365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 14

50 more weeks of praise to go! I am thanking God to day for the opportunities he pretty much plants in my lap. I did a craft fair this weekend and it was starting off to be very discouraging. I have never done very well at craft fairs in selling much and afterwards have always thought why bother but I decided to do one because of my change to Close to My Heart and my love and belief in their products especially Studio J, the on-line digital scrapbooking program that has made my dream of starting a faithbooking ministry a reality. So, I knew I was probably not going to sell much especially Studio J in the fast-paced atmosphere of a craft fair but was hoping to make some good connections. I finally got my groove and started making book marks and giving them to anyone that stopped at my booth to look. This really has turned out to be a good ice breaker and I got some good connections. So I am thanking God for putting people in my path that I can share faithbooking, Studio J and scrapbooking with and pray that God will give me the courage and confidence and help me get out of my comfort zone and be successful. Are you connecting to whom God puts in your path? Faithbooking is an easy way to share your faith. If you have yet to try it or even scrapbooking, I would encourage you to start a free account with Studio J and see how easy it is to put together a scrapbook layout that applies to your faith. See my examples posted here and feel free to ask me any questions about Studio J or faithbooking. Access Studio J here: www.ctmh.com/janinerobertson
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afriad or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 13

It's been almost two weeks of taking a few minutes to write out my praise and find a piece of scripture that applies to it. I am feeling closer to God! How about you? If you haven't made a comment with your own praise or just commenting on mine, I would challenge you to take those few minutes like I have done and write something back. I think the act of writing really engages our brain and can really help what you are reading sink in so it will be at the forefront of your mind which means the Lord will be there too. You can now follow me via email which may be easier. See the top right of the blog to follow by email. Today, I am praising the technology to be able to do this. I know there are many negative aspects to technology but there are plenty of good things that outweigh those bad ones. I always liked journaling but never kept it up because my journal would be placed somewhere and not found for months until the papers that got piled on top of it were cleared away or I just didn't have the time to pull out the journal and handwrite which does take a bit longer. So, thank you God for this medium that can be used to praise you, share about you and bring believers closer to you and each other. Please share this blog with fellow believers and be blessed.
Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 12

I got a great book about our love languages called God Speaks Your Love Language. I had heard about the love languages but had never read a book about them. What an education that was! I wish I had known what I learned from that book years and years ago. It really helped me to understand the people I loved and how the best way to love them and about me and what love language really speaks to me. I very highly recommend reading any of the love language books so you too can get in on this valuable information. After reading the book, I went through and tried to figure out the dominant love language for those close around me. My daughter was easy to figure out. She is 'Quality Time'. If I balance life well and give her some of my time her love tank is always full. My son was easy too! He is 'Physical Touch'. He loves to hug and be hugged so now into his teenage years I have found other ways to give him a loving touch without the embarrassment issue that teens can have.

My husband was a little more challenging to figure out. I think he is 'Service' which means he is always up doing and helping with any and everything but he read a summary of the love languages and thinks he is 'Physical Touch' so I have to try to give him love in both those ways to try to keep his love tank filled. I bring this all up only because hubbie has been a rock these days with helping me on things, he even becomes the 50's wife stereotype at times like last night and has dinner on a plate for me and has me come in and sit down and serves me dinner. So, today I want to praise my hubbie for all his service-oriented love for me. Although, it is not my dominant love language, having read the book, I am aware of how he shows his love. My husband loves me and I am thanking God for that and him.

Ephesians 5:33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 11

As I was driving to work earlier this week, I realized from my behaviors recently that I have been acting much more like my good old self. I have been struggling with peri-menapause issues for the last 5-6 years and ended up doing biodentical hormones for the last 3 years with so-so results because my body was constantly changing still headed towards menapause. I believe I am officially in menapause even though I am still a young 46. You have to be without a period for a year for them to consider it menapause but because I have been on hormone treatment there is no real way to determine. I recenlty decided to stop the hormones and the high cost which were giving me little results and started with a natural tincture I found on the internet called Mellowpause. I have never felt better! I have a time or two of crankiness but I think that's more stress-related than hormone related. No headaches, no night sweats, no hot flashes. So, I am praising God today for a return to good health and getting out of what were very dark days for me.

2Samuel 22:29 You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord turns my darkness into light.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 10

We watched the movie Super 8 last night and WOW! was that intense. The movie was very well made and directed with most of the cast being teenagers. It is well worth watching because of the messages within the movie which are truths in the bible one being that we are forgiven and we need to be forgiving to each other. I am thankful to God for the reminders like this we can find in entertaining movies and in all kinds of situations around us. The more open we are to seeing God all around us the more we do see Him.

From the Lord's Prayer: Matthew 6:12 ... and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 9

I read the book The Three Trees to my daughter last night before bed. This book brought out the lesson within the genelogy of Jesus even more. The three trees have big dreams for themselves but in the end they become the manger, boat and cross that Jesus is in and on and they discover that despite their dreams that what really happens to them is the best thing ever. I am sure the women in the geneology of Jesus also had big dreams for their lives too and didn't plan on the sins they commited but the Lord took their lives and used them for the bigger picture. So, today I will ponder on who in my genelogy is like one of the women and one of the trees, who had dreams, sinned but were forgiven and part of the bigger picture of Jesus. I am thankful for the Lord's guidance in discovering even more treasures and truths in his Word.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who want all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 8

Our sermon on Sunday was about the often skipped through part of the gospel of Matthew on the geneology of Jesus. It's a lot of names to read through. A significant part to this geneology was the inclusion of 4 women. It these times for the Jews they did not include women in this type of thing with the exception of if they were godly women who in one way or another made the geneolgy better. The four women in Matthew's genelogy were not considered 'godly', some were obvious sinners like Tamar who plays the harlot to get her dead husband's father to sleep with her so she could get pregnant. Than, there is Rahab the harlot and there is another woman who is only named by her associations and we know to be Bathsheba who commits adultery with David. And finally there is Ruth, who was what we might consider a 'godly' woman but in her time she was only seen as a Moabite, a foreiner and enemy of the Jews. The inclusion of these women in the geneology of Jesus is already showing us the gift of grace in a suprising way. I am praising the Lord today for His glorious gift of grace and for seeing this truth in His Word. Though I am a sinner, I am forgiven.

John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.