faithfulheartspapercrafts.com Blog

I once heard a pastor refer to the folks who visit churches at Christmas and Easter, as the “Easter people”.  He was referring to the people who come to services as a tradition, but not because they are the truly faithful.  I understand the reference, but I disagree with the thought.  You see, I believe the real “Easter” people are the ones who understand the wonder and joy of “Resurrection Sunday” – they were Mary and Peter and John.  They included Thomas, even with his doubts. It includes all who believe in the miracle of Christ. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are part of the “Easter People”.  I am one.  I know the true beauty and wonder of a risen Saviour.  I have the joy of Heaven in my heart. Easter was the day, when I was 13 and came to know Jesus as my Savior. My Easter was March 29, 1970.   I could not believe that anyone, let alone the Son of God, loved me enough to die for me.  You see, I think anyone who accepts the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus for the remission of our sins, is an Easter person. They believe in the truimph of Easter Sunday. They know love everlasting. The dawn of that day each year brings joy to their hearts.  So, no , I don’t just attend services on Christmas and Easter as a tradition – but I AM an Easter person – every day of my life! Happy Easter to you.

Welcome our new Design Team for 2012 – we are so thrilled they agreed to join us in our journey – some of the pages and other projects will be designed and created by these wonderful ladies -and we are blessed they have agreed to design for our little shop…..

It is March already and Spring has sprung – and Easter is coming. We will share a few layouts soon to help you celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Have you shared that joy with others? Sometimes it seems hard – we are not preachers, right? How could we do this? We won’t know what to say…We will feel awkward….US? Well, I can only say, that while I understand and often feel the same way, I ask myself, “What would I say if I won a million dollars?” You can bet “WooHoo” would be just the start! Jesus has given us so much more than a million dollars – He has given the keys to our shackles – the keys to the kingdom of Heaven – the keys to eternal life – freely HE gave them – because He loves us – so what do we say about the Celebration of His Resurrection on Easter? I say WOOHOO!!!!!

to you – Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday – Happy Birthday to you! Recently we commemorated the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King – parades, speeches and food. We also had a National Day of Service.

Every day is someone’s birthday.  What a wonderful way to celebrate God’s creations.  Jeremiah 1:4-5 says “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”  He created us and birthdays can be a time to praise Him for His work in us: “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 full well ¹⁴ .” Psalm 139:13-15 How do you celebrate? Here are some conventional and not so conventional ideas:

Of course we have the classic birthday cake (or in the case of my daughter, a giant chocolate chip cookie), maybe with ice-cream, decorations, cards and gifts.  You check out the new Birthday kit we created for celebration – “Happy Birthday”.

Maybe you want to do something different – so instead of cake and ice-cream, you go green and make a “critter cake” for the animals who live near to you – peanut butter with bird seed on pine cones can be attached to a tree as a way of sharing a happy time with local critter-neighbors.  Donate kitty or puppy food or kitty litter to the local shelter.  Instead of cards and decorations, maybe you can send cards to our armed forces, give encouragement cards to the families in the shelters who are escaping abuse and neglect or send a hand-made card to an elderly relative far away.

Instead of gifts for myself, I ask those I love to donate time or $$ to local charities of their choice – from working at a thrift store or Habitat for Humanity or to help take an elderly neighbor to the grocery store or visiting an elderly neighbor in a nursing care facility – let your birthday celebration be to give to others around you in some way.  We are the “hands and feet” of Jesus on earth.  So take some photos of the celebration and create a layout to remind you of how “fearfully and wonderfully you are made”. Happy Birthday!

Be blessed,

Kim

New Year – Welcome to 2012. Just finished our first kit in our “Growing Closer to God” series- “Reflection, Re”soul”ution” - it is part of a study we are doing over at Faith Based Pages, owned by our friends Judy and Craig Hardwick. Our little group is working all year to create a scrapbook of ideas of how we are working to Grow Closer to God – my idea is to create a plan – Quiet Time, Bible-reading, Devotionals and Studies, all focused on God and getting closer in relationship with Him. As I was typing this post, I was listening to a “Christian rock opera” from 1998 – The Rock and the Rabbi – about the relationship between Peter and Jesus – and tears were streaming down my face – no matter how many times I hear it, the music and the story reach straight into my heart. It was at this performance and listening to the CD that I came to understand an overwhelming part of the story – I call it “3 for 3″ – that when Peter denied Christ 3 times in the Courtyard, before Jesus’s crucifixion, and was totally devistated by his own behavior and his betrayal of the Messiah, he felt so unworthy. Later, after Jesus’s resurection, when they have breakfast on the beach, Jesus asks Peter 3 times, if Peter loves him. Each time, Peter says “Yes”, even getting a little irritated in perfect Peter fashion, Jesus tells him each time, “Then feed my sheep.” 3 times, Peter denied Christ – 3 times Christ asked Peter to avow his love – and then Peter recognizes Christ’s forgiveness. I recognized the perfection of the forgiveness that Jesus gives to Peter the first time I saw this presentation – and was overwhelmed and amazed by the perfection of Jesus’s forgiveness – and I cry every time I hear the CD – even 13 years later. Music can build a beautiful bond with our faith. It is just another way to Grow Closer to God – through  recognizing the love, forgiveness and perfection of Jesus Christ. How about you? Have you recognized Jesus’s forgiveness and accepted it? How do you share your joy with others? Let us know.

No – that is not just a pun – scrap-booking is a great family activity and creates special bonds between moms and kids.  Dad can “play” too.  Dr. James Dobson of “Focus on the Family” has said “If more couples created scrapbooks together, there would be fewer divorces.”  And I can hear you now -”How can we find time?” “My children are different ages – how can that work?” “This is too complicated.”  I have answers for all of these.

In order to make simple scrapbook pages that add our faith, we begin with our family events.  Weddings, babies, birthdays, even the every day are gifts from God.  We usually have photos of these experiences (well, maybe not the every day events – so take some of those photos too!) 

 If you have never scrap-booked before, you will need to gather/acquire a few things: photos, a paper trimmer, a scrapbook/album (prefer a photo -archival type where the page covers will not destroy or discolor photos over time), card-stock (you can buy some simple kits with all you need to start) and an archival pen.  Sharp scissors are very helpful – and don’t forget adhesives (again, archival, your choice.) Kids love their own scissors and stickers or embellishments to add to pages. If you have never scrap-booked you can check big chain stores like Target, Wal-mart, or craft stores like Michael’s or JoAnn’s or your local scrapbook stores for kits – or get acquainted with the various on-line scrapbook vendors if those stores are too far away- and purchase a kit which includes the scrapbook and papers, to go with the paper-trimmer, scissors and adhesives.**

Now select photos of one event – recent or past – and decide on a title that describes the photos – and this is where faith comes in – perhaps your title comes from a Biblical phrase - such as one I did for my youngest - the title is “A light unto my Path” and it is about his fascination with flashlights. Or maybe you make a simple title and find a great verse to add.

So let’s say you chose to do a layout (1-2 pages of photos with the same theme) about your daughter’s birthday party – you put 6 or so photos on 2 pages.  You want to honor God in your child’s life – how do you title it?  You could pick a title from a Bible verse – maybe Luke 2:40 – “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”  So my title could be Strong in Spirit; Filled with Wisdom; Another Year to Grow. This is one way – or maybe My Birthday Wish for You. Then you can add the Bible verse I quoted above.  How can your child help?  If they are 8 and older, they can crop and add photos to the page, pick out embellishments and add them – if they are younger, they can help pick out embellishments and add them to pages, select their favorite photos for the page and help remind you of who is the photo….you get the idea. Kids can write their ideas, thoughts and journaling on pages too.  If they feel they can’t write well, you can help them type their thoughts out, change your printer to “grayscale”, print out their journaling or verse and let them trace it with an archival pen.  Handwriting problem solved!

How can dad pitch in?  On the birthday lay-out we were talking about above, we could have both parents write a letter to the birthday child – including important Biblical verses and ideas and add them to the lay-out in separate envelopes on the back of the scrapbook page with a little tab to show the child where to pull out the letters and read them in private.  Make a pocket to add to the page and fill the pocket with the cards the birthday child can look at later. 

 Dads can add their own pages as they might want to – to congratulate the child on a special award, acknowledge their growth, encourage them to stay in the Word.  Men make great scrapbookers and design some great pages.

You may be asking how you can find these Bible verses if you do not already own them- I suggest you go to Bible.com or some site you may have used to help prepare for Bible study or to find other information – a devotions site, such as Proverbs 31 Ministries or Women of Faith, or your own Bible concordance. I use my Bible and the above referenced devotional sites and a great little book “Fingertip Scriptures” compiled by Merry Graham and Rachel Bye and set up in easy-to use topic settings.

Children love to spend time with mom and dad doing any activity – make this a regular in your schedule – 30 minutes 1-2x a week make this a great family activity that everyone can join in on. What a great way to spend a rainy or snowy day sharing family time indoors with something wonderful to show for it later! So sit down with the kids and get started – it can bind our hearts and minds to one another and even more to our Lord.

Be Blessed,

Kim

** For anyone seeking quality supplies to start out with, check out the catalog at our web-site and the catalogue at “Close to my Heart.com” and if there is anything you want to order, let me know – as a consultant for over 15 years, I will be happy to help you place an order for the basics and more!

Busy, busy, busy….we are all busy.  And while it is true, the question is – busy with what?  The things we do seem important and they are, but sometimes we feel like we are missing something – it is all overwhelming. What is wrong? 

Think back to when you entered a new relationship…you were curious about what the other person thought, felt and believed was important.  You spent countless hours in conversation and when apart, spent countless hours thinking about the other person.  The air crackled with emotion for one another.

Think back to your relationship after a while – you may have become complacent, settled and – well- basically neglectful.  You may have broken off the relationship completely, because you could not see how it was leading you the way you wanted.  It became stale, boring.  You can even have this happen in friendships.

That happens with our relationship with God. Good relationships require closeness and time- time to talk and listen, time devoted to one another. So it is with your relationship with God.  “Quiet time” hems in the day, takes away the worries and makes your relationship strong.  God wants to talk to you – He wants you to remember His answers to your deepest needs and fervent prayers. 
Take time with Him and be in His word everyday.  Keep record of what He is teaching you, telling you, how He answers you.  On your worst day and your best day He is there – don’t neglect Him….savor His every word and be filled with the joy of knowing your relationship with Him is there for you – every moment – all the time – forever.

Be blessed,

Kim