Scripture Challenge: NEIGHBOR

Neighbor.... one living or located near.  Reading through the Bible looking for references regarding "Neighbor" brought up the words found in this verse over and over.  It's referred to in Matthew 22:39 as "the Second Greatest Commandment".  Love your neighbor as yourself.  The "First Greatest Commandment" is usually listed with it, and makes up the first part of the verse I used with my picture, above:

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your strength

and with all your mind' and

'Love your neighbor as yourself' "

Luke 10:27

When the Expert in the Law (who was speaking the above passage) asked Jesus who his neighbor was, Jesus answered him with the story of the Good Samaritan.  I love that story (you can read it in verses 30-37) and have GREAT memories of my father telling it over and over again when he used to give tours at a "replica" of the Holy Land in Virginia.  Pretty ironic, since in his "retirement", he gives tours in the REAL Holy Land!!

The picture is of the back of the house of my All-Time Favorite Neighbor.  Love these people.  Loved it when my parents bought the lot in the woods behind their house and built a house for US to live in, when I was 16.  Their daughter was my Best Friend BEFORE we even moved behind them, so you can imagine how very happy I was to get to be so close to her!  (HI SUE!!!!!!)  I love this picture the most because it shows the view I had everytime I snuck through the treeline, to Sue's back door.  (Our house was to the right of the big tree in the right of the picture)  My favorite memory of Sue being my neighbor would be the time she was hanging out at my house and then went home and called me 10 minutes later to tell me she forgot her car:) 

Even though the image in my picture shows my LITERAL neighbor, Jesus it telling us that the neighbor He's talking about is everyone around us... show them mercy (v37) and love them like you love yourself. 

Random Cards #4

It's been a while since I've posted just Random Cards, but here are a few that have fallen off my desk in the last few weeks...

So last month I placed a REALLY BIG Stampin' Up order:)  I needed to restock on many items (um, CARDSTOCK) and took full advantage of their Sale-A-Bration celebration, which translates into FREE STUFF.    One of the things I've had my eye on for a while is the "Thank You" sizzlit die... cuts out "thank you" when you run it through the Cuttlebug (ah, still LOVE that thing!) then you can glue them down on a card.  I'm going to make some of these for my sister-in-law's who are currently pregnant... although, no butterflies for Randee, she's having a boy!  (Hi Parker!!) They are fun! (the letters, not Randee and baby Parker.  Although, I she's fun, too, and I'm sure Parker will be too! Digress...) The butterflies are NOT MINE!  They are from Betsy's order and apparently I did not see them in the mini-spring catalog (same idea, sizzlit die you run through the Cuttlebug... however, that one EMBOSSES at the same time, so you get dots!)  I am the Master at talking Betsy into letting me borrow her stuff!  Aren't they cute?  That die cuts out 5 different sizes of butterflies.  Anyways, the inside of the card ALSO has a cut out (Top Note, you will be seeing that soon...) and a butterfly on it.  Seriously, that card took 2 minutes.  If you get it in the mail, don't be offended:)

MORE goodies from my order... In the mini-spring catalog, there is a new stamp set called "Tiny Tags" and it is very tiny stamps that you can stamp and then punch out with the mini-tag jewelry punch.  Yes, had to indulge in BOTH.  Also fun about this stamp set, SU! is putting out some of their sets WITHOUT wood blocks, which I prefer!  So exciting for me.  This card also features the Basic Grey (Lemondade) paper my AWESOME mother-in-law got me for Christmas!  Love those 6x6 paper pads!  The "Love" stamp in the corner is from TAC, ribbon is SU! Old olive.  Cardstock, SU!

Closeup of the tiny tags...

Finally.... "Thoughts and Prayers" stamp set.  I've also had this on my list for a while.  It has really nice sympathy sentiments, but seriously?  I hated having to send this card.  I hate it when people you love are going through something that you can't even imagine.

THAT is the Top Note die, and another little butterfly floating by.  Taffeta ribbon (kraft).

Scripture Challenge: FOLLOW

Follow.  To engage in as a calling or way of life.  To copy after, to imitate. 

I REALLY liked this verse mostly because of the "story" that came after it:

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said

"I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me

will never walk in darkness, but will have the

light of life.

John 8:12

It's the story of Jesus teaching in the temple, and the Pharisees questioning the validity of his testimony.  Here's the EXAMPLE he sets for us.... he knows where he came from, and where he's going (v 14).  He keeps talking to them, trying to explain and they are getting confused and just not "seeing it"... what they needed was to FOLLOW him, and realize that HE is the light they needed.  I can totally relate to that.  The skeptic in me wants to GET IT completely, and sometimes that just doesn't happen... He lights the way for me and guides me.  And like the light house is for a ship at sea, he's all I need to get to safety.  This is the way of life He has called me to...

The picture is from another great day I spent with my little family.  Last August, we spent a week "exploring" the coast of the Pacific Northwest.  We LOVED every minute of it!  This is the Heceta Head Lighthouse along the Oregon Coast. 

Scripture Word Challenge: HOME

Home... one's place of residence.  A familiar or usual setting.  The social unit formed by a family living together.  A safe place. 

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord Almighty!

My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and flesh cry out

for the Living God.

Even the sparrow has found a HOME,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young,

a place near your altar,

O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell

in your HOUSE;

they are ever praising You.

Psalm 84:1-4

This is the scripture that immediately came to my mind for this challenge... and this picture.  It's from a VERY fun day my family spent at Coquina Beach.  My sister and her daughter were visiting, my parents went with us, the sunset was AMAZING... I sat on the beach snapping pictures of my husband playing ball with our son.  I was COMPLETELY overwhelmed with God.  What better picture of HIM, than watching a father play with his child?  Instructing, guiding, laughing, encouraging, cheering, enjoying... This is the picture I have of Heaven.  God enjoying His children.  I love the fact that this picture also has a sand CASTLE in it, which reminds me that God is our KING.... and also has a vast amount of the sky, and shimmering water, which makes me think of the "Glassy Sea" from Revelation 4. 

Christmas. For real.

Can you believe I have ALREADY made a Christmas project, and it's only FEBRUARY?!?!  And no, it's not a Left Over that I wanted to make for LAST Christmas.  My sister, Tracy, came to visit a couple of weekends ago, and brought a fun project for us to make.  First, let me say, I'M SHOCKED that we actually did it!!!  We usually get too busy talking and drinking coffee to remember to do everything we planned.  But, I digress...

She saw these on someone's blog (she's a complete stalker) and ordered them for us from the Scribble It company.  (http://www.scribbleitonline.com/) Super fun, and EASY, and probably most importantly, QUICK.  Your order comes with 2 plain wood blocks, and a plain wood plank (for the base)... and enough decorative paper squares and white vinyl numbers and words to adhere to the sides of the blocks.   We painted the blocks with red paint, which I "distressed" with a brown inkpad.  Used super strong double sided tape to hold it all on the block.  Bang.  Done. 

If only it were DECEMBER, I wouldn't have to put it away....

Scripture Word Challenge: ABIDE

Abide... amazingly enough, this word is NOT in the NIV version of the Bible that I normally use ~ so I used http://www.biblegateway.com/ to find other versions, where "Abide" IS used!  I find the definition of the words from Merriam-Webster dictionary online, and this word had about 6 variations... I went with "to continue in a place"... although, "to remain stable or fixed in a state" was working for me, too! 

Anyways, when I was searching out verses, the first one I read was Psalm 91:1, and I couldn't stop thinking about our summer vacation, and our trip to Mount Rainier National Park... I stood in the shadow of that mountain and had a moment where I was just overwhelmed by God.  It was really impressed on me when we were surrounded by all those mountains on vacation (we're from FLORIDA - flat) that this is the "picture" of God that I have in my head.  Unmovable... Majestic... BIG... awe-inspiring.  In the NIV, this verse goes like this:

HE who dwells in the shelter

of the Most High

will REST in the shadow

of the Almighty.

And I'm really liking that word for "abide", too.  This is what I NEED to do... rest in Him, continue in a place with Him... in the shadow of Him. 

So, the picture is (obviously!) from our trek up Mount Rainier...  it's in the SHADOW of Mt. Rainier... it is actually La Grande Dam, just outside the National Park.  We pulled over to take pictures because the view was so amazing.  This could be why it took us so long to go through that park... we kept stopping to take pictures.  And be amazed.  And AMAZED we were...

Content

My sister, Tracy, told me a few weeks ago her "Word" for the year is CONTENT.  She also mentioned that she wasn't too thrilled that it was her word... you know how when you ask God to show you what you need to work on and then He does, and you start working on it.... it isn't so easy?  (note to self: NEVER pray for patience.  Just saying.)  When I got my "Graphically Speaking" Cricut cartridge and saw her jumbled up word, I knew exactly what I wanted to make her for her birthday! 

A word about "Content":
    So, I was hunting around for a verse to put in the frame.  I knew this verse since I was little (Philippians 4:11 "... for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.") but never realized that it came 2 verses before my favorite-since-November verse.  Kind of made me smile, you know?  ANYWAYS, I had to add in "I can do all things through Christ" on there when I payed attention to what verse 12 says:

I have learned the secret of being content

in any and every situation...

then verse 13 comes in with "I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me".  Love it.

I loved making this for her, it was fun, but also really good for me to figure all that out.

I cut out the "Content" word using the Cricut my sister, Laurie, gave me for Christmas and my Bday (LOVE IT, thanks, Laurie!).  I cut it out 6 times on SU! Kraft cardstock, then one more time on patterned paper (K&Company, Urban Rhapsody).  I glued it all together (layer by layer) so it would be like chipboard.  I touched it up randomly around the edges and top with Bravo Burgundy craft ink (SU!) then embossed with clear glittery embossing powder.  Same deal for the verse, but using nestabilities Label One, and printed the verse on the computer onto the same paper (K&C). The patterned paper on the side is Basic Grey, 6x6 lemonade paper pad that my mother-in-law gave me for Christmas (also, LOVE IT!!!).   I got the frame at Marshalls... and it's official!  I like making "art" :)

Happy Birthday Tracy!  So happy you were here this weekend to celebrate with your Birthday Buddy, Ben... and Ryan wanted me to remind you that you said if Ben was born on your birthday, we never had to give you another birthday present... so, I want the frame back!  You have my address.