May the peace of the Lord be in your heart this Christmas season…

Iris

Current Mood: Blessed †

…Encouragement Scripture passages for the photo-book that I will be releasing in May 2010.

The subtitle of the book will be “Encouraged Through His Word”. I would like for you to leave me one of your favorite Scripture passages that encourages you when you have a rough day, week, month. Which Scripture passage do you ‘cling’ to? For me it is Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

So, what is in for you, you may wonder?!? I will draw a random contributor from this post to receive the first soft-cover print of my photo-book ($20 value). The mini contest will be open until next Friday, March 26th (my 5th-bloggy-versary date).

The title of the book is yet to be determined. I plan on having another contest for the title of the photo-book starting Friday, March 26th. So, I hope you will come back next week to find out more about the title contest. Would you also spread the word about these contests? I would greatly appreciate if you would mention it to you friends and family .

Have a blessed Sunday afternoon and a peaceful coming week…

Current Mood: Blessed †

There is so much going on in my head that I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words (like I ever can put my thoughts into words – ha)…But I have to write it out somewhere .

Several weeks ago, my dear friend Lynn gave me the following verse from Psalms:

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” ~ Psalm 37:4 (ESV)

Oh, I so delight myself in the Lord and His Word. There is so much beauty around us but we too often don’t take notice of it. We rush through life without stopping and seeing. I have been seeing the world through my lens for the past 2 years… Not only the immediate surroundings, but also when I watch movies, I see everything in frames (don’t ask).

Well, my friend Lori reviewed a book about photography and Scripture…I had thought about self-publishing a book like this for almost a year now. I wanted to combine scrapping and my photography. But why not use my photos in ‘just’ a book by itself. As I was reading Lori’s review, clicked on the link to see the book…I thought: I can do this. Sure, I am not a photographer like Lori Nordstorm, David DuChemin, or my husband, but I think I have some decent photos in my collection…

Tonight I took a plunge; I contacted ESV to see what I need to do in order to use their Scripture passages in a self-published photo-book through “Blurb“. We will see what they come back with …I really don’t want to make a huge profit of the book, but want to share my photos to encourage others to see the glory of His creation.

(told you I am rambling tonight – )…There might be something else in the works regarding my photography, which I am very excited about. I have to thank Debbie from Heart Choices about that. I will share with you when and if this comes to a conclusion.

Thanks for listening/reading my ramblings. Remember: You can’t realize your dreams if you don’t step out in faith…

Current Mood: Happy & Blessed †

The first one is my personal favorite bookmark. The Scripture passage is Isaiah 41:10 – ‘my’ passage for 2010 (the passage also adorns my desktop at the moment). The photo is a shot of the Superstition Mountains (our ‘backyard’ mountain)…

The second bookmark I am sharing with you has 2 Corinthians 4:7. The pots I photographed at a local gift shop. I think the Scripture passage works very well with the clay-pots…

Tomorrow I will share the last two I made for this set of 4. I am wondering if someone would buy these bookmarks. What do you think?

At any rate, tomorrow I will giveaway 2 sets of 4. So stop by to sign up for the giveaway.

Also, I am working on a new series that will start January 11th. I will post every other Monday and I pray that you will join in. The topic? Living fearlessly in 2010! Yes, this topic is based on Max Lucado’s book “Fearless“, and I will giveaway a copy of the book in the first week of January. BUT you do not have to read the book to join in on the discussion or take away some encouragement from this series.

Thanks for stopping by today. May our Lord give you courage and peace today and always…

Current Mood: Playful

Oh, and I worked on my photography skills. I shot a few photos – 12,178 to be exact. Since I had so many photos (some good, some not so good, some really bad), I thought that I create an inspirational calendar for 2010.

You can get your own copy if you are interested . The cost is $20 (including shipping within the US). I am offering this calendar not for personal financial gain. Any proceeds from this calendar will go to “Samaritan’s Purse“. Not only will you get a handcrafted inspirational calendar, but also help others.

Here are some sample pages of the calendar…The first page is the cover:

The next page is from the month of March (which is actually my personal favorite):

Here is the last page of the calendar (did you know that the first Advent candle stands for “HOPE”? Thus the Scripture passage from Romans):

BTW, there will be no logo on the real calendar. Also, the calendar has some Christian holiday I added, for example “National Day of Prayer”. The verses are taking from the ESV (English Standard Version). The materials I used are from Mystique Designs, Lily Designs, MAG Designs, Newlife Dreams, and Michelle Pieters.

So, if you are interested in the calendar, all you have to do is leave a comment (make sure you leave a valid email address so I can contact you) or use my contact form (again with valid email address).

Thanks for stopping by today…

Current Mood: Blessed † & Happy

“This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.” ~ Psalm 119:50 (ESV)

God’s Word to me is the best comfort there is – don’t you agree? Yesterday morning I read Lori’s interview with Rebecca St. James at CWO’s web-site. One particular phrase hit me right between the eyes: “I want to thrive, not just survive”. But how I can thrive? Only by staying close to His Word…So this year, from time-to-time, I would like to share passages from His precious Word with you during our Thankful Thursday gatherings.

One Bible I carry with me at all times is my ‘precious’ all worn out — pages falling out — taped back together — highlighted in different colors — New Living Translation. Although we are using the ESV at church (which I also use it for my studies), the NLT was the best for me to make the transition from German to English. I know – it is only a thought-for-thought translation…I think it is a great ‘entry level’ translation to His Word…IMHO . I hope you don’t mind that I share passages from ‘my’ NLT today.

I am thankful for His precious Word…

• He has removed our sins as far from us
  as the east is from the west. ~ Psalm 103:12
• “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” ~ Matthew 17:20
• When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. ~ Mark 4:39
• Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” ~ Mark 7:14-15
• And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men. ~ Acts 17:11-12

What are you thankful for this week? Would you like to share with us by leaving your link below?

If you have not seen the Laced with Grace Bible Study giveaway, I encourage you to head on over to find out how you can enter to win

Thank you for stopping by today and continue to be part of the Thankful Thursday community. Remember: let us thrive in 2009 by staying close to Him, His Word and love…

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Current Mood: Blessed † & Thankful