Circle Journal #2

At Faithfully Yours we are just starting a new Circle Journal. Each of us chose a theme, made the pages for our own journal, and sent it on its way. I really enjoy circle journals and can't wait to get started.

An interesting note about the first journal I did. The round finished and my album was waiting here for me when I got back home from Columbus after Dad died. Guess what theme I chose for that journal? Words of Comfort! We started these journals 6 mos. before. Only the Lord knew I would need these Words of Comfort 6 mos. later.

Anyway, for this journal, I chose Marriage Advice. With two young adults in the house, marriage and how to chose a marriage partner are frequent topics of conversation. So...my journal asks the ladies to do a page of advice they received and then a page of advice they would give now. It's understood that any potential marriage partner should be a Christian and that you should have similar beliefs, convictions, standards, etc.

Here are my pages. I used the Foof-a-La Red, Cream & Black line for all of mine.

This is the Title page:



This is the Introduction page & the Map page. Each participant will put a brad on the map showing where they live.




These are the Getting to Know You pages. Each participant will put a small pic, their name, username, how long they've been married & their favorite Scripture verse on the back of the tag that has their intial on it.



This is my LO of advice Dad & Mom gave me and then what advice I would give. I used a sketch from Triple the Sketch for this layout.



Journaling for the left page: My parents were perpetual sweethearts. Watching their marriage and how they treated each other was a constant example of what a godly marriage should look like. Dad always said, "Make sure yo marry the right person. During the day you can keep busy but if you’re married to the wrong person the nights can be awfully long."
Mom told me, "Don’t marry someone you can live with; marry someone you don’t want to live without." There are two pieces of advice Mom gave me for after I was married that have always stood out in my mind:
1. If your husband asks you to go do something, GO! Don’t let dirty dishes or housework keep you from saying, "Yes." The dishes & housework will be there when you get back but if you repeatedly turn him down, he’ll quit asking you to go.
2. Never say anything negative in public about your husband. Mom was extremely loyal. I remember her saying, "I live with your Dad, I know he’s not perfect. But I’m sure not going to tell someone else that or listen to them talk negatively about him."

Journaling for the right page: My top advice for marriage would be:
1. Put the Lord first in your relationship. Marriage is a wonderful thing but also a hard thing. You need to have the Lord’s help for a successful marriage. Ecclesiastes 4:12 "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
2. God designed you to be a help to your husband not someone who is in competition with him. Genesis 2:18 "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." Leave the competition in the sports arena and business world and kick it out of the home.
3. In the words of a wise man named Dr. Donald Worch, "If you do after you’re married what you did before you were married in order to get married, you’ll stay married." While it sounds a bit confusing, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
4. Be a team. Approach projects, challenges, joys, dreams, & activities together. Some things we do just for the sake of our relationship (aka Us). Sometimes "Us" goes to the scrapbook store and other times "Us" goes to Bass Pro Shops. Remember you’re both in this together and face things side-by-side – you need each other. Ecclesiastes 4:10 "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."

Each of the ladies will sign this page before they send it on to the next participant.

Why I've been MIA

For those of you who are not family members, you may be wondering why I've been on such a long hiatus from scrapping. That's certainly not normal for me! Well, Feb. & March were challenging months for us. Here's a timeline of some of the major events.

Fri., 2/8 We moved my Dad from one assisted living facility to another. About an hour after we left, Dad got up to get ready for dinner and fell. He landed on his wooden magazine rack breaking 2 ribs and lacerating his liver. He was life-flighted to Columbus.

Sat., 2/9 - Fri., 2/15 I spent the week in Columbus with Dad while he was in ICU.

Fri., 2/15, 6:45 pm While surrounded by his six children and 2 sons-in-law, Dad was ushered into the presence of the Lord he loved and served for so many years and was reunited with the wife he dearly loved.

Mon., 2/18 We had Dad's viewing & funeral here at our church. All of our family was here for the funeral except my oldest niece's husband. Dad & Mom would have loved seeing all 6 of their children, 13 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren and assorted spouses & one fiancee gathered together.

Tues., 2/19 We traveled to PA to have Dad's graveside service. After the service, we went to a cousin's house for dinner and then traveled all the way home.

Wed., 2/20 - Sun., 2/24 We had our annual Missions Conference at church. On Friday (2/22) one of the missionary men graciously went with us to pack up Dad's apartment. On Sat., the same man and several other men of the church moved all of Dad's belongings back here for storage.

Tues., 2/26 I had an appt. with my surgeon to schedule surgery on my left elbow. We've been doctoring this elbow for 2 years to put off surgery as long as possible. My time has run out and surgery is my only option. They put me on a cancellation list so that I could have the surgery ASAP. When we got home from work, there was a message on the machine that they'd had a cancellation for Thurs.

Thurs., 2/28 Surgery on my left elbow. I'd torn the tendon that runs between the elbow & wrist and had a bone spur on the elbow. The doctor said the damage was "significant."

Since 2/28, I've been recovering. I was in a splint for 2 weeks and a sling for 4 additional weeks. Then I'll have 6 weeks of physical therapy. Fun, fun! NOT!!

Fri & Sat 4/4 - 4/5, we had our annual Ladies' Spectacular. Since I'm the pastor's wife, I am the coordinator for the meeting. We've been working a lot the past couple weeks finalizing plans and putting the program booklets together.

Monday 4/7, Tim and I are going on a much-need and greatly-anticipated two night get-away. I can't wait. I have a doctor's appt. on Thurs. and I'll hopefully get my sling off then. I have a bit of infection in the incision. I hope that doesn't slow recovery down too much. I am hoping to be able to scrap this coming weekend after the sling comes off. We'll have to wait & see though.

So....that's why I've been on a creative hiatus. I truly miss scrapping but it is a difficult hobby to do one-handed.

Change

The word for this week's Scripture Challenge is Change.





Card front says:

CHANGE can turn you upsidedown.

Journaling on the back reads:

God NEVER changes.

Malachi 3:5 For I am the Lord, I change not...

However, He wants us to change as we become conformed to His image.

Romans 8:28-29 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Next to this verse in my Bible I wrote a quote from an unnamed preacher, "If it’s good it’s conforming us to God. If it’s conforming us to God, it’s good."

Some Cards

Here are some cards I made recently:

Some for Valentine's Day:





A sympathy card for a friend:




Birthday card for a swap:

Resolution Me Layouts

I participated in the Resolution Me Crop at A. C. Bailey this past weekend. This crop was to work on a Book of Me, aka BOM. This is an album for layouts about your's truly so that the kids can get to know me, my thoughts, what I was like as a child, etc. There were 6 challenges each day. Friday's challenges were about our Past, Saturday's challenges were about the Present and Sunday's challenges were General. I didn't get to do as many layouts as I wanted but did get the 3 pre-crop challenge Dividers for my album completed and 3 layouts done during the crop. I plan to complete the rest of the challenges and will post them when I do.

My Dividers





The journaling for the Present divider says: I try to make decisions based upon what I will wish I had done when I look back on this time 20 years from now. This helps me end up with a lot less regrets even though it isn't always easy to do. I want my life to please God and this helps.




The journaling for the General divider says: Someday, when I’ve gone ahead of them to Heaven and our children are looking at this scrapbook, I hope that the words of the following song will be true of my life. I want to live my life now so that it will be.

Find Us Faithful
by Steve Green

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives

Chorus:
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift though all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.

Past



Journaling reads: My first house was in Jacksonville, FL. While I lived in a total of 3 different houses growing up, this one means the most to me. It’s the only house where my whole family, parents and siblings, lived together. This is the house where we all have common memories and family stories. Since I’m so much younger than the others, they started "leaving the nest" when I was 3 years old. By the time we left this house, four of them were already married, out on their own or in college. This house is across the street from our elementary school, Central Riverside Elementary. I loved going to school where my brothers and sisters had attended. I am the only one of the six of us that didn’t attend, at least for one year, the high school where Mom graduated. I always thought going to the same school Mom did would be pretty neat!

Mom kept geraniums (usually pink and/or red) growing in pots on the porch. There were azaleas growing in front of the porch. My love of houses with porches probably comes from loving the porch & balcony on this house. There was always plenty of room to play on the porch to keep out of the Florida sun or during rainy days. This house was HOME.



Journaling says: This picture was our Christmas card in 1965. I was just over a year old when it was taken. Because I am so much younger than my other brothers & sisters, all my life they’ve teased me about being "the baby." My sisters were 16, 14, & 12 and my brothers were 8 & 5 when I was born. I’ve loved being part of a big family. My older sisters used to argue over who got to take care of me, partially because whoever took care of me didn’t have to do the housework. My brothers definitely knew how to tease but they were also my protectors. If there was ever any trouble, I always knew they’d care for me. I treasure the special memories about each of my siblings from during those "growing up" years.

Present

Beauty & Wait

I am really enjoying the Scripture Memory Challenge. It's been fun studying the different words and how they're used in the Bible. I got a bit behind last week and didn't get my Scripture Card done. oops! So, this week I did both of them.

Week #3's word was Beauty

The journaling says: Praise for physical beauty is short-lived because that type of beauty fades but a woman that fears the Lord is worthy of praise for the rest of her life.

Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30

It never struck me before in this way, but the Bible says there’s beauty in holiness.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2

This week's word is: Wait

The journaling says: Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. Psalm 27:14

The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:25-26

It’s so hard to wait quietly but it’s comforting to know that the Lord will provide strength to do so.

Kindness

Our word for this week's Scripture Challenge was Kindness. When the kids were little, I used to quote Ephesians 4:32 to them all the time. I even made it into a goofy song that I would sing to them. They've groaned many times over that song and actually would say, OK, Mom, I'll be nice just quit singing that song! LOL So, when I found out the word was kindness, what other choice did I have?? Here's my card:

Our new Addition

My husband loves Persian cats. We had to put his favorite cat, a silver-tipped Persian we called Prissy, to sleep this past April. Only in the last couple weeks has he even considered getting another one. It's surprised him how much he misses her.

Over the weekend we were offered a pure-bred, Persian kitten. He's 6 months old, weighs 5 lbs., and has tabby markings. We got him on Sunday and he already thinks he owns the house. He's smaller than he looks.


The "big boys" Sam & Tigger pretty much just ignore him. We've been surprised that Tigger wasn't more angry about his arrival. Sasha is terrified of him. She's found a new perch high up on my scrapbook shelves and that's where she spends most of her time now. She's gradually getting better but it's slow going.


Since he thinks he's "king of the castle" and since he's a Persian, we decided to name him Darius after the biblical Persian king. So here's our new addition:

Faith

This year, I am taking part in the 2008 Scripture Challenge over on Triple the Scraps. Each week Patter will give us a word and we create a card focusing on that word. The back of the card is to have 2-3 verses of our choice focus on the "Word of the Week." It's been interesting to see how each lady chooses a different direction or aspect and yet all are so applicable to faith.

I have decided to make 3 sets. One for each of the children when they leave home and one set for me to keep. Here's this week's card:

ScrapJazz New Year's Eve Cyber Crop

I participated in a Cyber Crop over on ScrapJazz yesterday. I was able to complete all 6 challenges. The first one was issued at 10 AM, the final one at 8PM and all had to be submitted by 3AM (midnight in PST). I was able to get them all done though I'm a little bleary eyed today. Here are my LOs.


10 AM Challenge -- We were given a LO (layout) to scraplift (aka copy and make our own slight changes -- for instance, the original used a portait 5 x 7, I turned the LO and used a landscape 5 x 7). The colors are a little washed out -- they're pretty cream, green & pinks. This is my favorite LO of the day.




There's a hidden journaling tag on the left of the pic (where the "K" is) that says, Oh the difference 15 years makes. Small pic 4-20-92 Focal Pic 8-07 Our adorable toddler is now a lovely young lady.

Noon Challenge -- we were given a choice of two LO as examples and were told our focus was to be: Journaling Strips, Circles, and a 2-PAGE LAYOUT that has something that "flows from one page to the other. I did my own design rather than scraplift one of the examples.



The journaling strips on this one say: Kendra has been sick for much of 2007. Her birthday was no exception. Since she was feeling so lousy, we celebrated her birthday quietly with just the three of us. While she did "fix up" a little, she felt like she looked horrible, so that's why there are no pictures of her looking at the camera. She had gallbladder surgery about 2 weeks later. At her request, we had the family favorite, Oreo Ice Cream Dessert, in stead of a cake. Dad says, "It's not my birthday, why are you taking my picture?"

2PM Challenge -- We were to scraplift one of two given LOs. The one I chose required the use of an adjective as the title. Since I know I'll eventually do at least one more LO with other pics from this wedding, I didn't do any journaling on it. VERY unusual for me. :) In real life, the background paper is a deep rose-red.



4 PM Challenge -- We were to make our own embellishment "sticker" that had a word and definition. I actually did two and used a word & definition on each page of the following LO. It's also for a circle journal about music. I was to tell what part music plays in my life and what my favorite Praise & Worship music (if any) is.



The journaling says: Music has always been a big part of my life. I began taking piano lessons when I was four years old. My piano teacher moved a year later so I had a two year hiatus until I began taking lessons again when I was seven. Except for one year, I took piano lessons until I was seventeen. When I was in the 8th grade, I began taking voice lessons as well. I continued with them thru high school and my two years at college. I had the soprano leads in two high school musicals, sang for several area social clubs, in audition choirs at school, in the church choir and for special music at church. Since Tim & I have been married, I’ve continued my singing in the church music program. Three years ago I was diagnosed with asthma and could no longer sing in the choir. For almost a year, I could hardly sing at all. I still don’t sing in the choir but am able to sing solos, duets with Tim and in our trio with another lady in the church.

I prefer more traditional music and am not overly fond of music with a contemporary sound. However, there are several songs that I really like the words and would enjoy them a lot more without all the drums and such in the background! :) These songs are “In Christ Alone,” I Can Only Imagine,” and “I’ll Praise You in the Storm.” I enjoy songs that call my attention to worshiping Christ. My current favorite is one we sing each Sunday morning at the beginning of the church service. The words are: Jesus, be Jesus in me No longer me, but Thee Resurrection power Fill me this hour Jesus, be Jesus in me. Praise - the offering of grateful homage in words or song, as an act of worship Worship - reverent honor and homage paid to God.

6 PM Challenge -- We were given a digital LO to scraplift. I chose to do one of Tim's cat Prissy. We had to have Prissy put to sleep this past April. This is one of our favorite pictures of her.

8PM Challenge -- For the final challenge of the day, we were given a LO with a lot of handstitching on it to scraplift. I did all my stitching with a pen instead of needle & thread. I've been wanting to scrap these pics for awhile. They're from 1994 and are when Ian, Kendra, Jeremy, Trevor, Dad & I went to the beach at Ocean City, NJ.