Old Year, New Year

As 2011 comes to an end I've been thinking back on what God has taught me and brought me through this year.
In many ways, this past year has been very hard, but God has been faithful to strengthen and encourage me.
There have been times of joy and there have been times of struggle, but I am blessed to see how God has grown me through those circumstances.

Looking back, I feel like this year God especially worked on teaching me to put my trust fully in Him. I tend to be a person who likes a fairly structured plan, so that has been a challenging lesson for me to learn - but a necessary one.

The other main thing that God reminded/taught me this year, is learning to put my joy and delight in Him. There is nothing that can fill the spot in my heart that was meant to be filled by a relationship with Christ; no friend, no family member, no fantasy I might have - only Christ.
I have had to be continually reminded that true joy only comes from God.

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.    Ps. 37:4&5


I am excited about how God has been leading me into new areas, and I know He has great things planned for me in 2012!

See you all next year!
Marie

Crafting Time!

Well...I am back home again. I wish my older sister and I didn't live a whole day's travel apart, so that we could work on craft projects together more often. I miss my big sis and her kids so much!

Here are some the projects I have recently completed; it had been too long since I had crafted much.

With the help from my expert quilting sister at Teals Treasures I completed my first quilt!  I am happy with how it turned out, and have some fun memories of making it together with my older sis. :)

   Detail of the actual quilting. I love the music score fabric, you can see a little of it in this picture. 

Hair accessories!! My sisters and I like to use lots of different hair accessories, so I found a tutorial for these little flowers and tried making a couple. I am fairly pleased with how they turned out, although if I make them again, I think I will make the type on the lower right a little smaller.

God Bless!

I'm Alive

I promise I haven't fallen off the face of the world, I've just been occupied with a lot of things recently.

I have been visiting my sister, and of course we had to work on some kind of project(s)! It has been wonderful  to spend time crafting together! :)
I have a few different projects that I've been working on; I will share pictures of them soon!

Day of Thankfulness: Week 4

This is a little late, but better late than never, right?


This week I am thankful for Christmas music! There is nothing more cheery that helps drive away the blues on those dreary days, then a good Christmas song! :)


Here are some of my favorites this year:
How Many Kings

Wizards in Winter

Christmas Canon

And pretty much all the songs in Micheal Buble's new Christmas album!
But it looks like they have killed most of the videos for it on Youtube. :(

May you all have a blessed weekend!

Day of Thankfulness: Week 3

This week I am thankful for friends. For a long time I prayed (and yes, probably did a little complaining) for friends that would be a blessing and an encouragement to me. I have recently realized that although God did not answer my prayer how I thought He would, He truly has blessed me with wonderful friends - better than I could ever ask for!

I love you all!
Marie

Stepping Out

I'm really excited about how God has been leading me recently, so I wanted to share it with you all! God has been working in me and leading me, which has brought about a change in my plans - surprise right? Through different circumstances, I've been feeling that God has been leading me to get involved in the ministry of Biblical Counseling - specifically ministering to girls and young women.

For awhile I've thought about volunteering at my local crisis pregnancy center. And because God has been leading me to get involved in counseling, I figured that would be somewhere I would be able to get some more experience. So, several weeks ago I submitted  a volunteer application; with the prayer that if volunteering there was the Lord's will, that He would open the door for me. Several weeks went by without hearing anything - until two days ago.

Basically, I was told, that once my references get their paperwork in, I will have an interview scheduled. If the interview goes well, then I can begin training in January.

While I have met with some challenges, it has been a huge blessing that I have received much encouragement as I follow God's leading. I am excited about how God has been leading me, but I also feel like He is stretching me. While they may be baby-steps, I feel like I am beginning to step out of my "comfort zone" and follow Christ.

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Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to follow Christ's leading!

Blessings!
Marie

Day of Thankfulness: Week 2

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This week I'm thankful that God has given me the ability to study and learn, and I'm also thankful for random breaks! :) I'm not really sure why, but for some reason this past week I had a whole week long break. But hey! I'm not going to complain about getting a break! I was able to spend time with my sisters, and sister-in-law who was visiting, without having to worry about assignments needing to be done.