Big Picture Classes Creative Crop Challenge #9

This is for my children and grandchildren so they know what I am doing at this time of my life. I spend much of my time in the spare room/scrapbook room/office, especially when Mike & Missy are at work/school.

When I am not working, I am listening to Christian Music on Pandora Radio

 
 This is where I work, LiveOps.

Iron Women is a group of 5 of us who initially met at CafeMom, became online friends and meet at Chatzy, in our special chatroom to catch up with one another, listen to praises & prayer requests, encourage and sometimes commiserate with one another. Whether its spiritual, family, cooking or crafting, we share it all!

                                                                                                             This is Cafemom, where I spend my share of time during the day. I am the owner of a small Bible study group and help with a Christian Marriage group. I also belong to a couple scrapbook groups here.

 

I can check my email when I'm working when the phone isn't working. Mike always makes fun of how many emails I have.  Coffee is my friend, especially when I am sitting early in the morning waiting for the phone to ring. Oh, its decaf

                                                                                                                  This cart sits righ next to my desk so my adhesive and paper cutter are always within hands reach!  Cards are pretty easy to make while I'm working.

This is about the space of work surface I have when I'm working, the laptop sits to the left. Wonder why I didn't take a picture of that?  LOL

                                                                                                               My phone and head set that I use for work.

This calendar hangs above the cart that my phone is sitting on. I've got birthdays and other things I need to remember, like spending Wednesday with Graceanne, at her request, for mother's day, since she is working today. I got this calendar in February, at Big Lots for 32cents! 

So there you have just a little piece of my daily life.

His Workmanship

God has been speaking to me the last several months about serving Him and helping others learn of His love and salvation. One of the verses used over the weekend at a seminar was Ephesians 2:10. This ties right into what God has been tellling me.  (This week I've been researching the verses used at a seminar I attended over last weekend, will blog about the seminar another time.)


Ephesians 2:10
NASB For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

The Message: No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making & the saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

NKJ: For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

The King James version is identical except these words are used:
for: unto
prepared beforehand: hath before ordained

Complete Jewish Bible
For we are of God's making,created in union with the Messiah Yeshua for a life of good actions already prepared by God for us to do.

NIV
For we are god's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Definition of WORKMANSHIP
1: something effected, made, or produced


We all know that we were created by God and this Scripture goes on to remind us that contrary to popular belief, He created us to do His work. I really like the way The Message puts it '...to join Him in the work He does, the good work He has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.'


Interesting side note: yesterday, I made an appointment to talk with the volunteer director of our local Christian Cooperative Ministries organization. I'm hoping to volunteer in the soup kitchen or in some way with the homeless. Today's study just reaffirmed to me that this is what I am supposed to be doing!

Iron Women Blog Hop

                 Join our blog hop!


My Slice of Sanity, The Gandy’s Home Base, Angela’s Pursuit of Life, ThoughtsandCreations from Here There and Everywhere, and Harvest of Pearls have joined together to bring you “Iron Women of the Word" blog hop. Once a week we will share about our time in the Word and invite you to share your time in the Word as well. If you have words of encouragement, a devotion or other Christian related post to link up that would be awesome! If you are a "Iron Woman of the Word" and would like to find other Christian Bloggers --link up! Please grab the button to spread the word about our fellowship! We am looking forward to our fellowship!

Choices

We all make choices, every single day, hundreds, if not thousands of choices. What to have for breakfast, lunch, dinner; what time to eat; what clothes to put on; what chores to do at home or if you work outside the home, what work chores to do first; I'm sure you all get the idea.  Today I am going to talk about how just  one choice King David made caused him to sin, multiple times.

Scripture taken from 2Samuel 11:1 NASB 'Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. (italics mine)

Now I have read this scripture many times and never really thought anything about it until I was catching up in our Sunday School book "How to Make Choices You Wont Regret" by Kay Arthur, David & BJ Lawson. I didn't know that it was normal for kings to go to war with their troops.  For whatever reason, King David decided to stay at home this time.  We all are familiar with the story, David sees a beautiful woman and decides he must have her, even though he is told she's married, they have sex which results in pregnancy then David tries to cover it up and fails so he resorts to murder. That's not what I want to focus on today.

I want to focus on how this one choice changed a faithful follower into a sinner.  How many times I make choices that cause me to sin. Just one more game of Mahjong, then I'll spend time with You, Lord.....doesn't this make an idol out of a simple computer game? This is just one example from my life, believe me, there are many!
I pray you will examine your life and see what choices you are making and whether they are causing you to sin, without even realizing it.  That satan sure is a sneaky one, isn't he?

In His ServiceSandy

I would love to hear your comments on today's devotion and hope you will join me next week for the Iron Women Blog Hop.
I am basically blog hop stupid so I have no idea how to get Mr Linky to work without our blog hop diva so please accept my apology for no Mr Linky.  Please become a follower and continue on to the other Iron Women's blogs, their links are in the introduction.

Iron Women Blog Hop

My Slice of Sanity, The Gandy’s Home Base, Angela’s Pursuit of Life, ThoughtsandCreations from Here There and Everywhere, and Harvest of Pearls have joined together to bring you “Iron Women of the Word" blog hop. Once a week we will share about our time in the Word and invite you to share your time in the Word as well. If you have words of encouragement, a devotion or other Christian related post to link up that would be awesome! If you are a "Iron Woman of the Word" and would like to find other Christian Bloggers --link up! Please grab the button to spread the word about our fellowship! We am looking forward to our fellowship!




Today I am promoting a blog about a little boy's journey with Perthes disease. (I never heard of it either, until Jake). His mom is my son's age, I remember her from when they were in Sunday School and Christian Life Club together. Here is a pic I from the program, Jake is the last boy on the right, front row.

I surprised my mom on Sunday and worshipped with her at Ohioville Free Methodist Church in Ohioville, PA. They were having their Easter program and I knew my nieces and nephews were participating. This little boy, Jake & his family attend this church and I was so impressed by his and his mom's positive outlook I had to feature them today.  I know you will join me in lifting this family up in prayer as they go through this journey.   You, too, can follow his journey:  http://www.jakesperthesjourney.com/

Iron Women Blog Hop

  My Slice of Sanity, The Gandy’s Home Base, Angela’s Pursuit of Life, ThoughtsandCreations from Here There and Everywhere, and Harvest of Pearls have joined together to bring you “Iron Women of the Word" blog hop. Once a week we will share about our time in the Word and invite you to share your time in the Word as well. If you have words of encouragement, a devotion or other Christian related post to link up that would be awesome! If you are a "Iron Woman of the Word" and would like to find other Christian Bloggers --link up! Please grab the button to spread the word about our fellowship! We am looking forward to our fellowship!

This weeks Blog Spot Light

Mo's Place

A little about Mo's Place: I'm a wife, a friend, and a daughter, what I am not, is a mother.  When diagnosed with infertility issues I became quite aware of what a taboo

subject this is among women.  I scoured the internet for points of view and
ideas and possible fixes.  I was desperate.  What I came to realize as time
went on is that there were a lot of voices out there from a lot of different
walks of life on this subject but not too many were asking the question, 'as
a Christ follower how does infertility affect me?'  I didn't have a lot of
answers but I felt a strong desire to create this blog in an effort to give
a truthful, raw, sometime not too Christlike view on how someone like me who
is a Christ follower handles these trials of infertility.  I wanted to do it
out loud as a way to find healing and understanding for myself and as a
possible blessing for someone else just like me, who is lost by the news of
it all and is looking for a little perspective. God has a plan, He knows
what He is doing and remembering that on this journey has proven to be the
hardest test to pass.

Please make sure to stop by Mo's Place today

Jesus' Last Command

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them it he name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." NASB
So many times I have read/studied Scripture and books to learn to grow in my spiritual walk. Notice the focus was on 'me'. I never gave thought to the meaning of these particular verses let alone that this is truly Jesus' final command to all of us, not just the disciples. I confess, I've not done much in the area of 'making a dsiciple' of anyone. How about you?
I've been making a point to be more of a witness and look for opportunities to tell others of salvation and the way to heaven, but I continue to pray and ask God to give me direction.

In His Service

Sandy

Iron Women of the Word Blog Hop

Join our blog hop!

My Slice of Sanity, The Gandy’s Home Base, Angela’s Pursuit of Life, ThoughtsandCreations from Here There and Everywhere, and Harvest of Pearls have joined together to bring you “Iron Women of the Word" blog hop. Once a week we will share about our time in the Word and invite you to share your time in the Word as well. If you have words of encouragement, a devotion or other Christian related post to link up that would be awesome! If you are a "Iron Woman of the Word" and would like to find other Christian Bloggers --link up! Please grab the button to spread the word about our fellowship! We am looking forward to our fellowship!


I receive several devotions daily in my email. Today, Girlfriends in God has me thinking about what holds me back from serving God.  Like Moses, my past is not all ice cream and cake. I've made my share of mistakes, I've turned my back on God countless times, preferring to do things 'my way'.  However, God was able to use Moses in spite of his past. Why do I think He couldn't use me? Exodus 4:11-12 "The Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now then go, and I even I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." (NASB)  This is after God had told Moses he was going to be his spokesman to the Pharoah and to the Israelites, Moses had countered with his excuse, I can't speak well, I've never been able to speak well. (I can almost hear the whine, can't you?) How often I have said nearly the same thing. 'I can't do that Lord, I don't have the ability, look at where I've been, what I've done.'   (hear the whine?)   God's answer is right there, in Exodus 4:11-12. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I've read that passage and never considered applying it to me.  What makes me even more sad is to think of the blessings I have missed because like I responded like Moses in Exodus 9: 13 'Please Lord, now send the message by whomever You will." I can almost hear Moses saying, 'I don't care who you send the message by as long as I don't have to do it.'  God was angry with Moses but still used him to free the Israelites and bring them out of Egypt. 

What an awesome God we serve! One who knows our every thought and has planned our lives according to His will, regardless of how we fight him. I am going to have to memorize Ex 4:11-12 and remember that it is God who enables me to do His work, not Sandy.  I'm still a work in progress but today, a more willing work in progress!                                                                 In His Service

Sandy



Crop Party at Cafe Mom

Faith, Love & Scrapbooking held their Fools for April crop from Mar 31-Apr 5. I was able to participate, even scrapping while working, in between phone calls.  Here are the fruits of my labor.

This first card challenge was to use 3 different patterned papers, a stamped image and ribbon.

I had to find a card sketch online, post the original sketch, the website and my interpretation.

This challenge I had to find a layout or sketch online, post the original, website and my interpretation.  These are 2 more pages for Jess' scrapbook, ever closer to completing it!

This next challenge was to scrapbook an event that there were no pictures taken. I am still trying to figure out how  I could forget to take a camera with me when Mike & I got married!

This challenge was to find an advertisement online, post the ad and website then my layout from the ad. I was on the Starbucks website and one of their gift cards had a 'tree' with birds and leaves, if you look, you will see the center line (trunk) and the 'branches/birds' are the different pictures. This was a fun page to do, but it was time consuming as well.


These are 2 more cards I made, the first for my dad whose birthday was Apr 3. The picture is one I took on approach from San Francisco to Palm Springs Airport, CA Jan 2010. I love the contrast between the sky and the mountains.