GROW -- Mark 7:24-9:1

Greet the Lord
Read Mark 7:24-9:1
Observations:

Continuing the narrative: Jesus retreats to Tyre, attempting to lay low, but he "could not be hidden." He heals a Gentile's daughter of demon possession and a deaf man in Sidon. A great crowd gathers with little food. Jesus has compassion on them, concerned that they eat before traveling home. He blesses 7 loaves and a few fish and it feeds 4,000 with 7 baskets of leftovers. Jesus shows emotional disappointment/frustration (he "sighed from deep within himself") when the Pharisees demand a sign. Then the disciples become worried when they have no bread. Jesus questions them and reminds them of the miracle He has just performed. Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus teaches them plaining what is coming in the days ahead. He teaches the gathering crowd the value of the eternal and the futility of living for the here and now. He warns that anyone who would follow Him must deny himself and take up his cross.

Principles:
1. News of Jesus traveled fast. Even though He kept telling people to "tell no one" when he healed them, they didn't listen. They couldn't help but share the amazing things that He had done.
2. Jesus came to offer the Kingdom to the Jews, but He didn't reject when Gentiles came to Him looking for help or hope.
3. Jesus experienced human emotions when He was pressured by the Pharisees and forgotten by the disciples.
4. Following Jesus isn't a "fun" activity. There is a tension in giving your life to Christ. It involves self denial and cross bearing. But ultimately it is the only way to "find life" because living for the world is futile.

Write/draw:

GROW -- Mark 7:1-23

Greet the Lord
Read Mark 7:1-23
Observations:

This passage is part of a narrative. Jesus has been healing the sick and challenging some of the traditional "laws" regarding the Sabbath. The Pharisees observe the disciples eating without ceremonial washing and confront Jesus about it. Jesus refers back to Isaiah, noting how the people "honor" with lip service, but the HEART is far from Him. He attacks the idea that calling "Corban" negates the principle of honoring, taking care of, and providing for one's parents. Jesus explains its not the externals that defile someone. (Here Mark notes that Jesus has declared all food clean at this point.) It is what is in the heart that defiles, for that is where evil comes from.

Principles Observed from the passage:
1. Traditions are not part of the gospel.
2. Lip service is not good enough for God.
3. The heart is most important.
4. Motives matter.
5. Follow the spirit of the law, not just the letter, looking for loopholes.
6. Defilement comes from within, not from externals. Thus, circumstances do not give evil men an excuse. Their evil comes from evil hearts.

Other observations:
List of evil:
evil thoughts
sexual immorality
theft
murder
adultery
coveting
wickedness
deceit
sensuality
envy
slander
pride
foolishness

Write/draw:

*When the heart is not involved, my worship is vain, empty, hypocritical and adding to the Word of God.

Mark 7:6--"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me..."

Art Worship

I recently discovered this amazing Facebook group called "Bible Journaling Community." There I have found a sisterhood of artsy ladies who praise God and worship Him through art, by journaling Scripture and songs and thoughts they think while reading God's Word. I decided to join in. And it's awesome.

I set up a little "Art Worship station" by the couch where I read so I have my box and notebook handy. I follow the acronym "GROW" (Greet the Lord, Read a passage, Observe things about it, Write/doodle/draw) as I meet with God and the drawing part has been refreshing on several levels. First off, it feeds my creativity which I love. It also provides an amount of time that I am focused and meditating on a specific verse or principle from the Word.

I tend to sketch out a picture/text with pencil, then go over it with my favorite pen (Micron Pigma) then add color with watercolor pencils, then paint it.

Bedroom Decor

I just whipped up these adorable little printables today. I saw each quote separately but there were next to each other on the computer screen and it made me laugh out loud. So I thought I'd make some printables to go together. :) tee hee hee

Shiro Daguerreotype

How to make a photograph appear like a Shiro Daguerreotype

1.       Open photo in pixlr.com

2.       Convert to black and white

a.       “Adjustment” à “Hue and Saturation”

b.      Turn “Saturation” all the way to zero

3.       Adjust curves

a.       “Adjustment” à”Curves”

b.      Click the middle of the line and move upward. The point you are moving should end up around the intersection of the top horizontal line through the middle vertical line.  (A little left/below the intersection is fine too.)

4.       Add a layer on top of the photo and fill with brown

5.       Change brown layer opacity to approximately 50% (or a little more)

6.       Change layer style to multiply

7.       Merge layers

8.       Adjust levels

a.       “Adjustment” à “Levels”

b.      Dial the middle section of the input levels to the left to approx. 0.75

9.       Adjust brightness/contrast

a.       “Adjustment”à “Brightness and Contrast”

b.      Dial “Brightness” to approx. 10

c.       Dial “Contrast” to  approx. 25

10.   Adjust Saturation

a.       “Adjustment”à “Hue and Saturation”

b.      Dial Saturation to the left almost half way

Acts 1

The first few verses of Acts are a review of the last few verses of Luke. The disciples were instructed to stay in Jerusalem until "the promise" of the Father came. This promise is found in John 14:15-31--the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. Now when a person believes in Christ, the Holy Spirit is given immediately and we have the privilege of the blessings of the Spirit from the moment of conversion (Eph. 1:13-14); but the believers at the time of Christ's life/death did not have that. They had to wait for Pentecost when the Spirit was given to the Jews assembled. Throughout the book of Acts we see the Spirit "given" to others--Saul (Acts 9:17-19) and the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-48) on or around the time of their conversions. I'm so thankful I didn't have to wait for someone to come and bestow the Spirit on me when I believed! What a blessing to have the immediate working of the Spirit in my life!

So from the time Jesus came until He was crucified His "agenda" was to bring to pass the kingdom of God. Had the Jews listened to His message instead of rejecting Him (and ultimately putting Him to death), history might have been much different! The disciples knew the old agenda and were eager for Jesus to take His rightful place as King, to defeat Rome's tyranny against the Jews (v. 6). In the next two verses Jesus revealed a new "agenda"--to be witnesses and tell others about Christ's suffering and death, His resurrection and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:46-49). The scope of their witness encompasses the whole world--Jesus instructed them to begin at Jerusalem (their immediate community/city), then go into all Judea (the surrounding area), then into Samaria (farther away socially and proximately), and finally to the end of the earth (everywhere). They couldn't be fulfilling God's new plan by just staying where they were--they had to radiate outward and tell everyone! Similarly we are to be involved in ministry not just in the immediate area we live in, but also our surrounding community and in the world at large. What a privilege to be involved in God's plan for the nations!

Our Little Miracle

Today marks 3 weeks since our little miracle was born. We call her that for more than just because life in and of itself is a miracle. Here is the story...

Three months before Mr. Galaxy and I got married, I was told by a renowned OB-GYN that he thought I would have a very hard time getting pregnant without medical intervention based on my period history and some blood tests. He wanted me to come back after our honeymoon for further tests to see about endometriosis and the potential infertility he suspected so strongly. My fiance and I grieved deeply over this news because one of our greatest wishes was to be parents. In fact, infertility was probably my very biggest fear ever since I was a teenager, because I love children and I have always wanted to be a mother. As we walked through the months between receiving the news and our wedding day, we came to accept that God was in control and if He wanted us to have children, He could easily prove doctors wrong, and that we needed to live "open-handedly" no matter what happened.

We got married in May, went on a fabulous 2-week honeymoon to Mexico, and immediately moved out of state for my new husband to take a new job. We never did follow-up with that doctor, but figured whenever we decided we wanted to try for children, we would go to a doctor and get advice on it then. And in the meantime, we didn't need to worry about birth control, right? :o)

I got sick at the end of June with a massive kidney infection and was admitted to the hospital for five days. It took three days for my white blood cell count to start going down (normal levels are between 5,000-10,000 and mine was over 35,000). I wasn't really better at the end of the five days but my WBC count had receded to about 7,000, so it was safe enough for me to go home and just finish up my antibiotics there. During my hospital stay and following I had extreme nausea and had a hard time eating enough to stay hydrated. After I went home, I continued struggling with nausea, but it would come and go, based on how much medication I was taking. I went to my doctor for a follow-up visit three weeks later and my urine-analysis showed the infection was still present, so he gave me another round of antibiotics. I finished those, went back for a follow-up again, and they found my urine was still infected! So I got a different antibiotic and was instructed to take it and come back for a follow-up after that. Well, the nausea was not getting any better--in fact it was getting worse. I couldn't work, I couldn't do any housework, I could barely get out of bed most days, and even laying still was miserable. Everyone at church was convinced I was pregnant, but I knew there was no way--I was still recovering from the kidney infection, my husband and I hadn't even been trying, and besides we were supposedly infertile! Well, I finally broke down and bought a home pregnancy test, took it, and I didn't even have to wait the usual two minutes for the result. As soon as I dipped it, the plus sign appeared!

We went to the doctor the next day to have it confirmed and yes, we were indeed pregnant! We confirmed my antibiotics were safe for pregnancy and my doctor referred me to an OB at the hospital. My first visit to her was cut short because I was so nauseated that I carried a barf bag with me everywhere I went--she sent me right over to the ER to get rehydrated through an IV. That was only the beginning of my ER visits during that first trimester. I went back two more times because I could not eat or drink anything and keep it down. The OB then referred me to a high risk prenatal clinic because of the kidney infection (which STILL hadn't gone away!), and because my sister had a stroke a month after she had given birth, and my OB just wanted to be on the safe side and make sure I would be okay. After our initial visit at the high risk clinic they did a huge round of blood work which revealed I have a protein deficiency that could indeed cause a stroke, so they transferred my primary care to the high risk clinic. After my second ultrasound, they found that our baby had a 2 vessel umbilical cord. Most babies have 2 arteries and 1 vein in the UC, making it a 3 vessel cord. Our baby only had one artery and one vein. The doctors assured us this could mean nothing, but they wanted to keep an eye on it because it could indicate a low birth weight and often was a factor in babies with heart defects. My kidney infection gave me the "privilege" of carrying Group B Strep which can be transferred to baby during delivery (yikes!).

So many things against us in this pregnancy! Suspected infertility, kidney infection on the outset, 2 vessel cord, protein deficiency, and throughout the pregnancy the kidney infection never did clear up--it was a constant problem and I was going on high dose antibiotics (sometimes 2 at a time) every month or so. So many people prayed for me, for my health, for our child, for her health. We are so grateful for good insurance! The doctors at the high risk clinic were so wonderful and so concerned about making sure to cover every base to ensure the best pregnancy outcome possible.

Rylea Krystal was born May 6, 2012, completely healthy. Her heart is fully formed. She weighed in at 6 lbs and 14 oz and was six days early. She has had no withdrawal symptoms from me being on antibiotics the entire pregnancy, and while I am <still> battling the pesky kidney infection, we rejoice that Rylea is healthy. And I didn't even pray for her to be a healthy baby--I prayed for her to love Jesus and grow up to serve Him. I am overwhelmed every day when I look at her, knowing all that was against a positive outcome and seeing God's hand so evident in her life and even in her conception.

Flowers

The flowers my sweet honeybear gave me, just because! :)

Digital Scrapbook--James and his Lollipop

Digitial Scrapbooking--Daddy and Grace

Digital Scrapbooking

Take two on this page because pixlr crashed right before I saved the first version. Grrr. :( But I like how this one turned out, so maybe it was a silver lining...

Initial Art

After seeing an example on Pinterest and getting totally hooked via other random blogs about quilling, I decided to make a quilled R for our baby! It took a lot of time and it started out quite difficult, but once the outline was made, it started coming together a bit more easily.

Edit of Owl

I'm not sure which version i like better! The gray works better with the color scheme we're going for in her nursery, but I kind of like the darker background that the brown gives...

Pretty Little Owl

Made with free-for-personal-use digital scrapbook paper.
Insert daughter's name, birthdate, and birth info (weight, etc.) in the bottom part in a fancy font, and there you have the perfect little piece of art!

Will update with her name and info when she is born!

It's A . . .

GIRL!

We are so excited to meet our little princess in just under five months! I am feeling her moving around a lot lately, and Daddy even got to feel her move once. She is growing and developing well, even with Mommy being so sick and on so much medicine. We are so thankful for the Lord's protection of her little life and that He is giving Mommy grace to make it through the pregnancy. The morning sickness (all-the-time-sickness) is not so bad anymore, and only comes and goes when I try to do too much. So I am still taking it easy and trying to rest as much as I can. Elias is already an amazing daddy and has picked up so many of the household responsibilities in order to let me rest and keep my strength for the baby. I could not do it without him!

We have settled on a name, but we have decided not to share it with the world until our pumpkin makes her official appearance...plus we are still trying to find a spelling we agree on and a middle name too!

I finally returned to my pre-pregnancy weight at 20 weeks exactly! I had lost so much weight during the first three months since I was so sick and dehydrated all the time, so it is good to finally be able to eat (and keep things down), and now I feel like I am eating all the time! Food is just so yummy right now! I get really full really quickly though because the baby takes up so much room in my belly!

Am I (Are You) Robbing God?

Recently I was reading Malachi and I really enjoyed each chapter. I studied the book in depth during grad school, but hadn't really come back to it since then, so it was time to return and remember and learn some new stuff too.

The entire book is full of God making statements to the children of Israel, and then getting a question thrown back in His face regarding that statement, such as God: "I have loved you" Israel: "How have you loved us?"; God: "Your priests show contempt for my name" Israel: "How have our priests shown contempt for your name?"; God: "You defiled my altar" Israel: "How have we defiled your altar" OVER and OVER and OVER...like they just can't believe that God would call them out on something...like, "prove it, God" -- it's so arrogant as you read through the book.

Chapter 3 has a section of verses that start out with God affirming His unchanging nature, how He remains true, and how Israel has gone away from Him. But yet because He is true, He does not wipe Israel out, even though they do not honor Him or their covenant with Him. He pleads for Israel to return to Him. True to form, they question how they can return. God responds by saying, "Will a mortal man rob God? Yet you rob me." And of course, they ask, "How do we rob you?"

God reveals it is through their tithes and offerings (or maybe, lack thereof); He also states that they are under a curse and the reason for the curse is because they are keeping back what He has required of them. He encourages them to abandon this manipulation of their finances and bring to Him what He desires. He knows it will be an act of faith, because He says, "Prove me in this and see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." It is a test they can give God! He promises He will pass the test--with bonus points! He says He will bless their crops and vineyards to protect the produce and food so that they have what they need. And the end result will be that all the nations will see and called Israel "blessed."

How does this apply today? Trusting God enough to not manipulate my circumstances in order for ME to be comfortable, but placing myself in the hands of my Creator and allowing Him the opportunity to prove His glory. This could be in the realm of finances, but it could be in a lot of other areas too. It could be a "gray" area that if I interpret Scripture one way I can proceed in comfort, telling myself it's okay to manipulate my own comfort because it's a gray area, whereas if I am really honest I might have to do some hard things or go through some hurtful things or give up something that I really want in order to really be true to Scripture, but if I do that, I throw myself into God's merciful care, and the He has the opportunity to do something so wonderful i can't even contain it! How much better HIS best is for me (even though at the moment it might be unknown) than my best ATTEMPT at what what I THINK is good for me. God wants to be able to glorify Himself to a magnitude that is impossible if I manipulate Scripture or circumstances in order to have an easier time, or less pain, or whatever it is that I want to get out of.

Is there a clear command in Scripture that I (or you, or we) are trying to rationalize away in order that we can have what we want? Or are we willing to suspend our handle on things and allow God the opportunity to blow us away with His greatness?

How To: Love in America

Maybe you have seen those ultra cool decor items on Pinterest where the crafty crafter cuts out the shape of her home state and the shape of his home state and "adds" them together with hearts on the approximate place they lived before starting their lives together...kinda like this...

Well, I didn't cut mine out of paper and I thought I'd share how YOU can do it too!

1. Download some free digital scrapbook paper (I got mine from Shabby Princess).

2. Open a free online photo editor like Pixlr. I will be using Pixlr as my example, but you can achieve similar results with Photoshop and other editors like that.

3. Click "Open image from computer." Open whatever background digi-scrap paper that you want as your background.

4. Double click the box for the "background" layer to change it from the lock symbol to being a checked box. Now you can manipulate this layer. Change the image size to whatever size you want. For our purposes we will do a 300 dpi image in a 5"x7" size, so go to IMAGE --> IMAGE SIZE. Uncheck the "constrain proportions" selection. Input 2100 for width and 1500 for height. This will give you a high resolution image that will be printed at a 5x7 size.

5. Search Google (or your preferred search engine!) for an outline of his/her home states. Make sure they are copyright free if you are planning to sell these images (and make sure your digital scrapbook paper is also copyright free if you are selling--Shabby Princess does NOT release rights to sell items made with their paper). Save a copy of the state outlines to your computer.

6. Open a new image from your computer (do this twice--once for each state you have). Using the magic wand tool (3rd down on the left side of the toolbar in Pixlr), select the area outside the state outline. DELETE so that you have only the state showing, with transparency all around it. Go to EDIT --> INVERT SELECTION. This should select only the state. If there are words or anything else around your state you will need to erase them before selecting the state. COPY (Ctrl+C) this selection.

7. Go back to your scrapbook paper background image (via the down arrow under "Login/Sign Up" in the top right corner). PASTE the state selection into this image (Ctrl+V). It will create a new layer automatically. REPEAT with other state.

8. Position each state where you want them. If the size needs to be adjusted, go to EDIT --> FREE TRANSFORM. This will not keep your proportions, so check to make sure you don't totally skew your (or his!) state out of whack! Be sure to leave a little room in between for the plus sign. :)

9. Fill each state with the paint color of your choice. (Or if you want a design like my example, continue through the rest of the "9" steps.)

9a. Open another scrapbook paper with a strong design (with good contrast of lights and darks). I prefer just a design without a lot of extra colors, but you pick what you like! Doubleclick the background layer to make it "manipulatable."

9b. Select your entire paper (Ctrl+A) or use the selection tool (the blue square 2nd from the top left on the toolbar) to select whatever part of the design you want. Define it as a brush (EDIT --> DEFINE BRUSH or Ctrl+K).

9c. Return to your original scrap background page and select the layer with your state. Using the MAGIC WAND tool, select the white interior of your state.

9d. Select the BRUSH tool and pick whatever color you want. Go to the dropdown brush menu (the top light gray tool bar and scroll down through the brush options to the end, where your new creations will be. Select your brush and use it as is, or resize it smaller. Click one time over the white interior of the state. Voila! There is a super cool background on just your state! (Ctrl+Z will undo and you can change color/etc. if you want to adjust it.) REPEAT from 9c for the other state.

10. ADD a layer on top of everything else. On the layer toolbar, the square with a turned up corner next to the recyling can will add a layer. Move the layer to the top.

11. Select the BRUSH tool. Go to the drop down menu for brushes and click MORE. Click the drop down menu and select MISC, then click HEARTS. Select ADD to add all the heart brushes to your brush selection.

12. Select whichever heart brush you like best. I have found the darker looking ones show up better. Resize your heart brush to whatever size you like.

13. Using a contrasting color, click your heart brush once (or twice if it is not dark enough) over the approximate area where you grew up in your state. REPEAT for his state.

14. Using the brush tool with a darker/contrasting color from your background, draw a "plus" sign in between your states. Or, you can do it the hard way by finding a plus sign online and creating a brush like in step 9b. Just delete any white part (you may have to turn up the "tolerance" to get it really good) you want to be transparent, then Ctrl+K to define the brush.

15. Save your image as a jpg and then send it to the store to print!

Oregon + Wisconsin = Love (via Pinterest)

Of course, mine is digital, not cut out of paper, but I plan to print it out (5x7 size) and frame it for our home!

The First Christmas

This is my hubby's and my first Christmas being a married couple {yay!} and we are excited to invent some family traditions. Our first tradition is going to be that we are going to reserve Christmas day and our "Christmas celebrations" as a time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, remembering Christ's birth and all that comes with that. On the days leading up to Christmas we will read through different prophecies of Christ throughout the Bible, lighting successively more candles each night as the prophecies shed more light into our understand of God's promised Messiah. Or we might read through the gospels in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Or maybe something else....but we definitely want to take some time each evening to read Scripture and reflect on the wonderful Gift at that very first Christmas.

Then we will enjoy the next week of family time, and on New Year's Eve or New Year's, we will open presents to start out the new year. Hopefully with the presents time being separated from our "Christmas celebration," our {future} children will not confuse Christmas with materialism.

I also want to focus on time with family during the month of December, so I made up an "advent" calendar to use, especially once our children come along. {And next year, one of them WILL be here!}

So I made up this calendar, and I am giving it away as a free printable! You can print it on 12x12 paper at office shops or maybe a scrapbooking store? Not sure exactly...

The idea is, print out the 2 page download. Then cut three edges of each numbered box with an exacto knife and fold back on the uncut edge. Write in activities to do as a family (or a Scripture passage to read together) on the second page in each box. They are lined up to show through if you cut each box carefully. Glue/use double sided tape to attach the first page to the second. Voila!

Scroll down to download!

Download it here! Advent Calendar 2 pages

Wedding Invitation Suite - Vintage Teapot - Rose Petal