Sadness

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

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 :)

Good Friday

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

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

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 :)