Created this a month or so ago for the last of the New Zealand Dares...was challenged to share my faith at church that week...and knew I needed to share my story for the dare. Just thought I'd share it here :-)

CHANGE

Things will always change...sometimes for the better....sometimes for worse.

Our circumstances change. Our bodies change (darn gravity and it's downward

effect).

God actually requires us to change. Maturing as a Christian means allowing

God to bring about change in our lives. Not always pleasant or fun - but necessary.

Sal talked in the last post about facing changes in 2009. All different sorts of changes are in store for many of us , but in the midst of it all, there is one thing that does not change. Ever. Our Heavenly Father is the only constant in this ever changing world.

He wants us to cast our cares on to him and to rest assured in his love for us.

As you consider the changes and challenges that God has mapped out this year

for you, do not forget His promises to you.

(All digital supplies by Willro&co Designs)

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Getting the show on the road again :-)
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Last year I was so very blessed to have a weekend course in Spiritual Warfare paid for me. I'll be honest, I was hesitant about going, it all on the surface appeared a bit "freaky" to me and I was getting more and more weary about going as the time grew closer. I rang Tracey (who has had training in this area) for some confirmation as to if I should do this course or not. Tracey in her wisdom said "Take it to the Lord in prayer". So I threw out the fleece I asked the Lord to blatantly show me in His word if this was something I should do or not. God presented me with John 3. The whole verse is about how the Pharisees could only understand the written word and not the things beyond that, about the Spiritual matters about the work that Christ had come to do, about things not of this world. I read the verse to Mark, I had my confirmation to go.
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That weekend has changed so many things for us. I really tried to shut out the enemy and "ignore" Him, but the verse really struck out for me is 1 Peter 5:8-11 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. You don't walk through the jungle that has a lion in it hoping that if you ignore it it will go away. That strategy wasn't going to work anymore.
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As time goes on and things aren't "going to plan" or life appears not to be following God's path I now look to Spiritual causes, not just brush it off to "that's life". Often it has really made me ask the question "What does God have planed and what is the enemy wanting to stop Him achieving, why is he diverting my eyes from the Lord?" If I had never been made aware of the enemy and his tactics, I honestly don't think I would be sitting here writing this post from our new home. God called us to buy a house after Nov 08 and we were putting it off. I was suffering bleeding with my pregnancy, Cowper's bone marrow stopped working, Holly's eczema went through the roof & Mark for the first time suffered a bad back. We allowed these things to put us off house hunting. How could we contemplate a move to the country with all this going on? We took a break over the summer and started asking the Lord what He thought about all this and why were we facing all of these issues. The message became clear, we were under enemy attack. But why us??? What did God have in store for us that the enemy was so desperate to stop? The only thing we could think of was buying a home. We committed to each other there and then that the first thing we did when we got home was start looking.
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We get in the driveway we open the mailbox and there is a letter saying that in 6wks time our rent was going up $40 a week!! We both looked at each other and said "I think God wants us to get a move on!" The day we signed the contract on the house my bleeding which had been consistent for over a month stopped and hasn't returned, PRAISE THE LORD. Cowper's blood has been normal, we've been making progress with Holly's skin & Mark's back finally started to heal. Just think if we had ignored the enemy pretended he wasn't there, we'd still be living in the city, all having health issues and paying more in rent. PRAISE THE LORD for His love and guidance.
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But the verse doesn't promise happiness and joy ASAP it says "after you have suffered for a while" the enemy has still put up obstacles along the way, he's made us doubt our ability to pay for move, feed the family etc etc, but God did promise to always provide and indeed He has! We made the move with me 34wks pregnant. God gave me strength that I never knew I had. Instead of feeling tired and worn out, I'm feeling fitter, stronger and healthier than I have before. Imagine feeling that way after having a pregnancy that was so troubling!!
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So now when life feels like it's hitting the skids I kind of get excited. I think "HA enemy, if you're up to something, then God is too!!" and I divert my eyes on the Lord. "Resist him, standing firm in the faith" It's not a time to hide or get angry with God or just wallow in our own suffering it's time to STAND FIRM. And God has promised us he will provide the strength to fight.
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So now I look to 2009 and I am really excited about what is in store. I think of all the things that have been happening in the lives of our SoF HQ from Dec 08 till now; Tracey and her DH taking on more prayer ministry hours and the impact that has on the family; Karen's change from being an RLO officer that past 15yrs to that chapter now ending and no more kids at school. Ro now having all her kids at school. Lara and her work changes this year from having been at play centre to now going back to teaching. Bev also having all her kids at school. Gail and last year the Lord led her to withdraw from the theatre which had been such a big part of her life, and being there for her extended family as they face some major health issues. In some way we are all facing some big changes as 2009 gets underway.
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So that leads me to the theme for March 2009. I can't think of a general "name" for the theme, but in your scrapping this month and in your bible reading, focus on God's plans for you and if they've been smooth sailing or if the enemy has jumped in and had a real go at stopping them.
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Some possible layout ideas could be:
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"When the Enemy Attacks"
"God's plan for 2009"
"Changes"
"Lord what do you want from me?"
"Tips for enemy attack" with journaling prompts about what you would do to stop this, kind of like a survival guide.
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Don't forget to share your layouts with us.
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Here's my efforts so far. I've Used Willro&co "Quality Time" kit.
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Journaling reads: Your perfect will and timing Lord won in the end. You told us to buy a house after Nov. 08, and the enemy put in a good effort to stop it. He used bleeding during mypregnancy, Cowper’s TEC, Holly’s eczema and Mark’s back. We are so thankful that we turned to you Lord and you got us back on track, and brought us here to Mt. Colliery.Your Timing,Your House for Us, Your Abundant Blessing, Your Victory!
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Watch this space over the next few days for better uploading of challenge entries.

And Don't Forget... Cyber Crop/Chat this Saturday March 8th, 7pm QLD time in MSN. To join in add sofaugust2007@hotmail.com as a contact.

WE'RE BAD PARENTS.......

Well that's how I feel, about the poor old SoF blog. The poor thing has sadly been neglected by it's Mum & Dad.

After the retreat I ended up having a few medical issues to deal with. I'm pregnant and started bleeding, my 2 yr old's bone marrow stopped working & we spent a fair bit of our time after the retreat in and out of hospitals. Then December came and we went on our family holidays, glad to run away from all the "issues". And well the whole DT just needed a break really. 2008 went way to fast and I think everyone was just plain old "worn out".

Now January is here and while we were away we assessed why these things were happening and the only thing we could put it down to, was that we were under Spiritual Attack to keep us from looking for a new home. (check out the full story here) So January has had us looking for a new home & rebuilding the SoF forum which broke last year.

So We are keen to get the blog back happening and the challenges started again. We are planing some different things this year and hope to be in the swing of it soon. We'll start slowly though as a few of the SoF team have some big commitments happening for Jan/Feb.

So the blogs not forgotten we're just trying to rebuild and make it better just like the new forum and gallery :-)

IMPORTANT SCRAP OF FAITH INFORMATION

As most of you are well aware the forum at Scrap of Faith has not been playing nicely at all for the past 3 or 4 months. We have found a new home for Scrap of Faith, which appears to work FAST and so far, every time you log on. However there has been a very sad casualty to finding Scrap of Faith a new home. In the process of moving it all over we discovered that the Database that held all the Scrap of Faith information for the forum and gallery had been corrupted (we believe this may have been part of the issues with the old one) and we cannot re-install the old forum. So what does this mean.


1. www.scrapoffaith.com is still the home page
2. www.scrapoffaith.com/forum is still the forum
3. You will need to re-register
4. All the old posts are gone.

BUT, let’s embrace this set back, Ask God what he wants from Scrap of Faith and rebuild, and rejoice in the fact that we can start talking, sharing and supporting each other again.

I will have a few topics to get us started, but if there has been a section on the forum you have always wanted, but it wasn’t there let us know and in this building stage we can get it all together.

We are very sorry about the loss of the old forum, but we are working hard (we’ll Mark’s done most of the hard work) to get a fantastic new one started.

God Bless and we look forward to rebuilding a new forum with you all.

How are you all going with your challenges this month only one more day to get them into Sal.

I managed to do a few at the retreat .


Here's my princess Gail page for the Book of faith challenge.












And this one is my Mystery challenge attempt.
No patterned paper - stamps may be used and lots of bling. Thanks to Lou for her suggestion of putting bling in the centre of the flowers it really makes the page zing.

Blessings

Gail

It is hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of November already. The highlight of this month for me was meeting so many gorgeous girls from the Scrap of Faith Forum at our retreat earlier this month - I just hope that the next retreat will see so many more of you attend. It was a time of real blessing.

I haven't managed to do a lot of scrapbooking this month, but I did manage to complete a couple of the challenges at the Scrap of Faith retreat. Here are my takes on the Sketch Challenge (Challenge 1) and also Challenge 4.





I am looking forward to seeing your take on the challenges this month. Don't forget to email them in.

His Princess Layout

This one will look familiar to those of you who were able to come to the retreat. For those who didn't make it ... this is the layout class we did while there.



Full instructions are available here.

If you haven't already done your challenge layouts this one covers the Book of Faith challenge, but could also be used for the verse challenge or maybe you could use the background techniques for the Mystery Challenge.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

This months theme is His Princess, we are daughter, of the most high King or as we say at SOF My daddy is the king that makes me a princess. I made this book to celebrate the fact that by faith we are given the right to be called children of God. We are loved by God, and we are forgiven and set free by his Grace.



Full of bling and pretty things.For full intructions go to http://www.4shared.com/file/72159287/e72d42df/Princess_Mini_Book.html
The mini book has been made to fit into the tin made at the retreat. For those not at the retreat please go to http://www.4shared.com/file/72159286/902a7249/Princess_Tin_for_retreat.html
for instructions on how to alter a tin.

Royal Blessings

Princess Gail

THE SOF RETREAT

Words just can't describe what an incredible weekend the SoF retreat was. So hard to believe that after all the planing and anticipation it's over.

The biggest thrill of the weekend for me was seeing God working in the lives of the girls who attended and seeing the love that the SoF girls had for each other and their willingingness to share that love with new girls who had not been on the SoF forum. The "sisterhood" in Christ was just amazing.

I just pray that for the next retreat (looking at Aprli, May or June 2o10) that many more of you girls can come, as those of you who are on the forum and join in on the blog, were so dearly missed.

So for your viewing pleasure here are some photos from the weekend :-)

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE AS BLOGGER IS CUTTING THEM OFF IN THE POST :(


Sillyness at the His Princess Dinner
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All the beautiful girls
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The theme
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The Team that put it all together and are the faces behind the blog posts - we missed you Lara & Katie.
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And some of this scrapping stuff did happen....


Gail's Tin Class


Bev's Layout Class


Ro's Digi Class


Our Offereing

There are just tooooooo many photos to share here, but if you want to see more the girls have been sharing their photos on photobucket. http://s368.photobucket.com/albums/oo130/ScrapofFaith_album/

CHALLENGES UPDATE

A quick appology for being behind in the challenge comps from September to October.

With the Scrap of Faith retreat happening this weekend (YEAH!) I just have spent all my spare SoF time organising that and I've neglected my part on the blog :-( So to bring you all up to speed The following weekend, 14th of November I will draw the winners for September and October, I will also extend the deadline for October entries to that date. The November Challenges are up, but as the themes, Sisters in Christ & His Princess are so reflective of the retreat, we'll have October and November running together for awhile :-) (see the bottom of this post for what the October Challenges are)

So for all of you who are waiting on challenge information and winners, you are not forgotten just delayed.

Also given the horrible turn in the economy and the fall in the Aussie Dollar from 95c US to 65c US I've had to make the voucher at Christian Book $20 instead of $3o.

OCTOBER CHALLENGES

Challenge 1 - to any size layout, traditional or digi based on this sketch by Trina McClune.
Challenge 2 - Verse Challenge - Scrap a Layout or Beyond the Page item featuring the following verse: 1 Timothy 5:1b-2 Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
Challenge 3 - Word Challenge - The word for September is "FAITHFULNESS". Do a Layout or Off the Page project based on "FAITHFULNESS". (The inspiration for this word came from what type of qualities do God have and what qualities in friendship would he desire of us)
Challenge 4 - Book of Faith Challenge - The theme for this month's Book of Faith is "Sister's in Christ (our Christian family)"
Challenge 5 - Mystery Challange - Do a layout about your childhood family. Were they Christian, how did they shape who you are in Christ today? If they were not Christian journal about the challenges of this.

Sister's In Christ


I know this one is a bit late for October ... I actually did have it done last week but somehow forgot to post it here on the blog. (I got busy working on my layout class for the retreat.)

Full step by step instructions to make this layout are available by clicking on this link.




And speaking of the retreat ... only 4 more sleeps to go! I am looking forward to meeting up with my Scrap of Faith Sisters in Christ this side of heaven. No doubt after the retreat I'll have many more photos of my 'sisters' and will be able to scrap a whole series of 'Sisters in Christ' layouts!

Here's just a little sneaky look at the layout class I'll be teaching ... just a little bit royal looking!

This months BOF theme is Sisters in Christ. AS I started to think about all the wonderful sisters God has blessed my life with a picture started to grow in my head of a beautiful bouquet of friends from my daughter, my SIL, my spiritual mentor, SOF friends and more. This is how the Sisters In Christ Bouquet came about.


Its whimsical and was fun to do and can keep growing as new sisters bloom in my life.

http://www.4shared.com/file/68329887/7d88e5c2/Sisters_In_Christ_Bouquet.html for full instructions.

Blessings

Gail

It's been a very busy month in the Comber house. I just don't know where the time went.

The only challenge I have managed to get to this month was the word challenge "grow". My thought immediately went to my adult children and how I have watched them grow physically. Its also been a joy to watch my daughter grow spiritually. She has overcome so much this year and it has all been through God's grace & power in her life.

This canvas is to remind us as a family that all things only grow through the power and grace of God.

And the winner of the RAK is.........

Marion!! :-D

Marion could you please email me and let me know your address and if you prefer paper or digi. Thanks :-)

I'm so glad that the September deadlines were extended, as life in this household was pretty hectic during the month of September. Yesterday I managed to have a whole day to myself to scrapbook (whilst my daugher and husband were both at work) and manged to do Challenge 2 and 3 from September. It is amazing how much a clean scrapdesk, some new papers and a few sketch maps can inspire you. . I especially loved the "Word" challenge this month. Recently my son graduated and as a family we were all able to be there and celebrate this with him. My youngest daughter was real keen to have a photo taken with his cap on as she really has no desire to go to Uni and figured this would probably be the only chance she would get to wear one. In this layout, I wanted to share with her that real wisdom doesn't come from getting an education or degree and although it can be seen as worthwhile, real wisdom comes from a relationship with the Lord and my prayer for her would be that she will Grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is that relationship and wisdom that is eternal. I also challenged myself to scrap on a patterned piece of paper - very unusual for me.

I hope you have all had as much fun with the challenges this month as I did. I am looking forward to seeing what you all came up with.