Moon and stars inspiration & Freebie

Inspiration can come to you in many different ways.  For example, my post from yesterday received a comment from Kathi at All Things Digital Scrapbooking that she was posting my freebie at her site.  Now this was a new one for me so I had to go look of course and was very pleasantly surprised.  She only posts about 45-50 freebies that she personally finds on various different blogs without using a computer-generated list.  (You can find her HERE.)

So I had a few minutes this morning while I was waiting for the kids to get ready for church and I found a lovely paper with the moon and stars on it so went to that blog and downloaded it.  Then I went to church and one of the songs our worship team sang was Cannons by Phil Wickham.  I was singing along and really enjoying myself when it dawned on me that the lyrics said “the moon and the stars declare who you are.”  That’s when I got distracted (shame on me!) and starting thinking about putting the lyrics on the moon and stars paper I had just downloaded.  Here’s what it looks like.

I can’t give you the paper but you can download it from Pixel Scrapbooking HERE.  I can, however, give you the lyrics that I put together.  Here’s the preview for that.

I am giving you the psd file so you can change the verse color as well as the extra words.  You can download HERE.  Hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Weekly Scripture Freebie

I have to apologize for the length of my absence for anyone following my weekly scriptures. But on September 22, my sister died very suddenly and unexpectedly. She was only 57 years old, and to some of you that may sound old, but for many of us, that is still young. How do you prepare for the death of a loved one? With a sudden death, you have to deal not only with the grief and loss, but the shock as well. Last January, I lost my brother to pancreatic cancer. We had a year to prepare for that, but no amount of time could really prepare you for the pain of losing someone you love.

It just so happened that today was my first day back to church after losing my sister, and the sermon was on Heaven. Our pastor talked about the certainty life after death and knowing that Heaven exists. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, there is no fear of death. I know for my sister and brother, they are in Heaven. They were both saved and believers of Christ. There is joy knowing that they are in a better place and that they are now without pain. But the grief and pain I now suffer is in the loss of my siblings and my shared heritage. They were my only siblings; I am the last one left. That is a hard thing to come to terms with. I remember when my grandmother lost her last sister and how it devastated her. But she was 84 years old when her sister died and my grandmother had been the youngest of all the children. I am the oldest and never thought to lose both my siblings so young. The sad part is that my mother also lost her husband, my step-father, in July. In less than two years, she lost a husband and two children.

In honor of my brother and sister, I have scrapped a page for each of them. I used kits by Cari Lopez for these pages and made them 8x10 so they could be framed.

My brother Mike Mason. He was only 51 years old and left a wife, three children, three grandchildren plus one more on the way.

My sister Terri Simpson. She was 57 years old and left four children and eight grandchildren.

The following page is one I did for my mother and me.

The scripture for the week is simply done, I hope you enjoy it. Have a God-filled day.

You can download here. Be sure to check back again soon. I am working on a calendar template for 2010.

Hebrews 11:1 Freebie

Someone sent me this story through email today and I thought it was appropriate for today’s scripture.  It also goes along with what I have been saying about kids and what goes through their minds.

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant.  My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!'

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!'

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?'

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.'

'Really?' my son asked.

'Cross my heart,' the man replied.

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.'

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, 'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.'

Don’t you just love kids?  They have the faith and the love of the innocent.  And that is what faith is.  You can’t always put it into words but as one of my dear friends says, “I know what I know what I know”.  I don’t have all the answers and I can’t explain everything in the Bible, but God can, and one of these days, He will explain it all to me.

So anyway, here is my Scripture for the week.  Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

You can download here.

Weekly Scripture – Psalm 46:10 Freebie

This may come as a surprise to those that know me, but I am a fixer. (I can hear all my kids going DUH!).  I have this perpetual need to “fix” everybody’s problems.  Now that can be good when they come to me for my opinion and assistance, but not so good when they don’t want that assistance.  My sister says I just like to be in control.  That probably goes back to when we were kids and I, being the oldest, was always being admonished by my father with sayings like - “You’re the oldest, why’d you let them do this?” or “You’re the oldest, take care of your sister and brother.”  So naturally, I grew up thinking I had to fix everything and everybody.  I was in control.

Well, then along came God into my life, and He says He is in control.  WHAT? I am supposed to sit back and let God be in charge?  In His timing?  Me, the most impatient person in the world?  Hello, do you know me?

So, the monumental struggle in my life began.  God, in his infinite wisdom and love, just patiently waits for me to flop around on my own as I foolishly try to “be in control” of my life.  HA!  I have learned that it goes so much easier when I let Him be in charge.  Uses up a whole lot less energy too if I don’t worry and just let Him handle it all.  So this brings me to the Scripture for the week, Psalm 46:10.  “Be still, and know that I am God.”  Simple words, but such a powerful statement.  We live in a broken world, but God is still in charge.

So my freebie for today is this scripture with a cross.  I am also giving you the cross by itself.  Enjoy and have a God-filled day.

You can download here.

Scripture for the week

Here it is Sunday again.  The weekend always seems to go by pretty fast.  But boy, did the summer really fly.  Friday Brandi and I had to go to the school to sign the residency form out for the kids since they all live with me.  And Tuesday they start school.  Cheyenne is pretty excited about going to middle school as she will be in the 5th grade.  When I was a kid, we had elementary for grades K-5th and then junior high for 6th, 7th and 8th.  But now I guess there are just too many kids because they have middle school for 5th and 6th then junior high for 7th & 8th.  Randy on the other hand will be in first grade and, according to her, means she is now a BIG girl.  She is no longer a baby like she was when she was only five.  Bob took them to see G-Force at the movies today and they really had a ball.

I am trying to post more often and put up more freebies, so today I am starting something new.  Each Sunday I will offer a Scripture WordArt, along with something to go with it, like a frame or paper.  This first one is with a frame from Granny Art.  It is from Deuteronomy and is the greatest commandment.  Sometimes we have a tendency to get so involved in day-to-day living that we forget our real purpose on earth.

You can download here.  Have a God-filled day.