Appreciate Your Pastor

Happy Wednesday! It's time for another challenge at Word Art Wednesday. This week we're focusing on Romans 10:15, "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" October is Pastor Appreciation month and this verse fits right into the theme. As a pastor's daughter and now a pastor's wife, I have a "behind the scenes" knowledge of the commitment and sacrifice required of a pastor who truly seeks to live a godly life and encourages his flock to do the same. Rejoicing with and encouraging those who are trying to live a godly life is not too difficult. However, it takes self-discipline, courage and fortitude to help those who are hurting, to gently but firmly guide those who are headed in the wrong direction back to the right path, and to continue to preach the truth of God's Word in a culture that encourages compromise. If your pastor is such a man of God, rejoice and thank the Lord for the wonderful blessing He has given you. Then pray daily for your pastor. He needs your prayers more than you realize. Pray also for his family. They make a lot of sacrifices as well as they share the time and attention of the head of their home with the rest of the church congregation. Then do all you can to encourage, support and help your pastor. If you really want to shock him, in a nice way, ask him, "Pastor, what can I do to help?" He will be very thankful and you will encourage his heart.

Our sponsor this week is the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store. Due to their generosity, I was able to play with one of their stamp sets and one of their die sets this week. For the background of the card, the Sunflower Season clear stamp set was used to stamp the sunflower image repeatedly with VersaMark ink. The images were embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder. This gave the background a subtle metallic detail without being too feminine. One of the sentiments from the set was used on the front of the card. The two strips across the card front are pieces of card stock that were heat embossed twice with two layers of the same Liquid Platinum embossing powder. The card front design is from MOJO Monday Sketch 524. I stuck pretty close to the original sketch this time.

The left interior panel has this week's verse double matted and adhered over some banners made by using the Fishtail Sentiment Banner dies from Stamp Simply. This die set comes with so many different sizes of sentiment banners. I reach for them again and again.

The right side of the interior has a double matted panel where I'll write a message to my husband. I so appreciate his faithfulness, integrity and the way he lives out when he teaches and preaches -- even at home.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill (Peanut Fudge), Recollections (Cream), Cor'dinations (Tan Pearl for card base and Krafty)
Patterned Paper: Echo Park (A Perfect Autumn 6 x 6 pad)
Stamps: WORDart by Karen, Stamp Simply (Sunflower Season clear stamp set)
Ink: VersaMark embossing ink, VersaFine (Black Onyx)
Tools/Embellishments: Stamp Simply dies (Fishtail Sentiment Banners), Divinity Design Dies (Double Stitched Circles, Double Stitched Rectangles), Spellbinders dies (Standard Circles Large), Ranger embossing powder (Liquid Platinum)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
MOJO Monday Sketch 524 - sketch design
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut's October Patterned Paper Challenge - Must Use patterned Paper
Let's Craft & Create Challenge #152 - Anything Goes w/option of using the colors of Fall
Artsy Stampers Digital Challenge #1 - Autumn Colors
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Autumn/Fall
A Place To Start Challenge - Create Your Own Challenge (use at least one item from each column. Column 1: Sentiment, Patterned Paper; Column 2: Sketch, Die, Embossing (wet); Column 3: Embossing Powder; Column 4: Flowers (sunflowers embossed on background panel); Column 5: Stitching (faux)

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope you'll be able to play along with us this week. Why not pick up this week's free digi on the Word Art Wednesday blog and make a card of encouragement for your pastor? You just might make his day! You could even win a generous prize from our sponsor, Stamp Simply Ribbon Store!