365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 68

Courage: Quaility of mind that enables one to face danger or fear with resolution. My husband and I watched the movie Courageous last evening. It is one of those movies, that EVERYONE needs to watch. It is definitely a tear-jerker so have your box of Kleenex ready but suprisingly it had lot of humourous moments and had a lot to say about the word 'courage'. I am not going to give away the plot of the movie but you are in for something good. We are all tending to just survive our day to day lives and it's time to stop and look at what we are doing or not doing and re-evaluate what is truly important. There is so much more study I want to do on this word and, of course, it will ultimately come out on a scrapbook layout so I can really get it to stick within me and have a wonderful reminder that we humans SO need. I would love for you to join me on studying this topic and hope you can come to a crop sometime to get it faithbooked.
1Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 67

A smile. It's something so simple and yet so profundly effective in helping change someone's day for the better. I learned that lesson a long time ago when I was a server at Applebee's. "Mr Grumpy" came in with his downcast family and got to sit in my section. My first initial face to face with Mr Grumpy wasn't so great. I went back to the kitchen to put in the order and something just clicked in me. Maybe I just need to be as cheerful as possible, maybe smiling and disregarding his grumpy face would make some kind of difference? It did! He actually smiled back! I have always held that memory with me and recall it everytime I hear about what it says in the bible to, in my words, killem' with kindness. I was reminded about this last night as I got into my hot tub to let the days stresses float away. I looked up into the clear night sky and there was the moon. It was a crescent moon with the light shinning from the sun on it from the bottom giving it the look of a smile. There was God smiling down at me and my grumpy mood was gone and I smiled right back. Thank you Lord for this wonderful reminder of something so simple and yet so effective in helping make someone's day better. Challenge yourself this week to smile more and know that every smile is a little bit of God's love shinning outward to others.
Psalm 80:3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 66

You know the games of connecting the dots. I am starting to feel like this ministry is part of a large connect-the-dots game. This is not in a funny way but in a very cool way. I was talking with a customer of mine last night that I hadn't talked with in quite some time. She's never been to any of my events so getting face to face time with her has been minimal. But for whatever reason, last night we really connected on the phone. We talked for an hour and a half which is like unheard of in my house, because I am not a phone person. I learned so much more about this wonderful lady last night in our conversation and discovered she is a Christian. But the real dot-to-dot connection came when I asked her what church she goes to. Radiant. My eyes went wide with wonder. I started researching on the internet for non-demononational churches this last week to find contact information and Radiant was one of two churches I looked at. It was mentioned in my master mind group that having a connection with a church might help get me in the door to having a face to face with the right people. So I found myself in awe of God and how he is steadily been giving me those little things I need to continue to build this ministry. He's connecting the dots. Wow, I wonder what the full connected dot picture will look like? So thank you Father for the little mile marker posts like this you have been giving me that are letting me know I am on the right path. You are amazing! Do you see God at work in your life connecting the dots?
Psalm 24: 3-5 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior.
Psalm

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 64

'Rick' and 'Change' are two words that a lot of people would like to avoid. Why do it? Why change? Why get out of our comfort zone? Why not just keep our mouths shut? Why not just sit in our homes and do nothing? Because...
Because as a child of God, we are called to be fishers of men. My husband and I and hundreds of others sat and watched a sermon from a pastor at a church out in California. This sermon wasn't to his congregation. It was to a group of other pastors who have been gathering together for some time now trying to discern what God wants the church to do. Our church is breaking away as are lots and lots of others from the Presbyterian USA. It's a long process but the church has been forthcoming in honesty and communication about all that is taking place and what will be happening in the future. We got our first glimpse from this pastor's sermon on what this new, not sure what you call it, 'entity' for lack of the correct term. It is called ECO for short, Evangelical Covenant Order and it's main purpose is the growth of the body of Christ. The pastor was very inspiring and asked over and over again are we going to just sit and do nothing or are we going to make the change, take the risk and become a body of believers that will fight for the souls of everyone else before they go to hell. This sermon just gave me a great boost that my ministry will mean something and hopefully can help believers in their growth so we can all be bearing an abundance of fruit. 'Risk' and 'Change' are tough but nobody every said life was easy. That will come in heaven but you have to have the ticket to get through that door. Are there things in your life that you have not had the courage or inspiration to change? Are you avoiding taking that risk or making the change for whatever reason? Pray, pray and pray more to the God of the Universe and ask him to give you the courage, inspiration and desire to do anything He is calling you to do.
Matthew 7:17-20 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 63

It's funny how my praise come back to the same thing again and again. People. This time I am praising God for those people in our lives that are there to help us like our dentist and doctors. These are people that do care about keeping you health or getting you back to being healthy. I felt that yesterday at the dentist. It's like your mom or dad is there but you don't take the advise as nagging like you did with mom. So, while I am not ready to go out and buy an expensive electric toothbrush as suggested, I do think I can beef up my toothbrushing skills and time. So thank you God for those people that you put into our lives that provide the right kind of advise at the right moment that will get you motivated to change something for the better and bring the healing that you may need.
Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 62

God gave me an idea this week. You know how an idea can just come to you out of the blue, yeah, that's God. After my experience with my new friend who came to the first FTLC Crop and my conversations with her, I could see how crucial it is to get people to try out faithbooking and that what was going to really convince them of it was actually going through doing their first layout. So, how do I get in front of women to do that? My new friend suggested to do a workshop at a Women's retreat which is an awesome idea and a day or two later God popped that little idea into my head. Women's bible study groups. Oh yeah, and I have one that I am in. So, yesterday as our bible study group was wrapping up for the evening, I conquered my fears and made the pitch to them. It will be an experiment and they are my guinea pigs. LOL! They were agreeable and I left feeling on top of the moon with excitement and amazement that with the Lord's help, I let go of my fear of rejection or 'what are they going to think' and kept saying to myself just as Jesus says to us over and over again in bible, "Don't be afraid" He was right there with me, I knew it. So, I am So praising him for the enlightenment that I got last night. Like Max Lucado says in our bible study Fearless, you can't do anything about the storms that may come your way but you can choose not to fear. How about you? Do you have a fear that needs to be knocked flat? Look to the Lord and he will help you take that fear and shove it.
Mark 5:26 Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

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 60

Don't you just love it when a plan comes together. Okay, so you have already heard me say, I am not the best when it comes to planning. I have always been by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of person but my new years resolution last year was to become more of a planner to be better prepared for all things. I don't want to scramble at the last minute or be stressing when I could be enjoying. I joined a master mind group and had our first meeting last week. If your not familiar with the term 'master mind group', it's simply a group of business people who are committed to getting together regualarly and we help each other with ideas and we are accountable to each other. I am working on building a good foundation for this ministry because God led me to that conclusion through His Word and many prayers. Although it is a chunk of change to do this, I felt very convicted to do it. We've only had that first meeting so far but already I have been making more strides in my research this last week. One of the first keys towards success and prosperity based on the book Ten Keys to Success and Prosperity by Meredith Bromfield is the idea of getting rid of the old negative stuff filling our lives. When we start getting rid of this stuff, what is left is an open space and like any vaccum open space will be filled. We have to create that open space for those good things to come into our lives. One of our assingments was literally to start doing 18 minutes a day to get rid of stuff whether it is actual stuff or meditating and choosing to let go of negavite feelings we are holding onto. I can't say I have done the 18 minutes but I have tried to do something everyday even if it's as little as taking the trash out of the car, which my hubbie will SO love. The great thing is I can already feel the positive affects of this with the new ideas and resources that have come to me or I have heard from others this week. So, I am thankful for the guidance this group has given already and looking forward to all it will bring in the future.
Proverbs 2:1-6 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turing your ear to wisdom and applying your hear to understanding, and if you cal out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search fro it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 59

I had this great analogy the other day when I was contemplating that word "reflection". I am not sure how this came into my mind but it started with a regular balloon and has grown into a big hot air balloon. Let me explain. We are the balloons. God breathes into the regular balloon and the more breath of God going into the balloon (us), the more we are filled with the spirit of God and rising towards Him. The hot air balloons really work well with this analogy. Have you ever seen hot air balloons take off? We have an annual hot air balloon festival in COS every labor day weekend and have loved seeing 20 some hot air balloons take off into the sky all at the same time. Hot air balloons have a big lighter so to speak that when clicked will create the flame and heat the air making the balloon rise. That flame is the Holy Spirit and the point is this just like they have to click the 'lighter' to ignite the flame, we have to 'click' the Holy Spirit every day, hour, minute. When we ignite the Holy Spirit, we are filled with that breath of God and are lifted higher and higher. I can't wait to create a scrapbook page about this!!! It's going to be so colorful and amazing. Thank you Lord for this wonderfully amazing visual analogy that you brought to me of how your Holy Spirit works in us.
Genesis 2:7 ...the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 58

I live in a beautiful place. God certainly has an eye for beauty and majesty with the mountains. We are having very unseasonably warm winter days and it is wonderful. I don't want to hear anyone crumbling that it's due to global warming or anything else. I just want to enjoy what God has created and relish the warmth while it is hear. Have you ever stopped to consider all the wonders in our world? It often blows my mind how complex the world is and yet how incredibly it all works together. That was not because some single celled amoebas decided to merge. This was definitely the work of a supreme being that had a plan. We did a bible study called Crazy Love last year and there was a video about the amazing wonder of creation and how big it is. You have to see it! I have put the Crazy Love website link in the resources section. Click on it and go to the page with all the chapter videos. Towards the bottom of the page is a video called The Awe Factor of God. Be amazed and be blessed.
Genesis 1: 1-3 In the begining, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 57

On the way home last evening as I was battling the super strong wind gust with my little blue car, I was thinking on what was spoken and discussed in our class at our church and the word reflection came up and I wandered into thinking about this ministry and what faithbooking is. There really are a number of ways that it can be looked at. I have been looking at it more as a way to study deeper what we hear at church or read from the bible or in a bible study. I have been applying what I am learning to my life which in education terms is called life application. Often times, in our studing of the bible and wanting to learn about God, we are leaving off the most important aspect with the life application. Following through and applying what you learn to your life and taking it one step further by putting into a concrete form of a scrapbook page can have incredible benefits. Since begining this ministry, I have been in the bible everyday, praying everyday and I can see that I am thinking and feeling and living with the Lord more and more in my life, not just on Sundays or Wednesday evenings or with my bible study ladies but all of the everyday parts. There is still lots of room to keep that intimacy with the Lord growing but I feel more happy than ever, yes, even despite the pains of life and the negativity that strikes me thanks to hormones. So I am praising God today and everyday for encouraging me and guiding me and calling me to do this ministry. Is follow through a tough one for you? Have you tried some life application? Journaling is a good first step but if you have never scrapbooked, I would love to help you take that step into discovery. I will discuss a little more about "reflection" in faithbooking tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Proverbs 27:19 As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 56

I think there are some people that God has created that just have an abundance of wisdom. Whether it comes naturally to them or they have cultivated it over the years, only God knows but I am thankful to God for placing people in my life that have wisdom and knowledge that I do not. I started a Mastermind group this week in which business people gather together and we work on our businesses utilizing each other as resources, sounding boards and hold each other accountable. Our first session was about the destination, goal or where we want to be at 5 months from now when the group ends. My destination needed some work. It wasn't specific and defined enough. So with the help of the group, we got it figured out to be: To have one meeting with a contact at a local church to discuss Faith to Life Connections and how I can introduce faithbooking to their congregation. So, now I have to break it all down into Mile Marker goals that will tell me I am heading in the right direction towards my destination. God didn't intend for us to do it alone and I am thankful for this opportunity to gather with others who want to prosper and succeed in their businesses and hope I can bring some encouragement, ideas and tips to them on their journey to their destination. Our ultimate destination is with the Lord in heaven. How prepared are you to meet Jesus face to face?
Proverbs 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advise.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 55

I woke up today and just wasn't sure about what I wanted to praise. Nothing was coming to my mind. There are SO many things to be thankful to God for. I generally go with whatever comes to my mind first and I keep thinking about the polotical stuff going on that I see on the news. It's enough to make anyone want to go live somewhere else. The problem with that is America is the best place to live. I think it can be very easy to forget all the benefits of the freedoms we have. And yes, we are free to crumble about our country's politics and be frustrated. So, I am praising God today for that freedom, for reminding me that we live in a country that has been blessed to have these freedoms that we often forget and take advantage of. So today I will wear red, white and blue and try to remember that altough the negative political campaigns will continue for months to come, we have the freedom to turn off the TV and not listen, crumble if we want to, be frustrated and when it's time go out and vote.
Romans 8: 20-21 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into glorious freedom of the children of God.

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 53

Sometimes bad things happen but it's all fits into God's overall plan for all of us. No nobody died, got hurt, sick or anything serious. I had a bad kitchen day! I decided to go through a couple of recipe books and pick out a few recipes to try and decided to try this Zucchini Bacon Quiche because my hubbie likes quiche. Well, you have to know that last quiche recipe I made didn't come out so great. In this one the crust was actually, a tube of crescent rolls and the rest of it seemed very straightforward. I was skeptable putting into the oven because the recipe only called for 2 eggs. This was mostly zuccini and mozzerella cheese so already the red flags were up. I have to confess I am not very good with following directions. My hubbie thinks it's an inherited trait of being Polish. Very funny. Not. Well, the directions said if the knife comes out clean it's done. Again with the NOT! I cut a piece and put it on a plate and it ran everywhere. My hubbie stood by probably laughing inside and goading me on. Sure enough the crust on the bottom was still raw. Ugh. At this point, my son is going into starving mode which means he is getting cranky. Hmmmm... Just like Mom is getting. Time for a change of menu. So, I put the quiche back in the oven and decide to whip up some eggs and bacon to go with the hash browns that were already made and dinner was served. An hour later... LOL! My hubbie comes in from the kitchen and says did you forget something. Oh No! Yep, the quiche was BLACK! Okay, so I admit it. I am not the greatest cook. My talent is with paper and ink and apparently not food. So, although it was a waste of money and time; it was also a fun memory my hubbie and kids will probably never let me live down. I can already hear them at my funeral saying remember the time with the sweet chicken tetrazzini and the Black quiche. It's never about the final product but about the love and memories you shared. Thank you Lord for this memorable moment.
Psalm 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands.

Studio J January Special

Until January 31st all Studio J members can get 9 layouts printed out and receive the 10th free and if you have another 9 layouts to print you will get the 20th free and so on. Now is a great time to try out Studio J. You can get a 3 month membership for $30. You save 50% on prints of your layouts being a Studio J member. You also get free jpeg images with your prints and/or have the option to buy just the jpeg. You get free shipping on 5 or more layouts and you get page protectors so you can immediately slip them into a protector and into a album. Studio J makes it easy to put together with simple drag and drop and point and click options. Give yourself a small learning curve on that first layout you do to get familiar with all your fun options and those next layouts will be done easily within 30 mintues. Click on the Studio J button or go to and click on Studio J on the menu on the left. Please contact me for any questions or assistance.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 52

Opportunities are all around us. We live in a country and are blessed to have all these opportunities and freedoms within our grasp but we have to be open to them and grab on. I lost a scrapbooking client back in the fall. I did 10 pages a month for her for 2 years. It was a nice little extra income that has been missed. Since she decided to get back to doing it herself with her new basement all finished, I have been praying for God to lead me to an opportunity that would fill in that gap of the missing income. I met a very nice guy at the one and only craft fair I did in December who was super animated and excited to find someone interested to do his family scrapbooks. I met with him yesterday and it went very well. It won't be the same kind of committment or money I made from my last client but I didn't want to have the pressure of getting 10 pages done in a month and he is open to however long it takes within reason, of course. So, God has answered yet another prayer. I am thankful and praising God for this answer and opportunity and hope that what I do for this guy and his family with his scrapbooks will be a blessing to them.
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Photo Quaility Shopping Comparisons

I came across this article and found it very interesting after my recent prints I had done at Walmart. I procrastinated too long for a couple of Christmas presents and quickly did a layout in Studio J and bought just the jpeg so I could print it out in a smaller version. I put and sized the jpeg images onto a full page in publishing program and saved the whole thing as a jpeg image. I had 8x10 prints made at Walmart in an hour. As I was cutting the Studio J portion out of the print to a 6x6 size, I realized how dark the photos came out. I went and looked at the jpeg images on my computer and could definitely see how distorted in color they came out. I didn't have time to shop around for better print quality but it was set in my mind at that point that I needed to check into and compare. I found this article on photo print comparisons done out in Oakland, CA at 7 different photo printing places, including two on-line photo printing websites. It was very interesting to see how the photos all came out. Please view the article yourself and see the photos and the price comparisons, ect. Looks like Costco was the big winner for the Bay Area in terms of price and quality so I will try there next with my photos. See the link in the Resources section on the right and educate yourself on getting quality photos prints.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 51

God has been really speaking to me lately about foundations. I think we always want to be at our destination long before we ever are. I have been like a child asking God over and over again "are we there yet?" But everything is in God's timing is a lesson that I am trying to swallow everyday. My goal of a successful faithbooking ministry isn't going to happen overnight. Like any good business it really needs a good foundation to build on so I have been keeping that thought more and more in my mind, meditating or as our pastor described meditating recently "chewing on it" like a cow chews on cud. Foundation. Foundation... What is needed to build up a good foundation? Being in the Word and praying everyday is a very good start and I am sure God will lead me and open the doors when it's in His time. So today I am thanking God for patience in the work he wants me to do with this ministry. It's all in his hands and his plan and I am sure he is shaping and molding me as I persevere through the discouraging times and the disappointment. Keep at it he has been telling me. So, I will keep at it and keep praying and hoping that this ministry will in His time blossom into something wonderful.
Col 1:10-12 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and my please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 50

Last night I was reading a children's book to my daughter called Wherever You Are by Nancy Tillman. I picked this book up at Khol's last month as I was shopping. It was one of their $5 books they typically sell up at the front near the checkout. All of Tillman's books were there and I wanted them all but I had to have self-control and only got this one. The illustrations are amazing and I love the words. As I read it, I thought she was talking about God's love but from the stuff on her website it sounds like she wrote it with a parent's perspective, a mother or father's love. In any case, this part gave me good chills last night as I read it to my daughter: In the green of the grass...in the smell of the sea...in the clouds floating by...at the top of a tree...in the sound crickets make at the end of the day... "You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say. So I am thankful for this wonderful reminder of God's love being everywhere that I am.
Psalm 108:4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies

Faith Goals

Everyone talks about New Year's Resolutions at this time. I don't want to beat a dead horse but setting goals whether you do it the beginning of the year or anytime in between is a first step towards successfully getting those goals met. You can visit this site to listen to or read a transcript on a webinar they had about Faith goals to help you decide on where to start. It's always good to put your goals in writing where you can read them everyday to help keep you on track. Better yet, create a scrapbook page and share your goals on the page. It will be a great visual reminder and it's fun to look back on 5 or 10 years later to see how your goals succeeded or changed. I created this layout back in the fall to document some of my goals and dreams. It's only months later but I can look at them and see how I need to tweek some or re-define some goals to ones that are attainable within this next year.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 49

I started a bible study group through my church 2 years ago when I kept finding that the timing of things going on at the church just wasn't lining up with my time. I think we have done about 6 different studies now. We have had some join for a short time and other long timers leave us who moved out of CO whom we have missed but we keep at it. We are currently doing a study called Fearless by Max Lucado. I am a huge fan of his writing style and love his children's books. I had the privelege of hearing him speak at a Women of Faith conference several years ago. He really knows how to say things that you already know but puts a great spin on it or puts it in another perspective that is just golden. In one chapter in Fearless, he talks about the incident on the boat with the disciples and the big storm. How afraid for their lives they became and how Jesus who was sleeping the whole time got awakened by them and their fearfulness and said for the uncounted time, 'do not be afraid'. Lucado points out that they are in a boat with the Son of God, the Messiah, sleeping or not, the disciples had no reason to fear. The same is true for us. He is with us whether we think he's sleeping or not and we have nothing to fear. My praise today is not only for this wonderful perspective gleaned from this bible study but for the ladies in my study who have brought lots of insight, wisdom and laughter to our group and made it so special. We truly are sisters in Christ. Do you have a community of believers that you gather with regularly to learn and grow more in your faith? If not, definitely seek one out or take the initiative and start one. If you are local, you can always join mine.
Proverbs 13:20 He who walks with the wise grows wise.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 48

How often do we take the people we love for granted? Am I just surviving day to day or am I taking action? My letter pin for the month is "E". After my horrible mood the other day and the lingering discouragement issue, I felt led by God to turn the tables on that by having my daily reminder to be encourgaged and be encouraging. But another "e" word stood out to me and that was 'example'. My husband is a great example of service kind of love. He will get up and do whatever you need. He really is an amazing example of this love language. It's not my dominant love language but we are all capable of doing all the love languages and learn how to do the other love languages more and more. I often have thought maybe I am just 'lazy' but it really isn't a laziness, it's just not my love language but I am going to be working on it. Jesus was the greatest example of this when he knelt down and washed the dirty feet of the disciples. Jesus calls us to put our love into action. I am going to keep a list of the actions I take for others in the next month and see if I can increase those numbers as the month goes on and get better and serving others. Join me and challenge yourself this month to stop and serve whether it be in small ways or big ways.
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will received an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 47

I was seriously in the grips of the worst migraine ever last night. It was indescribably bad but in the morning I was at least able to move my head a little without it going into full blown intense pain mode and after about an hour it went away. I am just thankful today to be able to get out of bed. I sang in my head last night to help me see past the pain and be able to calm dawn and stop the crying which, of course, makes it worse. I thought of my Grammie who I have been told suffered from these migraines as well and asked her to talk to Jesus for me. Have you ever been so down by something whether it be physical like my migraines or depression or some grief that you can't even think. Praying words aren't possible and all you can do is moan and cry. Thankfully our Everlasting God is always with us and knows what we need without us speaking them. In the sermon on Sunday, Pastor Jim Smith said that the Reward of prayer is God himself not the answer to the prayer. I held on to that thought and kept talking to God and we got through it together. He was with me and yes, there was reward just in that. Have you ever looked back on a difficult time that the Lord helped you through and saw the reward of God's presence?
Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 46

Discouragement. It gets to me usually at that time of the month in my cycle which is now. It's the time when I feel defeated with all that I do. It's the time when my attitude shifts to negative rather than positive. It's the time when I want to just give up. Those hormones are working on me and the evil one is So trying to pull me further into it but thankfully I am mindful of the power of God and know that with His help I will get out of the mire of depressing thoughts once again. I grab onto anything that is encouraging but I am especially boosted with the written word whether it be in an email or a card someone sends me and reading my bible. That is where I will go to now and ask the One and Only God of the Universe to give me a kick in the butt and get me back into a positive frame of mind and to give me motivation to keep on with my purpose. Do you have times of discouragement? What helps you get out of it? I would love to send you an email or card whenever you are feeling down in the dumps. Just drop me a line and we can help each other out of the pit.
Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 45

There are certain people that you are around almost everyday. Obviously, the family you live with but also the people you work with. I am praising those people I work with today. Although, frustrations do happen and communication can be better, the work environment is a good one and that is thanks to the people that are in it. I am especially fond and thankful for my nearest co-workers who will drop anything to help me out when I need it, have great words of wisdom and whom I share plenty of laughter with. I heard yesterday we have a new person being added to data entry, my department and to customer service. This is not only great for those two people to have gotten a job but for the company that recently got sold to a competitor. They have told us nothing will be changing at least for the next 18 months but you always have to wonder. Hiring two new people is comforting in that maybe I will have a job in 18 months. Are there people you are around everyday that you haven't shown appreciation for lately? Put a card on their desk with a note of appreciation or take them out for lunch.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

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.

Created us Anew

I created this project because it is something I wanted to be reminded of everyday but it seemed like a good starting project for this faithbooking ministry. If you would like to make this at any upcoming crop, you will be able to choose from other paper packs and find colors that suit you. This layout only needs a photo of you as a baby and either a current photo of you or you can use a mirror like I did. I will be framing mine for a wall so that I can look in the mirror everyday and read the words to remind me that I have been created anew in Christ.

This is from the Roxie paper pack which will be continuing in the new catalog being launched on Feb 1st but be sure to check out any of the other paper packs and stamp sets as most of them are going away.

If you want to make this at any upcoming FTLC crops, the cost will be $12 which will include a full paper pack with 6 double-sided papers and 6 coordinating colored cardstocks. If you are far away and would like to make this scrapbook layout, I can mail you the supplies and instructions for $15 plus shipping or you can order any paper pack directly from my website www.ctmh.com/janinerobertson and I will email you the directions.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 43

So all that worrying I had about a possible surgery for my shoulder was for nothing. You would think I would have learned by now that worrying over something that may or may not happen is pointless. Thankfully, my worrying over it was short-lived and I made the choice to just be patient and wait for my doctor's appoitment before getting too freaked out about it. So, there is no bone spurs in my left shoulder like I might have thought. It's just the same thing as the last time I went in for my left shoulder which was because of an indoor sky diving injury I had over 3 years ago. Back than, it was explained that I had a "loose" shoulder so the muscles were very strained trying to keep my arm in it's socket during the indoor skying diving thing, which by the way was awesome! He basically said I have a very sensitive shoulder. Since the last shot of steriods I took gave me an allergic reaction, we are going the more conservative approach and doing physical therapy. There is relief in knowing what's going on with it and how I need to proceed. I think I am slowly learning how to avoid aggravating it but I do have to clean my house at some point so hopefully the physical therapy will do it's thing. So, I am praising God today for a direction to take and for showing me once again that worrying never gets me anywhere and I have to rely on Him.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 42

I don't think there are praises that compete with each other. Any praise to God is a good thing to Him because it means you are thinking of Him. So, though my praise be something so simple today it means a lot to me and it's not something to take for granted. Hot water. Have you seen how much they cherish a hot shower on Survivor. They do the same thing in The Walking Dead show we have been watching. It's a staple for us but it really is a luxury that we have to be grateful to have everyday. So thank you Lord for the ability we have to consistently have hot water available to us to clean ourselves, clothes and to help tired aching painful muscles to relax.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 41

My hubbie and son got me hooked onto a show on AMC called The Walking Dead. Yes, it's about zombies but it is well done and very suspenseful without too much gore or grossness. The human aspect with the relationships is really the big draw for me. Some survivors have banded together and are trying to survive each other and the zombies. Despite the harsh reality of their circumstances and what they are up against, they still have issues with each other. It's one of those things since the very beginning with Adam passing the blame onto Eve and Eve passing the blame to the snake and Cain and Abel and the jeolousy that drove Cain to kill Abel. We pit ourselves against each other when we should be banding together in complete unity as brothers and sisters. Our only hope is Jesus and thankfully we have him to steer us away from those relationship issues, help us through them or help us restore relationship that have already turned south. I struggle with the jeolousy thing when it comes to my parents and how much time and energy they spend on my brother and his family. Thankfully, because of my knowledge on the love languages I figured out they are service love givers and you can see the trend through our lives on when each of us was in need they were there. My brother's family is in need now because their adopted daughter, Grace has issues that no child or family should have to go through. So, I am thankful and praising God for helping me with these issues that can come up within our relationships with others so that I can see them for what they really are and not be thinking just of myself.
Gensis 4:6-7 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 40

On New Year's Eve we were up at Aunt Joanie's home in Sterling enjoying a mexican feast and doing a round of Apples to Apples Family version so Faith could play with us and a round of Uno Attack. Playing games with the family in Sterling has become a highlight to our times together. We all look forward to the interaction and laughter that ensues. This time was no different although we were missing a few family members. There was a moment when my son Tristan and Aunt Joanie who were sitting side-by-side where they were enjoying some playful banter. I kept that visual in my mind all through the first new day of 2012 and when I finally had a moment to myself with God relaxing in the spa that evening. I realized that it reminded me of my own aunts and uncles. I don't have any specific memories except for when my Great Aunt Elisabeth who lived on Catalina island was very kind and provided a new friend I had made and myself, a peanut and butter sandwich lunch. I wish I could remember more of the details but I do have the memory of the feelings. That is the only memory I have of that particular aunt because she lived on Catalina island off the coast of California so we didn't get out there too much. My praise is for those family members in our lives that we may not get to know or be around much but who in some way touched us even in the smallest way like a peanut and butter sandwich lunch.
Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 39

Have you read the parables of the lost lately. They are in Matthew chapter 15. Jesus gave us the parables of the lost sheep, the woman with the lost coin and the more well known one the parable of the lost son. His point in all of these is how joyful God is over just ONE sinner repenting. According to what I found on the internet at there are over 7 billion people on the earth and that number will by their estimates double in this century we are in. God wants all of us and will rejoice even if it were just one. I lost my first two letter pins and was very sad when I found one pin backing found on a clothing item that had been washed. I didn't yet know which pin it was until I started really looking for the other pin and found it on another piece of clothing I had thankfully hung back up and not thrown in the laundry. My "C" pin was saved from the washing machine but my "A" pin is lost forever. I can replace it but it won't be the same. I was totally thrilled to find my "C" pin and wore it that day even though it was in my "P" month.

I am praising God for helping me find something I lost and although the first "A" pin is lost forever I know that God will help me to find something good within the loss.
Matthew 15:6 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 38

Happy New Year! This last month I have been wearing my letter "P" pin and have been focusing on a couple of "P" words in particular. Preparation, purpose and prayer but another one came to me that is a big part of who God is. That word is 'persistent'.

My hubbie and I watched a very good and funny movie about love. The central theme was the idea that we should be persistent and fight for our soul mate. God's soul mate is each and everyone of us. He's God he can have more than one soul mate!!! God is the ultimate in persistent! He never gives up on us and continues to find ways to guide us back to Him. Jesus used analogy alot in his teachings so I have tried to take that example of His and make up my own analogies using my own life experience and our own culture. This movie about soul mates and fighting for each other is a great analogy to how God fights for us. The movie is called Crazy Stupid Love but this kind of love is the kind of love we need to see more of in this world. So I am praising God for his crazy stupid love for me and you and praying that I can be like a mirror reflecting that love back out into this world to all those around me.
Psalm 119:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.