I {Finally!}got some scrapbooking done!  I got the girls' summer pages done, thanks to the use of some JIF pages from scrapgirls.com.  I Love their products!  I probably should've spent more time on the journaling, though.  You may wonder why Hannah has so many more pages than Makenna...simple fact that Hannah likes to pose for photos, and Makenna makes faces and runs away!  I'm hoping she grows out of that soon!  She also inherited her father's bad habit of weird eyes when photographed--you know, eyes half closed or blinking or looking possessed.  Most of her better photos are taken when she's not paying attention to me.  She has these beautiful blue eyes and long lashes...

It's been so long since I've participated in Monday's Multitudes of Blessings, and I really, {Really} need to get back in the habit of writing down my list of gifts.  Posting them here keeps me accountable.

#498-505
Colors of fall
For eyes to see depth of color
husband who makes plans for home improvements
burdens for ministry in the hearts of believers
God changes people
Heat that kicks on when its chilly
Neighbors to celebrate birthdays with
holding dark haired chubby baby girls with dark skin -(Mia, neighbors' granddaughter)

Kiss Me & Kiss Me Again

Windows & Doors

I really enjoy the architecture of the library in our small town.  It was built only a few years ago and sits on the main road through our small town...did you know a block from here is the home of the only traffic light in the county that changes color? (as opposed to the ones that just blink) Yep, that's how small town we are.  Home of the National Asparagus Festival.

Leaf Veins

I couldn't decide between these two...I had the one below prepared.  My daughter had found this spiderweb with droplets on it sitting over the rocks, and I liked the veins of the helicopter.  Then I saw this bush at a friend's house and thought the red leaves amongst the green were just so interesting!

Lashes

We know about eyelashes here...and looks like we'll someday know about tweezers! All 3 of my darlings have dark thick lashes framing their big, bright eyes.

Faceless Portrait

This friend one of those girls who looks so darn cute wearing a hat!  I'm so excited that this mother of a 7 year old and 10 year old is expecting another in 2 months!

One of the big highlights of my month are the YAC (young adult couples) get-togethers.  It's a guaranteed date night for Tim and I, and we get to hang around with our friends for a couple hours, have a sharing time where we grow deeper with each other in community as well as in God's Word.  It's building marriages.
I used Kim Klassen's Portrait texture with a mask at soft light and multiply.

"When I realize that it is not God who is my debt, but it is I who am in His Great Debt, 

then doesn't all become gift?" --Ann Voskamp

#393-407

Kisses in the evening

Kids swimming 'til bedtime

visiting old friends

Grandparents watching kids

Reading a good book "Adam and his lost kin"

Afternoons sitting at the patio table with a magazine

2 fastest 5k runs of the year this week

Heroes like Dave & Karen Nienhuis

Friends that are still in love

Gracious opening of home by Nancy

Weekends spent together

Weeding garden

Strawberry picking with Nana

Strawberry jam and shortcake and more in the freezer

All day rains

Humbled

I added a verse to this photo that I shared earlier.  I keep looking at this darling, angry face and know there is NO humbleness going on here.  There is no brokenness, no contriteness.  Only a demand of getting his own way and anger at being told no.  The difference between being disciplined and crying in pain and being caught versus the cry of repentance.  How often is this the face I'm making on the inside when God tells me no?  It's not pretty.  Or how about the adult that's been caught living in sin and promises not to take those actions again, but there is no repentance? and he'd make those same choices again if he could?


God is only pleased in confession when we express a broken and repentant heart before Him.  A heart bowed down low, letting go of pride and saying, "I was wrong and I broke God's rules.  I need God's help in being obedient and making choices that please Him" and then accept whatever discipline is necessary.


I struggle so much in not just to discipline my children, but to also, and more importantly, reach their hearts.  For them to have a heart that wants to please Jesus, and not just exhibit right actions.  After experiencing a particularly rough day with my 4 year old, she says, "Mama, I try so hard to do what Jesus wants me to do, but it's just so hard!"


I have learned so much about being a child of God by becoming a parent.  That I too, would be repentant over my sins and accept the Father's loving discipline.  That I, too, hurt the heart of God when I sin.  I make the same mistakes over and over again, and His Love Endures Forever.  He always forgives. So must I.



The Gifts the Father Lavished on me this week:
#358-
Studying Esther--God has a plan even when we don't see Him at work
Long bike rides
Rainy days and movies
Praying with friends
Reading books together under the tree
Riding bikes up and down the sidewalk
Clean sheets that smell like fresh air
Husband coming home after a long day
Squeals of "Da-Da" from Mav when Daddy comes home
Seeing Tim and Mav snuggled up together watching YouTube videos of trucks
Hannah diligently drawing birds and horses
Growing bodies from summer's fresh air
Divine appointments with a friend on FB
Reading the story of the Great Redemption with my girls
Luxury of study time
Fog condensing on my eye lashes during early morning runs
Friends who ask the hard questions
Ice cream dates
Windy walks on the pier
Babysitters who build outdoor forts and do real tea parties...because I never do
Scratches and bugbites earned hard at play
Watching my 4 year old flirt with another 4yo across the sanctuary during singing time at church
Prayer was given proper time of worship during offering today
Ryan teaching on integrity in Sunday school today
Jesus was a man's man, not passive or without godly authority, a real thinker
Newly mowed grass
Girls out on errands with daddy
Pool is up and without leaks

Consider the Path

Childhood Memory

This is the path traveling from my childhood home to my grandparent's house...literally Through the Wood to Grandmother's house we go!  Now, it's such a sweet delight to see my girls trekking through the woods all on their own to visit Grandma.

Green

So much green right now, although with a lack of rainfall, it's got a lot of yellow spots!  Here's a field with and without texture...the 2nd shows a lot more of the green of the field.

And here's boy in green getting ready to be swallowed up in the green forest!  His shirt perfectly matches the ferns, and they're nearly as tall as he is!

Shapes

I went with the circle theme here...wagon wheels and hay bales.

Fruit

No actual ripe fruit shown here, but it's the PROMISE of fruit to come!  

We are looking forward to the bounty...

Share with me as we count the gifts of our Maker...
#341-
Beach days
Calling up friends at the last minute to play
Much needed connection with friends
Hauling laundry to my mom's to use her washing machine
Watching my kids splash and play in the frigid water
New washing machine
Clean clothes on the line
Ripening strawberries
Flowering berry bushes
Saturday night pizza
New library books
Used book sales
Visiting with grandma
Nana leading girls around on Sunny
Hunting for old barns
Spotting a new fawn at the edge of the woods
Getting up early for yard sales

To Name a Thing is to Bless the Giver

Welcome to Texture Tuesday in Words!  I chose a quote from my much loved book by Ann Voskamp, "One Thousand Gifts".  If you read my blog on Mondays, you'll see my growing list of named gifts that I recognize as coming from God.

I re-posted this flower from last week, which I processed with Kim Klassen's texture Sweettart in Soft light blending mode and also Love at color burn blending mode (using a layer mask).

He Loves Me More Than I Can Imagine

Take a look at the mountains
Stretching a mile high
Far as your eye can see
Take a look at the ocean
And think of Me

Take a look at the desert
Do you feel like a grain of sand?
I am with you wherever I am
Where you go is where I am

And I'm always thinking of you
Take a look around you
I'm spelling it out one by one

I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more

Just a face in the city
Just a tear on a crowded street
But you are one in a million
And you belong to Me
I want you to know
That I'm not letting go
Even when you come undone

I love you more than the sun
And the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you yesterday and today
And tomorrow, I'll say it again and again
I love you more 

(Chorus)
Than the sun
and the stars that I taught how to shine
You are mine, and you shine for me too
I love you, yesterday and today
Through the joy and the pain
I'll say it again and again
I love you more
I love you more

And I see you
And I made you
And I love you more than you can imagine
More than you can fathom
I love you more than the sun
And you shine for me

Have you ever listened to a song or heard a verse and paid little attention to it...and then certain words and themes are on your radar screen?  This song has been out for several years, but just this week I heard it for what seemed like the first time.

This is why I do it.  Why I want to capture moments and gifts with words and photographs.  


"Oh, how He loves me...let me count the ways!" (One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp)


He loves me...He LOVES me...He loves ME!


Numbering the gifts from Him #304-315

God's goodness to me...I have more than enough, my cup is overflowing

Cold, crisp mornings--clear air to draw into my lungs

Fresh dirt and more herbs planted

Rain for our dry, thirsty land

A pay raise

Swelling in cheek going down-courtesy of the pain numb-er  for cavities

Friends who let my kids come play

Christ, who sent us the Advocate

Peace that comes only from Christ

Christ who overcame the world

I can present requests to God and He hears me and He loves me dearly because of Christ

Abundant joy-chara joy-

Rain {again} for growth

Plowed garden and hard working husband

Connecting with friends at YAC

Luisa's growth

Baby Ben, new nephew born!

The way blogging and writing makes me think and put thoughts to words and string words together

Freedom in Christ.  My chains are gone.

Bless the Giver, not the Gift

>
Continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  Col 2:6-7




Blessings abounded yesterday in my Ladies' Sunday School Class.  Every few weeks, I get the opportunity to teach, and a few weeks ago, I co-taught a lesson based on the book by Ann Voskamp, "One Thousand Gifts".  Yesterday, another friend, Paula, revisited this topic in the class, and invited all to share some of the moments  they had started to count as Grace Gifts.  To hear Grandma Riley count Asparagus as a gift, Shirley count her great-grandson who comes to our Christian school, Colleen rejoice over progress made in young Andrew, Lee cry over Gabbi being able to read "Cat and the Hat", Eva share the ups and downs of her two children leaving the nest and how Sara saw a broken shoe as a blessing from the God of Everlasting Love had many of us in tears.  My heart was humbled to hear these things and know that God had used me in a small part to make those lists begin in the hearts of my friends.


We focused on this word, "Grace" and how it fits with "Giving Thanks" and "Eucharisteo".  I had been reading the story of Jesus and feeding the 5000 in my journey through the book of John.  A few weeks ago, my focus was only on the prayer of thanksgiving by Jesus and then the miracle of the multiplied food--what Jesus gives is always enough--but a few verses after that, something surprised me.  My NLT Bible says, 

"Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the 

Lord had blessed the bread..." (Jn 6:23)  

Wait a minute!  He didn't bless the bread, He gave thanks for the bread!  What's going on here? After using My Bible Study Tools, I discovered the word is actually Eucharisteo--Gave Thanks!  This is translated similarly in Matthew 14:19 and happens in a few different translations, including the NKJV.  I believe this small shift of focus in the translation has had great ramifications in our American prayer life and habits.


Jewish people follow the verse in Deuteronomy very closely:  

"When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the 

LORD your God for the good land which He has given you"  (8:10).  

We are to bless the LORD, not the food.  Thank the Giver, praise Him, acknowledge Him as the source of all blessing!  Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, a book I recently read and then bought, says this: 

the word for "bless" barakh, can also mean "to kneel".  

It is as if you are momentarily "kneeling down" mentally and 

humbly praising God for His goodness."

So, back to our dilemma with the blessing of the food:  are we praying a blessing on the food as if to make it holy, or to express our gratitude to God as the Giver and Provider of the food?  Why do we call praying over a meal, "saying Grace" or "Bless the food"?  We ought to call the food a Grace Gift from the Giver and Bless the Giver of the bounty.  This book of Rabbi Jesus says much about the Blessing Prayers offered up as thanksgiving that saturated Jewish culture.  "Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth."  This is the common prayer over a meal as the bread was being broken in a Jewish household.


Perhaps this is habit of prayer that Paul was referring to when he urges, 

"Pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances." (1 Thess 5:17-18)

Counting moments as Gifts changes our focus and attitude.  Building a Habit of   Gratitude, of continually blessing God teaches me to be ever mindful of how much God loves me and continually cares for me.

Nature Study of the Lilac Bush--trying out new art supplies

Gift List: #283-304

• Girls riding horses out at Grace Paradise Ranch with friends

• Mary, a new friend
• No overnight frost
• Last soccer practice
• Wrapping up a big portion of homeschool today
• Duties winding down with summer coming
• Mornings out with friends
• Chalk on sidewalk
• Baby dolls strapped on backs

• Dreaming over books to buy
• Fridge works! Just blew a breaker
• First Iris bloomed--surprise!
• Mav's belly laugh during Hide N seek with Hannah

• Ladies' class counting gifts and sharing them
• Nurturing my children's relationships with each other
• Early morning runs, quiet, birds chirping
• Preparing lawn to grow flowers
• A day full of yard sales and deals and fun
• Time alone this morning, greeting the sunrise on my old jogging route--no dog sightings!
• Quietness of nature's Dawn, hush, deer bounding through orchards
• Dwarf Cherry trees planted around the yard