You Are Made in the Image of the Creator

Have you ever joined a Bible study group and had to purchase a book, workbook, and/or a notebook to go with it? I have and they can get quite pricey. And then what do you do with it afterwards? I've got several around here that I haven't read again. Stephanie Ackerman's Documented Faith 2015 is FREE! She doesn't require you to purchase anything and you don't have to do all the artsy stuff if you don't want to.

Just a note though: Stephanie believes as I do -- that we all have creative bones, because we were made by a creative God. I have learned that the devil is sneaky feller. When I  feel intimidated or start comparing myself with others and thinking I can't because I'm not a good as they are, I have to watch out! I have to trust that God knew what he was doing when he created me! *smile* I have a different way of seeing things and a different style, however, I can be inspired by people God puts into my path like artists Mary Engelbreit or Stephanie Ackerman to go out and create.  As hard as it is sometimes, I can't let the devil win, because if I let myself believe his lies, than I won't and I'm defeated before I even get started.

"For you created my inmost being,

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

~~ <> @<>~~

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

~ Psalm 139:13, 14, 16. (NIV)



 

Stephanie is providing a focus word of the week/month, a memory verse and a small devotional. My husband has been printing out the weekly emails for me, so that I can follow along. Since I taught homeschool and Sunday school, I like 3-ring binder notebooks, but she purchased a planner book for herself. You don't even have to do that -- you could print out (by hand or computer)  the weekly memory verse she sends you by email and post it on the frig. When you are doing the dishes, repeat the verse to yourself and "digest it."

 

Here's a plain ole index card with the verse on it for this week. And the next one is my doodled one. If you need to see it larger, click on it (I have to work within the limits of this blog post template). On the left side, you can see how I hand-doodled some of the month divider labels too.

 

I designed a blank calendar in Word for myself a couple of weeks ago, but my husband hasn't been able to open it to print it for me, so to thwart the devil, I purchased a small, plain 8.5 x 11 inch desk planner calendar from Walmart for $3.57. Cheapest one I saw this weekend. I was hoping to find a calendar from the dollar store to cut up, but isn't it one of Murphy's laws that says when you are looking for a specific thing, you won't find it? LOL! I tore the calendar pad apart and put each page in a document sleeve. The calendar is to document your life. If you don't have regular appointments you must keep, then journal a line or two each day on the calendar like a mini-diary. The back is a good place to add more notes. I added in the focus word for this week and the reference verse after I received Stephanie's email this morning.

 

I also wanted to add photos to this notebook, so have been looking for a photo sleeve. Finally found some at Hobby Lobby by The Paper Studio. They were refill pages for 8.5 x 11 postbound or 3-ring albums for $7.99. They are about 1/4 inch too wide for my notebook, so I'll have to trim it a bit and punch new holes in the left side. There is a space for it.

 

 

I also purchased some other goodies while I was out shopping. I found an orange pencil pouch (did you know the Irish flag is green, white, and orange?), the new twistable coloring pencils, and a pad of phrase cards that you can cut down to fit your specific size sleeve. Most of the journaling cards I've seen at Michaels and Hobby Lobby were made for Project Life and are 3" x 4." I wanted something a little more flexible than that, so I pounced on this pad at Walmart.

 

 

I have an idea of how I want to decorate the cover, but I haven't found the thing I want use to decorate it with yet. I'm gonna keep looking and I'm trusting God that he will help me find it.  Stopped in at the Christian book store while I was looking and found some encouragement cards that I want to send my friends that I know have signed up to follow Stephanie Ackerman's Documented Faith 2015 focus group. By the way, I don't do Facebook, so you won't find me at her group there. However, I found a Youtube video interview of Stephanie.  She's a cute gal!

 

Oh, and I've got to tell you about two things that happened this weekend that could have been much  worse and I'm so thankful they weren't. First,  I let the dog out to do her thing yesterday morning. We have a leash law in our town, so I put her on her chain while I stepped away from the door for a moment and came back into the room when she began barking up a storm. When she begins to bark like that, I usually go investigate (they say mama's know their babies' cries LOL!). I'm so am thankful she got my attention, because standing in the middle of the road, in front of our house, was a 2 or 3 year old toddler wearing nothing but a diaper. She was as cute as a button with blonde curly hair and was totally unaware of how much danger she was in as two pickup trucks were barreling toward  her. They go up and down our street like it's the Indy 500 most of the time. Fortunately the two truck drivers saw her in time, stopped and began to honk at her, but she thought it was funny and giggled. My mind and my eyes were racing, like who does she belong to, and do I dare run out in the street to grab her in my nightie, etc? I stepped out on the porch and called "Baby, come see the puppy!" Immediately she turned and ran over to see our puppy. Just then a man ran into my line of sight and swooped her up, his terrified face as white as a sheet and all he could manage to say was "Thank you" as he ran back up the street with his precious bundle in his arms. My doggie was a good girl!

 

The second thing that happened this weekend is that my husband had an old nasty pain in his left side that didn't let up for 24 hours. Hubby was a puzzle even after the test results came back -- the doctor wasn't sure it was this but it might have been. You can tell when the doctors aren't 100% certain. LOL!   Anyway, the emergency room nurses pumped him full of pain killers and the doctor sent him home to rest. I'm thankful that it wasn't something that required a hospital stay or surgery. I like my guy at home!

 

What are you thankful for today?