New Blog

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


Hope to see you there :)

Reenlisting

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

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

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!!

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

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

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 :)