When God seems to be silent - He's really not!

Greetings everyone, I just got back from a trip to Missouri, where all of my sisters and I got together for a whole week.  It was to celebrate my sister Beatrices' 50th birthday, believe me she doesn't look it. My sisters Beatrice and Rosemary both live in Belton.  My two other sisters, Gloria and Irma also joined us and flew in from Corpus Christi, Texas.  It was so good to see them and spend time with them for the whole week.  While we were there my sister Rosemary became a great grandma – a title I do not wish to have yet.  But Ayden her new grand baby is adorable and I was blessed to have been able to see him and her family.

We didn’t do a lot of sight seeing, but the time that we did have together was priceless!  We played cards and watched movies and cooked meals for each other – those are the best times for sure. We visited a beautiful museum in Kansas City, it's a gorgeous city with so much history it's unbelievable.  

I spent a lot of time with my sister Beatrice, because I stayed with her in her apartment while I was there. Gloria and Irma stayed with Rosemary. Beatrice is also a very crafty lady.  She wanted me to teach her to knit, so I did.  Now she is very excited to begin new projects as she becomes more comfortable with knitting vs. crocheting.  She creates some beautiful crochet projects and I know she will be awesome as knitting too.  It was such a blessing to spend time with her and all my sisters, God is good!

Today I want to focus on the times that God is silent, or at least seems to be.  The times when we pray and nothing happens, when we need him the most and he does not seem to be there.  I want you to recall the story of Joseph from the bible.  He was sold to slavery by his older brothers remember?  All during the time that he was a slave, God was silent, Yet Joseph never lost faith.  I believe it was about 13 years before Joseph saw God’s plan unfold in front of his eyes when Pharaoh made him second in command of Egypt.  

Joseph suffered greatly in the hands of others, and none of his own doing as a matter of fact. He was thrown into prison because Pharaoh’s wife wanted to have sex with him, but he did the right thing and refused her.  Yet, Joseph did not get bitter, he just kept doing what he thought was right.  That is such an inspiration to me, even when his brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites he wasn’t bitter with them when he finally saw them again and forgave them for what they did to him. This is totally awesome to me.

So it is clear that God’s silence is in no way indicative of His activity or involvement in our lives.  It is a hard pill to swallow at times, but let me assure you  He is working out His plan in our lives. It is how we respond to those trials and adversities that will determine the outcome.  Then there are times when we maybe guilty of judging God’s involvement in our lives by how favorable or unfavorable our circumstances are.  As long as things are going good, we have absolutely no doubt that God is with us, taking care of us, providing and protecting us at all times.  But as soon as something goes wrong that is not in our favor, we may think:  Lord, where are you?  Why is this happening to me, why haven’t you paid attention to my needs here?

God’s involvement is measured by two things, 1st the development of our character and 2^nd, by the fulfillment of His plan for our lives.  In Joseph’s case, he spent 13 years facing one adversity after another, trial after trial.  Yet God was involved every step of the way, it may not have appeared that way to Joseph at the time.  But it was through those adversities that God was accomplishing His will.  He will do the same for us in our lives, if we choose to do the right thing, no matter how it feels. If we never loose faith, and we keep trusting Him with all your heart!

God Bless you!! 

How to stop feeling guilty even after we know we are forgiven!

Top of the morning to you all.  It's so good to be here and share what God has been showing me in my life lately.  I have been reading a very informative book by Dr, Charles Stanley called the "Gift of Forgiveness", highly recommended I must say.  Today I want to talk about forgiving ourselves. In the book it talks about that very process and I wanted to share it with you today.  For instance, if you are still carrying guilt for something you did years ago, even after you have asked God to forgive you, this maybe the case and you have still not received that forgiveness.  I want to assure you right now that you can get rid of that guilt once and for all.  In his book Dr. Stanley explains four easy steps to take to make sure you receive God's amazing forgiveness, with the power of prayer.

If you get the chance read the entire book, it is fascinating and explains in great detail the actual act of forgiveness and how freeing it can be.  Harboring unforgiveness whether its for another person or ourselves will keep us in bondage. By forgiving ourselves we are free to live the life that God wanted us to live all along.  Then we will be at peace with God and ourselves as well as others. We will be able to share his amazing love and be a better witness for Christ and the Gospel.

So here are the 4 steps that you can take followed by a simple prayer to our Heavenly Father God to confirm and release yourself from whatever it is that has been making you feel guilty or condemned.

1.  Recognize the problem.  We must recognize and acknowledge that we have not
forgiven ourselves.  We must come to grips with the fact that we still hold ourselves
in bondage. 

2.  Repent of Sin.  We must repent of that sin for which we cannot forgive ourselves.  We must
tell God that we realize that our unwillingness to forgive ourselves is not in keeping with His
Word.  We must thank Him for His forgiveness as we confess our sin to Him. 

3.  Reaffirm trust.  We must reaffirm out trust in the testimony of Scripture:  "As far as the east
is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us". 

4.  Confess freedom and choose to RECEIVE it!  We must confess our freedom and choose to
receive it freely. 

Prayer:  Father, I realize I haven't forgiven myself and am in bondage because of it.  Now I am
reaffirming my trust and faith in Your Word, and on that basis, by an act of my will, in faith, I here
and now forgive myself because you have already forgiven me and I accept my forgiveness. 
I choose from this moment on to be freed of all which I have held against myself.  Please
confirm my freedom to me by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.   Amen!

Now onto the crafty side of me......here is a link to a cute free pattern for my crochet towel tops. It's an easy pattern and you can use one towel, cut it in half and make (2) for the kitchen.  Give them as gifts to family and friends they will love them.  Hope you enjoy!

Until next time, I am off to visit my 4 sisters in Missouri this coming weekend for my sister Bea's 50th birthday.  I am so excited and can't wait to see them...pray for no tornadoes or hurricanes to be in my path.

Blessings!

Oh, here are some of my newest cross stitch samplers to check out as well.........:) If you want to see more info on these click on the pictures and it will take you to Shop Delighted!

Happy Mothers Day all of you moms out there!

Mothers day is a sad day for my mom unfortunately.  I love her so much but every mothers day when I call her to wish her a beautiful day and tell her how much I love her, she always gets very sad.  See she lost her mom (my grandma) when she was only 2 years old.  This is so sad to me and she always begins to tear up when she talks about it. She didn't know her mom at all and grew up with a step-mom who was not always kind to her.  So today, I just want to say "Mom" I love you so much and hold you so dear in my heart.  I hope your pain of loosing your mom so many years ago will one day be replaced with joy when you see her in heaven.

Now, to all you moms out there I want to wish you the best day ever - may God's face shine upon you and warm your heart! May you be able to spend time with your children and family and be treated special as you so deserve.  I will be going to spend my weekend with my daughter Michelle in Seattle.  I am so excited because the time spent with her is so precious and I do not get to see her as often as I would like.  She is my amazing talented graphics designer who works at Amazon and I love her so much.  I also have two amazingly handsome and talented sons, both are married with awesome families that I adore and love too.  I am a blessed child of God and am so grateful to have such a beautiful and loving family.  Thank you Jesus!

Now I want to introduce some of my new "sampler" type of cross stitch patterns.  The first one in the photo is my Mom Floral Sampler which is absolutely gorgeous with the words "Mom another word for Love".  That is so true and today I pay special tribute to all you moms for being there for your kids when they needed you, for being there for your husbands when they whine, and for loving each of them even in days when they are unloveable!!!! Amen

Be sure to check these out now available at my Shop Delighted Store....where you can instantly download the patterns........happy stitching!!!

Announcing Jackie's Needle Art Mania......awesome cross stitch and needlepoint resource!

I am very excited to announce that my cross stitch patterns are now featured at Jackie's Needle Art Mania!  Do check out her website, it is filled with every kind of needle craft you can think of, including cross stitch, stamped cross stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, crewel, knitting and felting.  She sells the pattern charts and kits as well as supplies for every project on your list. She is only carrying some at the moment but I know she is adding more all the time!

Next time you are looking for a pattern for your next project, make Jackie's the first place to go. I know Jackie would also welcome and appreciate a prayer for her husband Jim, who has cancer it would be a blessing to the both of them. 

Well, until next time, hope you enjoy the website and my posts!  Definately more to come very soon.  Blessings to you all!

Here are just some of the other patterns she offers including mine of course - cheers!

La Vierge - needlepoint

Olivia Counted Cross stitch

Guardian Angel by Lavender & Lace

Being comforted in order to comfort........

In life there will be trials the Lord tells us in scripture. There will also be people in our lives from time to time who we thought we could count on in those times, and they disappoint, for reasons beyond anyone’s control.  When faced with needing comfort our Heavenly Father is always there, you can count on Him.

I have found in my own life that in my darkest of days getting on my knees and praying out to God is all I need.  After the tears and sadness, I gain a sense of peace in my spirit.  It’s hard to explain but very real and very comforting.  I still look to others, like my husband, my family or friends and they have been there for me and have given me much support and comfort.  But sometimes only the comfort of God is what we need to be able to move on with our lives.

It’s taken me a long time to learn and put into action this principle, and I thank God each and every day that he has shown me and given me discernment as to when and when not to share some things with others.  If I’ve been struggling with a decision to make, for instance, through the power of the Holy Spirit He will show me what to do.  It will always be for the best of everyone concerned, and sometimes you will not realize that for some time.  

Remember the flesh wants to tell everyone everything that you are going through, for sympathy.  But Jesus prefers us to only go to the person who is part of the problem and address them in a loving and direct way.  He also doesn’t want us telling others just for the sake of gossip, he hates gossip.

What will happen is we will gain the ability to comfort others when they are hurting in similar situations.  The Holy Spirit empowers us with those extra qualities that are sometimes not so easy to acquire on our own. They are the fruits of the Spirit:  “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control” Galations 5:22-23.  These fruits are given to us when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. If you haven't received this awesome gift yet, maybe today is the day!!!

Free pattern today is easy to knit dishclothes.  They can be made from cotton, the multi-colored ones really look nice.  So enjoy the pattern and until next time, may God be gracious unto you and your family!!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder........sharing what I love to do!

Bringing some of my art and photography to you on my blog.  Here is a quick peak at some of my work that is available at Fine Art America.  They do an awesome job at printing my artwork on canvas, fine art papers or now even metal art.  I love this website because on here you can preview first hand what the artwork will look like on whatever type of framing you choose or on canvas, it's a preview before you buy concept.  So do check it out and share it with everyone you know. 

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are literally surrounded by beauty in every direction.  I have tried to capture as much of it as I can,  especially the beautiful bald eagles that fly around in our backyard, simply amazing to see.  So enjoy this quick preview, and if you are ever looking for a nice gift for someone who loves nature and art, I even sell greeting cards with my artwork - so there is something for every budget.

Have a beautiful day!!

God's beauty and our Oregon RV trip........

Greetings!

We just returned from a wonderful RV trip to Oregon a couple of days ago and I am excited to share some of the beauty that we encountered.  I first want to say that we were in awesome company, our friends Don and Val in their 5th wheel and Quint and Elizabeth and their son in their motor home.  It was a true caravan going down I-5, kinda cool.  We left Sunday morning April 7th and traveled to McMinnville and stayed in a very nice RV park right next to the Evergreen Space and Flight Museums.  We had a blast and actually were able to walk to the museums from the park, it was very convenient.

After a couple of days we left for the Oregon coast and they went on to Seven Feathers and other areas of Oregon.  We traveled to Lincoln City, Depoe Bay, Tillamook, Astoria, and Long Beach.  It was a relaxing trip and we enjoyed it very much.  The best part was seeing all of God's amazing beauty in the different areas we traveled to.  His signature is in each and every wave, tree, and sunset and sunrise we experienced.  I was truly in awe.  I will never understand how some individuals in this world still do not believe there is a God.  He is real, his presence is felt and seen in everything that exists, he created all that is good and beautiful for us to enjoy and take in whenever we can. In each sunrise or sunset, each being different from any other that I have ever seen, I can feel his warmth and love telling me to be still and know that he is God!!

So here are a few photographs of some of that beauty, I do hope you enjoy them.  It's great to be back home though as it always is.  We live in God's country here on Whidbey Island so for us we never have to  go far to enjoy that beauty, how blessed we are indeed. Thank you Jesus!

Have a super Blessed day!!!!!