side of us and they said vows too, promising to honor, love and obey their parents. Then our parents came up.  David's parents stood on my side and mine on his and they said vows too, to pray for us, to encourage us and to continue to be a picture of a Christian marriage before us.  That day we melded as a family...one big family with Christ at the center.  With all of us standing around the altar, my sister and a friend sang a popular song of the day, Household of Faith.  That was 30 years ago, and God has blessed our little household of faith in indescribable ways. 

Hebrews 3:4-6 describes the household of God.  From Moses, the faithful servant of God in the Old Testment, to early believers to today's, we are the household of God.  Our faith in the ever-faithful God holds us together.  The faith of Moses served as a testimony of what was to come in Christ.  His faith was counted to him as righteousness and ushered him to the front door of the household of God. Christ in us, seals us as His children and opens the same door for us.  Believers are a household of faith.  It is the indwelling Spirit of God that makes us a house for our God.  We are His temple, the place where He lives.  This passage shows that Moses was a servant to this spiritual household.  Likewise, we are to honor, maintain and protect the "good deposit," the treasure of the good news of salvation, that was planted in us.  I am a house for my God.  Sitting here even now, thinking that thought takes my breath away.  What a precious miracle.  Just as my boys were lifted high to enjoy the new status of sons when my husband became their father (he quickly adopted them), so too each of us has the joy and delight of falling at the feet of our good Father.  We stand arm in arm with other believers around the altar and sing, "We are a household of faith!"  

To illustrate this passage of scripture, I used watercolor paints and splashed on color, leaving lots of white, other than more color over the verses.  I combined sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps featuring the new February release, Love Your Neighbor, that has the most adorable collection of houses.  The Praise God sunburst over the house is from the set Exclamations.  I used the clouds in Love Your Neighbor to create the shrubs.  The fonts are all stamps, Classy Script Alpha, and the rest of the words are from Love Your Neighbor.  The crosses came from the Good News set.  I did all the coloring with PrismaColor pencils.

These are all amazing sets, so versatile and fun.  Follow the links to the store to get yours now.

 

 ***Love Your Neighbor***

NEW RELEASE

 

 Class Script Alpha

 

 Good News