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Thank You :-)

A BIG thankyou to Anne for organising the weekend's blog hop & for all the wonderful ladies participating. It really was just delightful to go around and see so many talented ladies, sharing their faith and creations. My bookmark list just doubled !!

And thank you for all your beautiful comments. Hopefully over the next few months we'll have more layouts to share and devotions too :)

And the Winner Is........

Tara!!
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Please send me an email at sally@scrapoffaith.com with your details and the cards plus a little something extra will be winging it's way to you.

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A Blog Hop :-)

Welcome to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine's A Faith Perspective Thankful for Friends Faith Blog Hop. Today, we're out in force on the internet -- showing our faith and giving the glory to God. United, we stand as Christian paper crafters and blog owners to make a presence on the internet for all to see. We're celebrating the theme of friends and we're happy to share our projects with you based on the verse:

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. " Ecc4:9-10a

If you're just joining in on the fun, you can find the start of the train here: http://www.scrapbooknewsandreview.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=100783.

First, we would like to take a moment to thank our generous co-sponsors: Layers of Color Stamps, Gina K Designs Stamps and Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. Together with Scrapbook News and Review Magazine, these companies have donated some wonderful prizes for today's blog hop.

Prizes? Oh, yeah! There will be three lucky grand prize winners for today's event.

To enter, simply hop to the blogs of all of the participating staff members of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine, take note of the staff member's name, and leave a comment on their posts. Then send us an email atgames@scrapbooknewsandreview.com listing each of the staff members who participated in today's hop. It's that easy. All entries must be received by Monday, November 16, 2009 at 12 noon, EST and three winners will be randomly chosen to win.

What are the prizes?

One $100 gift certificate from Layers of Color Stamps AND a 6 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.
One basket of goodies -- four stamp sets from Gina K Designs and a 6 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.
One set of digital stamps from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and a 3 month subscription to Scrapbook News and Review Magazine.
In addition, every participating staff member of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine will offer a free one-month subscription to the magazine to one of their lucky visitors by simply leaving a comment on their blog. That's a lot of chances to win, so let's get to the Hop!

Click on Images to see larger

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Layout by Sally

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Layout by Sally

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Layout by Gail

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And we've also got a little RAK for those who drop by :-) We love meeting new friends so just leave a comment saying "hi". Everyone who leaves a comment will be added to a draw for the following cards. You never know come monday when I draw the names I'm sure I'll have found some more to add to the RAK :-)

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The next stop on this blog hop is: Stampin Sisters in Christ http://stampinsistersinchrist.blogspot.com

Week 10 - Somewhere in The Middle

This song from Casting Crowns has really been on my heart this past week. Each time I listen to it I'm amazed at just how well the lyrics capture our human walk with God.

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

(song written by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns)

The line that does it for me is "Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control". WOW!! I know myself I desires so much to follow God's path, yet want to hold onto the control. Driving in the car the other night I said to Mark, we've got to listen to this song. We turned it up loud and cruised along. After I sat there silently praying and saying "Lord where do you really want me to go, am I to sell up everythign and just get a van and go around the country ministering to people, am I to give up work and concentrate on kids, am I to start a home church? What Lord!?" and then the answer hit me straight away, and it was so simple "Just spend some time with me". I've been slack on the prayer and bible study and God was just saying "Come and meet me, spend time with me, have a relationship with me, then we'll deal with your questions". What a discussion and answer just from a song.

So after that "Long" intro, the point of this week is what worship song speaks to you and why?

Verse: Psalm 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

Prayer: Lord thank you for the people in our world who have been anointed with the gift of music Lord. Thank you that we are free to worship you, celebrate you and have a life free to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Application: Paste the lyrics of a song into your journal that is impacting you now, or has impacted on your Christian walk at any stage. Journal why it had such an influence.

Don't forget to share here too

Week 9 - Count your Blessings

I watched Facing The Giants this weekend and the line "We will give praise when we win, we will give praise when we loose" really struck deep with me. No matter the situation, no matter how grim life can get, there is ALWAYS something to praise God for. Sometimes we can get focused on a problem we end up with blinkers on and can't see the good all around us. Once we step back and see the whole situation, the problem often becomes insignificant.

Verses : Psalm 128:2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.

Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

Prayer : Thank God for all the blessings and provisions in your life. Ask Him to forgive you where you have claimed His work as your own and to show you where you have been blinded to His blessings.

Application : Count your blessings. Journal your blessings and keep a watchful eye this week to see all the good things that God is doing in your life. Keep a journal of praise. When times get tough you will have a quick place to go to see the wonders that God does in your life. & share the joy here, It's not boastful to share His works

Week 8 - Trust

I know so many times in my life when I'm struggling it's often because of one simple reason. I failed to trust God I know when He is speaking to me, giving me direction, but often I fail to do my bit. Today I had a big realisation that these acts of "going my own way" are based on my failure to trust God and His plan for me. The laziness and the dragging my heals are rooted in not Trusting Him to make my paths straight. And what's shocking is I never thought I had a trust issue.

Verses : 2 Samuel 7:28 O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.

Psalm 9:10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 62:8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Selah
John 14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me.

Prayer : Ask God to show you the areas in your life where you have failed to Trust Him. Ask for forgiveness in not handing over the control to Him.

Application: Identify those areas in your life where you have doubted God, gotten impatient that He hasn't moved yet, or you have failed to move on His calling.

Creating Again

Aren't we so blessed to have a Creator God who loves us and created us in His image?

I so love being creative, taking raw materials and making something beautiful with my hands ... but somehow I'd forgotten the joy that being creative brings ... and I'd allowed the busy-ness of life to stop me from taking time to create.

So in the last week I've made time ... and I've found that creative happy place again ... and the best part about that ... it's a place closer to God too.I've had these photos sitting in a pile waiting to be scrapped for some time now. Every time I flicked through that pile I saw the long grass and thought of the story of Ruth in the Bible, so I decided that my journaling for this layout should be about that.

I've always loved the part of the story where Ruth declares that she will follow Naomi ... "where you go, I will go, your people will be my people and your God, my God" but as you read further into the story you realise that life wasn't suddenly going to become easy for Ruth after making this decision. She ended up out in the fields gathering left over grain just so she and Naomi could eat. And it's these words from Boaz that make me realise just how hard it was for Ruth... "May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord under whose wings you have come to take refuge." Ruth 2:12

And the Lord did reward Ruth ... she went on to become the great, great, great (and lots more greats) ...... Grandmother of Jesus our Lord and Saviour ... now that's some reward!

Week 7 - Create

We are created in God's image and each day when I go outside I am constantly reminded of what a spectacular artist our God is and just how awesome is His creation. As a child I used to think that I wasn't "creative" that because I didn't have the skills of a painter, a drawer etc that I just missed out on the creative process. It wasn't until I discovered scrapbooking and paper craft that I realised I did have the ability to create. As we are created in His image ALL of us have the ability to create I've been feeling the desire to create, but not allowing myself the time. For the past month I've heard this whispering that "it's okay" to take that time, to find the time. Imagine the great and intense joy that God must have felt after He created the earth. The joy that we feel when we look upon His creation, when we see a glorious sunset, a beautiful flower, the colours of an exotic animal. So be thankful of the gift of creation, His for us and our ability to create and delight in doing so.

Verse : Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Prayer : Thank God for his glorious creation, for creating you & for the gift to be creative. Be also thankful that the works of your hands may be shared and be a blessing to others just as we enjoy God's creation.

Application : BE CREATIVE!! Take the time to create something this week & don't forget to take a photo and share here, please leave a link to your creation in the comments :-) . The form of creativity can be of any medium, scrapping, sewing, kneedle work. I encourage you to create something that includes a bible verse that God has been bringing before you over the course of this journey.

Week 6 - Rest and Reflection

We have a wonderful Daddy God who just loves us so much and He's patient and gracious. He doesn't pull out a whip and say "HEY GET UPTO DATE WITH THIS NOW!!". Psalm 23 has been on my mind all weekend and it's time we laid down beside still waters and had our soul's restored. Time to reflect and catch up a little.

Verse: Psalm 23

Prayer: Ask God to restore your soul and show you the areas in which you have made progress and where He's really proud of you.

Application: Listen for God's answer, journal and go back over the past weeks and see if your plan is on track or if you want to change it a bit. REFLECT.

Week 5 - Audit Time

I have just been so encouraged and blessed by the last 4 weeks, sharing this journey with you girls has just been such a delight! Some of the words spoken and seeing God working in your lives has been a HUGE encouragement and blessing. God is just so good.

I know a lot of us have commented on either wanting to be cleaner, have life more simplified, our home more welcoming etc. I think to achieve those things we need to take a step and "Audit" our home. I saw this idea on the "Down to Earth" blog a while back and thought "I really must do that one day". So how does this fit in with our Christian Walk. God called us to be stewards of all he has placed us charge over. That's both physical and spiritual. And through doing the Audit you may recognise things that are cluttering your life, find ways you could do something better, or realise that your pantry has a lot more in it than you thought But the more we take stock of the physical, hopefully that will free up more for the spiritual.

There will be two audits going on this week, a Spiritual and a Physical.

Verse - Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Prayer - Ask God to show you what to keep and what to let go, both in the physical and the spiritual.

Also this prayer from Stormie Omartian - The Power of a Praying Woman, Harvest House Publishers

Lord, help me to never exchange Your truth for a lie. Where I have accepted a lie as truth, reveal that to me. Help me to clearly discern when it is the enemy who is speaking. I don't want to think futile and foolish thoughts or give place to thoughts that are not glorifying to You (Romans 1:21). I don't want to walk according to my own thinking (Isaiah 65:2). I want to bring every thought captive and control my mind.

Your Word is "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). As I read Your Word, may it reveal any wrong thinking in me. May Your Word be so etched in my mind that I will be able to identify a lie of the enemy the minute I hear it. Spirit of Truth, keep me undeceived. I know You have given me authority "over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). and so I command the enemy to get away from my mind. I refuse to listen to lies.

Thank You, Lord, that I "have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). I want Your thoughts to be my thoughts. Show me where I have filled my mind with anything that is ungodly. Help me to resist doing that and instead fill my mind with thoughts, words, music, and images that are glorifying to You. Help me to think upon what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely of good report, righteous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). I lay claim to the "sound mind" that You have given me (2 Timothy 1:7).

Application - Record you Audits in your journal. The list of tasks can be done one a day, one a week or every second day. Ask God to lead you in the timing of this exercise. As you go about your physical audit pray the prayer from Stormie Omartain first and keep your mind "captive" on the Lord as you go about your task. Perhaps play a worship CD as you go about it, or just keep the dialogue open with God and chat to Him as you go about your tasks.

Day 1 - Where are the hotspots in your home? Where do you accumulate clutter and junk?
What are your spiritual hotspots? Where do you accumulate clutter and junk in your spiritual life?

Day 2 - When is enough, enough? What do you hoard, have to much of, can cull out of your life, give to others? To many clothes in those drawers.
What spiritual truths are you hoarding or holding close to your chest. Do you share the love of Christ with others?

Day 3 - Budget, do you have one? When did you last overhaul it? Do you have any idea where your money goes? Are you able to give to others?
Are you being a good steward with the blessings that have come from God? How does God want you to use His gifts.

Day 4 - What's cooking? Is there a plan to your kitchen? Do you do your grocery shop according to your needs, or your wants? Is your pantry in a bad shape? Do you know what you are eating this week?
What food does your soul need? Is there anything in the house to feed your soul. Do you have junk food around the house to inspire you, or God's word?

Day 5 - What does your home say to others? Take a look at your home from a visitors perspective, what does it say about the occupants.
What does your home for the Holy Spirit say to others? Take a look at yourself from another's perspective, would they know you were Christian?

Week 4 - Way Out of the Muddle

Wow we've had 3 pretty big weeks. Praying for our calling, getting deeper in the word and identifying our temptation; really essential and positive changes to restoring our relationship with God and others. There is also a lot of other "goings on" that keep us from God and our calling. I know personally for me a clean house is one of those areas. I want to be able to minister to others and have an open home. I worry that people won't call in because of the state of my house or that I stop inviting people because I'm embarrassed. Once I went into a home that you couldn't walk through any of the rooms it was such a mess. It was pointed out to me that often the physical represents the spiritual that perhaps the clutter in the home represented the clutter and muddle in their spiritual life. Do you have things in your home that bring you down? It could be anything from a messy house, lack of routine, health issue etc, or holding onto something that could be let go. What is your Muddle? I want you to remember though that God did not send Jesus because we were perfect & it's not being perfect that gets us saved. The main purpose of this weeks challenge is to take these things to God, ask Him to help us get our struggles in order & His strength to guide us.

Verse - 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness

Prayer - Ask God to help you prioritise your life and set a plan for getting things in order. To show you what things need improving and what things need letting go.

Application - Record in your journal areas that you want to improve and work out a plan to get out of the muddle. And take baby steps to get out of it. Only tackle one area each week or two weeks. It could be something practical like "get washing done Machine to Put away each day" do that for two weeks then apply another change. Also keep going on weeks 1, 2 & 3 praying for your calling to be clearly revealed and working out how you can get into God's word more and to keep identifying temptations that keep you from God's word and your calling.

Week 3 - Identifying Tempation

The first 4 weeks we are really looking at our relationship with God and His purpose for us. Being daughters of the King, being his princeses it's really important to restore that relationship and look at our own walk before we start "taking it to the streets" and getting our home in order. This week we need to focus on our tempations. What stops us from being able to answer God's call and what stops us from being the Christian woman we desire to be. I know myself I can get so easily distracted with stuff and put off what I know I should be doing.

Verses - Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
- Luke 11:4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.

Prayer - Ask God to help you identify the temptations in your life. As for strength to overcome those temptations and to "not be lead into temptation" to help remove them from your life.

Application - Record in your journal areas of temptation & some stragegies to overcome them. Also keep going on weeks 1 & 2, praying for your calling to be clearly revealed and working out how you can get into God's word more. Also what temptations keep you from God's word?


Here's a layout share from Week 1 to create your journal. I'm doing mine in a folder, with this slipped in the cover.






















(Click image for larger)

Flowers, bling & swirls - Willro&co Sweet Things
Photo corner rounding - Kellie Mize template
Paper - Mindy terasawa
Fonts - Book Antiqua, Kuntsler Script & Edwardian Script

Week 2 - Firm Foundation

I hope you are starting to get a little closer to God and your walk with Him as a Christian Woman. That God is starting to reveal to you His plan for you I hope that one of the callings is to draw closer to God. Last week we were having devotions with our kiddos and a neighbour and we were looking at the story of the house on the sand and the house on the rock. It occoured to me that before we can even look at practical changes in our life like visiting a neighbour etc, we have to make sure we are spending time with God, getting that foundation right. God is our rock and one of the best ways to build our foundation on him is not only through prayer but through spending time in His word.

Verses - Matthew 7:24-27 24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

Prayer - Continue to pray for direction in your walk and God's plan for you over the coming months. Pray also that God will reveal His plan for you in His word and that you will find the time to spend in His word and find His treasures. Thank God for the freedom that we have to have His word in our homes.

Application - Start making it a habit to spend some time each day in His word. How about setting your alarm 10 min early and start the day with God's word. When you find a treasure right it down in your Restoring our Womanhood journal and why it is a treasure to you.



I also came across this devotion from Ellel Ministries which is perfect for this week :-D


Called to be with Jesus

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve … that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.Mark 3:13-14, NIV

We are often encouraged to identify our particular calling - to preach, to teach, or to evangelise. But I wonder if you've noticed that in Mark's gospel the first call of the disciples was to be with Jesus, and then He sent them out to preach and to cast out demons. For each of us our prime call is to be with Jesus, set apart for Him, spending time with Him. All else will follow from our relationship with Him.

In this account Jesus went up on a mountainside and called those He wanted to come to Him. Presumably in order to respond to Him they had to leave the clamour of the crowds and the demands of the people below and go up higher to be separated and alone with Jesus.

Is Jesus calling you to go up the mountain to a higher level of intimacy with Him? That may mean temporarily separating yourself from the hubbub of life, leaving those things that clamour for your attention - even the good and worthwhile concerns that God may have given you in the past - in order to be with Jesus, to listen to Him and to hear His heart. If you do this as a priority, you'll be able to do the things He is calling you to do.

In the story of Martha and Mary, Jesus told Martha that Mary had “chosen what is better” as she sat at Jesus' feet and listened to Him (Luke 10:42). Will you choose what is better today, to go up the mountain to be with Jesus?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please forgive me for the times I have ignored Your call to be with You. I want to make it a priority to respond to You, to come up the mountain to be with You. Thank You that You want to be with me. Amen.

Today's Writer : Jilly Lyon Taylor Jilly Lyon Taylor is part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Pierrepont. She worked in publishing and then with children in Hong Kong before concentrating on being a full-time mother and serving in the local church. Her desire to see people healed led her to the Luke Nine Eleven Training School (NETS) at Pierrepont, and now she teaches and ministers there.

Related LinksSitting at the Feet of Jesus - Teaching CDPlease feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.To see archive copies or sign up to receive an email copy of this daily devotional please click www.seedsofthekingdom.com

Week 1 - His plan

It's so easy to get carried away, for the first week of Restoring our Womanhood we can have grand plans about all the things we want to acheive, make better in our life and who we think we'll be at the end of the program. But first things first, we need to go right back to the begining, back to The Creator and ask Him.

Verses - Psalm 128:3a Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;

Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Prayer - In your prayers ask God to lead you in your role as a Christian Woman. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the dark spots in our heart that need cleaning up and to prepare us on our journey of restoring our womanhood. Pray also that the challenges will be an encouragement and that blessings will come from following the course. Ask for an open heart to accept our role as women. Also pray that he will show you how to be a fruitful vine in your home. It doesn't matter if you are a sister, daughter, mother, flatemate etc. Ask how you can be fruitful in your houeshold, regardless of it's makeup.

Application - Create a journal to document your journey in restoring your role as a Christian Woman.

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.