vrijdag 29 juli 2011

God's Promises, Faith blog hop

Welcome to the God's Promises Faith Blog Hop.  If you arrived here from Amanda you are in the right place.  If you just arrived at my blog, you should go to Paper Tree House in order to start at the beginning.  Every month a group of brave women get together to showcase the Glory of God.  This month we want to showcase His faithfulness during trying times, so kick back, relax and let the Lord touch your heart with His Truth! 

Did you know that there are 1260 promises in the Bible?  I did not count them myself, but am blown away by the fact that each and every promise the Lord gives, He is faithful to fulfill.  It is pretty easy to believe this when times are easy and abundance surrounds our lives, but is that the same when trouble hits?

The Bible says that our hearts are deceitful above all things and then it adds WHO CAN TRUST IT? Have you ever considered that maybe the reason why we dont trust God is because we spend more time looking at how big the waves in our lives have become and forget that God created the entire UNIVERSE with just His breath...  Think about it, the Lord spoke the ENTIRE World into existence... the only thing created that was made with His hands was man and woman.  That is why He says that if He provides for the birds and the plants, how much more to His children?  You are precious to the Lord and He will not fail you, even when it feels He might. 

In this hop you will read the stories of women like you that have faced trouble and probably even lacked the faith to believe in the miracle the Lord performed at the very end! Our prayer is that you would open your heart to the Truth found in these promises and that you would even share with us what God has done in your life.  Your victory may become our hope... :)

During the hop you will find many chances to win prizes! All you have to do to be considered for one of those prizes is leave a comment and become a follower of the blogs you will hop through.  For the Grand Prizes , make sure to leave a comment, become a follower, and "LIKE" Paper Tree House on Facebook.  This will allow you to find out about future hops we will be having.  

Here are the brave women that dared to share their stories:






The grand prizes:


Stamping Things: The Topper Ink Pad Holder (http://www.stampinthings.com/stamp-pad-holder.html)
Paper Tree House Studio: Exclusive PDF file tutorial for Mini-Book Taught at CHA.
K Andrew Stamps: Stamp Set
Tombow: Grand Adhesive Set




Wow, what a great theme for this months Faith blog hop.
God has so many promises for us. But often we forget about them. At least, I know I do.
I know from my own experience, that it's hard to keep faith when times are tough. I'm going through a tough time right now. Since the beginning of March I am stuck at home with a burn out. It is the second one in like 4 years or so. I have my ups and downs, and lately I feel like I will never overcome this lack of energy and the anxiety I have. I've always been a very optimistic girl and always had the idea I will overcome things. But now that it is taking so long to get my energy back, I feel like I will never get out of this.
I just want to get better so quickly... although I know this can't be overcome in a week. But I still get dissapointed in myself that it's not getting better the quick way I want.

So this theme of God's promise is just a gift for me. I did need to sit myself down (which I hardly do... I just get so busy with unimportant things, so that I don't have to sit down and think and feel emotions), pray to God and read the bible in order to see what God has for a promise I need right now.

I came across some verses in Isaiah. Isaiah 8:14  which says:
He will be a place of safety for you.
Wow.... I always knew that, but still I wanted to do things all by myself. It's a thing I have always felt like I needed to do. But how wrong am I!! I'm not alone in this world and God made me, because He loves me the way I am. I hope and pray I can hold on to this when I feel a panic attack coming up. To know that He is there and is a safe haven for me! Wow, that's just such a powerful promise!


And then I read Isaiah 55, verses 7b, 8, 9 and 12 stood out for me:
"For He will abundantly pardon.
For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace."



Sometimes (I think more than just sometimes) we want the things done our way. We think that the things we want or need NOW is the only right thing and time to get it. But how wrong are we at that, I think. Yeah, maybe some things could be okay to get it in the time we want, but how about the future? Maybe it's better to wait for things, to grow into them. Instead of demanding to have it here and now.
God knows best what en when we need things. His ways are far more better than our ways.This always sound very easy, but I know it's not. But just wait and see and trust in our faithful Father. And in a while you will see that things are better in His way ;-)


Please feel free to tell your story about the struggles you go through and how God touches you. Think about the wonderful promises He has for you. You just have to stretch out in faith to Him.




I pray that what ever you go through right now ( the truggles, the hurt, the feeling of failure, being sick or having trouble to hold your head up above the surface, or any other kind of thing that holds you back to enjoy life and live in peace) that you will open up your heart and let God touch you in a very special way. That you will feel His love for you and that He says to you: "My sweet dear child, I am always there for you and I love you. And it's all gonna be okay, just trust in Me and my promises for your life".




God loves you, and so do I! 



Thanks for hopping through this faith hop.  Know that we are praying for you and really hope your eyes are opened to the Truth about the Lord's Faithfulness! :)


Now head over to Nicole to read her story. 




Love in Christ,


Wendy

donderdag 21 juli 2011

Echt positief denken

Omdat het al een tijdje niet zo lekker ging, was ik ook helemaal vergeten dat ik voor Dutch Dares nog een layout zou maken aan de hand van een schets. Voelde me zo lullig. Dus heb gisteren mezelf aan het scrappen gezet, en wat was het heerlijk om weer eens wat te knutselen!

Dit is de schets van deze maand:


Because it's not going so well lately, I totally forgot that I should make a layout for Dutch Dares, according to a sketch. I felt so shitty that I forgot. So I got myself to go scrapping, and man it felt good to be busy again.


This is the sketch for this month:






En dit heb ik ervan gemaakt. De titel is voor mij momenteel wel van toepassing ;-)

And this is what I made. The title so relevant for me right now ;-)


woensdag 20 juli 2011

Steeds opnieuw beginnen

Nou, vandaag had ik eindelijk weer even de zin om te scrappen. Beetje moeilijke dagen/weken gehad, maar heb een schop onder de kont gegeven. Ben maar gewoon papier gaan pakken en gaan scrappen.
Twee dingen kan ik nog niet laten zien, maar die volgen deze week nog.

Deze layout heb ik gemaakt met de nieuwe schets van Punky Scraps.


Well, today I finally felt like scrapping a bit. I have had a few rough days/weeks, but I got some ass-kicking. And I just took some paper and got to scrap.
There are two things I just cannot show yes, but they will follow this week.


This layout I made with the newest sketch. on  Punky Scraps



ps: the title says: life is like a game of goose. You can always start over again, unless you stay in the well.