A restart...

Many years ago, I finished my bachelor’s degree in mathematics, with a minor in religion. I immediately followed it up with a master’s in math, which led to a wonderful career, but I always wanted to go back to school for a Bible degree. We had our three boys in three-and-a-half years, then I homeschooled them from kindergarten through high school. I would often tell my husband, “When the boys finish school, I’m going back.” This spring, our youngest finished his last year of high school; within weeks, I applied and was accepted at Liberty University. As for my youngest, he’s also attending Liberty, pursuing a bachelor’s in apologetics – which makes this momma heart so happy!

Thus, this summer, the two of us began our educational journeys at divinity school. In my first class, one of the books I was assigned is Ecologies of Faith in a Digital Age by Stephen and Mary Lowe. They put forth that we are created to be connected with other believers in a spiritual ecosystem, and it is through those connections and interactions that we grow spiritually. We are influenced by our network of friends, and the growth of our ecosystem is based on shared “spiritual nutrients and resources.” I love how they state this concept in their book: “Reciprocal relationships that strengthen reciprocal communities should ultimately effect reciprocal growth among all participating members.”

My youngest is very smart, and over the years, I’ve lost count of how many times my husband and I have jokingly told him to use his powers for good. But that’s exactly what should happen in a network of believers! All dimensions of our lives are impacted and enhanced when we are in community with other Christians. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” but “against evil, spiritual forces” (Eph. 6:12, CSB). He then tells us to “take up the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16). We often think of these verses as applying to an army of one, but that is simply not true. The Roman army would line up, shoulder to shoulder, and form a wall of protection with their shields.

In that same way, we as Christians are to be in fellowship with one another, staying “alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). This has been lacking in my own life and is something I want to actively work on in the future.

Another concept the Lowes introduced in their book is the “contagion of holiness,” which spreads via spiritual influence from believer to believer. I’ve always loved how Jesus replied to his disciples after he healed the woman from bleeding: “I know that power has gone out from me” (Luke 8:46). As the Lowes put it, “God’s holiness was not fragile and easily contaminated; it was powerful and contagious.” Just like the power to heal the woman transferred the moment she touched the hem of his robe, Christ’s holiness is transferable within a network of believers. As Paul writes, “let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion” (2 Cor. 7:1). Note how he uses the plural in that verse – sanctification is a group effort. This is a second concept that I want to implement in my own life.

With family, church, work, and school obligations, time becomes a precious resource, so I must be intentional about creating this fellowship which will lead to holiness. Fortunately, I am a planner, so I do have a course of action. First, I want to restart my blog. I began writing way back in 2006, documenting life with my three boys and my scrapbooking hobby. About a year ago, I re-designed the logo and layout of my blog (I even pay for a domain name!), but I haven’t posted anything since 2017. One of my purposes of the blog is to foster friendships, and I can’t do that until I start posting regularly.

The next thing I plan on doing is having consistent in-home fellowship times. My family are avid board gamers, so I will start with once-a-month game nights. These are casual, fun, and lighthearted get-togethers, but they build community, especially with younger people at our church. They are looking for a place to belong, and my husband and I share a desire to encourage and mentor the younger generation. I’d also like to host once-a-month Bible studies in my home to delve deeper into the Word. My plan is to meet throughout the school year for dinner and study with high school and college girls. I would eventually like to expand my outreach to women in their twenties and thirties and form a Saturday morning discipleship program where we would meet for a meal, worship, Bible study, and prayer. My ministry is to young women, so that is where my primary focus will be. However, my husband and I have talked of one day starting a ministry to families, where we would pair “seasoned” couples with young married couples in a mentoring relationship.

My long-term goal is to write my own curriculum. I would like to start with 4–8-week Bible studies, with an ultimate goal of creating a three-year-long comprehensive Bible study. I am passionate about teaching the Bible as the one story that it is (something that seems to be lacking in too many Sunday School curricula). Alongside this, I would also build a digital community, perhaps through a private group on Facebook or Instagram. In addition, I’ve contemplated adding a discussion board or some sort of learning management system to my website. Through it all, I want to be intentional about creating a close fellowship with other believers, that we may strengthen and encourage one another to holiness.

At the beginning of this post, I wrote that my youngest son is also getting a Bible degree, and I want to close with a few words to him. Andrew, time is precious. Each day, we only get twenty-four hours (though I’ve prayed more than once that God would grant me a few more) and there are lots of things pulling for those hours. Please don’t ever get so caught up in doing the work of God that you miss time in the Word of God.

Each day, prioritize your time with him. It can be easy to simply read the Bible as a school assignment and forget that it is “living and effective” (Heb. 4:12). We can get distracted in reading about God and lose sight of the fact that we have direct access to him through Christ; never forget that you can “approach the throne of grace with boldness” (Heb. 4:16).

An old Larnelle Harris song, written from the perspective of God, speaks to this. In the chorus, God shares his hurt when we claim we’re too busy serving him to spend time with him and ends with, “but how can you serve me when your spirit’s empty?” Don’t let your spirit get empty. Remain in the Word and keep your relationship with God as the focus in your life (though, trust me, lots of other things will be vying for your attention). And then – watch out! Because he “who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think” (Eph. 3:20) will work in a mighty way in your life. My prayer is that God uses you for his glory, and that your testimony will point others to him. God is good.

My musings on Irma

I often joke that I live under a rock, but of course we've been paying attention to Irma.  Max​ has worked tirelessly this week at Martin's planning production and deliveries of bread for those in the path of this mighty storm.  I was supposed to attend a women's retreat with ladies at my church, but plans got changed last minute due to this crazy hurricane.  I may need to rename of of my favorite LuLaRoe tops after this week.  ;) 

Today, we're doing some last-minute prepping in case we experience a long-term power outage.  I've got Bethel worship playing this afternoon as I work in the kitchen (and seriously, play the "You Make Me Brave" album if you need some peace in the midst of this literal storm...it's free for Amazon Prime members).

As I was listening to my favorite song from the album, I was reminded of Matthew 8:27:

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Our God is so much bigger than this storm, but yet so many of us deny He even exists.  He could snap His fingers and Irma would instantly disappear.  But sometimes we need great reminders that we are not the Creators of this world, and that there is a God in heaven who desires our complete, whole-hearted worship of Him.  He loves us with an unfailing, undying love, and we ignore Him.  He paid the ultimate price so we could be with Him forever.  That kind of love is almost beyond our comprehension.  And we don't have to do a thing to earn that love.  It doesn't make sense from a human perspective.  That's the great mystery of our God.  He loves us so much, and all He wants is for us to rightly worship Him as the King that He is.  

I've Been on a Roll

I made it a mission to work through the entire "It Takes Two" kit, and I think I've done a pretty good job.  I have a few scraps and some bits and pieces left - and I may try to squeeze one more page out of them - or I may just put them in a bin for my husband.  (He likes to make cards for me, and it's easier for him to have his own stash of supplies.)

Warning: the remainder of this post is going to be really photo-heavy.  With that being said, here are the rest of the pages I've created with this kit:

Up first is an 8.5 x 11 layout.  I love the "forever" acrylic piece that came with the kit!

I've been trying to work on my layering skills, and you can see my little cluster of embellishments on this corner of the page:

This second page is also 8.5 x 11, and it features an older picture of my three guys.

I think this piece was my favorite on the entire chipboard sheet:

On this layout, I traded out my enamel dots for sequins.  :) 

Here's a 12 x 12 layout of my hubby and me.  I have trouble with word stickers, but I thought they worked well for the journaling on this page:

The little hearts on this page were cut using an old Stampin' Up! punch.  I'm trying to incorporate more older product and tools...it's not doing any good sitting on a shelf!

Two accordion-folded hearts came in the kit, and I only managed to use this one.  Sometimes larger embellishments are very difficult for me to place on a page...does anyone else have that problem?

This photo is from 2008!  I've had it on my desk forever, and finally got around to scrapping it.

The die-cut heart tag came with the kit, and I added a little hand-stitching at the top to tie in with the red on the rest of the layout.

Anyone else keep little strips of scraps in case they might use it on another layout?  Most of this page is made up of wee scraps.  :)

And here is the last page:

Once again, I'm working on my embellishment clusters:

This tag had a die-cut heart.  I backed it with a little piece of gold-foiled vellum:

I loved the arrows that came with the Crate Paper "Kiss, Kiss" collection.  On this layout, I used both a chipboard and layered sticker arrow.  They make me happy.  :)

You know what else makes me happy?  Sitting down and scrapbooking. 

Another Layout with the "It Takes Two" Kit

I really stretched the Scraptastic "It Takes Two" kit.  Today I've got another video where you can really see my process in creating a layout.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I wasn't able to capture the end of the layout on video, but I think you can get a good idea of how I place my paper layers.



You'll notice some background noise in the voiceover.  My husband and boys were playing Mario Party across the house and my microphone is apparently VERY sensitive.  :)

Here's the finished page:

How do you create your layouts?  Do you measure all your papers, or just eyeball it like me?

Happy Easter!

And we're back!

Hi Nesters!  I'm so glad to be back sharing with you.  :)

My original game plan was to take a break for a few weeks to deal with the start of school (we homeschool + I've been teaching part-time at a local college) and a Disney vacation.  Then life just sorta got crazy so it turned into a multi-month break.  

Recently, however, I made the conscious decision to start scrapbooking again.  I don't know if you're anything like me, but when life gets busy, my hobby ends up being the first thing crossed off my to-do list.  And for a brief time, this may be necessary, and a good thing.  But I've found that when I go weeks (or more realistically, months) without taking any time for myself, I really start getting worn down.  And that's no good for anyone.  So after talking with my husband, I decided to start crafting again.  I still have a long to-do list, but I'm finding that I'm more relaxed when I take small breaks to play and get my mind off the craziness of life.

And that brings us to today.  :)

I pulled out a small pile of pictures and my February "It Takes Two" Scraptastic kit.  Using just a few extra items, I've scrapped 7 layouts in the past couple weeks.  

Here's a little video I made that walks through the kit and the first layout I created with it:



Here's a photo of that layout:

I'll be back shortly with more of the pages I finished, and also one more video.  Until then, here's the  stack of pages I created with the kit:

It makes me happy.  :)

Summer Scrapbooking

Happy August, Nesters!  Today I have some layouts to share.  I subscribe to the Scraptastic kit club, and this month marks their 4-year anniversary.  To celebrate, they hosted a crop the weekend before last.  And amazingly, I finished four pages!  (I'm such a pokey scrapper.)

I used past kits to create each of the layouts, and honestly, that helps the process go so much quicker for me.  

The first page was part of a Bingo challenge; you had to include everything from a row, column, or diagonal of a Bingo card on your page.  I chose a diagonal (so I could use the free space in the middle!), and had to incorporate mist, multiple fonts, a border punch, and an older kit (this one was from last summer):

I even heat-embossed my title.  Fancy.  ;)

For the next page, I had to use at least four patterned papers.  I actually used five.  Yay for plain-ish patterned paper!

On this next layout, I had to choose a title from one of the Top 100 songs from 2010.  "Smile" is by Uncle Kracker, though I live under a rock and had never heard it before.  True story.

The last page had to be created using a certain color scheme.  This is the photo that we were given for inspiration:

And here's my page:

I have a feeling the color swatches were based on that patterned paper, because it was a perfect match.  

Before I go, I want to share a behind-the-scenes picture.  This is what I deal with every time I try to photograph layouts:

 It's a good thing he's so cute.  :)