Saturday, December 31, 2016

Season of Gifts

Yesterday I wrote about the various projects I did in December alongside the various ways I participated in Advent this year. My final project for December is the Season of Gifts which is the current theme in the Get Messy Art Journaling community. Throughout the year this community offers a variety of themes, giving its members a weekly set of art and journaling prompts to choose from for inspiration. The challenge is to create an art journal page from the prompts  once a week for the duration of each theme. I have yet to complete this challenge for a particular theme. But that is going to change in this current season! Below are the first four pages for the Season of Gifts:

Week 1 - a favorite quote about gifts

Week 2 - a favorite Christmas song

Week 3 - use something from a gift you received...and glitter

Week 4 - Gift wrap a page ..I wasn't ready to leave behind the Christmas songs just yet!
Two weeks left of the Season of Gifts. :)
We are heading to my sister's today for our final family Christmas celebration. Wishing everyone a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

Friday, December 30, 2016

December Art Journaling

Since I devoted the first 25 days of the month of December to daily Advent art journaling posts, I thought I would share the other projects I tried to fit in. Since I had started my Advent art pages in October in preparation for guest posts and daily December posting, by mid-month I was able to add some other projects into my art time.

I really wanted to do the December 30 Days of Lists challenge since I love making lists. But that project did prove to be more than I could handle early in the month alongside Advent prep for my blog and for the blog at church. The pages I did complete were a lot of fun!






I'm not totally ruling out that I may do more of the list prompts in the month ahead. Since I am so driven by the calendar and deadlines for my job, I have made a rule of giving myself permission to be more free-flowing with my art time and projects. I do strive to finish the projects I start, but the higher value for me is simply practicing creativity and enjoying the energy and refreshment it provides.

Caylee Greyvenstein from the Get Messy Art Journal community had a class that began on December 16. The start of this class coincided perfectly with school beginning its Christmas break on December 15, and my schedule slowing down. So, I jumped right into it! I am taking my time working through the project and enjoying the tips and techniques that Caylee and the other artists provide. I used an old cardboard photo folder from my dad's hometown as my journal cover. I then  added sewn in pages from a variety of materials, such as watercolor paper, vintage map pages, end-papers from old books, etc.










I have one more project that I'll save for my next post.







Sunday, December 25, 2016

Advent Day 25



Merry Christmas! This is the final day of Advent. The One we have waited for has come! 

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23




I have totally enjoyed this journey through Advent and through Kris Camealy's book, Come. Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting. You can follow Kris at Kriscamealy.com and at gracetable.orgThank you for traveling this journey with me! May you enjoy the favor and presence of Christ today and through the new year.

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Advent Day 24



"Let’s not hurry through this night. Let us sit awhile beside the manger, in the muck of the stable, in the mess of our actual lives and soak in the glory of this truth. Immanuel. He is here. Even as we wait for His final coming, He is present. Sit still for a few minutes where you are. Can you feel Him beside you? Can you sense His mercy for you, can you hear the love He sings down over you? Listen — His life is in you, let the rhythm of your heart fall in sync with the pulse of heaven."
~Kris Camealy, p 118





Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Friday, December 23, 2016

Advent Day 23



"We wait for Jesus, and yet He has already come. His presence, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, our invisible helper, remains with us, not only with but within those who believe. Jesus told His disciples, “and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17).

He dwells with you and within you, but still, we wait for His coming. This is not an easy idea to understand, and this is what we mean when Christians describe living in the “already and not yet.” We are encouraged here not to grow weary, not to let our hands go limp and weak in the work that God has given us to do in the meantime. He has tasked us with a purpose, go therefore and make disciples–go, tell people about Jesus. Invite others to open their eyes to the story they too are living in, whether they acknowledge it or not. Our King whom we wait for is already in our midst. He is currently at work, writing the story that’s already been written. Our prayers, our worship, and our outreach are one of the ways we get to participate in this fantastic epic unfolding. The Lord is  in your midst (vs. 15)–Heaven touching earth". ~Kris Camealy, 110-111



Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Advent Day 22



"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7 ESV

"Several years ago, the results of a survey reported that 45% of people who responded actually dread the Christmas season. During the holidays, reports of depression or increased anxiety are up during the month of December. A quick Google search for “anxiety at Christmas time” returned over 18 million results. It seems the festive season of Advent, for many, is not an easy season for rejoicing. But Paul’s word to the people at Philippi (and to us)here is “rejoice…do not be anxious about anything.” Worship to combat worry .It’s effective, but it isn’t easy. When our anxiety levels are high, our first response is rarely to worship. Rising anxiety levels set off a whole chain of events in our hearts and minds and typically, worship isn’t the first, second or third response. To worship during seasons of worry takes more effort than most of us can muster. It takes holy intervention to turn our hearts towards praise rather than our problems. But God is always willing to woo us.He is always wanting our heart’s full attention. 
Rather than wring our hands with worry, Paul encourages us to bring it all before God in prayer, humbly and “with thanksgiving (vs.6).” God’s response to our prayers?–peace. When we surrender our fear and worry, God’s inexplicable peace becomes the guard of our hearts and minds."
~Kris Camealy, p106




Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Advent Day 21



"Waiting sometimes feels like sitting alone in the dark. When will the light finally come, we wonder. The dawn of a new day comes slowly, with a gradual lightening of the sky. With every blink, the sky seems to brighten, but it does not happen in an instant. We perceive the sunrise in incremental stanzas, until the fullness of light overwhelms the last ribbons of darkness, and we realize we are now standing in the full brightness of a new day.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,on them has light shone." (Isiah 9:2).

Though the Light of the World, the Christ, appears to be slow in His coming, His light does not meander into the world like the slow rising dawn. His coming, long foretold, is quickly realized as He slips out into a dim cave, in the night of a waiting world, a world so long blanketed in shadow and darkness. He comes to us in that long-awaited moment, awakening our hearts to Himself, as if someone has suddenly raised the shades. Our Light has come. And with His coming, all of the happenings of the dark shall cease." ~Kris Camealy, p102


Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 


Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Advent Day 20




"Sometimes, our barrenness has nothing to do with our physical circumstance and everything to do with our paper-thin heart. The thing that stops us from believing the miracle isn’t only our advanced maturity, but also our inability to imagine the impossible. We’re too old for the foolish imaginations run-rampant we see in children. Too wise in our own right, to dream fanciful dreams of the impossible-made-possible. We know better–we’ve lived hard times, our experiences fill us with doubt, or what we deem to be, a healthy measure of realism. We plant our feet in the solid earth and declare the miracle to be impossible. Absurd at best. We pray in our disbelief, and sometimes, God hushes us with His holiness, in order to restore us." ~Kris Camealy, p96-97.



This week, as we move closer to Christmas Day, let us allow ourselves to get caught up in the spirit of the Christmas season and embrace the miracle of the Incarnation - "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us...." John 1:14

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Monday, December 19, 2016

Advent Day 19




The passage I quoted on today's art journal page can be found on pages 91-92 in Come, Lord Jesus by Kris Camealy (link below). Advent week four was my week to write the devotion for our church website, which can also be found in the links below.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Advent Day 18



"In our waiting, we doubt. We forget God’s recorded faithfulness and distrust settles over our hearts. It’s proof that we’re always wanting, a sign that God is for us, that He is present, moving, and not as silent as He seems to be. When the angel appeared to the shepherds in the field, he told them outright, that “this would be a sign” for them. What’s the sign? The sudden appearance of an angel would be a sufficient sign for any of us that something important was happening, but the angel isn’t the sign, the
angel is only the messenger bringing news of the sign. 

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12).

This is the good news the whole world has been waiting for. Since the 400 years of God’s seeming silence at the close of the Old Testament, people everywhere have been waiting for a sign, some bold, unmistakable clue that God has not completely abandoned and rejected them in finality. Of all the signs God could have sent, He selects His very own Son to be the sign of great joy, for all people. The sign and proof of His relentless love.

Jesus, the eternal, living sign of God’s immaculate love for us. Jesus, good news of great joy for all
people."
~Kris Camealy, p88 & 89


Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 




Saturday, December 17, 2016

Advent Day 17



"In all seasons, God implores us to sing His song, a song of mercy and redemption, of rescue and restoration. This is the covenant remembered in Advent, the long-suffering in the waiting for the once and final Hope to gather us to Himself. Sing! Sing! Do not hold back, (vs.2) make room, Isaiah encourages. Go wherever God leads, without fear and hesitation for what may come. 

Whatever our circumstances in the midst of the waiting, God invites us to keep singing. To keep going. To recall and treasure His proven faithfulness and to remember His deep, irrevocable compassion for us that came first in a manger, and then on a cross. Sing, for the Lord has called you."
~Kris Camealy, p84


Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 



Friday, December 16, 2016

Advent Day 16



"Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Advent creates people. New people.”The newness we experience in Advent only comes because of the steadfast love of God. Because He loves us, God gives us this time, a season of waiting, which isn’t passive at all. As we anticipate and prepare for Jesus’ arrival, our hearts can’t help but be transformed–we become new people, in the fullness of Jesus’ presence. This is what God’s steadfast love looks like in action. The generosity of the Advent season begs for us to notice the faithfulness of God. Seasonal hymns re-tell the story of our redemption, calling out the goodness of God for all people, and today’s reading offers rich words of worship, proclaiming a small sampling of God’s virtuous ways. Here, the psalmist reminds us that God has made a covenant, a promise of restoration. God has granted help, established a dwelling place, built a foundation and defeated the enemies of His people.
My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him (Psalm 89:24).
Part of the promise Jesus embodies is the eternal presence of God’s love for all time."
~Kris Camealy, p76-77.


Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 



Thursday, December 15, 2016

Advent Day 15



"In Advent as we remember the wild obedience of young Mary, we hear the word, “favor” spoken over her, and are reminded that through God’s choosing of her, by the inception of Jesus, the word, favor is spoken to us also. Through Jesus, God chooses us–He grafts us into the beautifully gnarled bark of His family tree. Through the flesh and blood of His Son, He chooses us, His creation, for salvation. When we remember our own standing as one favored by God, aren’t we that much more willing to say “yes” to what God has invited us into–even when it appears unconventional and dangerous? Knowing that we too bear the favor of God strengthens us to willingly embrace the unimaginable that He calls us to.
In Advent as we wait, we need not wonder if He will pick us. He has already chosen us, through the blessing of Mary, and the blood of His Son. We don’t know what this choosing will mean for our lives, where this honor will take us, but we can accept the title, favored, and live faithfully into all that it entails." ~Kris Camealy, p72-73.


Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church