Crafty

Getting a little crafty lately

Shutterfly

It's almost Christmas time!!! What is one thing we all need::: a great card to put our pictures on. I remembered the past couple years we have used Shutterfly and had great experience with them... so imagine my surprise when I read on a friend’s blog that you can get 50 FREE cards just for blogging! It's a great way to save money this holiday season, which we need since I don't work full time outside the home, while getting some really cute holiday cards for family and friends. After looking through the Shutterfly collection, I found many that I just love.

Here is the link to see their Christmas card collection:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

they have other options too including:
Christmas gifts to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts

Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

Christmas photo cards to
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards


Being that you get 50 FREE cards, you might wonder about the quality of the prints. I have received Shutterfly holiday cards from friends in years past and I have used them many times and they always look GREAT!

Check it out!!! And, here's the link to submit your info to get 50 FREE cards of your own...

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form

Don't miss out! Thanks Shutterfly! :) for making my Christmas season closer in my budget

Workers in the Vineyard

Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.

1. Do you leave worship with the mind of apathy (a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion.) or a mind to serve, encourage and teach others?

**Matthew 5:13-14 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

2. Does the community know the church exists?

**Philippians 2:15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

3. Are you doom and gloom? always negative? hypercritical? or are you joyful? peaceful? positive? do you have peace in your life?

**Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

**Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

**Proverbs 11:13 A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.

**Proverbs 26:20 Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.

**Proverbs 12:18 There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise promotes health.

**Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

**Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

4. Women should know how to dress for the occasion-- appropriately and modestly
You wouldn't wear an evening gown to a funeral- immodest -attracts attention

**1 Peter 3:4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

**1 Timothy 2:9-10 In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

Immodesty is :
+ Too Revealing
+ Too Thin (material)
+ Too Tight
+ Too Clingy
+ Too Low Cut
+ Too Drabby

A Womens dress is a mirror to her mind

5. Is the worship you give for your pleasure and entertainment or for pleasing God?

**2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Marriage and Divorce

People may share different beliefs on divorce and marriage but you have to ask yourself: What is more important: my belief, what other people believe or what the word of God says?. As a Christian We are not to be of this world, as John 15:18-20 says “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. Christians today seem more worried who they will offend in the world than if they offend Christ, His Church or the Bible. Its not about what I believe or what you believe its what God says that goes. John 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

So to answer that: As a Christian I cannot be worried about what other people think regarding commandments or what God says is right or wrong.

People want to fix what they will do, before they seek advice from God’s word and what it commands. Just because someone gets married and they now are no longer “happy” or “in love” doesn’t mean they just leave because they want to. When you become a Christian God becomes your most important authority and final say so in your life, not what everyone else thinks are what you want. I know you already know these scriptures but lets look back at them.

Matthew 5:31-32
“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Matthew 19:1-10
Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there. The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

***Jesus replied by asking whether they had not read the account of the creation, and the first example of marriage; thus pointing out that departure from marriage was wrong except a cause of fornication by spouse


Mark 10:1-12
Then He arose from there and came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan. And multitudes gathered to Him again, and as He was accustomed, He taught them again.
The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her.” And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” In the house His disciples also asked Him again about the same matter. So He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

***Today as a society we are falling back into what is spoken of here: notice the words The Pharisees came and asked Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” testing Him. And Because of the hardness of your heart. Our nation by asking this is again testing Christ and we are doing so because of the hardness of our heart. NO LAWYER, NO DIVORCE DECREE, ANNULMENT etc can separate what God has joined together


Romans 7:1-3
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

******We are bound to our spouses as long as they live.

1 Corinthians 7:10-14
Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

***********How many spouses can be or have been led to Christ by a believing spouse and the actions of them?

Malachi 2:16
“ For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce,

*******Wow does that need an explanation. God hates divorce. God hates divorce but He does provide for us with only 2 ways out of a marriage that are scriptural. Death and fornication

When we turn to God's word and its pretty easy answer on our questions but marriage can be a daily struggle..but no where do I find in the Bible that struggling makes it scriptural for a divorce

After writing this I have realized its not about marriage and divorce it is about how important is God and his word in your life. What’s more important what He says or what others think or believe. We should be less worried about pleasing the world and fitting in and more worried about what God says. Ask yourself-Is this pleasing to God and is this in compliant with the Bible
God created the institution of marriage and He has the final authority on it. It is a blessing

Here are some Inspirations to help your marriage and to become married for life

It is from Married for Life by Bill Morelan

• Have fun just being together
• Never get too old to hold hands
• Do everything to express your love (remember love is an action)
• Let Life experience draw you closer
• Never let a day go by without telling each other “I Love You” (I say never let a phone call and good bye etc)
• Take days one day at a time
• Always treat your wife like a lady
• Learn to bend but not break
• Share similar interests
• Love takes maintenance
• Everyone has problems just stay together and work them out
• Always be best friends
• Take a quiet walk together (no phones, dogs, kids, etc)
• The Golden rule applies to the spouse too
• “Unmarried” is not an option
• Share responsibilities
• Its ok to disagree
• Talk things out
• Marriage isn’t 50-50 it 100-100
• Be unselfish
• Go window shopping then buy ice cream
• Feel lucky you are married
• Don’t take things so serious
• Remember your vows
• Pray for each other
• When you marry commit for a lifetime

Always remember Love is an action....
1 Corinthians 13 (New King James Version)
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I have been thinking lately

We just got back from vacation and most of the time after a week together we need a little alone time... but it's so wierd we just seem to not be apart even Halo is right beside us. I don't dread going to work tomorrow because it's work i dread it because Matt won't be there :)

then i got to looking a I found this blog from March and i failed to realize how close we have gotten since then and we never even realized it... Thank you God for bringing my husband and I closer.





---- Past Blog ----

It is so wierd how people take life differently...


To me I can't imagine my life any different nor do I want it any different...
Let me clarify:


I have a husband that loves me and is a Christian...


I have a family that loves me very much


I have God in my life


Just thinking about some things



Now I know the time is going to come when everything changes. people die people are born and that is the circle but what i mean is i couldn't imagine Matt not being here.


PLEASE people don't take your loved ones especially those who have a spouse for granted. it's so crazy because Matt's dad died peacefully in his sleep but the last week wasn't very peacefully with his spouse because she probably thought he was going to suffer for another 3 years like last time.


You know I didn't think that Matt and I could get any closer (i know cheesy huh) but lately we both felt like we have been drifting a little. Maybe it's both of us working and hunting season just finishing up we have been so busy lately we have almost forgot to spend time with each other. Well after everything today I pray it's different. Like most couples we could have just given up but if you know Matt that is not in his vocabulary. I also have acquired it toooo.


I don't know if this blog means anything to any of you but it was just a few things on my mind....