Simple elements

I needed to make several cards, so yesterday afternoon I looked in my stash of specialty papers trying to get an idea that would be different from what I've done in the past.  I found a sheet of 12 x 12 color-me paper from Paper Wishes.  It was white paper embossed with gold flowers and flourishes in one corner, the rest of the sheet covered with gold embossed dots.  Using the same basic principle for each card, I cut four pieces of the paper for the fronts of the cards, then colored just one element.

I was able to make three really totally different cards by using a different color and a different backing as you can see above.

The card on the left is backed with a gold metallic paper and used a turquoise blue for the color emphasis:

For the card on the right, I used a pretty pink backing and added the pink flower to bring out that color on the front:

Then for the middle card, a congratulations on her high school graduation, I made a card for my great niece using the colors of her school, green and gold.  I used a holographic green paper (from Paper Wishes) for the backing and for the scrolled backing on the greeting, then colored the flower with a golden yellow marker.  The holographic paper doesn't show well with my photography, but it is quite striking in person.  You can just see some of the holographic design in the circles that you can see along the edges.  I stamped the greeting inside with gold ink to carry that theme through to the inside of the card.

All in all, I like the simple elegance of this design of card.

Staying faithful

Psalm 119:74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.

We Christians talk a lot about our need to live in such a way as to be a good testimony of God’s love and grace to unbelievers, but this verse remind me of the importance of my good testimony to other believers.  The example of my hope in God and His Word should be an encouragement to other believers to do the same.  When other Christians see my response to the call to obedience, they should be challenged and/or encouraged to also obey.  When they see my faith, they should find an example to follow and an example of the good results of being faithful to God’s call to holiness.  My life should bring joy to them as they see God at work in me.

Act like a man

I Kings 2:2b-3 So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires.  Walk in obedience to him … so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go…

David, out of his lengthy and vast experience of walking with God, gave Solomon a nutshell of advice that would help him as king.  “Be a man,” he said, “and obey God.”  It is almost as though he was saying, “Just because it isn’t always easy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it!  Buck up, be a man, and do what is right and do whatever you are required to do.”  Sometimes that is how I have felt … like it was too hard to do what was right, and yet I knew I had to do it anyway.  And the result is prosperity of heart and soul that I gained even if it was not material prosperity.  That is where I think a lot of people misunderstand what God intends as the result of determined obedience.

I am "hemmed in"

Psalm 139:5 You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

My first thought about being hemmed in is a negative one but in this verse the sense is more of protection and assurance for me.  As I have thought about this concept of being hemmed in on all sides (“behind and before”), several things come to mind:

1. "YOU hem me in" speaks of God and His powerful and security-enhancing presence.
2. Friends (Godly men and women) that I have can be a wall of protection as well.  “They [David’s men] were a wall around us all the time we were herding our sheep near them.” (I Samuel 25:16)
3. “[God’s] unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him.” (Psalm 32:10)
4. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him…” (Psalm 34:7)
5. “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people…” (Psalm 125:2)
6. We are “surrounded by … a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1)

In other words, being hemmed in on all sides is a very good thing!

Exploding box, graduation style

My neighbor asked me to help her make something special for a relative who is graduating from high school so we worked together on making an exploding box.  I put the box together and gathered up some papers and embellishments I had in my stash of stuff and we planned out what she would put on each panel.  It took us most of the week but we finished it this afternoon and we decided we did a pretty good job for two people who are not the most artistic people around!  (I always tell people I am creative but not artistic so am always nervous about how something is going to turn out).

Anyway, here are some pictures of the finished product.  We are both eager to see how it is received by the graduate!

The sides are covered with red ripple foil paper from Paper Wishes.  I cut the letter "G" with my Slice machine.

The girl who is graduating plays volleyball so I also cut a volleyball player with my Slice machine along with a graduation cap and we popped both up with foam tape to make them more 3-D.  On the third panel we put her high school letters (SHS).  The little pocket on the one inside panel will hold a small gift.  The year is in the middle in both black and red numbers.

We put two quotes on opposite panels and two photos of her, one as a baby and one as a high school senior on the opposite panels. 

My duty to worship

I Chronicles 23:28-31 The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the lord … There were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord.  There were to do the same in the evening…

David the king worked to enhance the organization of worship and temple upkeep that had been started by Moses (in the book of Leviticus).  The duties of the priests needed fine-tuning after the temple became a permanent structure.  I find it fascinating to see the thought and planning of the music and worship-leading.  This has so often in my experience and observation been the weakest area of the church, but there is quite a lengthy section here in I Chronicles about this.  Then my thought goes immediately to the New Testament where we are told that we, as believers, are the “royal priesthood.”  So I see the need for me to recognize a couple of principles for my own life:

1. I should worship morning and evening, i.e., all day long;
2. It is my duty as a believer to do this;
3. Part of my duty as a New Testament priest is to encourage/assist my fellow priests, my believer friends who are priests as I am, to worship, thank and praise the Lord, and to serve.  In other words, I have a big responsibility for myself to worship and praise God, but also to my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Higher than the heavens

Psalm 108:4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

“Higher than the heavens” and “reaches to the skies” are both phrases that we would use to depict the magnitude of something.  That is exactly what David was doing in the verse also… trying to describe the magnitude of God’s love and faithfulness.  Our human, mortal language cannot do justice to any explanation or description of God or His character.  But David wanted to describe what he had experienced of God in his own life circumstances, and this was his best effort.  He had been the focus of a lot of troubles and dangers from his enemies, yet each time he had seen how God delivered him in sometimes miraculous ways.  The more we experience God’s deliverance, the more we will understand His love and faithfulness.

Building my sanctuary

I Chronicles 22:19 Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.  Begin to build the sanctuary…

There were two major things David told his son Solomon to do: 1) seek God with all his heart and soul, and 2) begin to build the sanctuary for the ark to rest in.  They seem almost totally unrelated at first glace, but the more I think about it, the more I see a vital connection between the two things.  Why would building the sanctuary be of importance unless there was first of all a love fore it that came from knowing the God of the ark that represented the covenant God had made with the children of Israel?   For myself, in my own lifetime, this verse reminds me that I will build my “sanctuary” only in proportion to my devotion to seeking/knowing the Lord my God.  Only then will I be able to build it, even though all the tools and supplies are there, already provided by God, just as David had done for Solomon.

Equity and justice

Psalm 98:9b; 99:4a He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity … The King is mighty, he loves justice – you have established equity; …

There is so much talk in our society and in our day and age about equality and justice, and from what we read in the Bible we know that these are qualities of God and therefore qualities to be sought after.  But we seem to fail so miserably so often that I have sometimes wondered if we will ever be able to attain them in my lifetime.  I think the answer is “no.”  The reason societies in our world will not see the attainment of true equality or justice is because of the third quality of God who, in these verses, is the source of equity and justice, that being the quality of righteousness.  Without righteousness I do not think we can find true justice and without true (righteous) justice, equity will not be possible.  The recognition of God as the only sufficient source of these qualities is the only path to attainment.

The nature of forgiveness

II Samuel 19:18b-20 When Shimei son of Gera crossed the Jordan, he fell prostrate before the king and said to him, “…Do not remember how your servant did wrong on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem. … For I your servant know that I have sinned…”

As they say, “What goes around comes around,” and although that is not from the Bible, it certainly is a modern way to describe what happened in these verses.  David had chosen to not react or retaliate against Shimei when he cursed and threw stones at David (see chapter 16) but now Shimei has a totally different attitude.  He recognizes that what he did was against the king who is now back in leadership.  It’s impossible for us to know for certain what Shimei’s motive is for repentance but I think the bigger lesson is David’s response.  It appears that even now, when he is once again in charge, David still takes no steps to retaliate against Shimei even though he is certainly in a position to do so  He chooses not only to let bygones be bygones but even stops those who would retaliate on his behalf (v.21).  I want to be like David and not retaliate every time I am wronged.  That is not easy; it is only possible as I become a woman after God’s own heart just as David was a man after God’s own heart.

Thank you cards

I had several thank you cards I needed to make, so yesterday was a great day for me to spend at a craft day with a group of local ladies who get together once a month to work on crafts.  I made four cards, two of which I am picturing here... my two favorites of the day.

I've been trying to perfect my block card abilities, so I tried another of those and am very happy with the result:

Here it is viewed from above, to give a better idea of the 3-d aspect of this card:

And the back:

I used a Paper Wishes Cherry on Top Artful Card Kit for this card.

The other card looks simple, but I had a hard time getting the folding done correctly for some reason.  However, after three attempts I finally figured it out and I like the result so much I am definitely going to try this again soon (before I forget how I finally got it done).

He speaks once, I hear two things

Psalm 62:11-12 One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.

There are two things we can know without a doubt about God.  There is a lot we don’t know or don’t comprehend or don’t understand about God because He is too eternal and too holy and too great.  But David put it very well, no matter how our understanding or knowledge about God may be limited, we can know that He is strong and that He is loving.  We have lots of evidence of those two things in our lives.  As I think about it, those are the two things that I want to see in my own life most.  If God is strong, I want to see His loving-ness, and if He is loving, I want to see evidence of His strength.  His strength brings courage to me and His loving-ness gives me comfort.  These two things help me face just about anything that may come my way.

A time to get refreshed

II Samuel 16:14 The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted.  And there he refreshed himself.

Sometimes we have experiences that are exhausting mentally, emotionally or spiritually, but those experiences do not have to keep us from “keeping on keeping on.”  We can keep moving in the right direction toward our goal of knowing God more and of growing spiritually.  That’s what David did.  It was exhausting enough to be traveling under the duress of danger from Absalom but then to have this man Shimei cursing and ranting and raving and stone throwing was also exhausting mentally and emotionally.  David just kept traveling towards his goal, even though he arrived exhausted.  BUT when he got to his destination he took some time to get refreshed.  That opportunity will come, so I need to keep traveling no matter what happens, until God provides an opportunity to get refreshed.

Baby girl album

Our dear friends Daniel and Tracy are preparing for the arrival of their first baby... a girl, and I have made them a mini album to capture pictures of her first year to share with Tracy's parents, who are too far away to be able to see the baby grow in person.  There are a lot of pictures here, just to be forewarned!  I think they are all self-explanatory, but I wanted a pictorial record for myself so I photographed every section!
So here is the front cover:

The hinge fastens closed with a small magnet.
The open book standing up so you can see how the "pages" fall (hence the moniker "waterfall album"):

And the back cover ... it's pretty plain, but pretty nonetheless! (I think...)

Then the last pages on each side have a special message:

And now a sample of the individual pages for each month up to one year:

There is space for two pictures from each month in her first year.
I really felt pleased with how it turned out and I hope Daniel and Tracy like it.

Encouragement

Psalm 3:3 But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

I love the word pictures in this verse of what God does for me, even in the middle of difficult of uncertain circumstances.  First, David says that God is around him, shielding him.  If I am able to understand that I am protected even if bad things are happening, that gives me strength and courage to face those difficulties in a way I could not do on my own.  Then, I especially like the picture of God lifting up my head.  I picture someone down in the dumps or discouraged or feeling defeated as one whose head is bowed down.  But God lifts up my head, a sign of courage and a positive outlook, if you will, as you look up instead of down.  That is what happens when I get a renewed vision of being surrounded by the Lord.  His presence brings encouragement.

Difficult choices

II Samuel 13:3, 14:20b Now Amnon had an advisor named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother.  Jonadab was a very shrewd man. … [Joab] my lord has wisdom like that of an angel of God …

If we needed any proof of the wisdom and value of having the right kind of friends and counselors to help us, we certainly have it in this sad story from King David’s life.  Because David’s son Amnon followed the counsel of a “shrewd” man, a whole series of unfortunate, sad, sinful/evil events took place.  The big difference besides the kind of counselors Amnon and David had that influenced the events was the kind of men Amnon and David were.  Amnon had evil intent from the beginning whereas David’s heart was inclined toward God so even though he struggled over forgiving Absalom, his reaction to the adverse circumstances was completely different and more peace-loving and peace-seeking.  I pray that I will always be the kind of person who emulates a godly, peace-loving heart such as we see in David.  It challenges me as I think about the fact that David was a man of war yet responded so many times in a peaceful way to adverse circumstances.  That characteristic is most admirable and desirable and coupled with his wise choice of advisors makes me want to be like him.

My example

Psalm 69:6 May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the Lord Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel.

This prayer psalm of David so beautifully expresses the desire of my own heart to be faithful to the end so as to never be the cause of someone else losing heart or leaving the faith because of something I might say or do.  As is obvious from other parts of the psalm, David expressed this sentiment in the middle of great difficulties.  In verse one he says he is up to his neck in those challenges.  So even in the midst of really hard times, he wanted to be true to his faith in God as an example to those who were observing what he was going through.  That is my prayer as well.

Putting others first

II Samuel 10:5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated.

Here is a sign of how good a king David was.  He was very sensitive to the men who had been humiliated by the Ammonites, and he made special provision for them to not have further humiliation.  I think this is especially noteworthy under the circumstances.  David was a warrior and I am sure he was especially upset, given that he had sent these men as an act of friendship and respect for the king who had died.  Even though he did send an army to fight the Ammonites, his first act was to help the men who had been treated so unkindly.  I hope and pray that I will show that much sympathy/empathy in times of turmoil by putting other people first in my thoughts and reactions to situations.

The important role of giving thanks

Psalm 50:23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.

In this psalm, God has declared that He does not need sacrifices because He owns the earth and has no need of being provided with food (v.7-13), but when they made thank offerings to God they would be honoring Him and He would provide deliverance (v.15) and salvation (v.23).  From this I see how closely related thanksgiving is to 1) honoring the Lord, and 2) finding salvation and deliverance from troubles.  As I learn to be more and more thankful, I will experience more spiritual growth and more deliverance from what weighs me down.  How telling of our society that Thanksgiving is a holiday being pushed out of the way for other holidays!  Could that be a sign of a much deeper spiritual problem?

Recognizing God's role in my successes

II Samuel 8:11 King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued; …

This chapter tells of all the victories King David had over the larger and wealthier nations around Israel: the Philistines, Moabites, Zobah, and Arameans of Damascus.  Then as a peace offering/white flag of surrender, David received the articles of silver and gold mentioned in this verse.  David was obviously a great leader and a powerful, successful warrior as well.  He could have so easily seen himself as the greatest, yet in his dedication of all the plunder and gifts of his battles to the Lord, he was recognizing that without God he would not have been so successful.  Even after dedicating so much to the Lord, David became a very wealthy man, so he did not lose anything by giving so much to God.  I may never be as wealthy or famous as David was, but if I continue to recognize the role God plays in my life, I will never be sorry.  Later in the passage connected to this verse it says that God gave David victory wherever he went, and that is my anticipation for myself.  If I obey and honor the Lord, He will give me the success I need.

I already have it!

Psalm 29:11 The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

I noticed that this verse does not say that strength and peace are “available” to the Lord’s people.  It says they have those two spiritual commodities!  I do not have to ask the Lord for strength or for peace … they are already in me to put to use.  I think this is a profound truth that most of us who are God’s children have missed.  We are constantly asking the Lord for strength or for peace when we should actually be asking the Lord to help us use them in our lives.  I should be asking God to help me learn to put them to use, to appropriate their power in my circumstances, whatever they may be at any given time.  My prayer is that I will grow into this truth as I mature spiritually.

Today is national scrapbook day so I need to see what I might do to celebrate.  This week I already made this birthday card for one of the women in my Sunday school class, but I do have a small mini album I need to work on so maybe I'll do that today.

Bright greetings

I sometimes find it challenging to use really bright colors on my cards, particularly oranges and yellows, even though I like the bright results.  However, I was pleased with the way this card turned out by adding a border of bright green around this yellow and orange:

Somehow these colors seemed appropriate on this Cinco de Mayo day!  And hopefully the bright and cheerful look will cheer up the recipient.

No more burden-bearing

Psalm 68:19 Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. 

This verse is a great reminder to me that God is a personal, “everyday” God, One who is not distant and removed from me or my circumstances.  Every day He is ready to bear my burdens.  Even though I am one of millions of people currently on the earth who love God and try to live for Him, He is my Lord, my God, my Savior, and is bearing my burdens!  This psalm talks about God leading a victorious, joyful procession of rescued people, which tells me that I can be freed from my burdens because He is bearing them.  The psalm ends on that victorious, freedom-filled note: “the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.”  When I am free of my burdens I have power and strength to use on things other than burden-bearing.

Is my name important?

I Chronicles 16:41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, “for his love endures forever.”

Each task related to worship in the tabernacle when the ark was brought back to Israel was assigned to specific people.  Asaph was in charge of praise, Obed-Edom and Hosah were gate-keepers, Zadok was in charge of the burnt offerings, and Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for sounding the trumps and other instruments.  No task was too simple or too unimportant to not be assigned, and everyone had a specific job to do that helped make the worship at the tabernacle a complete and orderly one for everyone who came to participate.  Although those in charge were named for us to know about them all these years later, there were many “associates” and “fellow priests” and “the rest of those chosen and designated by name” whom we do not know but who served faithfully.  Their service was equally important.  It is my faithful service to the Lord that matters, not whether my name is known or not.  I have been chosen by God by name and that is what matters.

I am especially pleased with having conquered what was for me a huge challenge in my card-making efforts.  For months now I have admired pictures of rainbow-colored cards and never have had the courage to try it because I did not have any specific instructions to follow.  Yesterday I was feeling a bit down in the dumps and the rainbow card is so bright and cheerful that I decided to try my hand at it.  It definitely cheered me up!  Can you see why?

All those layers of bright colors!!!  Well, it turned out great, but boy, was it time-consuming!  Cutting the strips of color and punching the edge wasn't so bad, but getting the spacing done for layering the strips was quite the challenge for this ol' gal who is less than artistic. 

THEN I waxed truly creative for the inside.  I say creative because I am not good at coming up with totally unique ideas, but the inside of the card was just that.  Not spectacular, but striking in it's similarity to the outside of the card, as you can see here:

I have a certain birthday person coming up with a birthday in a couple of weeks and I hope this card will cheer her up as much as it cheered me up to make it!

Crying out to God

Psalm 107:27b-28 They were at their wits’ end.  Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.

This psalm recounts numerous scenarios in which people found themselves in trouble, distress, or turmoil (mostly of their own making) yet when they cried out to the Lord, He came to their aid in one way or another.  In each situation, God met them, and they were challenged to give thanks to God.  It is all summed up in the verses at the beginning of the psalm: “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story…” and then at the conclusion of the psalm as well: “…let the one who is wise … ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.”  And what is it He has done?  He led them to peace and security (v.7), He gave them freedom (v.14), He healed them (v.20), He gave them peace and guidance (v.30).  As I look back over my life, I can see ways in which God has done this for me, even though at times I had wandered away from diligently following Him.  I have found peace and security even when I faced potential kidnapping in war-torn Beirut.  God gave me freedom to choose a library career after my time overseas.  He healed me when I was suffering from a penicillin reaction just days before my wedding.  He gave me peace and guidance as I sought to follow His direction for my life when considering big steps such as marriage, my promotion to Library Director, and my involvement in leadership in the Association of Christian Librarians.  I have had great blessing in seeing God lead my and meet my needs at every step.

God's blessing

This is one of my favorite photographs from one of our visits to Swan Lake in Sumter SC, and I thought of it immediately when I read my devotional passage today from Psalm 133.

Psalm 133:1, 3b How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! … For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

I never quite saw this thought pattern in this psalm before as I did today – the first verse and the last combined in this recognition of the blessing of the Lord as a direct result of God’s people living in unity.  The other verses of the psalm describe that blessing, but the fact of His blessing being the result of living in unity with other believers is a powerful yet challenging thought.  If we truly get a grasp on this reality, it could make a big difference in how we view our differences with other believers, that His blessing comes on us if we are in unity.  The implication, of course, is that if I am not in unity with my fellow believers, I will miss out on the full blessing of God on my life.  I pray that this insight will remind me to be more tolerant and less critical when differences or disagreements come along.

When a little is a lot

I Chronicles 12:28 …with 22 officers from his family…

In this list of armed men who joined David for battle, 340,622 of them total, I find myself wondering why Zadok, a brave young warrior who brought only 22 men, is listed.  Perhaps even though it was only 22 men, he still came to fight, and that was important to God.  Perhaps he is important because he was brave enough to come with the little he had to offer, but he was brave…  No matter what the exact circumstances, it is clear that the little bit Zadok offered made a difference to God and to David, a difference enough to make him worth noting in this list.  If he had not been noted here, I may never have seen the lesson for myself so many years later.  It isn’t how much I offer to God, it is the fact that I offer what I have that matters.  I am reminded of a song I rather vaguely recall from many years ago, "Little is much when God is in it."  That is about all I remember of that song but it came to my mind immediately when thinking of this account of Zadok.