Author: admin

Living in Community: Gifts

If you are a Christian, you are called to so much more than just warming a pew on Sunday mornings. Or your couch at home while you watch services online. I know there are those who will read this and push back because they’ve been hurt in church, by church people. The fact that they are even showing up for church on Sunday mornings is a minor miracle all on its own. Hear me when I say that I’ve been there, too. But understand that it means that you are not living into your calling as a follower of Christ. We are called to follow Christ, not people, and sometimes that requires us to follow Him in spite of others. It is difficult to function in a healthy way within a faith community when you’ve been hurt, but our mission is to follow Christ.

All Christians are called to be part of a local body of believers.

…and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.

–Hebrews 10:24-25 (AMP)

As Scripture points out, believers are meant to live in community with one another. Whether your faith community is a traditional church that meets in a traditional space, a contemporary church that meets in an old storefront or movie theater, or even a small group that gathers in a private residence, you are called to be part of a faith community that breaks bread together, fellowships with one another, and worships, studies, and prays together. We are to meet regularly with one another, and we are called to commitment and faithfulness within our faith community.

If you’ve been hurt by church folk, then this will seem like a tall order, if not a downright impossibility. Believe me, I get it. But you, with all your unique talents and gifts and your unique personality are important to the body of Christ. You matter, and you are needed.

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The Sheep Rock

painted rocks for women's retreatIt’s been a long minute since I’ve done any rock painting. The last big batch of rocks that I painted was for a women’s retreat hosted by my church. That was several years ago. Each rock featured a faith-related word and some featured a simple design as well.

I have painted a rock on occasion since then. Those usually related to my word of the year (rest, grace, and listen, respectively).

My favorite rock is one of my very first. It has a large chip, so it wasn’t suitable for giving away, and I intended it to be a sample to show a friend to help them understand what I was trying to explain to them. It is my sheep rock.

rock with painting of a sheep, grass, and sky, with a purple heart over its headThis one simple image carries so many layers of symbolism for me. It calls to mind the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. I also remember that “we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3). It also calls to mind the imagery of Psalm 23, and it makes me think about the story in Luke 15:4-7  of the shepherd who leaves the flock of 99 sheep to go in search of the one who has wandered astray, to bring it back to the fold.

Above all these things, it reminds me that I an a child of God, and the Good Shepherd watches over me. If you’re a child of God, He’s watching over you, too.

2024 Word of the Year

Several years ago, I started hearing about people choosing a “word of the year” to serve as their focal point, guiding idea, or inspiration for the year ahead. The idea appealed to me, but unlike most of the people I heard about, I knew I didn’t want to be the one to choose my word, so I went to God in prayer.

I asked the Lord whether it was okay for me to undertake this, and if so, if He would please give me a word for the year and walk me through the process of using it as my word of the year.

When you pray, you should expect an answer – whether it’s yes, no, or wait. So I started paying closer attention to what was going on around me, believing God would either somehow communicate a word to me, or His answer would be a no. Before long, I realized a particular theme was being echoed in various parts of my life. That’s when I knew I was being given my word: REST.

I learned  a lot about REST that year. Not just the type of rest where you sit down or relax or give your body tie to recover, but also resting on God’s promises, resting in His Word, and finding spiritual, mental, and emotional rest.

Since then, I’ve had the words GRACE, BALANCE, LISTEN, FORWARD, and IGNORE as well. In each instance, I learned much – bout the word, about myself, about how God wanted me to apply it to my life, and how it shows up in His Word. There was one year He didn’t give me a word, even though I had asked for one. I stuck with what I was given the previous year.

For 2024, I didn’t ask for a word. I think I felt like I had enough going on. Nevertheless, the Lord gave me a word.
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Taste Test: Papier Plume Peacock Blue

Confession time: I bought a whole bottle.

I usually purchase a sample before I take the plunge on a whole bottle. However, the store’s swatch was so pretty, and the bottle was inexpensively priced. So, I went for it.

I’m so glad I did!

I was on the hunt for my perfect shade of orange fountain pen ink when I found Papier Plume’s Peacock Blue. I had already purchased some ink samples from my go-to, the Goulet Pen Company, and was browsing Vanness Pen Shop because they carry several brands that Goulet doesn’t. I’d never ordered from Vanness before, and I’d never tried a Papier Plume ink before.

The Peacock Blue was an entrancing turquoise, and the price point was low enough to tempt. So alongside some orange ink samples and a few other fun inks, I ordered a bottle of Peacock Blue.

Swatching the ink in my ink journal – a Midori MD A5 grid notebook – both the vibrant color and its shading stood out. This was a good impulse purchase.

When I decided to experiment with making my own shimmer inks to use with a dip pen, I picked the Papier Plume Peacock Blue as one of my experimental inks. I used a pipette to transfer around 3 mL of ink to a 5 mL plastic graduated vial, then added a tiny amount of Egyptian Green mica powder. The results were stunning. Unfortunately, my photography does not do the result justice.

Fortunately, Vanness has this ink available in either the 30 mL bottle that I purchased, or in a smaller sample size at 4 mL, if you’d like to pick some up to try. If you’re a fan of turquoise ink, I believe you’ll enjoy it.

Creative Journal Tutorial

A quick Google search shows that journaling has many benefits. For some folks, the amount of writing involved in a traditional journaling session is a daunting prospect. Creative journaling may be a good outlet for those who prefer less writing. It’s also good for short bursts of memory keeping.  Sometimes creative journaling is referred to elsewhere as “fauxbonichi,” a reference to the memory keeping style made popular by some Hobonichi users. I prefer to use the term “creative journaling.”

While you can certainly purchase and use a Hobonichi for your creative journaling, you can also take a much more inexpensive route. Whatever size and type of notebook you prefer works. If you are on a budget like me, you may want to try your hand at turning a basic composition notebook into a creative journal. These notebooks currently run $1.25 at DollarTree and just under a dollar at Walmart. If you keep an eye on back-to-school sales, sometimes you can stock up on them for much less.

stack of creative journalsSince fall of 2022, I have completed four of these types of journals. I am currently working my way through a fifth one.  I have taken inspiration from YouTubers Rebecca Hoot and Rainbowholic. Rebecca makes creative journals out of composition books, and Rainboholic does kawaii and creative journaling in her Hobonichis. I’ve also gathered inspiration from junk journalers.

PREPARATION
Some preparation is necessary before you begin to use your composition notebook as a creative journal. Please keep in mind that, ultimately, your journal is yours. Options that work for me may not work for you. Things that I love to do with my journals may drive you up a wall. I’m giving you some basic ideas. Run with them as your own creativity dictates.

BINDINGS MATTER
You can use a glue-bound composition book, though you will not want to remove any pages from it. Removing pages could weaken its structure and potentially cause it to fall apart completely. A stitched or sewn binding seems to work better for me. If you open the notebook and can see stitches between the pages, you have a stitched binding. The composition notebooks sold by DollarTree and Walmart are both stitched, though I prefer the ones from DollarTree because they tend to lay more flat.

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Free Wellness Planner Pages

Life is hard. Sometimes we struggle. Sometimes we struggle A LOT. As someone who has struggled, I am here to tell you: it’s okay. It’s okay to have bad days. It’s okay to cry, to get upset, to be emotional. It’s okay to not always have it all together. It’s okay to struggle sometimes. And if life just feels too much, it is okay to reach out to someone for help. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different.

One of the things that was a help to me in my own wellness journey (which I am still on – it’s a life-long thing) was using a wellness planner as a way to ensure that I was checking in with myself and to help me track various items in my self-care regimen so that I could see what I was doing well and see what still needed some attention and work. Being on a budget meant I couldn’t afford to buy a ready-made planner, so I set out to make my own.

Later, when I opened my Etsy store,  I had planned to sell my wellness planner as a digital download. A quick search showed me that the market is already well-saturated with similar product, many of which are far fancier than what you’ll find here. What’s a girl to do?

I decided to give my wellness planner away instead.

I know what it’s like to struggle, and I know what it’s like to be on a tight budget, with little to no money to spare after the bills are paid. This wellness planner is a useful tool that some will find beneficial, and I want to make it available so that it can be a help to folks who need it. It’s suitable to a wide range of ages, and it has a basic, monochromatic design, which means you can add color, stickers, die cuts and the like to add your own flair and truly make it your own if you so desire.

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Faith Coloring Pages

It took me a very long time to feel comfortable calling myself an artist. It’s taken me even longer to get to a place where I felt I could sell my work. I believe the latter has a lot to do with the fact that my art, much like the artist, is not perfect. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever created anything that didn’t have some flaw in it somewhere. And because it wasn’t perfect, I didn’t feel like I could sell it.

I finally learned that when you’re making things by hand, there probably is going to be something somewhere that just doesn’t come out perfect, and that is okay, especially with things that are hand-drawn. I have come to prefer a little bit of wonkiness in my hand-drawn work. It feels more honest and organic to me. And so, after many hours spent clutching a mouse (often until my hand ached) to digitally clean up scanned images of art I’d originally hand-drawn (ink to paper), I opened an Etsy store and listed some of my doodle art drawings as coloring pages.

Set 1 at Etsy - FaithThese pages are all available for purchase as a downloadable set of 5 that you can print yourself, or as individual downloadable pages. If you purchase and download the file, you may print as many copies as you want. I am asking, however, that you not sell the printed pages (though you may give the printed pages away) nor resell the downloaded file or give it to anyone else.

I picked up doodle art in dealing with some trauma I’d experienced. It has been very therapeutic, and at times, it has been a way for me to stay present and grounded. Drawing these pieces of art have been an excellent way for me to practice mindfulness. Coloring them could be beneficial in that same sense. If it’s been years since you spent some quality time with crayons, colored pencils, or markers coloring, why not give it a try? There are many other artists selling their coloring pages on Etsy as well. Sometimes simple pleasures can have a big impact.