Pressing On

New Blog

2009-11-22T11:25:00.002+01:00

I moved my blog over to:
www.stewartsfaithjourney.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there :)

Reenlisting

2008-04-01T13:23:00.003+02:00

Guess you might be wondering about that title LOL. Didn't know I was in the armed forces now did ya :) Well, not really in the way that some think, but spiritually thinking, I am one of the Lord's soldiers-so He reminded me these last couple of days.

I remember when our pastor in the states asked DH to pray about moving to Hungary and pastoring the church here-he asked nothing except that we make a 2 year commitment. Here we are almost 7 years later and our time here is about over. Thankfully we are at a point where we can turn the church over to a national and move on to the next place.

The next place....hmmmm.....where could that be? Well, for many reasons, my health, finances, family, I had thought that it would be in our best interest to put the word out that we were looking for some place in the states. I had even thought about not returning to southern CA and maybe the east coast. But last May, we were asked to pray about moving to Italy and DH pastor a church there. I know, I know....who wouldn't want to move to Italy right!! And yes, I have been there many times and it is everything wonderful you might imagine and more. But it's one thing to think it would be neat to live in a place and then a totally different thing to know you are being called there to do the work of the ministry. I feel like Paul going to the synagogues to preach Jesus. A lot of praying and seeking the Lord and now it seems as though that is where we are heading sometime this summer.

But... our first grandchild is to be born in May, my bones are brittle, our kids and family miss us, we miss them. Yet, this is what the Lord is showing us. Yesterday He spoke ever so softly to me, giving me analogies of the soldier. There are many a soldier who have never even seen their own children born, or been able to be by a dying relative or friend's side because they are out on the battlefield. We too, are on the battlefield. All of us as His children are serving somewhere-some on the home front, some called to be "deployed" somewhere distant. Yet all of us are in the service together. This morning I thought about reservists and how they don't always think they will be called up into active duty-it wasn't in the plan at the time, but we are to be ready when we are called upon to go and serve-whether it's in our own home, 1 mile away, or thousands of miles away. I thought about the soldier and how he obeys those over him and he wouldn't argue with them about what he was told to do or where he was told to go. I want to remember that I serve the Lord, that He has placed this call upon our lives for this time and we will gladly answer Him and trust Him every step of the way. He is Lord! He chooses where and how to use us and I don't want to miss out on what He has in store for us because I am afraid or because I long for home. He will comfort us in times of lonliness and fear. I couldn't help but be humbled by the thought today that He even desires to show me such things! He doesn't just say Go-He is so gentle and kind and helps us along the way.

I made a LO about it-Shabby Miss Jenn had a little gift on her blog and I forced myself to do the challenge. Of course that means I have to upload it to the gallery----not my favorite thing to do because I am not a great scrapper for all to see :) Oh well, I just have to do it LOL
Have a wonderful day!

Made with Shabby Miss Jenn's Weeds and Daisies kitSMJ's freebie, Janet Phillip's photo mat template, Jess Gordon's curled and torn paper

Make Me

2008-03-17T15:13:00.003+01:00

Kind of a funny title huh!! But, it's all I could think of LOL :)

It actually has to do with a scripture I read today in Psalm 119. It is the perfect one for me right now because I have been struggling with certain things in my life and it gets to the point where I just cry out to God "make me" and then I go and read this. It just overwhelms me with the grace of God. David is saying this to God and I felt a great relief reading it and knowing that I can say it too. There are times that it is just so hard to do the Godly thing, to respond to each situation in the way I know I ought. It's like I can do it in public because I sort of have to being a PW but it's my mind that I battle with-thoughts that come and go and it seems I spend so much time entertaining the thoughts, then feeling bad that I thought them, and then wondering who in the world am I that God even coniders me. It gets to be a vicious cycle. Thankfully, I can pull myself away from this and turn to His Word and there I find peace. I can't imagine not having God's Word -I would be a wreck!!!

Then reading further in the verse,,,,another thing I am struggling with at times-covetousness. I can't help it when I read the Scrapbook boards and this one got a new camera and this one got that...etc, etc. etc. Now, I know that these women are a small percentage and not everyone can afford these things in life. But, I just look and find myself thinking back to the days we had a business and weren't in full time ministry and what do you think happens?????????? Ah, I condemn myself again, thinking of scriptures like "noone who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is worth of the kingdom". Ok-that's a real comfort LOL. Am I like the children of Israel who longed for Egypt? I don't want that life again, I know God has called DH to pastor and for us to live as we do, but it's hard sometimes. Ok-enough whining.

On the positive side, I was so inspired by Jess Gordon. There's something about her personality that leaps through cyberspace and reaches me :) She has incredible talent and she started to write verses using brag book pages. I love that idea!!! I immediately decided to start doing the same. I think it will be neat to have them around the house and give as gifts too. I started today using Shabby Princess's badge album. So adorable!! Plus, we can use this idea for our ladies in the church. We meet each month to do some crafts. I have paper supplies and stuff so they are learning about scrapbooking. It's a lot of fun to sit and watch them ooh and ahh over all the stuff!
DH returns today. Hopefully he will tell me if we are moving or not. I am getting on pins and needles waiting to hear! He was teaching Thurs, Sat night and twice on Sunday while he was in Italy and is battling the flu. Poor guy! He will have some work waiting for him when he arrives ...our sink was clogged so I decided to "fix" it!!! LOL LOL!!! Yep, I took the pipes apart but unfortunately I can't remember how to put it together again so water drips every time you try to drain it!! Oh well, he will see he is so needed by me here :)

Take time to thank God for His goodness today :)

The funniest valentine

2008-02-19T15:27:00.004+01:00

Just had to share this one real quick-I made a card for hubby using one of Dani Girls pages (didn't have a lot of time that day) and gave it to him. Here's the one I sent:

So, today I get this in my email:

Is he a crack up or what!! I suppose I could say this was his first scrapping attempt! He keeps it fun I tell ya :)

We are pretty sure we will be moving in July. Just waiting to be sure. I am so sad to leave here but I know God is showing us that our work here is finished and He will use us in the next place. Do I know the next place?????????????? Yep!!!! That is going to be an exciting adventure. If you read my blog you can probably figure out where....I will keep you guessing. Sorry, if you guess, I can't give you a prize though :) We made the announcement to our leadership a couple weeks ago and it was pretty sad, but for the most part, I think they could tell it was coming. We will be here 7 yrs in July and isn't that the number of completion :) I pray for a smooth transition and God's grace over all the details!!!

I have been busy looking around the house seeing what I need to accomplish...notice I said looking, not actually doing LOL. It's going to be a pain (literally) to move all our stuff, but hopefully we will get some help from the college students and I know the gals from church will help too.

I need to make a new blog header and update my blog list too. I have a couple different blogs I read when I can so I want to add them to the list. It will have to wait a bit til I have a little more energy. My back has been hurting so badly and there's nothing you can take over here. I need to find some of those packs that have the nice smell and you can put it in the microwave and freezer. I think that will help a lot. I have heard it is better to have moist heat rather than just the heating pad. Maybe I will check Amazon to see if I can order one.

Ok-have a blessed day!!!

Finally!!

2008-02-08T10:26:00.000+01:00

Busy doesn't begin to describe life around here these past months! Getting prepared for the holidays, we also went back home to the states for Christmas this year. It was our first Christmas home in 7 years. Lots of fun but boy oh boy-lots of FOOD!!! Yikes, I gained about 3 kilos (over 6lbs) and now I have to figure out how to get them off!!!

It was a trip filled with ups and downs-always wonderful to see family and friends but the stress of buying all the presents and organizing everything-wow-I forgot how that was! But it was fun.

I broke my rib the 2nd day after we arrived. Our oldest daughter just went to give me a hug and I heard something snap. So, for about a week I had to just sit around because it was so painful. We went to Santa Barbara to stay with some wonderful friends and ended up staying longer for doctor visits. One thing about being out of the country-we never go to the doctors here! So I had to have a bone density test and it turns out I have osteoporosis. My hip is the worst with the spine next to worst. Not joyful news by any standards. I am still working this through my brain-I think I am still in a bit of denial about it. It just hasn't completely sunk in yet.
The Lord gave me His promise to see me through this and He will be glorified in it-I just have to learn to be more dependent upon Him and now even others including my husband. I am not one who waits around for things to be done. If something needs to be moved, carried, fixed, whatever, I do it. Now, I have to retrain myself to ask for help. Not in my personality!! Such a stubborn one I am!! It's going to be a difficult road I know. Our last Sunday in CA I just broke down during the worship as the Lord spoke ever so gently to my heart about the difficult road yet comforting me with His promise that He will be my strength when I am weak. That verse became very real to me that day and I believe it will become one that I will cling to for a long time now.

I have so much news, but I can't sit here too much longer. Hopefully it won't be too long before I come back and update the blog. I want to journal my days and make a scrapbook (ha ha-so I have that in my mind to do now....we'll have to see how it works out).
Here's the LO I did about the news. It's therapeutic to scrap it!

I used Shabby Princess's Rummage Chic, Janet Phillip's template, Tia Bennet's frame fonts are SP Wonderful Wendy, SP You've Got Mail
Anna Aspnes paper curl

2007-11-15T14:30:00.000+01:00

here is a layout from our Christmas program in 2004. We made due with what we could. Not really a budget so lots of improvision but we had fun and so did the kids :)

I used a template from Janet Phillips, Jen Wilson paper and honestly can't remember what else.

Learning something new

2007-10-02T22:34:00.000+02:00

I have started to learn to edit messages now. It is such a long process and it also means I have to listen to my voice over and over again--yuck! I am using my women's study teachings to practice editing. It's amazing how much useless chatter is on the tape and also if I say something meaningless I can edit it out!! Ha ha-too bad that doesn't work in real life! I would be hitting the edit button a lot LOL! I just wish there was a setting to make my voice a little different. I have always hated my voice and people always think I am a little girl. It always got on my nerves when people would call and ask if my mommy was there-I used to say NO!! Actually that's the truth because she wasn't :) I think there's a way to make it a tone different but I don't know how to do that yet. I will keep practicing though.

Our studies have been great so far. We studied Ruth, Mary Magdalene and tomorrow is Esther. I love when Esther says, "If I perish, I perish". I actually read an incredible book called If I Perish. Has nothing to do with Esther, but a Korean Christian woman in prison in Japan. Wonderful book if you ever have the chance, read it!

I have been getting a few more pages finished for the church scrapbook. I am using Janet Phillips templates for the most part. I just love them!! I just splurged and bought her fat pack2 because she had a 50% off coupon in her last supersize grab bag! Can't lose buying Janet's grab bags each month. Great templates and coupons too :) I can't wait til this months comes out!!

Here are a couple of the layouts I finished this past week:

Until next time....have a blessed day :)

Finally a post...

2007-09-09T20:53:00.000+02:00

It's been forever since I have posted here but we have not been around much this summer. It's such a cliche but honestly I don't have a clue where the summer months went! Seems like since May we have been in and out and doing this that and the other thing. It's been a whirlwind! All good, but soooooo busy!
We just returned back from Austria and Italy and had a wonderful time in both places. I hope to have some pics up soon!
I haven't scrapped (obviously) in so long. I tried a couple times over the weekend but I keep deleting everything I do. Just can't get into it right now. I did arrive back in town soon enough to get Janet's latest grab bag (you can find it here) I look forward to them every month. Never a disappointment. Actually it's about the only thing I buy these days....keeping on a tight budget because we want to go home for Christmas. It's now been a year since I have seen my daughter and we want to go to the states in Dec. It will be our first Christmas home in 7 yrs!
Lots going on already this month. We are starting up our Women's study again. We will study different women in the bible this year. I am really looking forward to it. Even though I am familiar with a lot of the women we will study, I want to find fresh things out that I never noticed before. As I do, perhaps I can share them on the blog each week-if I can find time to keep up with blogging!

Hope you are all having a blessed day and rejoicing in all the promises of the Lord!

Summer time

2007-07-09T07:17:00.000+02:00

Ah, it's summer and that means we are busy, busy, busy! I love it most of the time, but some days I could sure go for a nice long nap!! Problem is I probably wouldn't wake up LOL!!

We had a team here a week ago and that was great! They built skateboard ramps and did a lot of other work around the community and the church. I loved hanging out with them and getting to know them better and can't wait until we can get together again in the states!! Lots of great Godly people and for certain new friends were made! I love when teams come who love the Lord and are really hard-working. This group was amazing and I am thrilled they were here!
Today we start our family camp for a week. I am not really into it this year, but hopefully my attitude will change once we are there and it will be a good week. Everyone in the church is looking forward to it so that is good and there are new people going and probably some will want to be baptized at the end of the week and that is always a special time. I cry always because it's so awesome to see people make these decisions to follow the Lord!!
Scrapping has been on hold for a bit as is so much other stuff. Too busy to actually do anything like that-I did manage to sneak in a LO of our Italy trip from May and the beautiful toilet!

I used Lisa Whitney's Chalk Full of Fun Kit

Pretty funny huh!! My husband was so curious how one would use it-like what do you do with your close-well, I must say, I didn't have to go that bad, so I waited LOL!!!!! I took pictures of some other interesting toilets-actually had to pay 1 euro for one bathroom and it was disgusting! I will have to scrap it soon! My girlfriend and I took some funny photos of different things and we are going to make a scrapbook called "Scrap This" as a memory of her trip to Europe. Things you don't often see driving around California LOL!!!

I am in the midst of planning our women's retreat. I am excited about this and the theme is Daughter of the King. I just finished up the flyer for it so I will post it next time. I think it came out really pretty. We are having the colors purple and gold-like royalty and I can't wait to start putting it altogether. SHould be a great retreat. We are having it in Oct so there's still time to get everything done but I know the time will fly by. The summer is so busy and before I know it it will be Sept. We are going to Prague next week and then to Germany to pick up some used furniture we bought in May for a family in the church. They don't even have beds so we found a great deal on stuff and we will bring it back with us.
Ok-gotta run....laundry, sweeping, a funeral this afternoon and then off to family camp!! Never a dull moment!!!!

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say REJOICE!!! :)

Just a thought...

2007-06-11T11:51:00.000+02:00

I have had this on my mind lately so I thought I would write about it here and see what you think. As a Christian, I take very seriously not using the Lord's name in any derragatory way. I cringe when I hear people so blatantly use the Name of my God in a way it's not meant to be used. It's happens all the time in day to day life, I see it on message boards and hear it when I am out and about -sadly even youngsters use such language without even thinking twice about it.
So, I got to wondering how did this even begin? When did it become a common thing to take the Name of our God, and use it in such horrific ways? Who came up with this? What really interests me is why our God's Name? Why don't people get mad and say "Oh Joseph Smith" or "for Joseph Smith sake". Do you get my point? No A.l.l.a. no oh buddah, no oh L Ron Hubbard oh this that or anyone else!!! People can say they use His Name because they don't belive in Him the way I do so it means nothing to them-well, with that logic then would it be ok for me to say Joseph Smith's name (and I am not picking on J. Smith, just making a point) I don't believe the way he did but I wouldn't use his name in a derragatory way. This might all sound senseless to some of you but it really does annoy me and sadden me.

We are growing as a church and that's such great news but we are in need of more space. There is a team coming in a couple weeks and we will build some portable buildings outside to have Sunday School. We usually have had either school-aged children and babies but now there are toddlers and it's impossible to keep them in the church during the service. The rooms just echo so one of the gals and I took them for a walk yesterday and it was soooo hot! We were laughing at how it takes more than one person to watch just a couple toddlers. Plus, if the Mom's hear the kids crying they run right out to them. It's a hard thing because we want the Mom's to have the time for themselves to hear the Word and have some time to fellowship but many of them aren't used to leaving their kids with anyone else and of course the kids love to scream for Mom! Quite a show some days!! LOL

I saved up for Shabby Princess's sale and got a few things that are awesome! Love her designs and I think she is so sweet so it makes it all the easier to want to buy her products. I made a LO the other day using her "Occasions" kit. Nothing fancy, just a simple LO but I like it.

Have a blessed day today!!!

It's been awhile

2007-06-04T11:49:00.000+02:00

We have been in and out of the country for the last month-lots of busyness with construction going on at the church, friends visiting, etc.
We went to Austria a couple weeks ago with some friends and then on to Venice so they could see it a bit and then Jim taught the Sunday service in Italy and they asked him to teach the Sunday night one at another spot in Italy so we ended up staying an extra night. Italy is my favorite place!!!! I just love it there-the people, the food, the church there-it's just wonderful...not to mention the gelato is out of this world delicious. You have to go to the right spots though-beware of touristy places because it's not always as good.
After Italy, we drove back to Hungary, did some laundry, got a bit of sleep and then up early the next day to take our friends to Budapest airport for their flight back to the states and we continued on to Germany for a Pastors conference. This was my first visit to Germany and I loved it! I didn't know how I would like it, but in my mind I just couldn't picture the country. I think because I have watched so many WWII movies that I had a weird picture in my mind about the place. Anyway, it was great, we stayed with a nice family during the conference. The guy was a Doctor and of all thing, knew all about asthma and gave me a years worth of inhalers!! How blessed am I!!!!!!! Unfortunately, he thinks I have more than asthma, but the COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) doesn't really sound right to me. It says you were a smoker and something about emphysema and I don't smoke and haven't in more years than I could remember. So, I will take the inhalers because they work for asthma and COPD and I will see what happens. Praise the Lord though for the free inhalers!!!
What else, oh, after Germany, we wanted to go to The Netherlands and visit friends because it's only 2 hrs from where we were, but they weren't around. We head straight to Switzerland to stay at some other friend's house and that was amazing too. I love the country! The scenery is beautiful. It is exactly as we would imagine from the movies or Heidi! Everywhere you look is beautiful mountains and pastures!
I had to stop and just thank God in amazement. Here we are just a normal pastor and wife living on the Mission field and yet God arranges for us to see all these beautiful places! I couldn't imagine it if I tried! The places Jim gets invited to speak are so wonderful and it's so neat to see the Lord at work all over the world! I am truely humbled to serve our great King!! People always think that when you leave the states and go on the mission field you are giving up so much-and it's true in a sense-our families and friends we have to leave behind, our culture, conveniences, but we have gained more than we could have ever imagined! I remember just looking through my parents' time share magazine in my early 20's and wondering about Austria and Europe-never even dreaming it possible to visit those places, and here I am -just blessed behyond belief to see God's beautiful creation all over the world!
On the scrapping side...I am looking forward to Wed. to see Shabby Princess's new designs. Should be exciting and some awesome new products I am sure.
Here's a quick LO I did of Switzerland. I do pray for a new camera. It seems such a shame to go to these neat places and not have a good camera to take picture with :) Oh well, they will do!
Hope you have a blessed day :)

I used Nancy Comelab's photo cluster and doodles, Misty Cato's paper

2007-05-02T19:55:00.000+02:00

I was just thinking that I would love to be able to write in a different font. Sometimes it just seems so boring to me to always use the same one. It would be nice to figure out how to doodle up the sides of my blog too. Seems sort of funny especially since I was seriously thinking of ending my blogging days. Well, guess it won't be today LOL.
So, if you haven't gone shopping for Janet Phillips' May Grab Bag, you MUST go immediately and buy it. It's only available until May 4th so you need to hurry. There is so much awesomeness in this bag!!! I don't like to buy what I can't see, but with Janet you just can't go wrong. It's filled with great stuff!! Go now, well, after you finish reading lol!!
Here's a LO I did~One LO closer to finishing the Church scrapbook :) Still tons to go !!! I used Lisa Whitney's kit and Janet Phillips' template. Love them both!!

We have been so busy the past few weeks. A group of students from the bible college came for their outreach and it was great! They did a lot of demo work on the church and had some English Camps and did outreach too. It was a great time but busy busy busy! We are preparing for friends to come at the end of the week from CA and I am excited about that. My one friend will arrive next week and even do a paper bag album with the ladies from the church. They will be thrilled-there's no such thing as scrapping here so what we show them is so unique to them and they love it!! I am glad I have lots of scrap paper and other fun stuff to share with the ladies. They always invite friends and it's neat to see how they act with all the different choices of papers, etc. It's like kids in a candy store :) Less fattening :)
One singer I really like is Todd Agnew. I love the lyrics to his songs and the other day I was looking up some words for one of his songs and found this video on You Tube with the lyrics. This song is soooo powerful!! It just has made my heart melt and renew the conviction of my life to go to those who He calls me to go to. To really be more like Him in all I do and think. The lyrics cause me to ponder whether I am really willing to lay my life down, to lay down my rights, my dreams to do what He wants me to do. How comfortable, even on the mission field, do I want my life to be. Do I want to be completely surrendered over or just live my Christian life and live "normal" too. We can't walk both sides of the fence-eventually we will fall and we will be on one side or the other when we do.

Here's the video if you want to see it-I will warn you that it uses pictures from The Passion Of Christ that are graphic so if you don't want to see them, don't watch the video. To me, it makes the song even more powerful to see the images before my eyes.
I encourage you today to seek the Lord and ask Him how He would like to use your life to make a difference in someone else's life. Don't be afraid to go somewhere or to someone different than you or what you are comfortable with. If He's called you (and He has) then He will give you what you need to do it.

Sadness

2007-04-17T16:31:00.000+02:00

My heart just aches with sadness for the families and friends of those who tragically lost people they love at the VT massacre yesterday. It was just senseless that some evil person would decide he had a right to end innocent lives. Why didn't he just take his own life and and let the others be? How awful! I found myself glued to the news online about it and fortunately we get tv now so we could watch CNN and they had the US news on. My thoughts went to my own daughter who is in the states in college and living in a dorm. I just can't imagine what the parents are going through-it was painful to watch and I don't even know anyone there. I just thought in one moment 33 families are now changed forever! It's just devasting to think someone made the choice to do this. I don't care what comes out about his childhood either-it seems like that is the news that comes out in these cases-how unloved they were or this and that-who cares really!!! You are able to make a choice between right and wrong. The problem in this world is we are too busy making excuses for those who do what's wrong! We have become enablers and blame anyone and everything except the person who commits these atrocities! I have met many people who have had childhoods noone should have and they are some of the most loving and caring people I know. I myself had a past that was quite difficult but realized at a certain age that it's not an excuse to do wrong-especially towards others.
It's interesting because I was looking for a song yesterday online by Selah and I happened to watch their performance during the 5 yr. Memorial for Sept 11th. I was looking at different news programs from that day and mentioned to Jim how the regular morning shows were on and news people were saying how beautiful it was outside, nice and calm and peaceful....30 minutes later everything as we know it would change. We had just moved here 2 months before so we didn't even know what was happening until we went to someone's house to watch the news. But I thought that this is how it will be when the Rapture happens. It will just be another day-nothing out of the ordinary and then complete chaos will take over the world. We talked about that this morning and how a tragic event like what happened in VA yesterday and Sept. 11th captivates everyone and we are so glued to the events on tv as they unfold. Imagine the day of the Rapture-millions gone and who that's left will know the explanation-just amazing to think about. I pray noone I love will be here to witness the events!
I did the challenge at My Digital Muse the other day. It was a cute template so I thought I would join in. One of the gals that did a LO with it mentioned how the template was good for not so great photos and it is so true! I don't always have great photos-mainly I don't have a great camera-but I still want to be able to scrap the pictures and this was a great way to do it. I had a lot of fun with it although I still can't get the pictures to quite fit as I want them to in the templates.

You can see the credits here
Oh and Mrs Miles had asked about the bagel recipe from a few posts ago. I can't even remember where I found it LOL. The only reason I made homemade ones is because we can't get them over here and I was craving them. They are quite a bit of work :) If you haven't gone to Mrs. Miles blog, you can check it out here. There is always such wonderful inspiration on her blog. She has a gift for writing!

Be sure to tell those you love how much you love them and ask forgiveness of those you need to. We never know when our lives will suddenly change and we can no longer do that.

He is our peace!

Refreshed and Renewed

2007-04-12T15:44:00.000+02:00

I haven't had much of a desire to blog lately-partly because of busyness and partly because I didn't feel like it LOL!! Actually I have been quite busy but as usual a good busy.
God has given me a renewed vision for being here and also my heart has been refreshed with His goodness!! I started a women's leadership training with some of the ladies in our church and it has caused me to really ask God to search my heart in some of the things we will talk about. What is my heart attitude in serving Him, in serving others? Has it become a chore or is it a joy and a privlege to serve Him? These are things God has been speaking to me about lately. It's so easy when Ministry is in fact your "job" but it is sad when that is what it becomes-just a plain ole job and the joy and the enthusiasm that goes with it dwindles. Praise the Lord for His revival!!! I have such a joy in me now and I don't want it to go away. The ladies are reacting to it too. It's so awesome when this happens! Now they are able to affect others too.
After much prayer, we decided to have a Women's Retreat in the Fall. The first one here in Hungary with the churches. Our theme is going to be The King's Daughter-taken from Psalm 43:13. I am sooooo excited about this theme. I have prayed about this theme for years!!! I know it's a common theme-but God is going to use it incredibly to minister to the women here-I just know it!!!! I told the girls last night-start praying each day for the Lord to show you something from His Word about you being His daughter-and then walk in that truth-we are the King's Daughters-I mean no matter what our background, our lifestyle before knowing Him, all the junk, etc, we are His!!! Noone can change that truth!!
So....I am just so excited to be planning all the stuff-and I warned the gals last night-it's gonna be girly!!! Yep-purple and gold colors-the colors of royalty-I found diagrams of how to make a castle out of refrigerator boxes!! Tiaras from Oriental Trading, they have those rubber bracelets with the word Princess on them....wow!!!! Tulle and lace and just all kinds of neat stuff!! Most importantly....Jesus!!! His love and teaching and ministering to the women who come!! So much to look forward to-just wanting to pamper the ladies and give them a weekend filled with His love!!!
I have decided to tear into Psalm 45 between now and then. I want the teachings to come from there and just really see what God is showing us through this Psalm. I will share on my blog as the Lord shows me different things :)
Haven't scrapped much at all lately-too many other things going on. I managed a few pictures from our Easter service but someone else was taking the photos and they didn't come out that great-seems like there was a shadow on most of them and of course for some reason my hair looks green!! Oh the problems of do it yourself highlights here! I went today and bought a box to do my highlights myself. Hopefully it will work. There's a little brush included so I can't imagine I could do it any worse than some of the hairdressers here. Plus, their utensils are so dirty! Yuck!! Makes me cringe!! Ewwwwwwwwwwwww
I made this with Nancy Comelab's photo frames and Jen Wilson's paper. I need to find a good picture of a crown to use for our programs. Not sure how we will do them yet-I am thinking like a scroll with the info on it. Still time to think about it and check around for some creative ideas-I am open if you have any :) Think princess!! Think glittery! Think girly! I think the girls about died last night because I jokingly told them all the volunteers will be dressing up like princesses!! Ha ha-they had the funniest looks on their faces!!
Have a wonderful day!
Shine on :)

2007-04-08T20:03:00.000+02:00

Good Friday

2007-04-06T11:51:00.000+02:00

Just to let you know ahead of time....I am posting some graphic photos from the Passion Of Christ on my blog today. Again, they are very graphic and if you don't want to look at them, please don't scroll down. I don't mean to be offensive, but this is my blog and these pictures represent the greatest sacrifice ever made for me so please respect my choice to post and I'll respect yours not to look :)
I am feeling a bit better today. I have had incredible migraine headaches the past few days. It got so bad I actually took excedrin last night and again this morning. I don't like aspirin at all because it upsets my stomache so much but I couldn't find anything else that would work. My bumps on my face are slowly disappearing. I can't figure out if I had an allergic reaction to something or what. Just so weird!!
We will have a pretty busy weekend-Good Friday service tonight, bible college students are coming for part of the weekend and tomorrow we will color the eggs and make the cupcakes for the kids on Sunday. Sunday we will have Easter service and then have some people over for dinner.
As we remember Good Friday and what it means to us as Christians, my heart always feels so heavy. I am a very visual person. Sometimes I hear a message and when the person paints a picture it is so much easier for me to understand. Last year, I found some pictures from the Passion Of Christ and I used them in a couple LOs. To me, it just speaks volumes of the price that was paid so that we could have eternal life. Thinking of the different scriptures that tell about what Jesus endured on our behalf just humbles me. I am always wanting to defend myself and stand up for myself and yet Jesus went through so much more and He did it willingly. Noone forced Him to do this-He chose this way. I like Max Lucado's book title-He Chose The Nails. Which of us we choose that? I don't think I would. I will probably watch the Passion movie tomorrow tonight after service and just be reminded again of His sacrifice. It's easy to forget and I want to be reminded over and over again of such a love. So many people complained about how violent the movie was and yet when you really think about it compared to what scripture says, it didn't even portray all that Jesus went through. The Bible says that you couldn't even recognize Him because He was beaten so badly. I am not into watching senseless violence shows, but when it is based on truth I don't mind. I watch war movies based upon actual things , shows about the Holocaust and the awful things that happened and it does affect me a lot but I watch it because to me it's important to see these things that really did happen. The atrocities that were afflicted upon others really are real!
The good news is that we know today is not the end of the story. How glorious that we know what the disciples and others didn't know-we know what happens on the 3rd day!!

Here are the layouts I did last year. If you do look at them, reflect on the scripture, words to the one song and really allow God to speak to your heart. If you have never understood God's love for you, I pray you will understand it today. I pray that if you have never asked Jesus into your heart you will read these scriptures and they will come alive in your life and you will know how much you are loved. Jesus loves you as you are.

Prayer request

2007-04-03T10:00:00.000+02:00

Two days in a row-wow!! Actually this is just to ask for some prayer from those of you who pray :) I am just a bit nervous right now because I don't feel too well. It's one of the things about living in Eastern Europe that is difficult-the medical system. We have not had the best of luck here at all.
Anyway, my stomache has been so sore the past couple of days and a rash has started to come out on my cheeks-Jim looked at it this morning and got concerned because I haven't had acne or any blemishes since I was a teen. I have no idea if the two are related but the bumps are spreading down my face now. My ears are starting to hurt, and I just don't feel well overall. I have no fever so that is a big plus! I am not worried about infection since I don't have the fever. I was able to bring some strong antibiotics back from the states with me so if I get a fever I can take them.
It's just one of those weird things when you don't feel well and your mind can start to wonder. I actually got scared and cried because I am not sure what is happening. Going to the doctor is the last resort for me because frankly they don't treat you properly and they also smoke in the hospital and I am allergic to it!!
So I ask that you please pray for us -for healing, for wisdom and God's peace to surround us.!

Thank you :)

Happy Monday

2007-04-02T19:35:00.000+02:00

It's true!! Monday is a pretty relaxing day for us (most of the time) after busy weekends it's nice to sort of veg out and spend time alone. We had church yesterday and koinonia afterwards. We started having koinonia the same day as Communion and it's been great! It gives everyone more time to hang out and get to talk to each other rather than just rushing out of church to get home. One of the times was so funny because we had so many different pasta dishes. Seems like everyone had the same idea! Easy to cook and feeds a lot :)
We have discovered a great "new" show. For those who live in the states, I know it's not new, but to us it is LOL!! The show is 24! Oh my goodness....we borrowed the first season from our friends at the bible college and it was so intriguing!! I couldn't even believe it! I am not a big tv or movie watcher but this show has me on the edge of my seat! Twists and turns I couldn't believe! When the bad person was revealed it was hiliarious because Jim says- Oh my goodness, I feel like I have been violated"!!!! He was so into the character and thinking she was good! We do laugh a lot though because there are so many unrealistic things but it is still a great show.
I have to think of something to make for the people at the retirement home here. DH goes every month and sings and prays with them and they said he can go on Good Friday and give them Communion too. Well, he was talking to the group and started talking about age or something and next thing you know he is having a contest with them! He's too much!! So now, they are all fascinated and busy waiting for him to show up on Friday and reveal his age so they can find out who wins the prize!! So he comes home and says-oh can you make a prize for me to bring on Friday? Well, once I figured out why, I told him there is no way he can just give out one prize with 50 people being there!! So, I need to make 50 of something and make one a bit bigger LOL-that is going to be interesting!!! I will probably make some scripture bookmarks or something similiar. I will have to work on that tomorrow ~
It's going to be a busy week being that Easter is Sunday. We will have Good Friday service at night and then Sat the teen girls will come over and help color eggs (actually I will probably just let them do all of them) and then make cupcakes for the kids at church. I am not sure how many we will have for Easter dinner yet. I always invite the kids from bible college who have no where to go so they can have a home-cooked meal. It's the Mom in me-I can't imagine them having to eat Cafeteria food on Easter!! My daughter is going to our friend's house so that will be good and she can go to Easter service too. I miss her sooooooooo much!! I can't wait til we can see each other again -won't be until Christmas though because it's too expensive to fly and all the money she earns this summer she will have to use for her books and other college expenses. It's been 8 months already since I have seen her!!! The Lord is keeping a good watch on her though so that helps with me having peace of mind :)
I managed a couple layouts this past week, (despite my time in front of the dvd player) :)

I am slowly and I mean very slowly working on the church scrapbook so here are a couple LOs.
The first is some of the girls from youth group that come over on Saturdays to hang out. The next is of a baptism we had at our summer conference. I used Shabby Princess's kits and Janet Phillips' templates for both LOs.

Have a wonderfully blessed day today :)

Busy as a bee

2007-03-22T11:25:00.000+01:00

Yep, that's been me for the past few weeks actually! We've been busy preparing, cooking, feeding, cleaning...seems like it never ends :) I wouldn't trade it though-I really enjoy it..well for the most part lol!!
We had our teen girls brunch at my house last Sat. I didn't get pictures-I am waiting for someone to make a disk for me because DH had the camera for the Men's Pancake Breakfast-he took a whopping four pictures and they were mostly of the same thing!! Had a blast preparing for the girls brunch! I made homemade bagels, cinnamon rolls, craisin muffins, overnight french toast, fruit salad and some other little yummies!! Everything was delicious!!! It was so funny to watch the Hungarian girls sheepishly look at some of the food at first and not want to try it but let me tell you-by the time I was ready to eat there were only some muffins left!! Everything was gone in no time!! We had a great devotion based on Jeremiah 29:11. We talked about God's plans for us and His goodness. Of course before too much time, our focus was on guys and why do girls feel incomplete without a boyfriend. It was so neat to have this open talk with them. They want to come each month and talk like this. I think it's so good because when I became a Christian 25 yrs ago, noone talked about these things. You were told to be Godly, to be a "good Godly girl", but I had no clue what that meant! There was noone to disciple me and teach me what exactly it meant. Now, I want so much that girls and women would know these things. How precious they are in the sight of God and not to settle for anything less than His best!
We are busy planning a Youth Retreat in May. It will be the first one so we are a bit nervous to see what kind of response we will receive from the other churches. So far, so good. The theme is Committed to Christ. We still have to finish lining up the different speakers but hopefully that will happen this next week.

I have been working on the church scrapbook lately. I took advantage of Janet Phillip's awesome sale and bought some template packs to help me out. I want to scrap the last 6 years' events and make a nice book for the church to keep. Here's one I did the other day. I used Bek Cutshaw's holiday template and Kelly Shults's Christmas kit.

I figure if I scrap a LO a week I should be finished in about a year LOL!! I am going to get plenty of use from all the great templates-makes life so much easier for me. I am still debating whether or not to get PSE 5. I see that Holly's stuff is on sale right now and I really want to get her actions but they only work on Photoshop. So many of my photos need a POP and I can't work it out myself in PSP. Also, I love these by Jen Caputo: And Janet also has this awesome ABC book that I have on my wish list. I think it would be great for a scripture book. Even just decorating the pages and giving it without the pictures would be great baby shower gifts don't you think!

Have you gone over to Shabby Princess's blog lately? Kristy has a beautiful desk top download for April!! I have a feeling that there are going to be some pretty kits coming out soon with these designs!! I can't wait until April now!! I just read that some new releases will be here shortly!! I guess I should get going-we have church tonight which means I may need to lay down and take a cat nap this afternoon. I haven't been getting good sleep the last few nights so I am a bit tired and I don't think DH would appreciate it if I fell asleep during his sermon LOL-

Have a blessed day :)

Raise your hand....

2007-03-09T09:22:00.000+01:00

...if you constantly get an error message from blogs with those verification number/letter things!! Am I the only one that feels so dumb when I get the "incorrect" message????? It drives me out of my mind. I either am not looking when I type and don't have my fingers in the right spot, or my eyesight fails me and I can't read those letters! Some are so hard to figure out if it's an S and 8 whatever!!! Frustration!!! I know, my life is so filled with challenges! LOL

Such a busy week-we had guests all week at our house. It was good and now I have to change all the sheets today and get ready for the college students to come over tonight :) I think that is my ministry-changing sheets!!
The weather here has been wonderful. We barely had a winter here-I think it snowed an inch all winter. I am not complaining one bit! This is my kind of winter for sure-only thing missing is the beach!
We are having our girls brunch next Sat. I made some pretty invitations for it and I'm excited to decorate and find some yummy recipes. Our theme is going to be from Jer. 29:11~For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord...here's a picture of the invites: On the back I just put all the info for the place, time, etc.

I cut them 5x7 and put a piece of vellum over the top and then a sheer ribbon in the center top. I like to make things like this so the girls can use the scripture part to put in a frame or however they want. I think I will make some bookmarks to match to put at each place setting. It's going to be a good time and the girls are looking forward to it.

I finally used my Gift Certificate at Shabby Shoppe. I am so excited about the kits I was able to get. It was difficult to narrow it down, but I am so blessed to get these:

and then I got this one: (love these colors)

I started a LO using the Island Chic but the photo I want to use is of my Mom and I from the summer and I need some kind of action/script to make the photo "POP" It just needs that extra oomph-know what I mean. I can't find one for PSP that I want to use. I am waiting to see if the Photoblast ones will all come in PSP. I haven't seen one for a pop yet and I can't seem to make it happen on my own. I keep thinking there has to be a way to do it but I can't figure it out. If I get the picture lighter, then it looks too unreal and though I like to whiten my teeth a bit and do a bit of sharpening to my photos I can't stand when they look fake and too professional-not like I have that problem with my skills lol. I just like a more natural look when possible.

I am having a craving to make Focaccia bread. Maybe I will make it for dinner tonight. There's a great recipe from Food Network that I am going to make for the students tonight and the bread will be good with it. Here's the recipe-it's great doubled and even tripled if you have a crowd to feed. Tastes great the next day too. I think all Italian food tastes better the next day after the seasonings have settled in.

Chicken Stew

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces

1 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces

1 small onion, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped tomatoes

1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)

Serving suggestion: crusty bread
Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.
Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.
Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread.

I better go tend to the laundry, clean the bathrooms, do some vacuuming....all the fun stuff that my allergies and asthma cry out for more of. LOL

Have a blessed weekend!!!! May the joy of the Lord be your strength :)

New banner and....

2007-03-02T19:53:00.000+01:00

we'll just have to see what the ...'s stand for by the end of this post :) I think it's so difficult to figure out a title at times. It's like having to do a report in high school and figure out your main topic, the plot, the ending, etc!! Oh I remember having to do those outlines-no computer back then folks-(that's how old I am ) and no electric typewriter (I'm even older lol). My daughter is in the midst of midterms at college right now and enjoying these things right now. Fortunately, she has a computer but she thinks it is just horrid that she has to run to the college library to print stuff out. I guess that can be considered an inconvenience when your paper is due Friday morning and you are still up at 11pm making the final corrections!!! She is such a procrastinator!! She gets it from.......uh, well, I don't want to say anything bad against anyone who can't defend themselves, so a little hint.....it's not me and there's only one other person that's a guy in the house LOL!!!! ok-enough of that :)
So... (guess I love to use.... and -). I think it's fun not having to worry about proper sentence structure and grammar on these blogs! Just write it as it comes out and don't give it a second thought! Imagine if our blogs got graded!! HUH!!!! I would fail!!! Oh man, I am just all over the place in la la land tonight. I hit my face on the front door the other day and my nose is hurting so much and it is affecting my sinuses. Don't ask how I managed to do that-I have no clue. I tell you again....I am a walking bruise. I stubbed my big toe the other day and thought nothing of it. Then, I started doing my workout and was thinking-hey my toe hurts a lot. Sure enough there's a big blood blister on it. I really scare myself at times! If I am this clumsy at 46 I can't imagine in years to come! Hopefully my workouts will keep me somewhat in shape.
Speaking of workouts...I have been very faithful with my video. Someone from America left it here probably 8 years ago and I found it in the church and started doing it with my daughter a couple years ago. I wasn't too faithful but after seeing some unattractive rolls starting to appear at my waistline I decided to get on the ball. No..not literally on one of those exercise balls....oh gosh that would be a fright!!! I would be rolling down the street getting caught under a car I think. I am what one would call "coordinationally challenged". Hmm do you think it's a word??? Anyway, this video is sooooo late 80's or 90's -fushia outfits, big hair...a crack up. But it's actually the best workout I have ever had. We ordered Pilates last year but it's too slow for me. I need to sweat with aerobics. Of course that's a crack up too. Here's the gal telling us to use opposite arm and leg to lift the weight and move the legs-uhmmm ok -I decided to just stand there amd lift the weights over my head because by the time I figured out how to lift one arm over my head and move the opposite leg in front of the other leg at the same time the set was over!!!! Yes, folks, I do believe if someone filmed me I could win Amercian Funniest Videos. My daughter loved working out with me because of my "gracefulness"!! LOL
Have you seen Janet Phillips is having a 6months anniversary sale at the Digi Shoppe. Her templates are wonderful-go check them out here. Also check out her blog entry from yesterday (I think it was) and see her inspiration to keep us gals scrappin' and not hoardin'! Just click on her name to the right of my blog. You won't be sorry :) I managed a LO the other day. I am not all that happy with it because I couldn't put the photos in the grids properly. They kept getting all distorted. I posted a question on Misty's blog (link to the right) to ask how to do this. Probably simple stuff, but, hey, I am complex LOL
I am gazing over at the Shabby Shoppe and wonderfing what to spend my gift certificate on. I know for sure I will get this:

I have noticed I am going to all the dark colors lately. I love the old, vintagey, rustic look but when I saw this kit I realize I miss the bright, fun whimsy look too. So, I am going to brighten things up a bit. It's tough narrowing down Shabby Princess kits because all of them are wonderful!
What else is new? Well, not too muchnew. We are still trusting in God to pull us through this trial I mentioned last time. It's really hard going through it but the Lord has already taught me so much through it. I love how He does those things. He uses everything for our good if we let Him. He even will use the pain someone else causes to show us things in our own life. I have to learn not to react in my flesh so often and commit things to prayer first. I always want to analyze things and try to figure out stuff and sometimes there's just no figuring it out. I love Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. I lean on mine so much and need to trust even when things don't make sense!!

Well folks, I think it is time for me to end this entry. I am tired and feel like reading someone else's blog than my own now :)

Have a blessed weekend!! I will put up the LO next time-that's how lazy I am right now :)

2007-02-27T15:33:00.000+01:00

Time just has gone by so quickly the past week or so. We had students over for the weekend and that was a lot of fun-busy but fun!! The kids have so much energy and sometimes I get lucky and it wears on me a bit too :)
We are busy planning for different events at the church now that the weather is better. We have people from the states coming at different times starting in April. We should be able to do some more construction on the outside of the church and also some cosmetic work inside. Lots of stuff to do in the next month to secure all the dates.
The high school girls want to have a get together so we are going to do that at my house in a few weeks. I think I'll make a nice brunch and do a devotional with them and some kind of craft afterwards. I'll have to find some good brunch ideas-and a good craft!!! Any ideas :)
In scrapping news, you should head over to Misty's blog (click on her name over to the right). She has an awesome tutorial on how to thread ribbon! It's probably one of the best I have seen out there on how to do this. I think Misty is so awesome and generous with all her knowledge! Have you seen her collection at SBB? You can find it here. It's a great kit with lots of colors and fun elements too. Here's a little peak at it:

We've been going through a bit of a trial here lately. So much good is happening but at times the trials feel like they can overtake us. The challenge of our faith is in these times. Trusting in the Lord in the hardships. He keeps reminding me of Job and how not one thing happened to Job without it going through the Lord first. I want to be strong in Him and know that all He allows in our lives will make me stronger and closer to Him if I allow Him to work these things out His way. It's not my first reaction to just let it be-I always want to react and it's my weakness. But God is so faithful and so gentle. He knows our breaking point and how much we can each handle-even though many a time I think He mixes me up with someone else LOL. But, He is right there in our midst helping us to stand through these times. I was reading through the Psalms today and once again found myself at Ps. 55:12-14 where David is anguishing the pain brought on by one he thought to be a friend. Those are the wounds that hurt the most-an enemy's wounds can be expected. The ones that surprise us are those that come from people we thought were our brother or sister in Christ. Yet, Jesus experienced the same and why would I think my life would be any different. I have learned through the years that there are some who are Judas in our lives-they never were with us and there are Peters in our lives-those that may betray us but we will once again be reconciled. I hope for the day of reconciliation.

I pray your day is blessed with the goodness of God :)

I used Fhung's border and Jen Wilson's paper for this

Surprised!

2007-02-22T20:14:00.000+01:00

I received a wonderful surprise in my Inbox the other day! It was a note from Kristie telling me I was given a gift certificate to the Shabby Shoppe!! Why???? I have absolutely no clue! Aren't those the best surprises-when we don't even know why but they are just given to us!! Who said only little kids like surprises??? I was all wide-eyed and reading and rereading to make sure what I was reading was right :)
There are so many wonderful kits I have had my eye on over at the Shabby Shoppe but just had to practice some self control. I try to do a bit of shopping here and there of my favorite things. What a fun treat this is going to be!
I finally got around to another LO. It took forever!!!! Looking at it you would think it's the easiest LO in the world-ok,,,,not for me LOL. I usually like to scrap with kits and if it's not in the kit, I don't use it. So, I made myself go for things from different designers!! Yikes...what a stretch!! I am always so amazed by these layouts that have tons of credits on them and I think-wow-that makes me dizzy trying to look through so much stuff! But, I did it-took about 5 hours or so...yep you read that right :) I put some layouts in my favorites to try with all the clusters and fun stuff. Oh and check out the string...ok...you have to know me to appreciate this little tidbit LOL. I am soooo not a great scrapper but I actually figured out how to put two layers of the string and then erase part of it. My fete accompli YEAH!!! Ok, go ahead and laugh now, it's ok :) I really wanted to do some fun stuff on the top corner but it took about a half hour to figure out where to put the heart-I mean I literally was moving it up, down, sideways, etc! It seems like it should be dangling off the cardboard, but oh well, I was getting tired!
So, anyway, that's the long story....because I am long winded I think :)
Funny thing last night...we usually have our midweek service on Thurs but last night we were to have a guest from the states come and teach. Well, he missed his flight or got snowed in, or something..he didn't end up making it. Well, on Sunday, Jim asked everyone to come out for Wed night even if they don't usually make midweek service...everyone came!!! So, Jim told them it was all a joke and he just wanted to see if they would all come for midweek!! They got a kick out of it. We ended up having a great service and DH taught from Isaiah 40. Such a good reminder of God's infinite power and might. Why do we fear and why do we doubt-He's God-He created the universe, He holds the world in the palm of His hand....can't He work out the things in our life!!!!
Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint . Isaiah 40:31

Most of us know this verse by heart, but we forget to meditate upon the words and what they mean. That happens so many times with scriptures we memorize and have known for so long. It's easy for them to just become words and we lose the meaning in them! Let's choose some of the familiar verses and mediate on them again that they would come alive in our lives :)

You can see the credits here

So Blessed!

2007-02-20T19:33:00.000+01:00

I am really overwhelmed by God's goodness and I should realize by now how good He is!
We had a wonderful time in Greece. It was so good to spend time with our friends and chit chat, hang out and be goofy together~the girls that is. The guys were...well...they were guys. My friend and I had a blast being silly and I felt like I was back in high school with all the giggling we did.
Our pictures came out good so I have lots of scrapping to do soon. We even went to Starbucks while we were there and I bought one of their collector mugs that has "Greece" written on it. We got one for DH while we were in the states this summer for Father's Day so now we can add to the collection. I told him I need to go back to Vienna now so I can get the one there. :)
We went to Corinth and saw the old market place. It was awesome. Also, we hiked to Mars Hill and Acropolis. Everything is so old and filled with history! Lots and lots of walking though. Took a toll on my poor feet. Of course it didn't help that I had 2 inch heels on either LOL. Ever since living in Europe I find myself wearing heels all the time-I was always into flats but no...now I am just killing my calves for the sake of style!!! I told Jim I thought they should put one of those moving things they have in airports all around the attractions so we can have a leisurely look around without breaking a heel. LOL!!
I will add some pics real soon.
Sad news was on our flight from Athens to Munich I realized about 3 minutes after we got off the plane that I left my bible on the plane. Jim ran back to the plane and they wouldn't let him get back on nor would any of the workers at the gate go and check. We checked when we landed in Budapest to see if was turned in but it wasn't. So, I called Lufthansa the other day and they found it and they have it in Munich...well, I would think they could put it on a flight to Budapest and we can go pick it up...wrong!! They said the only way I can get it is to either go to Munich and pick it up or have a friend in Munich pick it up for me. Ok-that really doesn't help me. I am so sad about this because my Bible is so special to me. My husband bought it for me years ago for Christmas at a time when we barely had any money. It is now held together with duct tape and the pages actually are all apart from the actual cover-but, it's my bible. If you have a bible, you know what I mean. It's like I know where everything is-the side of the page the verse is 0n, if it's on the top, bottom, or middle...it's got all kinds of markings in it. Anyway, they will hold it three months so hopefully I will find someone to go and get it for me. We are going to Germany in May but not to Munich-a friend might go soon so I am praying I can get it back!!! Please pray!!
Here's a picture of DH and me escaping the rain storm while we were in Athens. It's Sunday and nothing is open-except Starbucks of course :) Had to grab a good ole coffee to warm us up!

Hope to write more tomorrow and put up some more pictures from the trip.

Have a blessed day:)
I used Fhung's border for this picture-they are great!

This time tomorrow....

2007-02-09T16:46:00.000+01:00

We will be in Athens, Greece!!! We are so excited about our trip and being able to go see some great historical sites. Of course we are more thrilled that we will meet up with our friends who live in CA!! They are treating us to this wonderful trip for 5 days.

We will go to Corinth on Monday for a tour and that will be fun. Corinthians was actually the first book of the bible my husband taught when he became a Pastor. We will also see Mars Hill and other great places. I think I am like a little kid right now with such excitement. Plus, DH is teaching through the book of Acts for our midweek study so it will seem like it comes alive to me!! This is such an amazing dream for me! I always wanted to go to Israel and walk in the places of the bible, maybe some day, but this is just as thrilling for me.

I hope to get lots of good pictures while we are there. I don't have the world's best camera, but it should be fine and if not, I will have to get a lot of postcards! Hopefully the weather will be nice too. I checked and there could be some rain Monday but I pray it will just be a bit and not enough to ruin our sightseeing.

Hmm, I wonder what kind of food we will eat!! Ha ha!!! I think a gyros will be on my menu of what to eat-as long as it isn't lamb. I just don't care for the after taste from lamb. Chicken and turkey gyros are really good though. I heart they have great olive oil there too-can it compare to what I got in Sicily?????? We will have to see. Oh I just realized I can have a Greek salad in Greece!!! LOL.. Did you ever eat some ethnic food in the states and then have it in an authentic place and it's not even close?? My daughter was in shock to hear that they don't even have orange chicken in China!!

Ok-I better get going and fold another load of laundry....never ends does it :)
Have a blessed weekend and may Jesus's light shine brightly in your life!!
Here's a couple pics of some sites we'll see:
well, Blogger won't let me so we'll have to wait for the real pics when I return :)

From My Heart

2007-02-08T09:16:00.000+01:00

This will probably be a bit long of a post but I hope you indulge me and bear with me :)

This has been on my heart the past week and I have prayed about how to best word it so as not to offend people and not come off as judgemental, legalistic or any other words that so often are attached to a Christian who is wanting to stand up for her convictions. May I say, these are my convictions and you may not share in them and that is not my business, but I do feel a responsibility to speak from my heart the things the Lord puts there.

Being an American living overseas for the last 5-1/2 years has been quite a challenge. It's challenging to live in another culture where a different language is spoken, you eat different foods, you can't just call a friend and chit chat or go to Starbucks (there aren't any) and grab the latest latte. It's easy to find yourself isolated and even sad because you miss your family and friends and can't always talk about things with the people here as you can with your friends at home. I was thrilled when I found digital scrapping on the internet and even more excited when I saw that there were so many Christian women who hang out on these sites. I felt like I had a little connection with people in America. I am not able to support the designers in the community as much as I would like, but I do what I can. I don't post a lot or as much as I would like to but that is because I have to choose my words wisely. But, I still feel like a voice even if it is a small one :) (don't ask my husband if I have a small voice LOL)

Over the past few months, I have become so grieved in my heart at the things I read from Christians on different sites. This past week really put the brakes on for me. Christians who openly say they are Christians and yet out of their mouths come offensive speech. Yes, we as Christians have liberty, but we are not to use that liberty to cause others to stumble. We have a responsibility to live above reproach. If we are going to confess Christ, then we need to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no room for the flesh. We shouldn't be using words and phrases that compromise the Lord. Joking and jesting are fun but they can be taken too far. Talking about God one minute and the next warming ourselves by the fire with the world is not how we should be behaving.
You can't imagine how many times I want to chime in with my opinion about something I think is unfair or some thread that might be amusing but I don't want to misrepresent my Lord. I have a responsibility as a professing Christian and it needs to be taken seriously. Does my opinion count? You know what....not always. How many times do we find ourselves tangled in worldly conversations because of our pride-wanting to get our opinion across and try to persuade others to take on our point of view. Unfortunately, in doing so we stoop to the level we ought not go. We let our guard down and find ourselves in places we don't belong.
There are so many ways that God wants to use His children. So many ways that we can be encouraging, uplifting and helpful to others. He has given people talents, scrapbooking included and brings people in our lives that we can have an effect on and be an example to. Should we not take this seriously? We don't need to participate in conversations that aren't edifying and only add more fuel to the fire.
I find myself so easily drawn to drama and things of the sort and want so badly to put in my 2 cents (funny I can't find the cent symbol lol ) and I really do have to pray for self control not to engage myself in these conversations because I will be ugly in my responses. Believe me friends, I know that there are non Christians who read the things we write and scratch their heads and think "Hmm, they are a Christian?" Is it unfair to be judged like that? Maybe, but that's the way things are. Our attitudes, our behavior, our lifestyles do have an effect on others whether we like it or not. Why not use the influences, the resourses, the talents that we have to influence others for Christ. Sure, we may get laughs and pats on the shoulders from others when we joke and say things in a worldly sense, but is that what we really want? Is that what Christ wants? We are to be a light to the world, shining brightly for Jesus. We are told to let our lights shine that others may see and glorify God. Is God glorified in the things we say?

In Ephesians 4:29 Paul writes: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. " It's not always just what we say that can be a good example, but what we don't say. The bible says we will give an account for every idle word we speak-that keeps me on my toes!! The Lord wants so much to work these things out in our lives. He wants so much to use us in the places we are to bear fruit, to be a witness to Him, to stand for righteousness. Notice I don't say self-righteousness. I also don't say that we have to bombard the message boards with biblical messages and put people down, condemn them, point out their sins, absolutely NOT! But, there are plenty of times I see people asking for prayer, needing a helping hand...guess what-we are privlegded to pray for them! I know that many of you already do that and it's awesome, so let's try to keep it to those things and avoid the others. There are Galleries with layouts that have little or no comments. Use your time to praise if you can. Please don't look at what I am writing as a big "Oh another holier than thou Christian(believe me, I am far from that ) telling us what we can or can't do" rather "how can I best utilize the gifts God has given me-the gift of helps, the gift of encouragement, etc. Christians can be a lot of fun and bring excitement to places they hang out. What I do challenge we Christians to is to take a look at how we represent our Lord. Really go before the Lord and ask Him to use us for His glory. Ask Him to help us in areas we are weak in-our pride, self-control, whatever it may be. He doesn't want us to compromise and He will help us in these things. He calls us to be separate-to be consecrated to Him alone.

I will leave you with this and pray that you will be encouraged in the things of the Lord!
Thanks for listening :)
(I used Janel K's paper and milk and cereal font)

Scraps and Sales

2007-02-03T12:43:00.000+01:00

Wow-what a week in digiscrap land! So many sales happening it makes my head spin. I haven't clicked the "buy now" buttons yet. I am waiting for the last moment to make sure I don't just buy on impulse. I know that's not fun for the designer, but I can't impulse shop. I mean, I certainly can and enjoy it, but I am too concsious about spending on what I don't really need.
Of course today I see Misty's new kit-Classy and it's gorgeous!!! It's already in my Wish List waiting for a sale :)
Her work is just incredible. You can't go wrong scrapping with her designs. If you haven't tried her designs yet, you can go to her blog (link at side of my blog) and there is a sample up there today. Not only are her designs great, but Misty offers so many tutorials on her blog-a definite place to stop each day in blogland.
I love her new brag book templates too. I have them on my Wish List too. I need to make a book for my parents from their cross country road trip and this will be perfect!

My Mom emails me pics all the time and asks me to do layouts for her. That's what I love-I am not a great scrapper, but my family loves what I make for them and that's what counts!! Don't need to make it in any magazine or a CT or whatever....those things are great, but I think too many give up because they look at other's work and don't think they measure up. Plus, if you post in galleries and don't get a lot of praise it's easy to give up. That happened to me, but I just realized I am not scrapping for others and what they think, but for my family! They love it and are so blessed when I make something for them and it encourages me to do more :)

Ok-so I was thinking, yes, I know, I do that sometimes.....all these different ways to manipulate photos got me to thinking about stuff. I saw a thread at DST (sorry, but I don't feel like looking for the link right now, but it was in the Photography section)about a week or so ago. It was about this site that did amazing transformations to photos. They took all the wrinkles, even some extra skin(that's a nice word huh) and "fixed" it all up. There's nothing I like better than taking a photo of myself and trying to make it look more glamorous. Smooth out my skin, highlight this or that, put a sparkle here or there-but I was wondering how far do we go with photo alerations. You know how eating disorders and body image are so huge in the world and girls and women everywhere are wanting to look like the models in the magazines. Noone really looks like that in real life-we know the secrets of Photoshop now ! :) Yet, we want to manipulate our photos, our kids photos, etc to try to achieve this "perfect look". I don't know how to word this all properly, but hopefully you understand what I am saying. Back to the thread....there was a woman who tried this photo technique and now isn't embarrassed to show a photo of herself. She showed the before and after and was thrilled about the after. Honestly, it made me so sad because this person is so pretty without the photo altering and how sad that she doesn't think so. While technology is good and with Photoshop and other things we the people can now enjoy playing around with it, I wonder what will be next. Ok-thank you for indulging me here...I think out loud a lot and sometimes it's hard to put into words.

Now for my big news... I told you hubby and I are going away on a trip next week (a week from today) and here's where we are going: Athens, Greece!!! We are staying at this beautiful hotel Grande Bretagne. Our friends are going there and are treating us to a vacation also. I just can't even believe it!!! If you knew what it's like to live on a missionary budget (now you realize why I can't buy many scrap items) and yet here we are going to be staying 4 nights in this amazing hotel!!! God is just amazing with His blessings!!!! Truely when I think of all the ways He has blessed us I am overwhelmed! We have a deluxe room (you have to check it out) that overlooks the Acropolis. It's going to be an amazing trip. We will get to stand on some of the places that Paul the apostle was teaching and also we are going to take a trip to Corinth while we are there. I can't wait!! I hope I get lots of good pictures while we are there. I will share them with you when we get back.

Enjoy your weekend and may the Lord minister to your heart that you would know His amazing love for you!

Here are a couple LO's I did with Misty's Old Copper Penny kit (you can get it at SBB). On the LO with my dd and her cousin I used Misty's template and scraplifted her LO from the template. Of course it didn't come out exactly like hers....but :) I also used Jennilyn's photo bends but I couldn't figure out how to use them properly-I have to figure that out still

A whole week

2007-01-29T09:13:00.000+01:00

It's already been a week since I updated my blog!! Time flies by some days. Hubby was in Germany all week-he just returned on Saturday evening so I did a lot of "organizing" around the house. Sometimes I think all I end up doing is moving the piles and stacks from one place to another all in the name of organization. Now that my daughter has moved back to the states I have an extra bedroom and it seems that it becomes the "organizational room". That's a good title actually. I think that's what I will call her room from now on LOL!!

I did manage to bruise myself up a bit while Jim was gone. I was bringing some things up the stairs and some how I fell up the stairs-yes, that is up the stairs. Now, many a time I have fallen down the stairs-I am a picture of gracelessness!! I bump into everything, bang myself, I am a walking bruise!! So, I fell up the stairs and banged my pinky finger so bad. When Jim got home, he immediately wrapped it up for me since it was purple! Not a good sign!! I loathe the doctors and hospitals here so I have to be unconscious before I will step into one and didn't want to go to the ER to have my f inger examined. We opted for an emory board and some surgical tape we had around the house and taped my two fingers together and that worked perfectly. Good ole fashioned first aid :)

I should get going-I have some exciting news-we are going on a trip in February. I will put up the info next time. Please try not to lose any sleep guessing where we are going! I know you will be in suspense!

May the Lord fill your day with His presence and great love today!!!

Happy Monday

2007-01-22T12:03:00.000+01:00

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was very relaxing. Cleaned quite a bit on Sat. and then went to a couple of the chats at SBB. Had a fun time. I haven't been to a chat in ages so this weekend I think I made up for it. It was fun because there were some other ladies from Europe so it made it a bit funner for me. Also I won a prize!!! Yep,,,can you believe it!! I guessed the actual day of SBB's birthday (Jan 25th) and won a 15.00 gift certificate to Fungh Lie's store!!! I am so thrilled! I have had my eye on some of her products and now I am able to get them. I truely have been blessed!!
I purchased my very first "not on sale" item ever!! It was Misty Cato's Northwest Casual kit. I bought some of her elements that were marked down to $1.00 but I couldn't resist her kit. Of course my wish list has more of her stuff in it but I am happy I could get what I did. We just had our anniversary and since we didn't get each other gifts for it or really for Christmas I was able to treat myself to some goodies. It was fun! Jim is thrilled that I have a great hobby and that it also blesses our family and friends when the LO's are finished. Good to have a supportive husband. Guess he can't say too much since my hobby is much less costly than his music! Ah, that's a whole different topic.

We had such an encouraging message at church yesterday! We are studying Luke's gospel right now and DH was reminding us Jesus is coming back soon!! We lose sight of this so easily. Life takes over and the day in day out stuff takes priority so often that we are not occupied with the things of the Kingdom. How many people we know and love -even people in our cities are going to hell because the don't know Jesus! And how many times we don't share the message of the Gospel because we are afraid to offend someone! I am not talking about being beligerent and in someone's face-I mean giving the message of the Gospel-giving them the opportunity to except or reject the message. We take for granted we will see them a different day-maybe we won't. Whatever God has called us to do, we must do it. Don't think we have days, or months or years to do what we know He is saying to do! Also, DH talked about repentance and how we must remember what we have been forgiven. Being broken before the Lord-keeping that awe and reverance before Him. I think that it's good for us to read Revelation 20 every now and then and get the realization of eternity without Christ. Remembering that so many will die separated eternally from Christ. This should make our hearts break-it should make us on fire to bring the message of the hope that we have to others. Don't be afraid-yes, some will think we are off our rockers-we are extreme, we are judgemental, we think we know it all, we think we are the only true ones-whatever people think, they will think. We are not responsible for others and their choices. We need only to obey what God tells us and get beyond the response of others. Think of Jeremiah's ministry-not one repented, not one turned from their sin...was Jeremiah doing something wrong? Maybe if he had the latest Christian band, or the latest Christian this or that people would have responded better-NO!! Jeremiah had the Words from the Lord and he obeyed his call-he wasn't called to change the hearts of the people-only to deliver the message. I encourage those of you on the mission field, those who diligently share the Gospel-don't give up-don't judge your effectiveness based on how many respond. You stay true and faithful to what God is calling you to do. He has given every person a free will and allows them to reject or accept.
Sorry, didn't mean for this to be so long-just got very passionate about this subject. Look around at the things happening in our world. Birth pains!!!

I put up a couple more blog links and notice my new blinkie! Check them out when you have time.

I did a couple LO's for the SBB chat. I'll post one and you can check out the others over at my gallery there if you want.

Have a blessed day!!!!

Guess what

2007-01-19T14:36:00.000+01:00

I have discovered that I like PSE 5!!! Yep it's official. I will have to purchase this product. I challenged myself yesterday to try making a LO with it and using a template. I followed Gina's instructions and it worked like a charm. And yes, I used Cntl G and V and I was amazed once I got the hang of it. I didn't exactly do a LO though-just fooled around with seeing how the papers work with the template. I love being able to use the text on a path! It's so fun to change the text and be able to journal and write titles in different shapes.
Speaking of shapes-Misty Cato has (or had) a beautiful text in a heart shape with 1 Cor 13. It's awesome. Actually, Misty is awesome. I haven't been able to purchase from her yet, but her designs are amazing. Plus, her blog is just chock full of helpful hints. Be sure to check her out!!! You'll be sorry if you don't! :)
Hopefully I will be able to go shopping this weekend. There are a few things on my wish list. If I do, I will show you what I got :)

Thanks for the comments the other day-I had a great chat with my husband about things the other day and then the Lord just spoke to my heart about so many things I have been questioning lately. Not questions about my faith or trust in Him, but who I am in Him. It's really freeing when we know who we are in Him. Not having to be bound up in unnecessary thoughts and imaginations. It's easy for me to get caught up in things that aren't important and focus my attention on them instead of keeping my focus on the Lord and what He is calling me to do. It's a big relief too when we can say..ok, I can't, but through You, I can. Yielding my will to His and submitting to Him and allowing Him to do what He wants in my life. It's really exciting!!!!

We are almost finished our Experiencing God book with the women's group. We went over some amazing and challenging scriptures the other night. So many we are familiar with but don't always apply them. I will try to remember to add one each day I update my blog.
Here's today's:

Let noone seek His own, but each one the other's well-being. 1 Corinthians 10:14

Have a wonderful day today!!!

2007-01-16T13:15:00.000+01:00

Ok, this is the second time this has happened-long post and then want to upload a picture and blank screen!! I am not a happy camper!
Shall we try again............................

Well, I started to scrap a little more reguarly again. It seems ever since I got back from the states in Sept I have not really had a great desire to do much in this are. I was creating a LO in PSP the other night and just about smacked my computer-just picture it!! LOL!!! It was creeping along ever so slowly to the point of incredible frustration. I don't know if it is because I was using a template or what. Still, they shouldn't create a product that operates so slowly!! I have plenty of memory, etc on my computer so I know it's not that-I hear PSP is a memory hog so that is probably the reason for the slowness.
I talked to hubby about it and he thinks I should get Photoshop. Does he know anything about this stuff? No, not at all. But, he is the type that thinks one should not spare expense when it comes to buying things. Yes, this is where he and I are complete opposites. I don't adhere to the reasoning that just because something costs more it means it's better. Now, it's not easy for him to live up to this type of standard in the past 5 years because he is a Pastor and we are living overseas. Life is much different than when he owned his business and we could buy what we wanted. Even then, I used coupons, saved, shopped sales, etc. Ok-so how did I go from creating a LO to hubby's mindset in one short paragraph??? Ah, I am quite the blabber!!
Anyway, I downloaded the trial version of PSE 5.0 yesterday. I have 30 days to see if I like this program. I don't need the expensive version because I am not a designer, nor will I ever be, nor do I even have the desire to be one. Not my gifting!!! But, I looked at tutorials and I can only see stuff like 'control G, alt this and that'. Ok-that's not me. I am a ' go to edit and hit copy then hit paste and there you go' type of girl. So, we will see how I progress. I want to get PSE because I love templates. I think they are the best thing in the world. Makes my life so much easier and I love how designers are also including text on a path now-unfortunately, they don't work in PSP. Also, I like the photo actions I see around too. Most are only for Photoshop. So, I have to really see if this will be a worthwhile purchase.

I have been contemplating a LO now for a couple weeks-you know how I love to scrap musical lyrics. Well, there is a song I absolutely love by Natalie Grant. It's called The Real Me. Over the summer, when I was in CA, my good friend and I had a lot of discussions about this topic. Being real -especially in ministry. Obviously we are not to be fake or put on pretenses but it went beyond the basics. We were talking about people's expectations of us-she's involved in women's ministry and I am a Pastor's wife. I do believe we are called to a higher standard and need to be above reproach. Ok-that's a term right there that we talked about-what do you think it means to be above reproach? Also, living in a way that you don't make others stumble? And, how do you balance all that and still be the person you are? Does it make sense? I am not trying to be selfish here at all. I guess I wonder about these things because as far back as I can remember, I have lived my life to be a people pleaser. It goes back to being adopted and never wanting to upset my parents for fear of being sent back to the orphanage. Of course, you realize as you get older that this is an impossible task. You can't please everyone. This behavior led to a horrible eating disorder that almost took my life and consumed many years of my early adulthood.
So, do you think that many women struggle in this area? I think so. It's natural for us to want to feel like we are liked and accepted. That we fit in-we have a sense of belonging. Somewhere in the midst of all this, many lose sight of who they are-who God created them to be. He made us each individuals, with our own set of strengths and weaknesses, our own gifts and talents. Too often we can be so busy looking at everyone else and what they have or even what we think they have and we never find out who we are in Christ-who He made us to be. Does it come down to being content? Hmm, I am really all over the place with my thoughts right now. I have just been thinking about it a lot-asking God about these things.
Let me know what you think if you want. I'd love to hear from you about this.

Here's my LO from the other day. It's from our trip to Salzburg in Nov. We had such a good time together. Celebrated hubby's 50th and my 46th-gosh I am getting up there :) You can see the credits here

Enjoy your day!
Shine on :)

A little better

2007-01-11T16:38:00.000+01:00

Ok-I blogged, uploaded my picture, clicked "done" and good-bye screen!! ARGGGG,,,this makes me so flustered!!

So, anyway, we are feeling a bit better. This virus we caught is bad! Jim is coughing and wheezing, finally understanding what I go throught with my asthma. He has it pretty bad so I am hoping it will end soon! He is going to teach tonight so I pray his coughing will subside long enough.

I made a LO with the lyrics from the song I wrote about a couple posts ago. I couldn't find them online and my cassette is buried somewhere in Jim's music modgepodge. I did the best I could remembering them-I think they should be right for the most part. I was thinking of making a scrapbook with all my favorite songs in it. There is something about it I love doing-just scrapping lyrics.

Did you ever check out those magnet calendars and photo magnets by Danielle at Something Blue Studios? They were a huge hit at Christmas. I loved making them and especially living out of the country it was good because I could have them mailed to my daughter in CA and she had fun passing them out to everyone. Everyone loved them! I was thinking next year I am going to make a bunch of them with scriptures on them and hand them out at church. I found out the cost is only about $4.00 to ship them over here so that will be nice. I will even do them in Hungarian which will be better for the people here. Trust me-they make wonderful gifts!!

Here's my LO-hope the words minister to your heart. I heard them when I first got saved. I couldn't get over how God could love me and forgive me and that I would actually live with Him forever!!! Do you ever feel like you lose that sense of awe at times? Being a Christian for many years, it's easy to forget. Thankfully, the Lord always brings us back to our first love and reminds us of what our faith is really all about.

I used some template pieces from Ronna Penner and the kit I used is Simple Pleasures from Scrap Artist

Bedridden

2007-01-07T08:44:00.000+01:00

I think thatis how you spell it anyway :) You would not have wanted to enter our household the past week. It's horrible. DH came down with the flu-and while I did my best to serve Him and avoid direct contact with him, it didn't matter...Wed late afternoon I started to get the chills and by that night I was in bed with 102.4 fevcr. Today is the first day I have been out of my bed. It won't be for long though because I am still not feeling all that great. This has got to be the worst flu virus we have encountered!! 7 years ago I had viral meningitis and it almost feels like that is what it was again. I don't think so only because as much as I was in pain this time, it was not as bad as before. We aren't even allowing anyone in our house that's how bad it is! DH even missed teaching Thursday and today too. That's a first in over 5 years due to illness. The only other time he couldn't teach was when he broke his leg and was hospitalized. So, you know he is down and out to have to stay home! He still has a really bad cough. It is pretty deep too. Hopefully in the next day or two we will be back to normal-or as normal as we can get :)

I found some nice new blogs to add to my reading. I will have to post them here so you can enjoy them too. Melissa had a post at DST for Pastor/Missionary wives and I "met" some new people from that. How exciting!! It's always neat to see others in similar walks of life.

I am a fan of Isobel Kuhn. Have you read any of her books? I would highly recommend her books-they are very inspiring and very easy to read too. She speaks very openly and honestly about her experiences. Right now I am reading By Searching. It chronicles her earlier years when she had turned away from the Lord and is searching for Him again. So far, so good. I found this quote in the book by F B Meyer (another great writer) 'Nothing strengthens us so much as isolation and transplantation...under the wholesome demand his soul will put forth all her native vigor...it may not be necessary for us to withdraw from home and friends, but we shall have to withdraw our heart's deepest dependence from all earthly props and supports if ever we are to learn what it is to trust simply and absolutely on the eternal God. It's an amazing quote!! One that I have to read and digest over and over again until my heart and my mind settle on it completely.

I pray today will find you in our Lord's perfect will. Stay healthy and enjoy the message the Lord will bring to your hearts today :)

Happy New Year

2007-01-02T14:37:00.000+01:00

As you can see I put up a new blog header, which reminds me I have to redo the credits...ugh, not ugh to doing the credits again but ugh to the fact that once again for the millionth time today I must edit Html in blogger!!! I don't know what I did, but somehow I messed up my blog and had to redo it today. I just wanted the header picture to be sans the lines....all these hours later you can see that absolutely no progress was made in that regard. If anyone knows how to get rid of these lines in the beta blogger, please, oh pretty please let me know :)

DH is sick today. He started coming down with a cold last night and woke up with a slight fever and chest pain. Oh my, these are the times I just chuckle. Men can be so brave and strong, but honestly, it's not a stereotype to say that most are so different when they have some illness. You would think death would be arriving at our doorstep at any moment! I told him to take some Nyquil and lay in bed all day. He doesn't take the Nyqil though-just laying in bed watching Wyatt Earp. I got him that for Christmas this year. I told him he should be so proud of my unselfishness. I cannot stand Kevin Costner's voice-drives me insane and DH thinks he is such a great actor. Ok, maybe he is a good actor, but I can't get beyond the voice. Atleast he is occupied for the day and he is still eating so life is good!

I want to scrap more this year. I think I will try to get the church scrapbook in order and then start with one for my girls. I like Gina's template for her Year In Review-have you seen it? You can get it here. It's a great template and I hope to get it soon! I want to look through some galleries and check out the LO's to get some inspiration. I am not a great scrapper, but I love to do it...just haven't had a lot of time the past months. I want to learn how to use the elements better-all those cute buttons, clasps, journal tags...I just don't have the knack so I want to try to learn from pages I see.

Well, I best be going for now... want to check out a few things and must go check on DH. I would think Costner's voice has put him to sleep by now but you never know :) I am wanting to make a LO to some lyrics of a song I just love. Have you ever heard of Janny Grein? She sings More Than Conquerors and a favorite of mine is Praise Him. I find myself just lost in those lyrics. I will share it on the blog as soon as I get it finished.

Have a wonderful day and praise God for a fresh new year!

Merry Christmas...

2006-12-27T10:39:00.000+01:00

a few days late :)

Missing my daughter

2006-12-19T18:31:00.000+01:00

Those of you who read my blog know that I have been missing my daughter so much lately. I miss her everyday, but there's something about Christmas that makes it harder. She is hanging in there-working for a friend, staying with some of our friends and will be able to spend her first Christmas in 5 years in the states. It's funny because she received some money for graduation and for her birthday last summer and is enjoying spending it! She didn't learn this from me....nope, the spending comes from her Dad and sisters! Don't get me wrong, I love to spend money too, but I am more thrifty and the saver in the family. Being this is her first time home in so long, she is enjoying shopping for others. Unfortunately, I don't think she has a clue when she stocks up her basket at Tarjay....(wonder if she reads Gina's blog) that it adds up at the cash register. She lived in Europe all her teen years and we didn't really shop for clothes and fun stuff so it's all new to her now. I think she is making up for lost time. Thankfully, she is earning some money over the holiday break so she can be sure to have enough money for her books next semester!!!

Here is a LO I did today. So many emotions going through my head as I miss my daughter. I wasn't going to share it but through this, I have had such compassion on those who are lonely and without their loved ones this Christmas and those who go through this every Christmas.

As you can read in the journaling, I also cried out to God about this. Wondering about what it was like for Him and I feel like my faith in Him was challenged. Not in the sense that I doubt His plan or His will, but to be challenged to remain faithful in my calling here even though it means separation from my daughter. Not to just be here physically, but to be here in spirit. I also realized that it's important for me to be here emotionally for my husband. Not to just be sad and despondant about the holidays, but to decorate and put on the Christmas music for him because he enjoys it! We have our sad moments...sometimes together, sometimes alone, but we have each other and for that I am most thankful!

I encourage you to call someone or write a little note to someone who is without their parents this holiday season, or someone who is alone for the first time. It will mean a lot to them.

Have a joyous day!

You can click on the image to read the journaling. I used Kelly Shults "Simply Christmas" kit template by Ronee Parsons

Check out this link!

2006-12-18T16:43:00.000+01:00

While checking the SBB boards I found a link to the funniest "elf thing" You have to check it out here. DH and I laughed so hard~I uploaded his photo to it and sent it to some friends. Sure gave me a much needed chuckle this morning!

It's been really hard the past week to get into the Christmas mood. I feel like I am just going through the motions. It's so difficult without my daughter here. I knew the first Christmas away would be hard, but I don't think you can really prepare for it until the moment. I start to think in the tiniest of ways what it must have been like for Jesus to be separated from His Father for us. I know the Lord uses these situations we go through to draw us nearer to Him and sometimes He allows us the sufferings that go with the trials. But, He does promise that everything works together for good and I cling to that because it's hard to understand at times what good it is that our daughter is so lonely and spending Christmas apart from us. She had a hard time in the dorm the past week as everyone was so excited to go home and be with family again. Thankfully we have awesome friends who are taking her in for the break. Everyone keeps asking her over and our friends are so great to look out for her in our absence. Hopefully we will go home to CA next Christmas. We haven't had Christmas in the states in 6 years now. I think it's time :)

On a different note, our friends are planning their yearly business trip. This year they go to Greece. We were going to try to meet up with them there, but it's too costly. We will plan to meet in Rome instead. We can fly cheap airlines and get there easier. We could actually drive, but I think with the toll costs and petrol it isn't worth it. We are going to go to Lake Bracciano while we are there. It's so gorgeous in pictures and I am sure it is in real life too! Also, we will probably take one day and take a drive to Florence~just depends on what we are in the mood for. We have all been to Rome before so it won't matter if we don't see the sights there again. Italy is by far my favorite country I have visited in so far and I am thrilled every time we can go! I think we will go to Sicily again this summer and that is probably my favorite place in Italy. Mmmmm, I can taste the cannolli right now!

Hope you all have a wonderfully blessed day!

Man oh Man

2006-12-13T09:27:00.000+01:00

Ok-I was just about finished my post, went to upload some photos to blogger and my computer screen went blank!!!! YUCK! I am so bummed because I wrote and wrote and now I am tired of writing!

So, a recap...Christmas Tea was awesome~lots of women came and we had just enough settings for everyone. I told DH that I need to go to England and get some more tea sets!! Don't think that will happen any time soon :)

Our theme was Seeking Him-Worshipping Him. Great reminders the Lord gave us to not allow the distractions of this life to keep us from seeking Him daily. Seeking His will and not our own. Seeking to please Him and not ourselves. So opposite from what this world teaches us! Seeking out the lonely and the lost-just as He gave us an example. Not pointing our fingers at those who are hurting, even those who got themselves in their own mess, but having compassion as Jesus has compassion. Praying for those in need rather than judging their circumstances. Seeing Jesus as He is and seeing ourselves as we are should cause us to fall down and worship Him! The Humble King-our Great I AM! I pray today that you will seek Him! Don't allow the busyness of the day to day routine get in your way of seeking Him!

I finally got my magnets and magnet calendars finished and uploaded. Danielle at Something Blue Studios is awesome!! If you still need some gifts go over to her site and order some of these. If you don't have time to make a layout you can still have a magnet made from a photo! You have until the 17th Dec to order with priority shipping which isn't expensive! Here are some examples of the ones I made:
This is the calendar magnet:

And this is the layout I will have turned into a refrig magnet:
Pretty cool huh! I have to finish up my full size calendars today and upload them to Winkflash. I am kind of bummed that they don't give you the option to have a cover page for the calendar. Last year I used Shutterfly and made a cover. I bought the premade calendar pages from Kimberly at PDW and the sizing is done for you for Winkflash but I don't know if it would work for Shutterfly...so I am just going to go ahead as is and leave it be for this year. I am too behind to worry about it right now. By the way, Kimberly is having a sale, I think it ends today. See this post for details. I would love to buy out all the templates! I love templates!! They are my favorite digi scrap invention. Makes my life so much easier too. I know some don't enjoy them, but for your everyday person who doesn't have an artistic mind, it's a wonderful thing!!!

Also, Liddy's Loft is having a 50% off sale. I like that store a lot too! They have great designers and great products. Check them out!

I think that's enough for today. Lots of baking to do this week. We are having our Children's Christmas party Sat. They are going to sing at the Retirement home Sat am and then come to the church for pizza, decorating cookies and we will have a Magi Shop too. We started it last year and noone had a clue what it was-was a big hit for the kids though. The older girls help wrap all the gifts for the parents and everyone has a lot of fun!!

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Mt 6:33

Have a blessed day :)

Busy bee

2006-12-04T20:46:00.000+01:00

Lots to do this week but I am taking some breaks :) We are having our Women's Christmas Tea on Sat. Soo00 much work preparing for this but it's my favorite event! Lots of pretty tea sets and dainty this and that~makes for a pretty environment. I will be up to my ears in flour, pastry and lemon curd by the end of the week.
Our theme is Seeking Him,,,Worship Him. I love the theme now. I had a hard time with it at first but as I study for the message I am falling in love with it! I can't elaborate much, not too much time but I will try to add some gleanings in the next post :)

We had a wonderful time in Salzburg! The weather was perfect during the day. It got a little cold in the evening but not too bad. I have some pictures to put up soon too.

I best get back to my work. I am making magnets and calendars as gifts and I have to have them finished by the 10th in order for them to be in time for Christmas. Check it out here if you need a great Christmas idea. Something Blue Studios is the name and the ideas are so creative!! I just love being able to do this since I am out of the states. This way I can still get some pretty gifts home to family and friends without having to worry about shipping from over here.

Stop and thank the Lord for His grace and mercy today!

And we're off...

2006-11-27T09:44:00.000+01:00

Yep, we are on our way to Salzburg! I am so excited! DH and I just had our birthdays a couple weeks ago and now we are going to celebrate!! DH turned 50 so I wanted to do something a bit special. We are going to stay here:

We haven't been away together in years so this should be fun!
I am excited because they have the famous Christmas markets out now too. Lots of neat trinkets and what have yous (how do you like that word) LOL. Can't wait to take it all in. I'll be back with lots of pictures to scrap :)

Have a blessed day :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-24T21:44:00.000+01:00

Couldn't post yesterday so I am putting it here today :)
Hope your day was filled with joy and remembering all that we have to be thankful for!

Another Year Older

2006-11-20T16:35:00.000+01:00

So today I am 46 yrs old (or young) lol!!! It's funny but until I turned 40 I never felt like there was any difference in my age each year. Once I turned 40, I started getting muscle aches more often, and little twitches here and there. Now, as you can plainly see in my new photo....the wrinkles have set in!! I can't get rid of them no matter how much Oil Of Olay I use each day!! Some days I just look at pictures when I want to scrap and just see the progression of age....oh well, it's a fact of life right :) Enjoy the days the Lord gives to us and use them for Him!!!
I am all alone -my daughter is in the states, DH had to go 2 hrs away to register the car-it's just a headache over here!! I would gladly take the long lines back at the DMV over this any day LOL!!! Nightmare city!! Anwyay, yes, I have just been by myself and it's not 4:30 in the afternoon so my day is almost over! Boo hoo!! I miss my daughter so much. I cried and cried that she isn't here today and I can't imagine how Christmas is going to be...
I baked the pumpkins today and now they are draining so I can make pies on Wed. We celebrate Thanksgiving with our church each year. Since they have always had American Pastors, they love Thanksgiving and we kept the tradition up when we came over 5 yrs ago. It's fun but lots of work. Plus, we can't get the whole turkey here, only pieces. Someone sent me some cranberry sauce too which is what makes Thanksgiving for me. One year, we didn't have any and I was searching everywhere. Finally, one of the girls here found some cranberry jelly-it was totally a miracle because it's never been here since!! God is good!! I have to make stuffing and the pies. DH will make the turkey and gravy and others from the church will make potatoes, corn and bread. Can't wait to eat :)

I scanned a bunch of old photos from my daughter's younger years. I love having a 3 in 1 printer now!! It's exciting to be able to get out the old photos and make it easier for me to scrap them. They aren't the best quality being atleast 10 yrs - 18 yrs old but I don't care. I just want to scrap them anyway. There were the days we never cared about touching up photos or the best lighting-we just took pictures and put them in our photo books. That's how I am going to look at it for these older ones. If I can touch them up-ok, but if not, I am still going to scrap with them.

I can't wait for the Digi sales for Thanksgiving!! I hope there will be some awesome ones!! I have been waiting to get a few things and I want to treat myself for my birthday :) and Thanksgiving, and ......well, you get the picture, I just want to treat myself a bit :)

Have a wonderful day!! Be sure to stop and thank the Lord for all His marvelous blessings!!!!

Here's a couple pics I scanned of my precious daughter :) My the years go by!!

Sick

2006-11-15T17:54:00.000+01:00

I could tell I was coming down with something the past few days. So, last night I went to bed and didn't have a great sleep. This morning I woke up and took my temperature. So,,,,here is my conversation with DH after the thermometer beeper went off :

DH-oh do you have a fever?
Me-yes it almost 100
DH-oh can you be sure to steam press my suit for the funeral today?

Yes, life is grand!!! He does that all the time-waits til the last minute and lets me know something needs ironing or fixing that he has to wear. Normally I couldn't care less because it's just a part of what I do anyway, but today I was not feeling like ironing one bit!! So you may be wondering why they are in his closet and not ironed......well,they were at one point. Unfortunately, he just shoves stuff in there so tightly that it has to be reironed all the time!!! Ok-I guess I sound crabby. I really am not..maybe just a bit but I have a fever so I am not myself!! LOL

So DH had to do a funeral today. There was no way I could go since I would infect everyone and believe me you don't go around the people here when you are sick. It's a huge NO NO!! So, he went alone and said it was went as well as could be expected. We didn't know the guy who died very well. He daughter in law goes to our church so they asked DH to perform the funeral. So, get this...the guy was a Com*unist in days past so there was someone there to speak about when they knew him. DH couldn't understand what she was saying anyway so it didn't matter. Such a different world!

Well, we are trying to figure out what to do for Christmas. I really don't feel like celebrating much this year since we will be without our daughter. Oh I just dread thinking about it. It's so hard being away from her. I guess it's all the "firsts" without her that hurt so bad. But, we are thinking about going away somewhere. First, we thought we would go to The Netherlands because we have some friends that live there. But, today I was thinking about going to Wales. My father's side of the family is from there and I thought it would be nice to visit there. We could spend a couple nights in London and then drive to Wales for a few nights. Hopefully I can find some good fares. The scenery is gorgeous. I have to find out what the weather is like around the holidays. Hopefully not so rainy! I'll keep ya posted :)

I am having such a hard time figuring out our Women's Christmas Tea invites for this year. Our theme will be "Seeking Him...Worship Him". I can't find the right picture to use either. I don't want to use the Wise Men but maybe if I could find just a nice star with a red or green or even redish/pink background. I have scoured the digi kits for some backgrounds but can't find any!! That is just a shock to me. I don't know if I am overlooking something or what! Seems like everything is snowflakes. I picked up a kit from Kelly Shults the other day and there is a star paper but I just don't know if it's the right one or not. I just love Kelly's designs!! She has a great talent and has a style I really like.
Here's what I picked up the other day:

Have a wonderfully blessed day!!

Totally Blessed

2006-11-06T12:42:00.000+01:00

Wow-some friends are here from CA and just brought some great goodies for us!! One in particular I was so shocked! Here are some samplings:

Just a few "essentials" from Costco :) LOL We just can't live without them!!! Actually it seems funny since we live in Europe and the chocolate here is absolutely amazing!!! But, there's something about chocolate from America that my husband likes. I think it's more reminiscent (sp) than taste though :)

Ok-now here is what I was so blessed to receive. My husband had told them I would really like one and imagine my surprise when I found out they were bringing one for me!!!

Isn't it wonderful!! I have wanted a flat screen monitor for so long and now I finally have one!! It's such a difference from my old one! I am so thankful for this!!!

I really haven't been scrapping too much lately. Too much going on with visitors and other preparations. I told myself I wouldn't be buying any scrapping stuff until December. I wanted to pay down my charge cards from being in the states all summer. Well, yesterday, I couldn't resist. I have been wanting to purchase some of Gina's templates and finally gave in since she was having a sale. Check them out they are really great!

You can find Gina's templates here (as if noone knows where by now LOL) Info about her birthday sale is there too :) Hurry on over!!

Well, I think I have blogged enough for one day-I have such a headache already. Waking up with one is no fun. Usually means it is not going to be a very productive day.
Hubby had a concert last night in Budapest so I was all by my lonesome last night and most of today until he returns. I watched part of The Passion last night but had to turn it off. It's just so emotional. I can't even imagine that Jesus would suffer so much on my behalf. I remember people were so upset about the film because of the violence. Yet, as difficult as it is to watch Him being beaten and scourged, it was still worse in real life. The Bible says He was beaten beyond recognition. I can't imagine how He took it all. He is God and yet He chose to suffer like that-the Spotless Lamb became sin for you and for me. Wow-just mind blowing!!! I think as Christians we forget to ponder that often enough. Be thankful!! Be gracious and merciful to those around you. Remember what we have been forgiven of and let us not be quick to judge or to pass judgement on others around us.

May the Lord bless your day richly!!

Amazing Day

2006-10-28T21:22:00.000+02:00

Yes! that is how I describe today!! We had our women's conference today and the Lord just totally blessed every part of it! It was different than any conference we have done in the past. God was just wanting to stir us up and cause us to totally depend upon Him for each and every part of the conference.
Our theme was "The Fragrance of Christ" from 2 Cor. 2:14-16. Amazing portion of scripture to study! We had the college team here and there were 11 girls that have been here the past 9 days helping us prepare everything and also painting and cleaning in the church! These girls were just awesome!!!! Truely a blessing!!!
One of the girls had worked in a flower shop for two years and made the most beautiful flower arrangements with stuff we went out and gathered from the parks and what was laying on the ground. God provides such beautiful nature!! We had flowers all over the church and candles throughout!! What a beautiful fragrance filled the church.
But, that wasn't all!!! About 5:30pm last night I get a phone call that one of the speakers cannot make it because she has pnemonnia (don't know if it's how you spell it). What did that mean???? PANIC!!!! It meant I had to teach and I only had a few hours to prepare. When Jesus said be ready in season and out....I learned to apply that scripture for sure. Isn't it just like our Jesus to show Himself faithful!! I relied upon Him as He tells us not to worry about what we will speak-He will put the words into our mouth. Such a testimony of His faithfulness. It always makes me nervous when I have to teach because it is such a huge responsibility not to misuse His Word!
We also had a time where the pastor's wives washed the feet of the women!! Ok-I couldn't stop talking about it to my husband!!! AMAZING!!! The women in the church have never experienced this before and God just used it to bless them and bless us as we did the washing! I don't say this because I want you to read it and say-oh wow-how neat that they did this-no, I say it to tell you that if you have ever been moved to wash someone's feet, then do it!! Don't not do it because it sounds gross, or because you are afraid-you will be so blessed to do this for someone. And, if you are afraid to have someone wash your feet, don't be. Don't miss out on what God has for you because of fear!! It's humbling for sure-to be so vulnerable before someone in this way-but it is an amazing act of love! The f ragrance is still lingering throughout the church and I can still smell the scent we used on my hands. Wow-it's just too great to put into words.
Don't ever be afraid or anxious about anything God wants you to do. Just do it!! Obey and He will bless you beyond what you can imagine.

Obviously I haven't been doing any scrapping lately. We have been so busy getting stuff at the church finished. It looks great with fresh paint and clearing out some piles of who knows what! Hopefully next week I will be able to scrap a bit. I really do miss it. I want to get some calendars soon to make Christmas gifts. I made them last year and they were a huge hit! I will have to do some looking around at the digi-shops to see what's out there. I think they are pretty popular from what I am 'hearing' on the boards :)

Well, I am tuckered out for the day! I pray that your life will be filled with the joy of the Lord and you will diffuse His fragrance in each place and person He brings your way today!!

Moving slow

2006-10-21T12:32:00.000+02:00

That's how I feel lately. My body just doesn't seem to want to cooperate much these days. I guess it is bound to come with age LOL!
I have had pain in my right arm for over a year off and on. Not a constant pain but it I move my clothes in the closet area or dig through a pile of clothes at the 2nd hand stores here it just hurts and I can't use it for long. Now, it's gotten to the point of feeling all bruised inside-nothing is showing on the outside as being bruised but it just feels that way. Who knows, could be the way I sleep-I don't know. I only know that it hurts!!! OUCH!

So, we have 17 college students here for 10 days! Thankfully our church has a kitchen so they are able to do all the cooking over there. It would be too hard to fit that many people here-plus cook in our small kitchen!! I sure do miss American kitchens-well, atleast the ones we used to have! See, something to be thankful for when we realize we don't have it anymore.

Oh-I tried the home-made rub ons with transparencies. They work pretty good-transfer nicely too. The thing is that you have to make sure they dry and then use them right after that. I left mine overnight and they didn't work.

Thank you for the chocolate cake recipe :) I had to make from scratch though because we don't get mixes here. I found an awesome recipe from Ghiradelli and just used the chocolate from here instead of there's. The cake recipe is here and the frosting recipe is here. I dont' use as much powder sugar as the recipe calls for-a bit less. Also, when you make the frosting, it might seem as though it is not thick enough-frost the cake and then put in fridge about 15 min or so and it comes out perfect!! It tastes awesome with some vanilla ice-cream!! YUM

Haven't been scrapping much-arm pain :) Been sort of looking around at ideas-still loving these templates. I haven't been able to buy any lately but hopefully soon. I really like to use them and they make life so much easier for me. I just want to scrap and get pages done-I have no desire to put in magazines or even upload to galleries anymore. Just doing it for me and my family :) Of course, I can put some on the blog now and then too :)

Ok-I have to prepare something for lunch-don't know what yet LOL!! Nothing like last minute!

Shine on :)

Yeah, it's Friday!

2006-10-13T19:17:00.000+02:00

ok-really I don't know why I get excited that it is Friday! My days are just as busy on weekends if not busier because of church and we have a bible college group each weekend come down to help with youth. So, that means cooking and cooking and a bit more cooking :) Ha ha-but I love it-I love being "mom" to these kids on weekends and cooking home cooked meals for them and creating a home environment for them. It's all the more special for me now that Marla is in CA and I depend on my friends to be there as "Mom" in my place since we are so far apart!

I chatted with her the other day and she's much better-I just want to give her a big hug!! Whoever said parenting stops when the kids move out really didn't know what they were talking about. It just changes to a different stage. I don't know that you are ever not a parent!!

For anyone looking for an awesome book to read I strongly recommend "Loving God With All Your Mind". It is by Elizabeth George. It is one of the best books around. I think I probably wrote about it a couple weeks ago, but I am getting old and can't remember much :) Ah-this book keeps me thinking all day long about the right things. Based on Phil 4:8. Thinking about what is true and real and not letting our minds wonder from us-just cuts to the chase about our fears, things we worry about with our kids, the future, everything. About what people think of us, trying to figure people out, etc. It is just awesome!! I think I may do a bible study with some of the girls in the church this summer with it.

I need a good chocolate cake recipe-anyone have one? We are celebrating our friend's birthday on Sunday and he would like chocolate cake. I had a really good one before but can't find it. There's a great one with Hershey's chocolate that comes in a can-it's fabulous!! I don't even like chocolate that much and love this one. Very rich though! But, we don't get Hershey's syrup like that here so I can't make it...need something else.

I managed to scrap a bit last night. THis is from last summer when we went back to the states. Marla was able to go to the high school banquet while we were there. It was so much fun for her. She went with a good friend of our family and they had a good time there. I love how the Lord always blesses His children!! This was so important for her to be able to go to since we lived here all her high school years. We homeschooled through the school and the homeschoolers can graduate and do the other things with the high school which makes it really nice for the kids.

I used a template from Lovely Miss Kait. I changed it a bit but it really helps me to have these templates!! I think it's the smartest thing on the market LOL-for me anyway. I don't have an artistic mind, but I love to make the lo's so it is such a help to have these to atleast start out with an idea.
Enjoy your day and may the Lord bless you and shine His face upon you :)

I used Kim Christenson's Be Trusting kit
and frames from Trish Jones

Heartbreak

2006-10-11T13:31:00.000+02:00

Today has been a tough day! This morning I rec'd an email from my daughter with the subject line 'crying'. Nothing like your heart breaking in two being so far away and not able to give her a great big hug! Ugh, sometimes it's rough!!!
It' s kind of cute though because I could see 3 emails in a row from her in the span of about 1/2 hour. The first was how badly she wants to come back to Hungary to be with her dad and me. Then, her phone broke so she was saying I can't call her. By the third one, she was ok again!! So many adjustments she has to make in a short time. It's been 5 years of homeschooling because she wasn't allowed in the Hungarian schools, no real friends her own age, and close quarters living with us here. Now, she has to adjust to college, teachers, and of course living in a dorm full of girls!! LOL !!!! Boy oh boy are those days fun!!!!
It's a time to truely trust the Lord even amidst the tears. I had a really good cry a bit ago and sent her a few e-cards. It hard being so far away from my beautiful little girl!

It's interesting though because today I was preparing my bible study and the questions were about the cost of obeying God. Not just the cost to us, but to others around us-including our families. Families can suffer in a way because they are apart but God has promised that He will take care of all of our needs. He is ever faithful and all-knowing. I just don't know how I would get through things without the truth of His Word. It brings such comfort and hope!!

On another note, almost a year ago we went through a difficult time with a person in the church. Eventually they left the fellowship and said a lot of mean things about the church and my husband. Well, now he has asked to return! WOW!!!! I have learned so much in the last week about my heart and forgiveness!! I am actually excited to see what the Lord will do. DH is actually meeting with him as I write this. My heart is overjoyed that the Lord can truely restore and not only in this person's heart, but really through the trial has taught me about forgiving-really forgiving-not just pretending. I have to keep in prayer so that if and when the time comes that he and his family will return I will truely be gracious in my heart!

No lo's today. I have made a couple but they are with my friends photos and I don't want to put them on the internet! I did upgrade to PSPX and I am thrilled about it! I also bought Michelle Pearson's actions for PSP. They are awesome! I only could get one so far, but I am hoping to get more next month. You should check them out! She also has them for Photoshop. But, I am thrilled that these are available for PSP. It seems so much is out there for Photoshop and not PSP.

Ok-gotta run-----dishes are calling :)
Blessed be the Name of the Lord!!!

Happy Monday

2006-10-02T19:30:00.000+02:00

Can it be that the day is almost over already (well, atleast on my side of the hemisphere it is). It's been quite a busy week here-lots of this and that to do.

I decided to use my Joann's free shipping coupon this weekend. No, not free shipping all the way to Hungary-though that would be AWESOME!! I had a gift card from the states and I wanted a few things for the album I am making for my in-laws. I am using all the Basic Grey Sublime papers and some of the different accents that go along with it. I was able to get a lot of the supplies while we were in the states and using my coupons!! I think I was collecting everyone's coupons all summer!! Anyway, I needed some more stickers and eyelets and all that fun stuff. I used up my certificate and my friend will mail it with some other stuff for me. Nice to have sweet friends.

Also, I checked into making my own rub-ons. I saw some advertised and thought about how I could do this myself. It's quite easy!! You should try it. Go here for some instructions. I figured with all the doodles and alphas and sayings I have bought and collected over time I could make my own fancy smancy rub-ons. I will give it a try this week and let you know how it works out. I can't imagine it wouldn't. Also, you know how they sell the popsicle sticks with the sayings on them-well, I think we can just rub it on the pop stick-voila!!!! One of the sites with instructions also said just take a paper towel and clean your transparency afterwards and you can reuse it!! Not too bad at all huh!!

I read a great thing this morning!! It's in the book by Greg Laurie-Breakfast With Jesus. He is talking about how the trial against Jesus was totally illegal for that time and listed the various reasons why. But, at the end it just grabbed me when he wrote this "In the end, the only conviction they could obtain came when Jesus agreed with their statement that He really was "the Son of God'. Now, when you hear a confession like that, only two options remain. Either you bow before Jesus as Lord and Savior or you sentence Him to death as a blasphemer. The Sanhedrin chose the latter option. What have you decided?" WOW that was great!! Just putting it down to that question-what have you decided??? All the arguements about this that and the other thing-all the controversy about who Jesus is-it started all those years ago and yet the question still remains the same doesn't it-as Jesus asked Peter-"who do you say that I am?" Isn't that true-Each of us must decide that and one day we will actually all have the same answer. The bible says that one day EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord-(Phil2:10) I always say-not a question of 'if' but 'when'.
May the joy of the Lord be your strength today :)

Long time...

2006-09-27T08:34:00.000+02:00

No write! The days go by so quickly and it seems I don't get around to updating my blog. I think about it, but then I end up drifting!!
So, about the previous post. I was a bit disappointed that only one person responded. But, no biggie.
Here is what I think about it:
I agree that we are "the light of the world". We are to take our lights and shine Jesus to the world around us. If we are only around other Christians it is not as easy. I will say that shining our light amongst Christians can even be challenging!!! LOL
I do beleive we should not alienate ourselves from others. But, I do lean towards not joining partnership with a non christian. Whether it is business partners or dating relationships I think it is wise to not enter into these.
I have seen too many times where the Christian ends up being pulled down into non-Christian ways. Usually we are hoping that we will be able to witness to the non Christian. Even in dating relationships I have seen the few that end up ok but more times than not I witness the opposite. We end up compromising and not holding up the standard we ought.
Now, many can say-well, I have seen Christian dating and business partners who are sub-standard, etc. Yes, it's unfortunately true. (The fish symbol has been used so liberally) But, I think it's best when we atleast begin with a solid foundation.
Does it make sense? I hope so.
Each situation should be carefully and faithfully committed to prayer. Not acting hastily. (business partner, not dating)
On another topic, I am busy preparing for our annual women's conference in Oct. Our theme this year is "The Fragrance Of Christ". I am really looking forward to it. When I was in the states I got some great packs of candles in small glass holders at Ross. I love that store!!!! We will tie ribbon around them with the theme on them. Also, I want to find some lavendar and put some pretty ribbon on them and have the fragrance fill the church. The Lord put on my heart last summer to have a foot-washing at the end of the day. Such a neat time it will be. I am not mentioning it to the ladies-only to the other pastor's wives who will help with this. We just want to honor them and show them humility and love. I found some beautiful smelling lavendar bath get and lotion at Ross and even tried it out-permeates the entire room!! Awesome!!! It's not so strong that it will affect allergies so that is good :)
Here is a layout I did the other day. Nothing fancy, just trying to get back into digi scrapping after a summer hiatus. Actually, I paper scrapped with all my friends this summer. We took this during our family cruise in May. Such a fun time with the girls. It was great to see Marla be with her sisters again and for Jim and I to have our family together for the first time in years!!! God is so good!!

Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!

I used Robin Carlton's Feels Like Home kit
font is Vaguely Repulsive

Opinions Please

2006-09-20T10:03:00.000+02:00

Ok-so here goes....I was thinking about this and I would love to hear your opinions on this. Please don't respond rudely because it's just a question!!! :)
In 2Cor. 6:14 Paul is talking about not being unequally yoked with an unbeliever. Now, many times this scripture is used to teach about dating an unbeliever. I was wondering if you think this also can apply to other parts of life. Say in the work force. I am not speaking about those who have no choice in the matter. But, let's say you own your own business and have a choice as to who you do business with. I realize the non-discrimation laws, but I am not even talking about that big a business. Just small time-or would you join a partnership with an unbeliever given the opportunity?
I would love some feedback on this-constructive and thought provoked please :) I will give my thoughts the next time!
We are off to Budapest today. Hopefully the recent riots won't affect our trip! It's been pretty narly the past few days there. A lying government-who would have thought LOL!!!

I still haven't heard anything from anyone about the templates-looks like I will just be on my own about it. I have plenty of sketches I can use for inspiration anyway.

Ok-here's the layout I tried to upload the other day. See previous day for credits!
Enjoy your day :)

2006-09-17T17:04:00.000+02:00

It's taking a bit longer than I anticipated to get back into the groove of being back in Hungary. It seems as though we arrived just in time for harvest and all kinds of other fun allergens that make my aging body go absolutely haywire!!! Sinus headache galore! Plus my asthma gets so bad I end up not being able to eat or just vomitting because of the coughing! Yuck! Hopefully it will calm down a bit and my body will return to somewhat normal!!
I got a new medicine in the states for my asthma. It was sort of funny because my friend's doctor saw me for free( I know there is a better word in english, but I can't think of it :) ) anyway, it's a powder inhaler rather than a spray. He said I should notice a difference within a week if it works-unfortunately I haven't seen any improvement. I am hoping that it is because of the weather and time of year before I actually give it up and say it doesn't help. The doctor couldn't believe my cough-he was wondering why in the world I am like this and couldn't believe I have it so chronic. It is really something that baffles all the doctors. But, after 6 years, I learn to live with it-not always bad each month so I just deal with it! I don't have TB, any spots on my lungs, so it can't be too bad right!!!
DH gave a great sermon today-I know he's my husband and all, but I have to say, I was really encouraged by it. We are in the book of Romans 12 now. Such an awesome book of the bible to study! God's grace is so amazing! We were learning about renewing our minds-not thinking the old way-the way the world tells us to think-but allowing God's Word to change our way of thinking-being kind when the world tells us we don't have to be-being longsuffering with people, merciful and full of grace towards others, just as God has been to us. Doing all we do fervently as unto the Lord. Not so we will gain applause from men-but because it pleases God. These things are only possible through the Word of God!! We can't muster it up in our own strength! We try and fail so often because we aren't relying on the Holy Spirit working in us! Everything comes down to us and Him!!! On the outward, we can do and be whatever we want people to see, but God knows EVERYTHING! He knows the motives of our heart, why we do the things we do, He knows the 'real' us! And He loves us even still!!! The more we read His Word, the more time we spend with Him, the more we will respond in faith and live the life He has called us to live.
I get to call my daughter a lot now that we have Skype. It's a great program!! It only cost me .017 per min. to call her cell phone!! That's such a gift from God!!!! Usually programs charge much more to call the cell than the land line, but this is the same when calling the states! She is fine but so busy adjusting to college life and also living back in the states. It's hard because she is doing a theatre internship and has to go about an hour away from the school and must depend on her roomate to drive her. It's sort of ridiculous to me that they have freshmen having to do this. She doesn't have a car, not even a license yet, and the school sprung this on her the second week. The internship wasn't supposed to be until her Soph or Jr year and now it has already begun. Hopefully, she and her roommate will be fine with it and everything will work out with their scheduling. Pray for their safety.

Finally, before I bore you to tears LOL, here is a LO I did for my beautiful daughter that I miss sooooo much!!! I used Jen Wilson's Spring Collection and Tammy Bankston's alpha

Oh-and another thing.....someone PLEASE tell me.......what's with the templates everyone is selling now???? I want to buy so many of them-they are awesome!!! But,,,,,,do they work easily with PSP8? I downloaded a trial one and couldn't figure it out-if you know-just email me!! :)

And,,,,,just one more side note-Mechelle....if you are reading this-I tried to leave a comment on your blog but it doesn't work for me anymore. So, I pray you and your family are staying strong in God's amazing strength!

Have a glorious day!
Oh well, Blogger doesn't want to be nice and let me upload my photo-we'll have to try next time :)

Back in Europe

2006-09-11T16:33:00.000+02:00

Wow! I can't believe it's been two months already! Actually I think it's unbelievable how busy my life has been the past summer months.
We returned back to Hungary without our daughter-probably the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. The goofballs at the airport couldn't understand why we were crying so much-my daughter told me later that one of the guys told her not to cry-"they are just going on vacation". Yeah right!! If they only knew!
I tried to imagine in some minute way how it must have been that Jesus was separated from His Father. I think it's amazing how God allows us to experience things maybe not to the extreme, but it does draw us closer to Him. I told my daughter that just as that separation was for God's glory so ours will be too.
Besides missing her tremendously, I am so excited for her. The college is AWESOME!! It's like God hand-chose it just for Marla. I guess He actually did :) She likes her dorm, her dorm mates and her classes. So far, so good.
So hubby and I have entered the "empty nest" phase of our life. I tell you-it's strange!!! We love being with each other but maybe it's just that it's a different life. Since he is a pastor his schedule isn't the normal 9-5 so we are around each other a lot anyways. Now, it's so odd not to have our daughter with us. It's going to be great though.
I must confess.....I started paper scrapping while I was in CA. My friends are all into it and we would get together some nights and scrap. Then they started having me go to the late night pajama scraps, etc. And going into the stores and looking around-WOW-thought I was a kid in the candy store!!! I fell in love with so many things!! I did get myself the neatest gadget-it's a crop-a-dial. It's the most amazing tool I have ever used. It's really easy to use and so many different functions! I figure I can go back and forth between digital and paper.
I have tons of pictures to work on from our trip this summer. I just need to get motivated again!
Now that I am back and able to check out the blogs and scrapbook sites I have noticed that Templates are the big thing now. These are actually a dream come true for a person like me. I am not creative in that sense and it's just so much easier for me to use a template. It actually motivates me more to scrap since most of my time is always spent trying to figure out how to lay out the layout! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see ones that work for PSP8. I am thinking about upgrading to PSPX but even with that it seems that so much caters to Photo Shop. So, I will keep looking and hopefully find some help!

As I remember September 11 my heart is heavy for our country, for those who lost loved ones and those who continue to give of their lives to protect our country and freedom. May God comfort those whose family and friends perished because of the evil done and may we all turn our hearts to the Lord who alone is our true hope.

Here there and eveywhere

2006-07-12T19:24:00.000+02:00

We are now staying at another friend's house. Boy did I ever feel like a princess when I walked into our room!! Everything was so beautifully arranged and little gifts of a journal and Max Lucado book and even a beautiful scrapbook to scrap some CA summer memories!! Such a joy!! I was so thankful and reminded that I am the King's Daughter and that makes me a real princess!! What a treasure we have in Jesus!!!
So, it's been wild and crazy-I am not able to blog like usual as you might have guessed. It won't be getting any better either! I won't be faithfully blogging again until we are back in Hungary in Sept. It's too hard to keep up with all the things here and being around so many friends is better than sitting at a computer for me :)
I was going to work for a couple of weeks to earn some spending money but I have no peace about it. It's so hard for me because I am having to really trust the Lord in this area. Living on a missionary and pastor salary isn't always easy but God has always provided for our needs and even many wants!! He is teaching me to be faithful and depend on Him alone. We have friends from Hungary coming out and they will not have spending money so I wanted to have some to give them but it seems like I am going to have to rely upon the Lord fully in this area to bless them as He does us. After all, He provided the tickets so He will provide whatever else is needed. I am not always that great about trusting in this area!
It will be the last two weeks I spend with my daughter alone too so that is another major reason I chose not to take the job. I wnat to have precious alone time with her and feed into her heart as much as possible while we share this time together. Wow-I can't believe it's coming so quickly that she will be in college and we will say good bye for who knows how long. Pray for us please!!!! I am so sad!!!! But, I know that she will shine and God will show her His plans for her.

Ok-once again I will be off and running!
May God's love bring you much joy today !

Busy Busy Busy

2006-06-29T05:44:00.000+02:00

Wow, we have been soooo busy!! I can't even imagine all the different things that happen each day.
My daughter went to the driving school for a week to take the classroom lessons and now we prepare for the written test. Then she will take the behind the wheel class and we will go from there! We have so much to do to prepare her for college in Aug. We went to the college last week, she had her placement tests for English and Math and also picked the classes for the Fall semester. She will study Muscial Theatre so she has a lot of music classes!!
Besides that, I am missing my husband. He is back in Hungary and will be gone until Aug 1. He will come back for the month and then we will return to Hungary together. It's so hard to be away from him and it's only been a week!
Monday I taught at our church here for a women's event. It was really great to be around friends and share the things of the Lord with them. I think I could just talk hours of all He has done in my life and also what I have seen Him do in so many! He truely is an amazing God!
I haven't been able to upload any photos to my blog because my friend doesn't have any program to edit photos so they are all so large a file. Hopefully I will be able to figure something else out. My Mom wants me to teach her digital scrapping and she will get PSP X so I will get to use that soon :)
Ok-gotta run again :)
May the Love of Christ fill your life today and always!!!!

Graduation Nearing

2006-06-16T08:03:00.000+02:00

Yes, tomorrow we will watch our little girl graduate from high school!! It is just coming up too quickly for me! I am so filled with emotion and anything makes me cry these days. I have never been much of a cryer but it seems things have changed over the past 5 years!!!!
If you are a regular blog reader of mine then you know by now my DH is a sr pastor and we have been on the mission field for 5 years now. We came back to the states so my daughter could graduate with her former classmates. Well, it's been a stretching 5 years and I have to say that I have learned all the more to appreciate the qualities in my daughter. Her heart is so precious.
The other day we went into Old Navy and I wanted to see the sales rack and we found a couple shirts for 2.97. That is amazing!!!! So, she tried them on and then found a shirt for 7.00. Well, she tells me not to get the 7.00 shirt because it is too expensive and I agreed. But, after a bit, I just wanted to get it for her anyway. So I tell her to go get it and she says-ok Mom you can just wrap it up for me and it can be my graduation present!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok-I hear about kids wanting cars, and every other electronic gizmo out there and my daughter wants a 7.00 shirt! She has always been this way too-even when we weren't in full time ministry. She is so sensitive and loving!! It's going to be hard to leave her in Aug and go back to Hungary while she stays here for college! Yikes-can't fathom that idea yet :)
Anyway, still keeping so busy here-the pace is just beyond what I am used to. Seems like we are always on the run and it drives me batty. I can't wait to slow down a bit and go to the beach :) DH returns to Hungary on Tuesday so we will be without him. I have a feeling it will be a long month and a half til he returns. He is performing a wedding here in Aug and then he and I will both go back to HU at the end of Aug.
Well, sorry, no pictures yet. It's so hard to use someone else's computer. I will try to put some up soon though :)

Trust in the Lord and dwell on His faithfulness!!!! He is good-faithful and true!! Our helper and our friend. The giver of all we have!!!
Blessings upon your day :)

Cruised out!

2006-06-09T04:40:00.000+02:00

Might sound a bit funny huh!! Well, we went on our family cruise and it was great but it is so good to be on land again! We had a wonderful time and there was so much food I couldn't believe it!
Hopefully I can upload some photos and put them on next week. Just wanted to pop on over to the blog and say hi to my faithful friends :) We are gearing up for Marla's graduation next week. After that we will hopefully have some free time and I will even get around to doing some scrapping!
Praying all is well with you all and you are all looking forward to your summer holidays :)
Be back again soon :)

Delayed

2006-05-24T06:29:00.000+02:00

Yep, that's what my husband is tonight-delayed in New York. He is stuck at the airport there and they don't even give him a voucher for a hotel. He has to spend 13 hours at JFK. What a wonderful welcome to the states after all this time!! He was delayed by Customs or something for 2 hours while they quizzed him. Who knows what for-it's just ridiculous that they did that for such a long time and made him miss his connection and lost his luggage for awhile and then found it. I totally understand security and questioning but 2 hours when he has travelled back and forth for so many years and has all the right paperwork, etc. Then, not to give any food or hotel voucher is just beyond my comprehension!!! I am really upset about this -mostly because my husband is just so deserving of a rest and just gives 110% of his life for others and now this-ok-so he will be here tomorrow morning and I am glad!! He should be with us around noon and it will be good to see him.
I am just such an emotional wreck lately. It's so hard to adjust to being here. I was telling my friend that it is like trying to live in a world that you don't really belong in right now. Everything is so different and people and time just continue on and I am still stuck in the way things were when I left CA. I just about broke down in tears at Ross yesterday because everything just got to me. It's all so big, so many questions, I can't remember how to use the ATM machines the right way and to check out at the stores is so different than when I lived here. I think the jet lag is just making everything more difficult to handle. Thank God for His grace and that He never changes!!! Something that we can depend on always!!!
I am going nuts not being able to scrapbook!! I have to wait for my daughter's laptop and then hope it has enough memory on it to do some things. My Mom wants me to teach her digi scrapping so that will be fun. She has dial-up though so it's going to be weird with her downloading when I am so used to my DSL.
Well, just wanted to update a bit-please be praying for our family if you think of it. It's been a couple years since being here so we need to adjust our ways and it's not as easy as I thought. We leave for our family cruise on Sunday and it's going to be a blast! ! I can't wait-just relax and eat :)
Blessings to you and may the love of Jesus fill your hearts:)

Adjusting

2006-05-21T16:23:00.000+02:00

We are still trying to adjust being back in CA. Everything is so big--the cars, the homes, the grocery stores, etc. It's hard to come back and see how much there is compared to what we are used to. Living in CA for so many years you would think that we are accustomed to this lifestyle, but how quickly you acclamate to your new environment. The housing prices are so ridiculous!! I don't know how we could ever live here again-it would totally have to be a God thing!! Miracles happen I know-but boy oh boy this would really be a miracle LOL
Marla had her banquet last night. Wish I was on my own computer and could show you some photos. My husband is bringing her laptop next week when he flies out so maybe I can do it with hers. It's a pretty old laptop though and I don't know how the memory will be. I will try though. She had a great time and got to see many old friends she hasn't seen in two years.
I can't download any scrap kits to this computer so I am just dying here!!lol!!! I just saw that Shabby Princess has a new free kit that is awesome!! I can't wait to download it. Haven't done any scrapping at all since being here. Sort of impossible, but I will try once we return from the cruise.
My sleep schedule is messed up still. Can't sleep past 6am it seems and I don't mind that because I am usually awake in Hungary at that time too, it's just that I go to bed too late here. Hopefully within the week I will be back to normal. Just in time for DH to get here and see him be jet lagged!!
Thanks for you faithful readers!! Say hi if you want :)
Praying your day is wonderfully blessed in Jesus!! He is our all in all!! Our might fortress, our joy, our strength!!

good ole USA

2006-05-18T16:27:00.000+02:00

We have arrived safely in CA and are experiencing wonderful jet lag!! Woke up at 3am today and then went back to sleep for a bit and finally decided to get up. It's so crazy with the time change. Hopefully it won't take too long to get used to the time zone here. My poor daughter is sick-all congested and a sore throat. I think the air on the plane was too much for her.
We went to our home church last night and it was so awesome! So good to see all of our friends again and have worship in English again. It was so overwhelming as we were singing How Great Is Our God and I was thinking how amazing the Lord is that we were in CA. How He provided for us to be there when there was no way we could ever do it on our own. We serve an amazing God!!
Hope you are all doing well-I imagine I will be spuratic with my blog while we are here-too many fun things to do and people to see. Plus we have to prepare for the cruise. We will leave Memorial weekend on that Sunday. Plus, we were given tickets to Spirit West Coast for Friday and Saturday. It's going to be a blast!!! Can't wait to see all the different bands!
Praying your day is filled with all the goodness of the Lord :)

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-14T20:45:00.000+02:00

Today was bittersweet as we celebrated Mother's Day but also my daughter's last Sunday in Hungary. The church had a big party for her and it was beautiful. Of course we were all in tears...the kids got up and sang in English a song by Michael W Smith "A Lifetime's Not Too Long To Live As Friends". That was just too much for me to handle and I about lost it. Marla did because it was just so moving to hear the kids sing to her in English. Then the whole congregation sang the chorus in Hungarian and wow-it was as if they knew the song all their lives. One of the gals in the church surprised us and translated it and taught it to the kids and then wrote the Hungarian words on a transparency so the others could follow along. What a day!! I didn't know it would hit me so hard but it did! First of all I woke up and realized it will be our last Mother's Day together for a long time! That was hard! Then, just as we reflected on all the Lord has done in her life since being here and her heart to serve Him-I realized a chapter in our lives is over now. Ok-I am going to stop now because I am bawling like a baby and can't read my typing!
So, we pack away feverously tomorrow-of course I want to scrap some of the photos from today---maybe I will and someone will miraculously come to my house and finish cleaning and packing for me LOL

Hope you all had a blessed and very happy Mother's Day~!
Mother's Day card made with Laura Apuluche's Sweet Elise kit

Passing by

2006-05-11T21:36:00.000+02:00

so quickly....are the days!!!! Yikes, I can't even believe that we are going to CA!! Marla's room is slowly showing signs that there really is a carpet in there and my suitcases are filling up. We had to weigh the suitcases today which led to such drama and disappointment....not the suitcases, but the scale!! We bought a scale a few months ago and it's terrible!!!!! I think it's off by atleast 5 kilos. There's no way that we weigh what the scale said!! It's really heartbreaking for my daughter because she has been working out and watching her food intake so much in the past months. She isn't even 5' tall and has such a struggle with weight. I just don't understand why she never grew much. I saw her birthmom and her family was all short but we never saw the guy. We thought she would atleast get to 5'. Do you know if girls grow past the age of 18? I always was told that most girls grow til about 16 and stop. The poor thing just has such a hard time. So, when she went to weigh her suitcase she got on the scale first and was so bummed because it was so much more than she thought-so I tried to comfort her and tell her that I think the scale is off, but she's bummed. Her clothes are all loose though and you can tell she's lost weight, but I guess the scale got to her-I am ready to throw it out. I used to live my life by the stupid scale so I wouldn't mind getting rid of it LOL!!! Ok-so once again, I think I am going to write about one thing and it leads to another...
I've been taking lots of photos at the church lately. Some of the girls are putting together a book for Marla as a going away present. They are so funny because they told me I had to stay out of it. They are doing it their way so I have to just be quiet. I am behaving and staying quiet!!! It will be a blessing to her and a great memory of her 5 years here.
I made a layout with her and one of the girls. I tried the blending, erasing thing today. Not so thrilled with it, but I thought the paper and photo really went well together. I used Josafeen and Sally's paper (IOD) and Katie Pertiet's words.

We had our midweek church service tonight. We are finishing up 2Thess. and it's so good. It's great to be reminded that Jesus is coming back one day!! So often I get side-tracked in the everyday hustle and bustle of life and fail to live in the eager expectation of His return. Even when DH was teaching he said that at any moment Jesus could return-even now. So at first I was thinking to myself-oh yeah, that would be awesome, but then I realized that after a few seconds I was sort of casual about it like-well, we know it won't actually be now. It's like I really didn't believe it or have the expectation - I want to live more and more each day that this could be it-there's a song I heard before-I just remember the chorus and it says "I want to be found ready". That's what I want-ok so I am thinking of this analogy now-maybe it's weird, but my family and friends know that we are coming to CA to visit and they are preparing for our visit...and when the day arrives, they will be waiting with eagerness for our return to CA. They will plan their day accordingly around our arrival and be there to greet us when we arrive. It should be all the more with Jesus!! We don't know His time of return, but we know it will happen and we should have that eagerness and making the preparations in our lives for His return. Be found ready!!! What is He calling you to do today? What has He put on your heart to do now? Don't wait until a better time, a better day. Don't wait until there's financial security so you can freely serve Him-no, just do it!! I am reading in 1 Samuel for my devotions and read the greatest thing the other morning-Samuel was talking to Saul and said to him " ...that you may do as the occasion demands for God is with you. 1 Sam. 10:7b. I must have read that verse so many times in my life but it didn't stick out to me like now! Do what the occasion demands-don't put it off, don't fear or fret over it, just do what God wants you to do even if it doesn't make sense because He IS with you!!
I have talked your ears off once again-sorry I am so long!!!
Have a joyful day in Him :)

A week away

2006-05-09T11:20:00.000+02:00

Yes, that's all the time I have now to prepare for our trip to CA!! Been so busy, but still have made time to do a couple of fun things!! I realized today how thankful I am for the creativity of others. The different gifts that we are all given are incredible!! Some have awesome artistic talent, others are hospitable, encouraging, great cooks, etc. Why is it that we tend to look at others gifts and talents and envy them and fail to be thankful for the ones we have been given?!! We teach our children that they are good at different things and encourage them to find their knack. We need to take our own advice.
Often I would find myself looking at people's artistic talent or even musical talent and wonder why I couldn't have the same. But today, I finally got around to making a layout with a song that just expresses my heart right now and as I looked for a kit to use I decided to use Jen Wilson's. I found a beautiful paper to use and the font to write with-everything just flowed (atleast to me it does) I thought about how wonderful digi scrapping is because I can make my journal of pages look beautiful even though I am artistically challenged! Ok-sappy maybe but it really means a lot to me to be able to have nice journal pages and for the life of me I can't even draw decent stick figures!! I am no designer, never will be, but I can enjoy the work of others and use it for me! At the same time, I can realize there are areas that I am gifted in and visible or not, they are there and I can use them to glorify God and be thankful for what has been given to me.
I made this layout with inspiration from Melissa's challenge. I just didn't get it done in time. But, since I had it in my head to do this I wanted to get it finished. I love the words to the song and they just minister to me so much. No matter what is going on in my life, no matter the circumstances, I want to not only trust God in those things, but I want to be able to praise Him too.!! That is the challenging part-praising Him in the situations!! But, I know it's possible because He has said it to be so. Where do I set my mind-where is my focus? Is it on the things that are true and right and holy, praiseworthy? Or are my thoughts bombarded about what everyone else is doing, how they are affecting my life, what do others think about me? I love the verse that says "I don't understand all that You allow". But, then today I was thinking, I really don't need to understand it. I just have to really believe that when Jesus said "I am with you always" and I will never leave you or forsake you" He meant those words. So, no matter what the trial or situation, God is with me!! He is upholding me and allowing me to feed on His faithfulness if I will trust Him. He is able, more than able!! Let us encourage one another and spur one another on in the things that are true!!
If you are struggling or just need prayer, please feel free to let me know or email me if you don't want it on the comments. You can just write your name if you don't feel comfortable writing the details-don't even have to use your name-just say PLEASE PRAY-our Father in Heaven knows you and He knows your name and your needs :)
Have a wonderful day in Him :)
So, here's my layout using Jen's Spring Collection-the Linen Closet papers and the font is akafrivolity. Click on the image so you can see the words better if you want.

Can you say....

2006-05-07T18:27:00.000+02:00

malathyon(I should be saying...can I spell malathyon) LOL!! Yuck!! This is what it's been like the past couple days. Thursday the city sent the trucks around the town to spray for mosquitos. They never give a warning and all of a sudden you smell this diesel smell and realize they are spraying. Then, on Friday, I am driving home and see this huge war like plane flying low and realize they are now spraying via the plane. They do it every year which is great to halt the huge mosquito problem, but my goodness...it wreaks havoc on the lungs. I spent the weekend coughing and having such a headache. Still have it. I have never had a mosquito bite that I can remember. My husband and daughters get them really badly. My daughter's turn into welts. It's such a problem here too because we have no screens on the windows (too expensive here) and I will wake up in the middle of the night to my husband with a flashlight searching out the mosquitos!!! Of course I take no pity on him because he wakes me up and they don't bug me!! (pardon the pun)
So, did you have a fun NSD? It was good!! Spent time at SBB chats -they were packed-so busy, but still fun. I won a coupon for Terry Maruca's work and one for Olivia and Co. Pretty cool huh!! Haven't picked it out yet. We had a full house again this weekend. I can't get any packing done because we are busy cooking and chatting, well, mostly chatting LOL!!! Love these kids and their enthusiasm!! They are such fun kids and love the Lord!! Good examples too. Plus, my friend came over Friday from the college and spent the night. She's awesome-always keeps me laughing, but also I am always encouraged spiritually by her. Great to have friends like that-holding us accountable too. Someone we can share our weaknesses with and ask them to look for certain things to keep us accountable. I struggle in one area (not just one of course, but one in particular) and so I asked her this past summer if she notices any changes in me to call me on it. That was a hard thing to do and I can't really take credit for it. We were just talking and the Lord just had me say it to her. I struggle with my weight but not in the gaining department if you know what I mean. I am not like I was years ago, but it's something I know is a weakness. When I am stressed, I don't eat and after awhile I can easily find myself in trouble again but don't want to go through that again. Anyway, enough on that subject......
The Lord is good-we had Communion today which means extra time of worship so that was great. Then taught the kids-today's lesson was on the Rich Young Ruler. We have great talks together and it's just such a privledge to be able to have a role in a child's life. It's so exciting to watch them grow in their understanding of God's Word!! Very rewarding!
Well, I think I have talked your ears off today....I am making up for lost time. Haven't done any scrapping for a few days now. Too busy and probably won't get much done since we have much packing and cleaning to do to prepare for our trip to the states. Ahh, I wish I could keep putting it off-or just have someone else come in and do it!!! HA HA
Blessings upon your day!!!
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice-for He has done GREAT things :)

Productive!!!!

2006-05-04T22:03:00.000+02:00

Thanks to Greta I now have today's title, which should have been yesterday's!! Are you confused yet? LOL!!!!! As soon as I saw it I hit myself on the head-should have had a V8 :) Now I know that I can depend on you to figure out the words I am looking for!!
Ok-so guess what this is: (you might have to click on it to see a larger photo)

ok-do you give up??? Well, this is my latest piece of furniture boldly displaying itself in our house!! I don't get the design at all!! It is so heavy too because it's pure wood. Our landlord at the church had it in the garage there and he was going to throw it out in the dump!! Well, I couldn't let that happen!! My husband thinks I am completely out of my mind for wanting it in the house and my daughter said she is just glad she will not have to live with it for more than a week or so!!! Well, I think it has a bit of potential! Ok, maybe not, but there are shelves, there are cabinets that close so in my opinion it is functional! I figured I could put some of my scrapping and craft stuff in it. It just might grow on me in time :)
DH had to go to a funeral today. He said it was pretty depressing. He said the people just looked so hopeless. The Mom of one of the ladie's in our church committed s.u.i.c.i.d.e. We have one of the highest rates in the world here. Plus, the population is decreasing rapidly! It's so sad. Depression is HUGE here!! I just pray that people would be set free from this and allow the Lord to show Himself faithful no matter what the struggle is. I know it's hard and some have it harder than others but nothing is impossible with God!! Nothing! We need to learn to trust Him more and believe that He can do ALL things and we can do ALL things through Him that gives us the strength!! AMEN!
I pray you will enjoy your day-think about what God has blessed you with today:)

Progress

2006-05-03T20:45:00.000+02:00

Yes, we are making progress in the packing realm! I am not making progress in remembering my English vocabulary though!! I had a title ready and couldn't think of how it is in English-I speak English-it's my first language, but it's amazing how quickly we forget some phrases. So, help me out-I wanted to say something like "Progressive Day" but I know that's not right!! Progressful isn't a word, so it's not that either-ugh!!! I can't remember!!! This happens to us all the time since we have been in Europe 5 years now. We go to say something and can't remember what it is in English! Sometimes during worship it happens too. Songs I have known forever in English I all of a sudden can't remember the words to them!!
Anyway, we did some more packing today and the attic is looking so clean!! It's amazing how much was up there. When we moved here, we packed an 18ft container and moved our household stuff and shipped it over here. I am so glad we did that because the furniture is way more expensive and they don't have our kind of beds over here. So thankful I have my USA bed!!! The Lord knows what we need :) LOL
Seems like there will be plenty of sales going on this weekend since it's National Scrapbook Day. I am excited to check out the different sites and see what is happening. Most good stuff goes on while it is the middle of the night here so I miss out on stuff, but it's still fun to check it out! I found a couple new sites-I told you of this one before Liddy's Loft, but you should go check it out. They are having a Grand Opening Sale and the kits are really great and the prices are perfect!! Plus the owner seems so sweet too!! I need to update my Sites and Blog list too.
Another great site is Scrapix-Designs. Kelly Shults is a great designer and I just love her kits!! I am so thankful to be finding these new (to me they are new) gals!!!!
I am on Nancy DeMoss's mailing list and I read a great quote from her yesterday. She wrote:
Several years ago a well-known Christian leader observed to me: “Lots of people are praying and lots of people are repenting, but so few are changing their lifestyles.”
Immediately I thought, There’s something wrong with that picture. Repentance has to do with a change, and if people aren’t changing their lifestyle, then they’re really not repenting. And if we’re not repenting, then our prayers, according to God’s Word, will be of no effect.
Repentance is a gift from God. Ask Him to grant the gift of repentance to your own heart and to His people in this nation and around the world.
I really agree with this comment! So many times we ask the Lord for His forgiveness but we aren't willing to change our lifestyle. I often find myself just saying-Lord you can do anything and everything, can't you just make me .......blah blah blah! I love having free will and the choice God always gives us in our lives. But sometimes I am just wanting God to wave the wand and "make" me who I want to be. I am so thankful for His matchless grace!!!!
May the joy of the Lord be your strength :)
Here's my layout I tried to upload last night! I used Fee Jardine's Lazy Dazy kit frame is from Trish Jones

2 weeks from today

2006-05-02T22:16:00.000+02:00

My daughter and I will be on a plane headed to CA!!!! The time is just going by so quickly!! We are so excited though because we haven't been back in 2 years!
My daughter is finishing her finals this week and so far so good! She worked so hard to finish early so she doesn't have any school to do when we are in the states. I can't believe my baby is going to graduate in a month. The years go by too fast and before you know it they are all grown up!
I am still feeling a bit shaken from the incident the other day. I mentioned his name to some people but noone has ever heard of him before. Hopefully he won't come around anymore! Someone (a guy) actually asked me how come I didn't try to get rid of him or try to stop him-like I could really think about that-I actually did think about what to do but I thought it was better to stay calm because I didn't want him to react in a violent way-how am I supposed to know what people are capable of????? It made me quite irritated that this guy said that! Wonder what he would have done! Is it any wonder so many women never report the things that happen to them-
Yesterday was Labor Day here. They had a big celebration in the town and my husband's band played during the festival. They play a lot of Darrell Mansfield and Third Day songs. Sort of bluesy-but it's all Christian and the people really like it. They are amazed to find out he is a Pastor!! It's really neat because the city always asks them to play now for different events and even though they are Christian people are coming out to listen. He witnesses during the songs and it's such a neat opportunity for people to hear the Gospel who would never think about walking into a church. They are going to play a few more concerts this summer so hopefully they will continue to have a good turnout.
I made some time today to do a bit of scrapping. I think I tried so many different things and kept deleting everything-just don't have the flow of it going-not like I am "Miss Scrap" LOL, but I just didn't like anything today-finally I scrapped my beautiful daughter-and she is pleased with it so that's what matters!
Well, I tried a bunch of times to upload the picture but Blogger is not cooperating again!! I will try again tomorrow!
Thank you to those of you who were praying-it means so much!! The power of prayer is like none other!!!
Praying for your day to be filled with the joy of the Lord :)

2006-04-30T13:28:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to make a quick post and ask for prayer (again). But, I shouldn't feel guilty I know this-about asking for prayer even if it is from people I don't know. We as Christians don't need to know each other to pray for one another. So, it's just been a really difficult 2 days. I dont' know if I can explain it all but let's just say I was freaked out yesterday big time. I was working at the church alone and some guy came in. I am never afraid to be there-have worked there alone for 5 years now and never worried. But yesterday was different. I wasn't harmed, but enough was done that I am a wreck inside right now. This guy told me he was s.a.t.a.n which didn't scare me because I am used to people being weird. But because of the wind blowing the door slammed and he stopped talking and told me he thinks he made that happened. Ok-so I am praying like crazy for God to protect me-and I can't explain it-I was scared, very scared by this guy, but at the same time I knew God was with me. The guy kept touching my face and I can't stand for anyone to touch my face (childhood thing) After about 1/2 hour or so he finally left when the college kids arrived-and then I just broke down. All the emotion inside me and the fear of it all just came pouring out. Anyway, please pray for me. I am so upset about this situation and it just made me think about so many things last night.
Sometimes I don't know what to do as a PW-I was actually afraid to tell my husband this happened because I knew he would want to find the guy and beat the daylights out of him. And I was thinking ok-so DH is a pastor and we have to have a certain behavior-and to what extent? Would it have been wrong if my husband found the guy and beat him up? Yes, I know legally it is wrong, but it's a natural reaction from a man to protect his wife and family. And as a PW am I supposed to just allow people to treat me any way they want because I am supposed to be show the love of Jesus to everyone?
I will stop here because I don't want to stumble anyone as a PW and don't speak for any other PW-just please pray for me!!!
Thank you :)

Been busy

2006-04-27T21:28:00.000+02:00

So much going on right now-lots of work around the house-cleaning out boxes still!!! I have started to bring boxes downstairs now and hopefully will bring them to the church this weekend for people to go through and pick out what they want. Today we brought down tons of stuff from the attic that my daughter doesn't need anymore. I am sure there is still more that she will never use, but I will probably have to wait to get rid of that. I can't make her rid herself of too much too soon LOL!! I also found some flannel shirts of my husband's that have been packed away for atleast a year. So I asked him if it was ok to get rid of them....now you know where she gets it from. He says "No, I can use them for working around" Uh, well, he has a bunch of other ones he can use for that!! I tell you, he won't get rid of anything!! He has t-shirts with holes under the arms and still won't get rid of them!!! Finally, I decided to just start throwing them out or using them as rags!! They are two peas in a pod!!!
I haven't had any time to scrap the past few days. I just keep looking through my new Summer Travels CD and can't wait to use it!! I think I will wait until we go on the cruise and I have good pictures for it. Mexico pictures are going to be perfect!!! Plus, I really want to get a new camera before we go too. I think we should be able to find one for a good price in the states. I have held off getting it here because it is twice as much (atleast) over here than in the states.
Just about 2 more weeks and we will be in CA!! The time is just flying by!! Much more to be done before we leave. This weekend we have some students coming over and we will work on more of the VBS decorations. I have to figure out how to make a Safari Jeep-any ideas???? Please help if you have any tips!!!!! We are doing the Prayer Safari. We have to make some animals yet which won't be hard, and I have to figure out what crafts to do each day. So far, I am thinking a Prayer Journal, Photo Frame, Plaque with Our Father on it, and I have to come up with two more. If anyone has done this VBS before and you have ideas let me know-my email is on the side.
The Lord is teaching me some things right now-too hard to explain at the moment. Pretty tough, but I know He will help me through it. I think the hardest part is yielding my will to His-and actually wanting Him to work this situation out in my life. There's a part of me that feels so justified and you know what-in the world's eyes, I probably am-but spiritually speaking, I am not! There is such a battle that rages on inside at times-the flesh and the spirit. I so want the spirit to win and yet I totally understand when the bible says our spirit is willing-we truely want to do what God wants us to do but our flesh is so weak I don't want it to win out. So, if you think of it, you can pray for me in this area. I want to have this victory and see the Lord glorified in it! :)

Off to look at some galleries :)
Have a blessed day in Him :)

I have been waiting

2006-04-25T20:43:00.000+02:00

for Jen Wilson's Summer Travels CD to go on sale ever since I heard about her designs. I happened to find a thread at 2Peas asking to see layouts using the CD and read that it was on sale!!! I couldn't get to SBB fast enough LOL!!! I was sooo excited!!! This is such a great CD!!! It took over 3 hours to download though-and that's with ADSL! I am so thrilled and the CD is so worth the money!! You should go over to SBB and get the CD -you won't be sorry. There is so much in there you could scrap forever with this!!!! Take a look at Digital Scrapbook Previews if you want to see exactly what you get in the CD.
We are going on a week long cruise to Mexico with DH's family and this CD is so perfect for the photos!! My daughter and I had a blast looking through all the fun stuff!
My eyes are painful tonight so I am not going to write too much-I think the pollen is too much right now.
We had our women's study tonight and my eyes were so bad. Great study though-we just finished up for this year and we will begin again in Sept. We were talking about God's faithfulness and having faith!! It's so easy to believe God for everyone else and their lives, but we doubt Him so much in our own!! It's interesting how the disciples who were always with Jesus panicked on the boat when the storm came and yet the centurion had so much faith that he believed Jesus could heal his son with just His Words!! Amazing!!! I want to have that kind of faith in my walk with the Lord!! Believing that what He says, He will accomplish!!!

Ok-gotta run-I feel like I only have one eye tonight!!
Soak in the Lord's goodness :)

2006-04-24T21:00:00.000+02:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend!! Spring is in full bloom over here and I am thrilled!!! I love the warm weather and it feels soooo good on my skin!!
We had quite a busy weekend-lots of work going on around the house-cleaning out rooms and drawers-always a thriller LOL!!! DH decided to paint which meant taking everything out of the kitchen and pulling apart things-cleaning cobwebs and all that fun stuff! I got really sick though from the paint smell. We discovered that there is ammonia in the paint-my lungs just LOVE that ---NOT!!!! So, Saturday my head was pounding and nothing was getting rid of it. I ended up going to bed at 8pm Sat and 9pm on Sunday!! It was wonderful to get so much sleep!!
Sunday we had church and it was great! I don't get to hear the message because I am teaching the kids, but we all have worship together and it's such a blessing!! Later on we had some people over for dinner and that was great-we had Mexican food!! YUM!! It's a rare treat for us here but we were able to find some tortillas and even corn ones. It is so expensive for them, but every now and then you just have to splurge!!! We don't buy clothes-just food LOL!!!
I took some photos of the kids yesterday at church-we had a blast! Made a layout today with one of them-

I used Shabby Princess's Flea Market Kit-doodle is by Lynnie Smith

I reread my post-I sound sooo boring today!! Oh well, I have writer's block LOL!!! Seriously, my mind is just racing and I actually just got off the phone with one of my best friends in the states and we talked so long-but it's such a treat!! So, I can't think straight now :) Enjoy the rest of your day-hopefully I will have a more adjective-induced blog tomorrow-hmm, is that an actual phrase??????Have a wonderfully blessed day!

Thank you

2006-04-21T20:25:00.000+02:00

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by and read my prayer request-thank you to those who prayed and those who left a comment. It means more to me than I can express!!
The couple who were robbed are hanging in there. They are such an example of trusting the Lord. Last night DH phoned them and the husband was saying how they got to share the Lord with the policeman who was there for a few hours!! Ok-that is an example to me because I would have been pacing up and down the flat freaking out!! There was a surveillance camera and the police were able to get a hold of it and saw only the back of the guy carrying the safe in a plastic bag. We don't know how in the world he could carry it because it was quite heavy. The guy had a key because he was working on the flat and the owners(sorry, I just don't want to use their names) -well, I will call the husband D and wife E. Anway, D gave 2 keys away while the guys were working-not unusual here-we have to do it all the time at the church. D was going to change the locks this week but never got around to it. Hopefully someone will recognize this person and turn him in. This was D and E's life savings. They were going to invest some of it and now it is gone. Also, their passports and other important papers are gone. E's jewelry also. So, continue to pray -pray the person will get caught and perhaps a miracle that they can recover most of the stolen property.
Today my daughter and I spent CLEANING!!! YUCK!!! My head is aching so bad right now because of all the chemicals. We had to take apart the kitchen-move the cupboards, stove and sink so we could clean behind all those places. Plus, DH decided he was going to paint the kitchen!! Ok-you have to know him. He was going to do this for like 3 years now and we are having company over on Sun after church so he said now he is motivated!! The kitchen is pretty tiny so it's not like it's a big chore-but just inconvenient. The pipes go along the wall so you can't just normally paint the wall. Plus, there is a radiator up against the one wall. He didn't end up getting to it today-but will tomorrow. I will have to leave the house because the paint odor kills my lungs. He painted just the entry way and I am already a bit dilusional LOL!!
So, the good part about cleaning today was we did it while listening to music. Usually I have to endure my daughter's music-it's Christian, but too loud for me. Today she put the tame stuff on for me-I was so blessed!!! I got so emotional listening to some of the songs. Just really hit me!! Chris Tomlin sings a song "Unfailing Love" and it made me think about who God is and how He loves me!! He's God-and yet He loves me. WOW!! Does it ever just hit you-the God of this universe-the One that placed each and every star where it is-the One who created all things-He loves us!! He listens to us-He cares about us!! So, I decided to do a layout with the song. I think if you click on it you can see it bigger and read the words.
Thank you again for praying for our friends. I know they appreciate it so much!!

Ponder the fact that Jesus loves you and His love is unfailing!!!!

I used Kelly Shults "Bliss Kit"

PLEASE PRAY

2006-04-20T18:01:00.000+02:00

To those of you who read this and pray, I am asking that you would please pray for a couple in our church. DH just received a phone call from the husband saying that they were robbed. This couple has just recently moved back to Hungary. They are 69 and 70 yrs. old. During the war, they fled as two single people not knowing one another and met at a refugee camp. Through the years, they married, worked so hard and raised a family. He became a businessman and just in the last year sensed God was calling them to return to their homeland. They just recently had their flat built and we were there for dinner last night. Everything looked so pretty and they were excited and talking to my husband about where and how they can help out in the church. They both are so remarkable-I was actually going to write about them tonight anyway-but now this! Please, pray and intercede-their safe was stolen and all her jewelry. This was their life savings!! It was a lot of money and the robbers hit a gold mine! We believe that since they just recently had many different workers building their flat that it is someone like that. Their flat isn't convenient to the public so in an hour while this couple was gone today is when it happened. We are so distraught for them.
Did you ever watch a movie from the olden days-this couple reminds me of something out of a movie-we actually encouraged them to write their story-even last night as they sit together her hand is placed on his-they are so beautiful inside and out. I asked God-why them-why not me? Why not someone else? What is the good that He will bring from this? I don't know-
Please pray also that the police will be honest. Here they don't have a great reputation. Bribes are big here and it takes nothing to have them look the other way. Pray the person (s) will be convicted and people will talk and the guilty will be caught. Pray that whoever did this will miraculously realize what they have done and repent!! Please, with man things are impossible, but with God, ALL things are possible.
Oh thank you-thank you Jesus that we have the power of prayer-it's all in His hands.
Thank you friends who read this and pray-God uses even these technical gadgets for His glory-all around the globe we can write and request prayer and people are praying! AMAZING!!!
On our way to church now-if I can I will write later tonight :)

3 Boxes down...

2006-04-18T20:12:00.000+02:00

a gazillion more to go!! Yes, we made it into the attic today to get a few boxes down and start deciphering what is in there. I tell you...it's so hard to go through things with my daughter at times. I want to throw out, she wants to keep. Of course what I think she should keep, she wants to get rid of. Ok-so her sister gave her a frame a few years ago and it's scratched up-yes, it's cute, but do you really need to pack it to take back to America with you>????? She won, it's in the "To Pack" box. Boooks, books, and more books!! She has so many but we are going to keep most of them here with us. It's too much weight to bring back anyway. Plus, she will not have a place to live except the college dorm so we can't bring too much.
Oh, I think I might cry thinking about that. My little girl, all grown up and we will be back in Hungary and she will be in CA. No home to go to during the holidays!! Ah, it hurts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have some terrific friends who will take her in and one in particular will be surrogate Mom to her. I love my friend dearly and she is really crafty and makes tons of stuff for our youth girls and sends them over. We are going to stay with her part of the time this summer so they can get to know each other better too.
I did a layout with Gina's sketch and I really like how it turned out. The little boy is from our church and he is so adorable. He has the greatest personality too!! We had a little egg hunt for the kids after church and they had a blast!!! It was so much fun!

I used Kelly Shults Spring Chick kit. It's so cute and I had fun using it! I also got a couple more kits over the weekend from Kelly's site.

So I think that will be it for a bit with treating myself!! I really like my new kits though! Hopefully I will do them justice with some nice layouts.

I haven't been doing my Blessing Board this week. Too much going on in the day but I will restart it as soon as I can. Maybe I will make it easier on myself and do it once a week while we are so busy packing stuff up. I have to clean the whole house spotless in a month too!! I know, it sounds like I must be such a slob if it takes that long to clean it -lol-but no, I am not that bad!!! Just don't ask my husband~ha ha!!!! No, seriously, I have to go through every piece of paper, and all kinds of stuff to make sure everything is in its place and in order before I leave. I just have a fear that when I go away, if something happens to me I don't want people to go through my things and try and figure out what is what or have things in such disarray!! I have had this fear for years!! Once, about 16 years ago, my husband and I went away for a few days and came back to our house having been robbed. It was horrible-especially being that it was a family member on drugs!! Anyway, it was one of those rare spur of the moment things where my husband came home and said-hey let's get away for a few day. So, I scurried about the house and packed quickly-leaving clothing on my bed and also my daughter's room was a bit messy since we had to be fast. Well, once we were back home and called the police, the policeman says-oh yeah, I see your house was ransacked!!! Yikes, I felt awful and said-well, actually Sir, all the clothes on the beds were left there by me!!! I felt so ashamed!!! So, there's my pathetic story of the day!!!

I added a link in case you want to email me. I finally figured it out!!!

Have a blessed day my friends :)

Easter Monday

2006-04-17T21:43:00.000+02:00

That is what it is called here in Hungary. It is a national holiday today. What happens is boys come over to your house and spray the girl with perfume and then you invite them in for a red foiled chocolate egg. Soooooo.....this morning one of the boys from church comes over with some perfume to spray my daughter and another girl that was spending the weekend. I did manage a couple photos (will make a layout and post this week) but for the rest of the day I was done in!! He sprayed so much perfume that my lungs just swelled up and I coughed for so long and was worn out the rest of the day! Oh the fun of asthma and allergies!!

Did you notice the new blog header? Well, I decided that I needed one to keep up for most of the summer since I will be in the states all summer and won't have my PSP with me to change it around each month. I really love Kimberly's designs!! I treated myself to a couple of goodies this weekend with her 50% off sale.

I got the cute Eastery add-on for Amalie but I can't find the preview! I think I deleted it by accident. Anyway, it's really cute!
Kelly Shults had a sale (I think it ends today) so I treated myself to a couple of kits over there too!! I will post them tomorrow because tonight I have about had it with trying to upload these kits. Blogger was taking forever!!! Took me so long and I am exhausted!!!!! Head on over to her store today if you haven't seen her work. It's terrific!
I think I will check out some inspiration now so I can get a couple pages scrapped this week. I have soooo much work to do!!!! We leave for CA in a month and I have to get my house prepared to be gone for so long. Procrastination is my middle name :)

Ok-have a blessed evening/day/whatever time zone you are in :)

Happy Easter!

2006-04-16T18:44:00.000+02:00

Just wanted to stop by and say Happy Easter to everyone and I pray it is a blessed day!! Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!!
HE IS RISEN!!! AMEN :)

paper-Nancy J Rowitz,
lily-Theresa Hernandez
He's Risen (recolored) Kimberly Giarusso

Good Friday and more photos

2006-04-14T23:35:00.000+02:00

Just a quick hello and wanted to post a layout about what Good Friday means to me. We had our Good Friday church service tonight and it was so blessed. We were once again reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. Everything He did was for us!
It's really late here and I have to get to bed-lots to do tomorrow and I really want to share my heart on my blog tomorrow so hopefully I will have time.
Please be warned that I have more photos from the Passion movie and some of you may not want to look at them. The song I used is one of my favorites and I wanted to do a layout around the song.

Today, reflect on what Jesus did for you-don't take the day for granted. Stop and think about what this day represents and truely know the love of Christ!

Again, if you don't want to see the photos, please don't scroll any further.
Have a blessed day!

used Dianne Rigdon's paper from "Love" kit

Warning!!!

2006-04-13T16:17:00.000+02:00

I wanted to start out by warning anyone reading today's entry that my layout will be quite graphic and some of you may choose not to look at it. It has a photo depicting Jesus from the Passion movie. I will post another warning after my writing before I post the picture.
I renewed my subscription to SBB today! YEAH!! And as I sit here, my hair is air drying LOL-(you have to read the post from a couple days ago to get it) It is so worth it!! Plus, it was only $10.00 this time. Last year I paid more but it was on sale today!! Yippee!!! I just love the site and all they offer to their customers!
I am excited to take some good photos this weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will be able to have the Church egg hunt outside Sunday. Last year we had to have it indoors and it wasn't as much fun. It is rainy and dreary here the past few days-we need some sun!!!
Went into the attic today and got summer summery clothes out. Maybe that will help move Spring along! Next week we have to go through EVERYTHING that is up there-so much junk get thrown up there~I have to figure out what is what and then throw stuff out!!!

I have just been reflecting so much today on the sacrifice Jesus made. I was reading different scriptures and it brought everything back into perspective for me. Think about this: have you ever gone and plucked your eyebrows or had the leg shaving treatment? (sorry, I don't know what the right term is) I have not done it, but I do have an occasional one hair growing from my leg somehow at times and I need to pull it out. It hurts!!! I have heard horror stories from women who get the hair from their legs off with wax. OUCH!!
I was reading from Isaiah and how they plucked the beard off of Jesus!!! Can you imagine the pain He endured! And through all that He went through, Isaiah says-that He opened not His mouth! They were beating Him, punching Him, spitting upon Him and mocking Him-and He never said a word!
How quick I am to answer back at an accusation or something untrue that I hear people say about me or my family. How I want to be more like Jesus!! Only by His grace!!!! I can't handle people not liking me or being mean-I don't know how I would endure such persecution. What I go through is nothing compared to so many! My husband was telling me that the soldiers would play a game. And they blindfolded Jesus and one of the soldiers would punch Him and then they would make Him try to guess which one it was -of course you would not get the answer right and they beat Him more! For you and for me He went through this!!

There wasn't a song I wanted to use today-nothing except scripture could express the sentiment I wanted to get across today.
I pray that your heart will be touched in an incredible way today.

W A R N I N G....graphic photo will follow...................please do not scroll down if you don't want to see it!!!!!!!!

Dianne Rigdon's paper and Jen Wilson overlay

Happy Wednesday

2006-04-12T18:38:00.000+02:00

My goodness this week is just passing by so quickly!!
I was supposed to go up in the attic today and start helping my daughter prepare to pack to move back to the states and also get our spring/summer clothing out....you guessed it....didn't happen. It's winter weather again and if I go to the attic it is so cold and there are no lights up there either. Plus, I have to crouch down the whole time I am up there because there are beams that always get in the way of my head! LOL

So, still have to go grocery shopping for our Easter dinner. We invited a couple college students over for the weekend who didn't have any plans. That will be fun for my daughter too. We may even go see a movie on Monday if we can find a good one in English. We have to travel to Budapest though because they don't show English ones here. It's a holiday here on Monday-the guys go to the girls houses (the one's they like) and spray them with the most putrifying perfume imaginable. Then, the girl is supposed to invite the guy in for cakes and give him a red foiled chocolate egg. My dd can't stand being home on this day so we told her we will go see a movie.

I wanted to give a link to a really cute Easter idea. It's the Resurrection Eggs. We had someone mail us the plastic eggs and we just fill them ourselves with the items. We'll use it for Sunday School on Easter. We did it a couple of years ago with the kids and they loved it!!! I know you can buy them already prepared, but we like doing it this way. Here is a link for the eggs. When we lived in the states, I used to have a Tea Party for my daughter and her friends every Easter vacation. One year, I made a scavenger hunt out of these items. I divided the girls into 2 teams and gave them the list of items they had to go and find. It was good because while they were out hunting, I could straighten up from the Tea and then when they returned we would talk about the items.

I did a layout today with the song Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus. There are more verses than what I wrote but I couldn't fit them all in the right way so I just put the first verse and chorus. I was thinking about what song to use today and started thinking about Jesus when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. The pain and the agony He endured. So much so that He asked His Father if there were any other way...and there wasn't. The only way there would be to make atonement for our sins was through the shedding of His blood. It was true then and it remains true to this day. There is NO other way! I thought about Jesus's next words...nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. Wow!!!! It's just so amazing to me!!!!! Sometimes the things we are asked to bear in our lives seem so overwhelming, so tragic even and maybe unfair. We want God to take these things from us-to find another way...have you ever found yourself praying to just really know Him better-and along comes some difficult trial or situation. He wants us to be able to say..not my will, but Yours be done. Jesus did ALL of this for us. To be loved by someone that much is incredible!!

I pray your day is filled with all His blessings!

I used Jen Wilson's
Everyday Bliss kit

2006-04-11T17:02:00.000+02:00

I found a new Digi Scrap site the other day. It's called Liddy's Loft. You MUST go check out the site. It appears to be quite new, but I love the look of the site and also the kits they have. Everything looks adorable! The neat thing is that they not only sell Scrapbook items, but Shabby home decor too!!! How can you not be excited about that!!!! Of course it does me no good since I couldn't have it shipped overseas-the freight would be way more than the items! So, go on over and take a look. I think you will be quite pleased!
My subscription to SBB is going to expire this month so I have to renew. I think I may be verging on pathetic because my hair dryer burned out the other day and so I was thinking "new hairdryer this month or SBB renewal" ha ha!! You guessed it, my hair is air blowing!! Is that such a phrase? I can't remember my English all that well!!! Not really, but since I live in Europe I use it as an excuse for my poor grammar these days!!

We were talking the last few days about going back to Sicily next summer. We went and met our relatives last summer and didn't even think about taking pictures of the town except for the relative's house. Of course we had an excuse-we drove all night for 16 hours and were quite out of it when we arrived. So, I think we need to return and take some great photos...I don't even have to twist DH's arm because he LOVES Sicily too!! It's probably my favorite place that I have ever been to. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Italy......GO!!!

I decided to do a layout with some songs that reflect the week of Easter in my heart. Events leading up to Jesus's death and resurrection. Today, I used a song that really tears at my heart. When I think of Jesus humbling Himself and washing the feet of the disciples it makes me love Him all the more! Jesus always led by example! Not just words!! How many leaders lead by words only and not example these days. I so want to follow in His example. My pride gets in the way too much at times. I don't ever want to think I am better than someone or unapproachable to the hurting, the poor, the weak. He is our Humble King.

I pray you have a wonderful day-filled with joy :)

Paper is from Iron Orchid Designs
Josie Cielo and Sally Griswold

Top Ten

2006-04-10T22:54:00.000+02:00

I wanted to get this posted tonight since I was able to finish it. I had so much fun coloring in the flowers!! It was like coloring. Anyway, this is from Keely's Top Ten Blog List. It's a challenge she started so we could either make a list or a layout with our list. I think each week the Top Ten will be something new. It's fun so go on over to this blog and check it out. I figured if I had to write some bad habits I might as well make it look a little cute :)
I used Khristy Shmidt paper and Angie Brigg's doodles.

Tagged

2006-04-10T07:51:00.000+02:00

Keely tagged me the other day and I am just getting around to answering.
this is what I am supposed to do:
I am supposed to write about someone I admire
There are many people living and not living that I admire dearly, but I have decided that since this is associated with digi-scrapping I would highlight someone in the digi community in hopes that others can get to know her as I have.
I will choose Melissa. I have never met her in person but I have grown to admire her for these reasons:

She is a young mother and wife
Moved away from America (including family, friends, security) to serve the Lord
Loves the Lord and you can just see in her blog writings how much she desires to know and trust in the Lord for everything.
She is creative and loves to scrapbook-I have noticed she's been on a couple of Creative Teams lately
When I read Melissa's blog I "see" her. I see someone who is real, tender-hearted and caring.

I have to choose 4 people to tag so I will choose Lisa, Barb, Mechelle and Janet. I have never done this before so hopefully I will pass it on the right way :)

Lots going on-getting prepared for Easter. We have some work to do at the church-painting and cleaning so that it looks nice by Sunday. It's the end of the month for us so it's a bit tight, but it will work out.

I will work on my BB later on today-it's an odd time of day for me to be writing on my blog-but I had to do it while I was thinking about it or I might forget LOL-getting old you know :)

Oh-I just remembered-I MUST go to a crop today-SBB has a subscriber's chat and I am always missing it because I mess up with the time zone thing. So, I think it is at 3pm. I will have to check. Last week I remembered the chat when it was over. Oh well, I might get it together one of these days!

Oh again-I wanted to make a special layout this week with some songs for Easter-maybe I will do that instead of the BB this week. I will work on it today and add it tonight sometime.

Have a blessed Monday!!!

Got Water???

2006-04-07T21:38:00.000+02:00

Well, we do!!! The river is overflowing with 9 meters of water already!! We have sandbags all around the area where the restaurants are and the Island is blocked off to vehicles. Fortunately, the water hasn't crossed the street so we are safe so far. My husband said it should start to decrease tomorrow so we will see. He got a few photos so I will try to upload them later on.
I am sure you have heard about the new "discovery"!! The gospel of Judas!!! Hmmm, well, of course I have an opinion-it goes against everything I read in my bible-both old and new testaments!! It will bring up debate I am sure-but what doesn't these days!! For people looking for a reason not to believe the Bible in its entirety, it's just one more piece of "evidence" for them. I don't debate the Bible with people. I know what I believe, I know why I believe and noone will ever be able to tell me any differently. It doesn't matter what they come up with next. So, it will be interesting to hear the talk-if there is much. Funny how it came out in the news right as we are focusing our attention on the death of Jesus!

I have 7 college kids on their way to my house in a few minutes so I can't type much tonight. Love these kids!! They are so fun and it's so awesome for my daughter to have them come over on some weekends. She has such a blast doing all the goofy teen stuff with them-mostly laughing over things I don't even understand-that's when I head up to my room and put on Little House on the Praire and fall asleep!!!!

Here's my BB for the day-after reading the news, I just thought about this verse in Isaiah 40:8-things change, people will change, our lives will go through many changes, but one thing remains-God's Word!! It never changes!!
Have a wonderful and blessed day today, tonight, whatever time zone you are in :)
Shine On :)

Gina Miller BYOBB cork board, Sweet Pea Kit by Colleen Lynch, Doodles by Suzanne Walker

2006-04-05T20:15:00.000+02:00

Our poor kitty had to go back to the vet today-a year after having taken her to get fixed we find out the vet didn't do it right. So, the poor thing had to have another operation today! It's so sad to watch her like this. She is quite the drama queen anyway so this doesn't help much!!! Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow! The other cat had to go in for a virus-fortunately it's really inexpensive to take them to the vets-and of course we weren't going to pay them for the 2nd operation!!! Such excitement huh!

We may be under water tomorrow or the next day. The Danube is overflowing and we are already seeing the city covered with sandbags. The one bridge in town is closed and over by the island is closed too. We are due for a few days of rain starting tonight so hopefully we won't wake up to a flood on our street!!! DH is going to take some pictures tomorrow so if they turn out decent I will post some.
I have a couple more links to share with you-but it will have to wait until tomorrow. I don't have the energy to open different screens and find them all-I know, I am lazy but I can't help it tonight!

That's all for tonight-not much in the blogging mood tonight but wanted to post my BB.
Shine on :)

In Memory

2006-04-04T14:30:00.000+02:00

Today marks the one year anniversary for our dear friends son who passed away. He was the cutest, most boyish boy I have ever met. He was only 11 years old when he died. It was a freak accident on a jungle gym. This event rocked my world in ways I couldn't imagine. We had stayed with this family in their guest house the summer before when we were back in CA. Every morning Johnny would come over (very early) and want to see if my husband was up. He was such a guitar player and my husband would play guitar with him. Johnny had so much life in him. The day he died, there on his bed lay his guitar and a Praise and Worship book that he used for practice. When we were told of his death I couldn't understand God and His ways. It shook the core of all I believed in all these years. I had to prepare to teach at a women's conference that weekend and the theme was about God's Love. It was such a struggle for me to even study for this because at the time I didn't understand a loving God taking away such a precious child who had so much to offer. Why did He want him in Heaven rather than here on the earth. And how could I possibly teach other's on God's love when I struggled with it myself at the time. I realized I would never have the answers to my questions. But by faith I had to believe -I had to believe that when God says ALL things work together for good-that even through this tragedy God would work out good. How He would, or even when he would, I don't know. But that is where faith comes in. Trusting that which you don't understand and that which you can't see with your eyes.
My heart aches and cries for the loss of this little one. You see, because of medical reasons I could never have a baby. And the Lord blessed us with adopting our daughter. Years later, we heard about Johnny's situation and we wanted to adopt him. He looked like everything I had imagined that a child of my own would look like. He was only about 2 and just so cute, so blond and so boy. But, it wasn't meant to be. Instead the Lord chose one of my best friend's family to adopt him. It was such a trial for me and I was jealous, angry at times and even then questioned the will of God. But, my friend and I always could talk so openly and cry openly together. Through the years that followed, I saw how perfect God's will was and they were truely the right family for him. And then, last year, this happened. I haven't been able to see my friend since Johnny passed away. But, we will see each other next month and over tea we will remember and we will cry and mourn together.
I put this song and video on my blog today. If you are reading this then I would just ask that you take a few minutes, (I am so sorry for those on dial-up but I wanted this video today) please watch the video. Listen to the lyrics. Whatever you think about Jesus, if you don't believe in Him, if you doubt Him, please listen anyway. Put aside your doubts for the next few moments and allow this song and the video to touch your heart. If you are a Christian, then also listen and allow the Lord to minister to you through this. Allow Him to show you that He is who He says He is ~ and all you may be holding onto in your life, all the pain and the questions, give them over to Him. Life isn't easy-Christian or not a Christian, the bible says it rains on the just and the unjust. In this world Jesus says, We will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. There is a real burden in my heart today that someone who is reading this needs the touch of Jesus. I wouldn't say this if I didn't believe it.
I made this layout for the day. It was just so simple and beautiful to me. I bought the April DM Magazine and this kit was in it. I love this paper that was in the kit!!! The moment I saw it I knew it was the one to use for the lyrics of this song. ( I think Michelle Coleman made this paperand the design comes on it already) The song is called "Cry Out To Jesus" by Third Day. I pray you enjoy it :)

Have a blessed day and if you have children, give them a big hug today :)

I Made the TOP 10!!!

2006-04-03T19:58:00.000+02:00

I am soooo excited about this!! Can you believe it??? After all these years, I finally won something. Ok-I will admit, it wasn't today, but a day ago that I was in the top 10-!
Do I have you in such suspense that you just can't stand it anymore....are you biting your nails, tapping your fingers on the computer desk, shaking your leg a kilometer a minute??? Just say it Margie PUHLEAZE just say it-tell us your wonderful news....top 10 hmmm.....what could it be?? No, it's not the Digi Blog thing (bottom 10 on that LOL) not top 10 wives or even top 10 pastor's wives....spill it already..................................I made the top 10 list at 2Peas. What's that you say...you didn't know there was a contest? Well, there wasn't. But I decided to make up my own little contest and I was the winner at one point and slowly declined in rank. I was one of the top 10 OLDER people who responded to the question "How Old Are You?". Yep, that's right, all 11 people above me were younger than me. And for awhile I was one of the 10 oldest posters :)
Do you think at this point I have completely lost my mind? You are right!!!!!! LOL!!!!! I have not been feeling good for over a week now. I didn't want to blog and just say-yep, another sicko day..so I didn't. But, today I tell you-still sick. My coughing has just been horrid and it is weakening me throughout the day. I think it's turned into bronchitis which doesn't mix too well with the asthma.
We had a busy Saturday. My daughter sings in a choir and they had a concert on Sat afternoon. We had students here for the weekend and had to cook for lots of hungry boys! It was fun though. We worked on props for the VBS and they helped clean the church. Today I did a bunch of stuff for VBS. I have to translate all the bible verses from English to Hungarian. That is initially what I used my PSP for. I never knew that the investment would open a whole new world for me with Digi-scrapping!!

Here's my BB for today. I am always amazed at what God shows me each day!! He is so faithful!!
Have a beautiful day!

Frogs

2006-03-31T20:44:00.000+02:00

are in my throat!! Atleast that is what it sounds like!! I have been coughing so much the past few days between having some kind of virus and then my asthma. It's not a fun combination! My throat feels so raw and there is nothing to take here!! I do have some Night Time that someone sent me but obviously I can't take it during the day. Plus, I don't know if it is actually good for my asthma. Who cares though huh-atleast it will let me sleep LOL!!! Plus, when I have my asthma attacks it is such a huge episode. I really scare people around me because it is such a horrendous sound but it makes me dizzy and so exhausted afterwards. I was taking ibupropen (can't spell tonight either) and then read that it's not good to take if you have asthma-oh I can't wait to get to the states and go to the doctor!!!!
Anway, I have no motivation whatsoever to do any scrapping. I am too tired to think about it. I start, then don't end up finishing anything!!! I did get my BB finished today. Didn't really get creative but I wanted to get it finished since I hadn't done one for yesterday. Most times I don't know what I am going to write for the day but God is so faithful and always reminds me of something to be thankful for each day and to see how I am blessed!!
Today we have guests for the night. They are actually students from the bible college. They come and help with the youth group sometimes and they are a real blessing. There are 8 that came tonight-and I was sort of worrying about feeding them all. They love to have a home cooked meal and really enjoy cooking for them when they are here. But, this is a rough month because we are doing so much construction at the church and of course we have our winter heating bills too! But, God!!!! So as I was creating today's Blessing Board I was reminded that God provides for everything! Sometimes I feel like the widow who's oil never ran out. I really can't explain it -how we continually have enough food to feed whoever shows up at our house. We had a delicious meal too!
I made pasta with chicken and pesto sauce!! So yummy!!! I made some foccacia bread with garlic and rosemary too. That is one of my favorite things to make. Ever since we went to Rome a few years ago I am hooked on the stuff. We stayed at a flat that was right above a bakery. Every morning at 4am we awoke to the greatest aromas!!
Well, I will bid you a good evening for now!! I am going to check around the internet for awhile while everyone is at youth group. I love my alone time :)
Here's today's BB. If you ever want to know the credits and I don't have them (like tonight because I am too tired to write them) please just drop me a note in the comments. You can drop me a hello anytime LOL :)
I really appreciate those of you who leave such sweet words for me!! Brightens my day :)

Have a blessed evening-think of how you are blessed today no matter what you might be going through :)

As I Promised

2006-03-29T19:49:00.000+02:00

I will have some links for you to check out today.
I didn't get my BB finished, ok, honestly, I didn't even get it started today. Still battling a fever. Plus I know I am sick because I slept until 9am!! Two times in 2 weeks I think it is that I have slept past 6:30am!!
Anyway, I tried to make some layouts with PSP today but just couldn't get it to work. Nothing was feeling right and I just kept erasing and deleting everything. Finally, I closed the program and said "enough is enough"!!! Ha ha!! Then, I realized how much I LOVE digi scrapping even more than ever. Imagine this happening to me if I was paper scrapping! Mind you I am not a great scrapper, but I do enjoy it. So, if it's with paper, I would have wasted not only time, but real live products!! I LOVE the delete button!!!!

I was thinking so much today about my walk with the Lord and I so want to grow in Him! I really want to have the attitude and the compassion that Jesus has towards people. I think I do alot of times, but not towards people I don't get along with or don't see eye to eye with. You know how you can not really care for someone and so every little thing the person does or says gets on your nerves. Well, I am really bad about stuff like that. I start to nitt-pick everything in my mind about them. It's so wrong and only through the Lord can my heart change this heart of mine. I have to be willing to yield though-willing to give up my stubborness and allow Him to do the work He chooses to do in my heart. And I have to admit it's usually stupid petty stuff I am talking about here. This is not about people that are really doing things wrong-just different personalities. People that I should be able to love for who they are-doesn't mean I have to agree with them or even like the way they do things, but I shouldn't be judging them in my heart like I tend to do. Praise the Lord for His longsuffering and His willingness to help us!!

Ok-so here you go.....some links to people's blogs and sites I have been checking out lately. I don't see them on the usual boards so you may not have heard of them and now you can check them out. In no particular order....(do I sound like a tv announcer?) LOL Khristy Schmidt. Check out her blog. She has amazing "gifts" on there. Unfortunately, and I mean unfortunately, I think she had to change the way people receive them because so many would download the gifts and not leave a little Thank You!! That is really sad!!! I know people are busy, but come on, we're not talking about anything difficult here!! She sells at TDS. Now, you know that as a PW and one who serves on the mission field I am not able to spend too much...but I do try to get a little something from those who treat us when I can. So....I went and bought a couple of her kits. You MUST check her stuff out!! I have tried for 20 minutes to upload a photo of the kits but once again this website is not cooperating!!...so take my word for it and go on over :)
Another new person I found is Janel. You can check out her blog and also her store is called The Digi Shoppe.
I haven't been able to shop there yet, but it's on my "next up" list LOL. Janel has a sketch challenge and some other things going on over at the site so be sure to check it out. I love her kits-they are so bright and cheery. She has an 80's challenge going on right now that sounds fun! I tried to get the 80's out of my head but it's not working :) Once you are on her site, there are some links to other blogs that are fun too.

So there you have it. I will post a few more later this week. Don't want the post to be too long! So, have fun at these places and make some layouts!!!

Have a blessed Wednesday!
Shine on :)

A man's pride will bring him low
But the humble in spirit will reain honor.
Proverbs 29:23

This and That

2006-03-28T22:12:00.000+02:00

Rough battle today with my asthma. I am so glad for the Spring but boy oh boy it's getting to my lungs something fierce!! It just seems to get worse these days. I am definitely going for a check up when we get to the states.

I found out we will be in CA when Spirit West Coast is happening. I am so excited about this. The last time we were there (2 yrs ago) we were given tickets for the 3 day concert. It was awesome!!! So many great Christian bands were playing. This time we are hoping we get to go-or atleast my daughter can go for two of the days. It's going to be HUGE!!! So much fun too!!

DD and I did our workout again. We are on a 2 day roll!!! YIPPEE!!! I can only do so much of it before coughing away but it still feels good to exercise! Living over here, we walk a lot so that helps a lot too. Hopefully I will walk with my friend this summer. She power walks though and I don't know that my lungs will be able to handle it. We'll see.

Taught women's study tonight- Sooo challenging at times but God is so faithful. I love to teach His Word but I am sort of like Moses asking God to choose someone else. We are learning so much about faith and obedience!! They go hand in hand!

I'll have to put up some links for you tomorrow. Maybe I will make a little treasure hunt of links HA HA!!! Not really, I will just put up some links for you to check out some blogs I have recently found and a few new designers and a couple different stores. Atleast they are new to me!!! Check back tomorrow and I will have them up for you.
Have a blessed Tuesday!!
Everything by Gina Miller except set of three "Collage Flowers" by
Donna Rafferty

To show partiality is not good
Because for a piece of bread
a man will transgress.
Proverbs 28:21

Sickies

2006-03-27T20:18:00.000+02:00

Yep, that's what we have in our house once again!! It seems that so many are sick this year and it's just weird!! We are just not getting over it! I have been running a low grade fever for over a week now and today my daughter has one. It's just so strange!!
I went to bed at 9pm last night!! That is an amazing record for me. Usually I am up until midnight or so. And,,,,I didn't even get up until 7:45am!! It felt so good to sleep so long. I was surprised I could sleep for so many hours! Had a good work out today too. DD and I are doing a video workout. It's such a crack-up because it is from the 80's so everyone is dressed in fushia or some other bold color!! LOL!!! I can only do 1/2 hour though because of my asthma and I get too out of breath. But, it's a good aerobic and fitness workout for us.
I am so struck with the news story about the woman who shot her husband that was a minister. It just sent chills down my spine when I heard about it. I feel so bad for the congregation right now. They really need our prayers. I can't imagine something like that happening and the people just being in shock! I read about what people said about how "perfect" the family was. No family is perfect!! I thought back to this one family I knew in church and thought they were "the perfect family" and sure enough they weren't. You hear about things all the time-even in the church. It's so grieving for all involved!
Today I made my BB about digi-designers. I was really thankful as I looked through my collection today and thought about how many designers there are and how sweet a lot of them are! I can't think of another industry that reaches out to their customers like Digital Designers! I just love the fact that I found this hobby!!! It has really been a thrill for me to get into this and learn about how to make the pages on my computer. Being over here we have no scrapbook supplies and this has turned out to be the perfect solution for me! I can't afford to buy everything I want (most of us probably can't) and I just love the fact that there are beautiful designs out there for us to try this craft with!
I was reading about all the stealing going on of designers kits and I just cringed. I can't figure out why people would do this. Why don't people view it as stealing just because it's on the internet. To me it's the same like people who download music and videos and all that stuff on the internet when they shouldn't. It's stealing and there is NO rationale for it!!! NONE!! There's simply NO excuse for stealing!!! It just ruins it for everyone!! Anyway, I think we need to remember also to thank the designers when they give out their designs for free to us. I remember when I first started all this I had nooooo clue as to what I was doing!! I just saw a "download here" link and downloaded. Never thought about saying "thank you" !! Imagine that-ugh!! But, now, I am more mature LOL and understand the whole thing and always try to say "thank you" when I can. It's just the polite thing to do :)

So, here's my BB for today! I think you can click on it if you can't read it and it might be a bigger picture.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
Proverbs 27:6

Woke up to sad news

2006-03-26T19:50:00.000+02:00

today. We had our time change last night so we lost one hour of sleep. I much prefer Oct when we turn the clocks back an hour!! Sundays are really long days for us so that extra hour would be nice! DH and I both were up early and the phone rang. It is rare for people to have land lines here-most everyone uses cell phones, but we had to get one so we can have internet. So, when the phone rang, we knew it must be important and from the states because everyone here will call us on our cell phones. Sure enough it was DH's Mom. DH's first cousing died last night. They grew up like brothers. It's really sad.
Needless to say, we won't be able to go back for the funeral. If we weren't going back to the states in May then he probably would go, but it isn't going to work out this time.
This is the 4th person that we are close with that has died since we've been here. I haven't been able to go to any of the funerals. It's a hard thing. You want to be with your friends and family and mourn together. When we return in May we will see friends who have lost a husband, a child, grandmother and now our cousin. I think it's going to be a difficult thing to deal with-seeing the families without the other person.

Sorry this isn't exciting news. I am just sad today. Sad for my husband and our family. After the news, life had to go on as normal and DH finished preparing the message to teach this morning. He taught from Ecclesiastes today and it was so fitting. There is a time and a season for everything. We never know what tomorrow holds.

Didn't get around to my BB today. But I am blessed-blessed to be alive and able to enjoy the things God has given me. I've been blessed with today and I am thankful for that!

Look around your surroundings today and find something you can thank God for!! I am sure you will be able to find many things :)

Shine On :)

Today is....

2006-03-24T20:26:00.000+01:00

Friday of course!! The house is all quiet now and it's pretty nice!! DH is teaching youth group and DD is in youth group!! Makes for a relaxing Friday night :) I have been so tired lately it's unbelievable. Today I was so ready for a nap but time wouldn't allow for one. I have been staying up past midnight and still get up around 6 or 7 am. Why? I have no idea!!! I am not one that can just fall back asleep very easily. Hopefully tomorrow I will sleep in a bit because we have to turn the clocks ahead this weekend and I am so not looking forward to that!!
I went to the women's shelter this afternoon and did some crafts with the kids. I am so glad that we were able to ship all our stuff when we moved! I had tons of craft stuff and stamps when we lived in the states and brought it all over with us. Good thing because there isn't a great selection here and what there is is quite expensive. So today the kids made cards with rubber stamps and fun foam. I think when I get to the states this summer I am going to order from Oriental Trading. It makes it so easy when everything is in one kit. The prices are good too so we will see what I can muster up. There's a brother and sister there that were thinking back in Dec they would be moved out by Feb but now it is May. They are so cute and I feel so bad for them. I am really glad I get to spend this time with them. It's a bit tough though because I can't speak fluent Hungarian and it makes it hard to have a conversation. But, we do our best and kids love when adults are stupid so it's good! LOL
I put a layout up over at SBB. I attached it to my BB below but you can see the full one here. There's just something about this photo of my daughter that I love. I had a friend scan some photos for me so you will see a lot more layouts from years past. I wrote the lyrics to a song I haved loved for about 10 years by Cheri Keaggy. It's so exciting to digi-scrap now and be able to include the lyrics on my pages! I wrote the lyrics out over at SBB if you want to read them. To me, they are such special words for my daughter.
I am enjoying making my Blessing Board each day. It causes me to think of what I am blessed with each day no matter what my day may have been like. It's so easy for me to whine and complain about little things and I want to be mindful of what I have been given each day!

So, that's it for tonight. My eyes are bugging me today. I went and got glasses for reading a few months ago and it's wonderful but I am wondering if I need to wear them more often. Maybe I just need a good 10 hours sleep and that would solve the problem!!

Have a fabulous Friday :)

Board and some elements from Gina Miller paper and other elements from Melany Violette

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. Proverbs 24:17

Short and sweet

2006-03-23T23:13:00.000+01:00

Not me, but today's post :)
Felt under the weather today. I have been running a low grade fever off and on for weeks now and my asthma has been acting up all day!! So.....needless to say, I am exhausted and lucky for you it's another short post day!! Ha Ha!!! I will probably write a book tomorrow LOL!! :) I put today's BB together rather quickly due to the fact I don't feel well. But, I realized these are just a few of the things we are blessed with in our lives that we so easily take for granted!

I pray you have a Tremendous Thursday!!
Shine ON :)

2006-03-22T23:37:00.000+01:00

Had a long but fun day today-we went to Budapest. It's late and I am tired so not much of a post today. I wanted to put up my BB for the day though. The picture of my daughter is from 2nd grade. She is now a Sr in HS!! Time goes by so quickly!! I have it up in the gallery at SBB if you want to see the bigger version and also the credits. It's here. I had read some posts about families whose children have cancer or some other fatal disease and it just reminds me to remember how blessed I am to have my daughter with me!

I'll write about today-tomorrow. I am too tired to write much--ha ha---this will go down in history as my shortest post ever!!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday...it's 11:40pm here so I have to try to get my beauty sleep (see you next year LOL)

Credits for BB are Gina Miller BYOBB kit, Kimberly Giarusso ll paper, Aunty Pea alpha

OUCH

2006-03-21T14:31:00.000+01:00

Yep, that's right...I banged my head really hard this morning. It still hurts this afternoon but the bump is just small. You might think I have some heroic act to tell you about which leads to my head-bumping experience....alas....none!! Just your plain ole bend down, get up and BANG!! Right on the corner of the synthesizer! (you know I have been around British English so long now that I just can't remember when I am supposed to use an "S" or "Z") So, that is my trauma today. Didn't even get that much sympathy from DH-more like-"oh~what did you do this time?"~I am so accident prone it's not funny! (literally) I always have a bruise or two somewhere on this aging body of mine LOL

We received our e-tickets yesterday and are so excited about going to CA!! I have seen so many "To Do" lists on the blogs lately and I would shutter to think how long mine would look if I wrote out everything that needs to be done before May 16th!! YIKES!! Oh well, we can only do what we can do right!! Not that the new Digi Blog Site is helping me much! I used to think I was spending too much time reading about 10-15 blogs per day-ok so now I just go to this site and read through over 100!!!!! Is it any wonder our "To Do" lists are so long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If anyone who uses Blogger knows how to add an email link to the site can you let me know. I can't figure out where to do this. TIA

I found such another neat Digi Site-ELEMENTAL SCRAPS (You can click on the link I have to the side). They have some really cool free gifts and other great kits available. Go check them out!

Have you seen the latest from Dianne Rigdon? She has the s-w-e-e-t-e-s-t Purse and Template for sale right now. It's only $1.50 and it is a MUST buy!!! These are so cute for so many ideas. I have to get this this week myself. I have seen people make little party favor bags with them and also photo albums with them. They would be so adorable for a girl's Tea Party or shower favor....etc,,,etc,,,, It would be fun to see what people make with these!!!
We have women's study tonight so I prepared for that today too. It's such a good study and we are learning so much through it! Great encouragement!!

Have a great and glorious TUESDAY!

Gina Miller's BYOBB kit, Floral doodles by Kim Giarusso, "Joy" by Amy Teets, Blessed alpha Ronnie McCray, fonts are Karen's Hand, Barbara and Leftovers

Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. Proverbs 21:23

Happy Monday

2006-03-20T14:20:00.000+01:00

A day of rest!! And to make it even better it seems as though Spring has arrived right on schedule!! The sky is blue and when I went outside and it was WARM! So exciting! I hope it lasts longer than a day! My daffodils and freesia bulbs are starting to bloom. I am hoping they will bloom by Easter!

We had some guests at our house this weekend. We were so blessed by their visit. Both the husband and wife have had amazing miracles in their lives. One had cancer and was treated successfully and the other had a brain tumor and was completely healed!! It's so amazing to hear these testimonies. We are reminded of the wonder of our GOD! Both were just seeking whatever the Lord had in mind whether it meant healing here on earth or God would choose to take them home where they would be healed. He chose to do it here and now they are seeking His will for their lives. Such a testimony of faith too!

I added the Top Digi Blogs link to my site-you can click on it and find so many AWESOME blogs!! I was amazed at the different blogs I found. Lots I hadn't heard of before. I am just going to use the site for my list of daily blog reading. Try it out-you will find some great sites. I added mine to the list so some people might find mine and who knows...might even like it LOL!

Today I "launch" my BLESSING BOARD on the blog. I am enjoying this and believe it or not-it is quite a challenge for me. It's serving two purposes. One is that I am being mindful of the blessings I do have and to be thankful for them. Also, I am creating a memory to one day give my daughter. It's a bit challenging with the scrapping-I will have to learn more creativity! But, I am up to the challenge. Gina's BYOBB is perfect for this and I am sure I will be using a lot of different elements and papers I have collected. If you are up to it, you should try it to. Doesn't have to be fancy, just something to keep us focused on what we have been given and not always thinking of what we don't have!

fonts used:Barbara hand Al Sandra Beach Type

Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
Proverbs 20:5

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

2006-03-17T14:35:00.000+01:00

A few posts ago I was mentioning about the Digital Club over at Digital Freebies. Well, I was on such a Kim roll because I have just been "discovering" her kits and I failed to mention the other great kit that is being offered with the Club Price (very inexpensive price too) I think it was like 5.00 for both kits. So, here's a pic of the other kit by Lauren Grier.

The kits are for the month of March so go pick them up while you can!

I am going to get my BBOBB(good thing I have the extra B there or I might get in trouble lol) I am really excited to use this on my blog everyday as a "Blessing Board". Eventually, as the pages progress, I will be able to print them and have a Blessing Book to keep and pass along to my daughter :) Can't wait!!! Gina is having an AMAZING sale at SBB so don't delay-go and shop!!

We are having a couple visit us this weekend. We are praying they may want to come and help out in the ministry here. It's just my husband and I for the past 5 years here and we can sure use some extra people! There are some people in the church that help out, but noone is available full time and we are at the point we need someone like that. Plus, the guy speaks the language (he's a native so I hope so :)) That will be a terrific blessing if they would come here! I need help with the kid's ministry and women's ministry so that would be wonderful. We'll see what happens.

I think we are going to book our airline tickets this weekend!! YIPPEE!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited that we will be going to CA!!! It's been 2 years and I miss everyone so much!!

I better go now-going to the women's shelter today so I have to figure out a craft to make with the kids.

Have a blessed day today !

Better is a dry morsel with quietness
than a house full of feasting with strife.
Proverbs 17:1

Hmmmm????

2006-03-16T13:29:00.000+01:00

You know, it's so hard to think of a title. Most times I never really know what I am going to write until I actually start to write!! I never thought life could be so complicated LOL

Woke up this morning to more snow although it stopped as quickly as it started. I am hoping this is the end!! So ready for SPRING!

I read some really touching blog entries this morning. One was Ronnie's-please keep her and her family in your prayers.
Another one is Amanda's. I was so moved by reading her entry! There's so much fluff in life and yet we are reminded sometimes about the real life stories that are out there. Please go and read these two blogs and then add them to your favorites because they are just great!
Both of these women are awesome designers too so you won't be disappointed!!

I decided to uninstall the PSE 4.0 from my computer-just not into it right now. I downloaded the trial of PSPX and I am really enjoying that. I think I will upgrade to that and stick with what I know how to use. I have also decided that I am going to save, save, save so that I can buy a new camera this summer when we are in the states. It sort of dawned on me that when I look through the galleries, it's 95% the photos that stand out the most. My camera is lagging big time-but I have learned about the 'curves' in PSPX now-see, I am learning something new now LOL. I just love the toothbrush affect they have too! So much easier than me trying to paint each tooth!! My teeth will probably never be so white so this is a great tool. I really destroyed my teeth years ago when I was killing myself dieting!! If you do that (and if you do, you already know what I am talking about) DON'T!!!!!!!! The effects will stay with you for years for what you do to your body!! Oh my, how do I go from scrapping to dieting talk----I am really pathetic! :)

If any of you reading have done the Prayer Safari VBS and have any craft suggestions, would you mind leaving me a note in the comments-I would really appreciate some ideas that the kids could do. I have the curriculum but not the crafts part.

As soon as I have some time I am going to update my blog links so you can see if there are any you don't read. Maybe I will get to it this weekend-I know you are waiting impatiently hee hee!

Here's a lo I did yesterday. It's of my cute little niece from a few years ago. I used Kimberly G's AMAZE kit at Digital Freebies. I am practicing different angles and what nots (is that a word). Just the basics to many of you pros, but I am still learning! :) I pray your day is blessed no matter what the circumstances around you may be!! Remember the Lord is faithful and He gives us the strength and everything else we need to accomplish whatever He has put before us this day!

How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver!
Proverbs 16:16

Scattered Thoughts

2006-03-14T20:30:00.000+01:00

What a day today was!! Nothing major, just a lot of the little stuff. Sometimes I think it's better if it's one MAJOR thing rather than lots of odds and ends KWIM??
I was doing my usual blog reading and I was reading Andrea's blog and it really hit home. You can read her blog to find out what she wrote about. My DH is a Pastor too and I emphathized with some of her things she is going through. It caused me to think about this whole online blog thing and writing on message boards and stuff. It's been so theraputic for me. I treasure the fact that I can read someone asking people to pray for them for a job, a sick family member, whether we know them or not!! It's such a blessing to be able to pray for so many different people I would never have known except through digi scrapping!! Also, being so far away from my country it makes me feel a little connected. Plus, I have never had a hobby that I enjoy so much as digi-scrapping. And believe me, I know I am low on the creativity pole-but it doesn't matter to me. I enjoy it and my family and friends love what I do and that's what matters!! So anyway, (gosh, when I read what I write I see how horrible my grammar is on this blog!!!) if you ever just want to say hello-feel free :)

We had women's study tonight. It's so challenging some nights for me to teach when the women are tired but it always ends up good. The Lord is faithful!!! But, I am tired now. My mind closes up after 8pm :) There is a situation that I liken to a power struggle going on right now with some women and I am not one that deals with these things correctly. I mean I do, but only because I am totally in prayer about it so that I can deal with it right. Otherwise, I am the type that just gets mad and ignores the person. So, God is teaching me to confront situations and do it His way and not be so afraid of it. Sometimes women just downright scare me!! LOL
Hmm, what else can I rattle on about-too much LOL-but I won't -just have to tell you this......
Miss Creativity (moi) decided it would be a neat idea to download a free trial of PSE 4.0 Ok-it's downloaded and on my computer now. Well, how come I can't even copy and paste????? I go to copy a paper and paste it to another and the copy thing doesn't even light up??? I just can't believe this is happening-it's the most basic thing in the world!! I am actually going to have to find a tutorial for copying and pasting! DUH!!!!! Time to dye my roots :)

I hope your day is filled with all the good things the Lord has for you today :)

Every wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands
Proverbs 14:1

Snow

2006-03-13T18:11:00.000+01:00

Well, what can I say...(a lot if you know me lol) Here we were thinking that Spring was right around the corner and we wake up to a blizzard of snow this morning! I can't take the snow anymore-please just go away :) By this afternoon it turned more to wet snow which is fine because that means no shoveling!! That makes for a happy couple! It's still snowing and it's 6pm!!

Oh, and bad news-well, not for you but for me. I am chatting on Skype last night with my friend in the states and I linked her to that beautiful dress I was hoping to get. So she says-"hey how can you fit in that?"-and at first I was thinking-wow, does she think I have gained weight and can't wear XS anymore-but then she was reading it's a size 6-8 and she says "There's no way you can wear it, it's too big". So, I look at the description again and sure enough it's that size. So, it must be too long, (actually it's been over 2 years) since I have bought a dress and didn't realize the name of the dress is IN-XS so I am thinking the size is XS-what's a girl to do. I am so bummed about this. But, there must be that perfect dress out there for me somewhere. My friend is going to ask around and see if anyone has formal stuff.
I don't want to have to spend much because DH needs a new suit desperately. He had two really nice ones from when we lived in CA. But now they are with moth bites. He had to wear one last year for a funeral and so he took a Sharpie and colored it-he's too much!!!! Hopefully he can find a new one for a good price and have it last long. I have to stock up on moth stuff when I get back to CA and bring it back with me. They just started to sell it here, but I don't like the ones they have.
I have so much work to do and I am being such a procrastinator!! I have to get so much stuff ready for VBS. I am not going to be here when the team comes so I have to do all the art work and props before we leave for CA. Plus, I have to figure out a party or two for my daughter. The real fun is going to be packing DD's stuff to bring back to CA. How am I going to survive that one-she thinks she is going to bring back so much and I have to convince her that less is better-explain that to an almost 18 yr. old!! Ha ha!! Wish me luck.

Well, haven't scrapped in a bit-haven't really felt the groove-but I have to do Gina's sketch for this week because I love the sketch. Oh-I just realized I can save the sketch and do a layout another time-I am sooooo bad and soooo lazy today!! Oh-and you should go to her blog because she is so sweet and offered the curvy template to help make it easier!! Is that awesome or what!! Can't imagine the hours (literally) it would take me to try and make a curve the right way. Yes folks when I say I am digitally challenged I am not exaggerating!!LOL

I am going to continue on in my relax mode now-enjoy your day and count all of your blessings!!

There is one who makes himself rich
yet has nothing.
And one who makes himself poor,
yet has great riches.
Proverbs 13:7