SNR A Faith Perspective 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:

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 at
games@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!

Yesterday was the kick off of the Christian Paper Crafts and Unity blog hop. I hope that you have visitied my Softangelkisses blog to see what is going on there. This Scripture is also the Scripture Saturday over at Christian Paper Crafts and on my Softangelkisses blog. Please play along and link back with your creation over at Christian Paper Crafts.

I thought this verse was just delightful for a wedding card! I am going to take the photographs of the wedding today, but I always take a gift of a Bible along when I photograph people :o)
The next stop on this blog hop is: 42. Diane Noble
http://www.dianesdesigns.blogspot.com/

God Bless You,

Joshua 10:25

Saturday's Scripture for Scripture Saturday is none other than Joshua 10:25. I do not think this verse had ever spoken so powerfully to me than it has since the death of my Uncle in June due to brain cancer.
I am only going to explain part of the verse, in hopes that you will look at the rest of it on your own. My uncle John and I were very close so this scripture was a difficult page to make on the scrapbooking side of my world (Softangelkisses). I have not done any journaling on the page yet except the verse. Perhaps one day I will be able to write my journaling on there, if not, I think the verse sums it all up. He was very strong and courageous all throughout his fight with brain cancer. He battled it over 4 years before going home to be with the Lord. Very strong and courageous if you ask me for a brain cancer that the medical field only gives a year life expectancy for!!
The section of the verse I am talking about today is the "Be strong and very courageous"! If you look at the particulars of this verse, at first you may think that God is not speaking to us in it, and only talking of the situation occurring in the Bible at that time. We have to know however that we do not serve a God of fear, we serve a loving God who not only wants us to be strong and very courageous, but also gives us the power to do just that!
Proving that He gives us that power, you can look over into the book of Philippians where we are told "I can do all things through Christ who Strengthens me."
Have a wonderfully blessed Monday!
God Bless You,
Mary

Sorry :o(

I am so sorry. This was supposed to have gotten posted yesterday, however due to some troubles that I have had with Internet Explorer this past week, I was unable to update the blog!
Therefore, you will have a special post tomorrow for this past Saturday's Scripture!
God Bless You,
Mary

1 Samuel 1:27

Today is Scripture Saturday over at my paper crafting blog Softangelkisses, as well as over at Christian Paper Crafts. Be sure to check them both out, and if you are a paper crafter, you may also want to peep in at His Princess because there is some grand opening blog candy going to be given away there...

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him. - 1 Samuel 1:27
What a powerful testimony of prayer we have here that can be used in the lives of so many today. In my life personally, I can attest to this. When I was pregnant with my (now 2 year old) daughter Abigail, if something could go wrong, it almost seemed as if it did. I know that it was not that bad and could have been much worse, but our difficult time was with the pregnancy rather than the delivery.
While pregnant with Abby, my labs came back that she had a 1 in 10 chance of having Down's Syndrome. In the world of medicine, those are some pretty high numbers. Many women I had spoken with had gotten false positive results of 1 in 1,000 or1 in 5,000, but nope, ours was 1 in 10.
Before we go on, please let me make it clear that if she would have had Down's Syndrome, we would have still had her, loved her no less. It was all of the complications that we were being bogged down with such as heart disease, intestinal complications, spinal cord complications, that were our biggest fears.
Throughout this difficult pregnancy we prayed and prayed and when Abby was born very healthy, we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt He who healed her!

God Bless You,
Mary

Jeremiah 28:11

For 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." -Jeremiah 29:11

Good Saturday morning! This really is an exciting morning for many reasons! My mom and I are headed out for a girls day out to celebrate! Today is the grand opening of our new venture together:

Please stop by and visit us and tell all the Paper-Crafters you know. We are a Christian business and appreciate the support!
Today is also my first day hosting my Scripture Saturday as a challenge over at the Christian Paper Crafts website! You've definitely got to check that out too!
However, this blog is not entirely about either of the last two items. I could say that they have nothing to do with one another, but they actually do. They are each different gifts and ways of expression the Lord has provided me with. For that and many other things, I am grateful to Him.
As I have been trying to become more organized and looking at what all I have on my plate, this verse has jumped out at me. In order to not feel overwhelmed at all of my obligations, I continue to remember it and place it upon my heart. The Lord knows the plans He has for me. He did not place my life in front of my in order to see me fail. I pray continually that I am doing what He wants me to do, and I feel I am moving in that direction with each step I take.
I also placed this Bible verse upon my heart after giving birth to Abigail and being so ill. The doctors did not know (an still do not know) what happened, but I am a living miracle every day. I prayed this verse knowing that the Lord has plans for me to prosper so He may receive the glory from it. Perhaps that is why I have ITP (low platelets for no known reason), so that someone may see me and see how God works through me!

God Bless You,
Mary

Peace Be Still

"Be Still and Know the I am God..." - Psalm 46:10
We had a bad experience last night with a local business. I prayed as I sat through the remainder of the evening praying that I would do what Jesus would want me to do during the situation. As it is still lying heavily on my heart, I am still praying about it, knowing He will lead me in the right direction. If you wonder why I am mentioning this, it is because last night's event really played a role in this blog. You see, most often, these devotionals are written as they are revealed to me throughout the day from God. However, once last night occurred, the only thought in my mind was "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord"! Yes, way too extreme! I really prayed for the Lord to place something on my heart for today and received this Bible verse.
Now, I will grant you that I am a very busy little girl and my time is valuable to me. I suppose that is why this verse spoke to me. In all the hustle and bustle, then with an added stress on top, I just need to slow down and remember the Peace that comes only from God. We need to savour this Peace for it is the only true Peace there is on Earth. Then the later part of the verse - Be Still. How often do we just run around in circles when the Lord is telling us, "Be still child". The the ending of that phrase - Know that I am God! What a reminder that we all need sometimes. He is God. There is nothing too big, too little for Him to handle.
I know many times I try to work things out on my own and just seem more and more covered up by a load of never-ending work. However, when I hand it over to God, it seems to all fall into place! I may not be the perfect nurse, scrapbooker, or even mommy, but in the eyes of my God, I am awesome, fearfully and wonderfully made! Sometimes it takes those "Peace Be Still Moments" for me to remember that :o) Have a wonderfully blessed day!

God Bless You,
Mary

Who God Is?

"I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me." -Isaiah 46:9

Today's devotion is not very long. It is just a plain and simple one that has been on my heart. Often times, non believers ask who God really is. Knowing they have already heard the everyday answers, I find it most important to answer with scripture.
This verse from Isaiah speaks so truthful and boldly in just a short sentence. I interpret it as this also: God says "I am who I am, I am the I AM, there is no one else that is me, only me!" He really is our everything!

God Bless You,
Mary