Day 27

catching up

day 25 - 31 Days of Praise journal

day 26 - 31 Days of Praise journal

this spread is not finished...gonna leave it for now...something will come, it always does...

Day 24

in my 31 Days of Praise journal.
I worked out what I wanted to say in the first photo. The second photo is my first run through, I was not feeling it. Liking the re-due very much.

31 days of praise journal

still working in my 31 days of praise journal.  the page above started out below.  though i liked it, i wanted more color and image on it.  

  

i love going back and working, adding to older journal pages.

do you do that?  go back and play on previous pages?

return to joy...

day 21

i am a little behind in creating and posting my journal pages from my 31 Days of Praise journal.

I have journaled each day, but have not created the backgrounds.  I will post them when I catch up

20 days of praise

day 20

another day

day 19

I thank You for the bitter things

they've been a friend to grace,

they've driven me from paths 

of ease

To storm the secret place.

I thank You for the friends who've failed

To meet my soul's deep need;

They've driven me to the Savior's feet

Upon His love to feed.

I'm grateful too, through all

life's way

No one could satisfy,

And so I've found in You alone

My rich, my full supply!

~Florence White Willett

These are not my words...how I wish I could say  they are.  Most of the time I am not thankful for the bitter things. I expect too much from those that love me.  I have learned that I am more selfish than I knew.  I have learned that I don't always love very well.  I have learned that I like to protect my heart...because it has been hurt and let down in the past.  

I am not saying these things to get attention...for you to say, "you are not that bad".  These are truths that I am facing up to.  Here's the thing, knowing the truth does not devastate me.  It could, and would have in the past.  But I am on a journey and God is replacing my old ways of thinking, reacting and living.  As He fills those empty, needy places in my heart I am letting go of the need for others to fill them.  That frees me to enjoy them, and receive what they can give with gratefulness.  It get's them off the hook for having to be more than they are.  Then, when they fail me, and they will, I can still love them and not get angry or hurt because they did not meet my expectations of them.  

One day, I will be able to read the words of that poem and say, yes, yes, yes!!

Grace and peace

day 18

day 18

"I thank you for the bitter things

they've been a friend to grace,

they've driven me from paths

of ease

to storm the secret place."

~Florence White Willett

past, present, and future

day 17

past, present, and future

all yours

what is seen is not always the truest part

day 16

sometimes the truth of something can be obscured by the messiness of life...

sometimes it's hard to see through the pain...

but the truth is still the truth...

...thank you that in my deepest and truest identity, i am a new person in union with YOU...that i am one of your spiritual masterpieces, created clean and clear as a flawless jewel...and that you are cutting and polishing me to receive and display more fully the beauty of your glorious attributes!

we have a brand new week ahead of us...

day 15

day 15

"Holy Spirit wash away my anxieties and fears, my resentments and hostilities, my guilt and my regrets.

 Keep me filled with yourself and flood my heart with your love."

the overflow, the result will be 

love

joy

peace 

patience 

kindness 

goodness 

faithfulness 

gentleness 

and 

self-control

you produce those in me...

not me trying harder to be those things.

Grace and peace

day 14

day 14

thank you Lord, that you keep entering into the dark places of my heart...filling and healing the wounded places with your endless love. as i realize my true identity in you, and accept the truth of that do the old patterns and way of living fall away.  only as i accept the truth of that do i rest in what you did, and not what i can do...only as i accept the truth of that does my heart change in it's desire to live for and obey you, rather than always seeking my own way.  

i painted it...

completed spread - love - feels right to me

 first go around - do not like colors and the feel is not right to me

original sketch - see previous post

don't be afraid to re-do something if it does not covey the feelings you are after...

unusual for me

day 13

i don't usually begin my pages with a sketch.  but this morning was different.  

i came upon a spread with no color, nothing had been applied but some gesso.  

the quote at the top left was already written, 

so i left it...

i will probably go back and re-work this spread. maybe even covering and not duplicating what is there, but i will know what was there.  

Grace is descending...


oh, another really, really good book.

Jesus + Nothing = Everything 

by Tullian Tchividjian

peace

day 12

"Thank you Lord, that I am totally forgiven, no matter how great or recent a failure I've had to confess, or how often I have failed.

What amazing grace!  What undeserved acceptance and favor!  How wonderful that You ask me to do absolutely nothing to earn Your forgiveness - no striving to measure up, no self-punishment, no prolonged remorse, no self-blame, no deeds of penance...that I don't have to sink down into regrets, or into shame, or into denial, or into excuses for things I do wrong.  I'm so thankful that You don't hold a pair of scales and ask me to pile up enough good works to outweigh my sins, my failures, my unworthiness..that it's all by GRACE through FAITH."   (31 Days of Praise, by Ruth Myers)

Amazing Grace!

journey

day 11

in 2007 God began to take me on a journey into my heart.  i wasn't ready till then.  ready to face some hard things about my past, about myself.  He gave me a picture (in my mind) of a cauldron filled with stinky, putrid water.  it began to swirl and the impurities began rising to the surface. unless they rise we cannot see them.  if we can't see them we can't name them and begin the process of healing.  i am still on that journey...and though it is hard at times, i can truly say, it is a splendid adventure.

He also gave me a scripture that i cling to.  "God rewrote the text of my life when i opened the book of my heart to His eyes." (Psalm 18: 24) msg

Praise be to God He is faithful and does what He says!

Grace and peace to you my friends.

10 days of praise

the court is adjourned

day 9

lifter of my heart

day 8

when i am confronted with my own self...when i see where i have sinned, when i have been unloving, where i see i may have caused harm to others i can begin to spiral downward.  

i can begin to believe lies 

like i am a bad person 

with a bad heart

with no hope of making right the damage i have caused 

i begin to feel defeated 

yesterday was one of those days.  i went to bed feeling the weight of damage.

but when i picked up my 31 days of praise journal, and picked up my book, God met me in my mess. though i have not always chosen the right words and actions, and in fact, have caused harm to others, that is not the truest part of me. God is teaching me new ways of getting my needs met...through Him. i may not live life from an overflow of Him at times...even a lot of the time, 

but i am learning.  

and really one has to see first...

see the negative to even know what needs to be changed. 

so when my sin, my flaws are revealed to me, i rightly need to acknowledge them, grieve them and receive forgiveness for them.  but i don't have to stay in a place of despair.  

God is the lifter of my heart and soul.  

Thank you Father for your mercy and grace.  it's always there, never withheld.

Grace and peace to you my friends.

seven

through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.

(2 Timothy 3:17, the message)

day 7 of praise journal