365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 205

Today is the day we honor and celebrate our fathers. My Dad is the kind of guy who doesn't talk much except for those things that really interest him like politics, sports or their traveling adventures. We actually have that in common. I, too, tend to not be a big talker except when it's regarding those things that interest me the most which are God and scrapbooking. My hubbie will testify to the times I get on a soap box about something, too. I do have my talking moments. But in the end it's not the talking that really counts but the listening. How well of a listener am I? I tend to be a very focused thinker. I can multi-task like all women do so well but it's got to be with less-brain focusing activities. This makes my listening a bit more challenging when someone is trying to communicate something to me. My focus has to be directly on the person talking so I can fully take in and process what they are saying to me. To truly be listening to God is very much the same way. We have to have our focus on Him. This, like everything else, has to be an intentional thing that we commit to doing to really receive the blessings that will flow when our listening ears are in-tune to God. What are you doing everyday that puts your focus soley on God? Make today the first day you commit to one way you are going to focus on God, be it in prayer, reading scripture or a devotional, singing worship songs, journaling or faithbooking. Have a blessed Father's Day! Glory be to our God and Father of All!
Proverbs 23:22 Listen to your father, who gave you life...

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 65

I was reading the story of Noah last night to my daughter at bedtime and the part at the end about the rainbow gave me an "ah-ha" moment. It says the rainbow is a reminder to us of God's promise to never flood the earth again. The word that popped out to me was 'reminder'. If you have never read through the entire bible you will find it's a major problem for us humans. We have this natural tendency to forget. God was helping us out by creating the rainbow as the symbol of his promise to us. He's given us other symbols at well like the dove with the olive branch, circumcision, miracles, the cross and Jesus, himself. He is always putting out there a trigger that will help us remember Him, who He is and what He promises to us. I love that word 'reminder' because it has been a central part of "me". My memory seems to be a little worse than the average person's and that is probably why I love scrapbooking so much because it give me a way to concretly put down the memeories so I can remember them and be reminded of things I have learned. That is why I love faithbooking so much! Each faithbooking page I create becomes another reminder of something about God that I will forget or will become buried in the mess of life. Keeping our focus on God has to be our number one priority. Blessing will flow if we keep our eyes on God. So, if you haven't yet tried faithbooking, I would love to help you out. I have a few kits thus far for you to come and make at an FTLC workshop or you can order a kit and do it on your own time at home.

This kit is about "Treasure" that we can store in our hearts just like Mary did with her memories of Jesus. I am betting she would have loved to faithbook them if they had scrapbooking at that time. This is done with a new paper pack from Close to My Heart called Florentine but it can also be done in any of Close to My Heart's paper packs. You can pick the colors that suit you and your photos. Order online anytime at www.ctmh.com/janinerobertson and I will mail you the instructions and embellishments to complete your project.
My prayers to you that you start to see all the reminders God has given us and that you may keep your focus on Him.
Genesis: 9:15-16 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 61

I hope this won't sound like a sales pitch. I really am grateful for inspiration for scrapbooking and cardmaking, whatever the source may be but I am really grateful for the How To books that Close to My Heart has created. The instructions are easy to follow with visuals to aid you as you do it and in the end you are adding all those embellishments, titles and photos that really make it all "yours". I created this layout with the Cherish How To book and just am thrilled with how it came out. I used the new paper pack called Florentine, a retiring stamp set called Treasure Life and the January Stamp Set of the Month, Mad About You. I finalized it with some Olive hardware and WOW! I am so thrilled by how it all came together.

You can make this design with Florentine or any of the other Close to My Heart Duo Paper Packs. It will be available for you to create at the upcoming FTLC Crop in Februray or you can order a kit. Visit my Close to My Heart website to find the paper that suits you and your photos best, than send me an email and I will get you hooked up with this easy to do layout! So, thanks to the creativness of others to help me when I am in need of a little inspiration.
Hebrews 13:21 ...equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 54

Today I am praising God for bringing new friends into my life. I met a lovely lady this last week through a meetup group when I emailed her about Faith to Life Connections. She was with me yesterday in the studio creating the ANEW layout based on Ephesians 2:10. It was so great to connect with another believer while scrapbooking through the afternoon. She is giving me the support I need in getting this ministry off the ground. She told me about an article she recently read about Dave Ramsey who is the very well known Christian speaker/teacher on finances. Dave Ramsey's first meeting was with only 6 people and today he is filling up large facilities with people. This reminds me of the story of the mustard seed that Jesus speaks about in Matthew 13:31-32 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard see, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. So, though my first official Faith to Life Connections crop was just with my new friend and myself, I am very hopeful that this seed will grow into something wonderful and hope it will be a blessing for my new friend and all the new friends to come.
Proverbs 17:17-18 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 44

Do you get bombarded with emails? Are most of them junk mail? I delete far more emails than I actually read and I am sure most of us are in the same boat. I do take a quick look at the subject line and if I have the time to take a look I will open a forwarded email to see what it's about. These are few and far between and I am very selective in my subject choice. I love animals and love inspirational stories so those two subjects may catch my attention. I recently opened one from my dad with the subject FROG. It was such an odd subject that I decided to take a look just to see and found myself reading through a story and the moral, FROG, forever rely on God. I have had those four words in my head for days now. I, of course, had to create a scrapbook page and a card for this great acronym. I used the Lucky paper pack from Close to My Heart which will be going away by the end of the month with the launch of the newest catalog. My arrows were created with the Art Philosophy cartridge and given dimension with an embossing folder. I have the frog jumping up to represent looking up to God. I still have to add my journaling about the photos I selected which are from a dentist visit for my daughter when she had to get her first tooth pulled.

We were definitely relying on God that day to get us through the trauma.
Psalm 16:8 I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Discussion forum created

I have found a discussion forum that should make it easier to discuss with each other about the 365 days of Praise Challenge, bible study, what we are doing with our faithbooking and anything related to our walk with the Lord. This may be temporary until I can find a place that may fit better so that we can also post pictures of our scrapbook layouts, etc. If you have any ideas on this, I would love to hear them. The link to this discussion board will always be over in the Resources section on the right side of the blog. This will also take you to Bible Study Tools.com which is another great resource for bible reading plans, studies and lots more. Check it out and have a fabulous final day of 2011!

Faithbooking FAQ's

I am working slowly but surely on some faithbooking FAQ's and will create a page for this on the blog so people can get a better idea of what it is all about. I would love to hear your questions so I can have an idea of what's going on in people's minds when they hear the word faithbooking and find out it has to do with scrapbooking. So, please post your question using the comments here or email me directly at RobertsonOasisAngel@gmail.com I really appreciate your help for this!

May our One True and Holy God of the Universe bless you this day with all that you desire and may you draw closer to Him. Amen.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 2

Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving spent in my home with me making the traditional turkey dinner in all my 15 years of marriage. Every year we have gone up to Sterling over Thanksgiving holiday and I have never had to cook a thing but I have always wanted to. I was so excited to actually be home for Thanksgiving so I could do the cooking. I took photos along my cooking journey so I can later put together my scrapbook page about the day. So, my praise today is for being able to make some good food everyone enjoyed. I made the labor intensive but highly favored dish that I grew up with thanks to my Polish grandparents, called peirogies. It will be another year or so before I do that again but they are so worth the work. My pumpkin pies were a bust but I am ready to try it again next year.
Proverbs 31:15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provide food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

Attitude of Abundance

I have been reading a book called 10 Godly Keys to Success and Prosperity and got super inspired to do a scrapbook page for each chapter so I would more fully take in the knowledge and be able to start applying it to my life. The second chapter is about developing a prosperity consciousness. In other words, it's having an attitude of abundance. Meredith Bromfield, the author, makes great points in the fact that we live in a country of abundance. Most of us have been blessed with countless blessings and there are probably tons and tons that you don't even think of because we take them for granted living her in the good old USA like indoor plumbing, a hot shower, freedom of religion, our homes and more. We have an abundance of blessings to be thankful for and the more we keep this in our focus the better our attitude will be. Bromfield also points out the abundance of opportunities available to us. This is the country where dreams are made. You can write a book, invent something, create beautiful artwork and so much more. We just have to be open to seeing the opportunities available to us and grab onto them with both hands.

I wanted to create not only a scrapbook page on this but something to remind myself everyday so I used some products from my Close to My Heart business and created this pin to wear everyday. It was intended not only for my reminder of my attitude but as a visual curosity point on myself that people would ask about. I planned it to just be my reminder but I am making it a part of me. It is my way of branding myself in the business world. Every time someone meets and sees me I will be wearing a pin with a letter. I will create a new one every month that reminds me about the things that I am striving to be consistently. So when people ask me about my 'A'pin, I tell them, this is a pin I created with some of my Close to My Heart products to remind me that I have an Awesome God who has given me and abundance of blessings, provides me with an abundance of opportunities and I have to keep my eyes open and my Attitude that Anything is possible with God.

Faith to life connections are everywhere!

It really is amazing how many connections I am finding with my faith to my life since I began this committed journey with faithbooking. Part of this is the committed part. It has to be something you work into the time you have each week. With the sermon series layouts I have been doing, I take notes during the sermon, than on Monday I will reveiw those notes and write my own thoughts and feelings and any photo ideas that come to me. Wednesday we meet at the church for our small group time so after that I can apply any new thoughts and feelings to my notes but by than I am pretty well sure on what I am going to do with my layout so I get the photos found and downloaded to Studio J so I can work on it at work on my breaks and hopefully by the next Sunday I am ready to start it all over again. I dropped the ball this last week because of my shoulder pain mostly and lots of stuff going on but I did get my notes done and so now it's just a matter of getting my photos ready to go and doing the layout so why am I here... off I go to get into the book of Matthew.

In the beginning..

God created the heavens and the earth. God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. I am starting off my journey with this ministry because light is not only very necessary for life but also without light we have no visual, we would not be able to see anything and certainly would not be able to capture anything on film. God gave us this blessing of light and being able to see his creation with all the wonderful colors and textures and he gave us the ablility to capture it on film. Our memories are a huge part of ourselves and the photos of those memeries gives us a visual we can go back to again and again. The visuals in our minds fade away and become gray and distant. So, our photos give us back a connection to where we have come from, where we have been and can perhaps give us a glimpse to where we are going. I have a strong desire to find deeper and deeper connections to my Lord and King. Being a scrapbooker for almost 15 years, I have delved a little bit into tapping into how the Word of God connects with my life through scrapbooking and the day has come to really committ to digging into this and helping others connect to the Lord through this meduim and connecting to other believers. I pray that this ministry will be a blessing to myself, my family and all those that become a part of it.