How Sweet

"How Sweet the Name of Jesus"

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believers ear
it soothes his sorrows,
heals his wounds, and drives away his fear
It makes the wounded spirit whole
and calms the troubled breast
tis manna to the hungry soul,
and to the weary rest

Dear Name the Rock on which I will
my shield and hiding place
my never failing treasury fill
with boundless stores of grace

Jesus, my Shepard, brother, friend,
my prophet, priest, and king
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End
accept the praise I lend

****************

A couple of you know that we recently have been attending a different church, and truthfully it's been so refreshing, something I didn't even know I needed. Isn't it funny (or amazing) how God can even use our anger, and ill-guided intentions to draw us to Himself?! You probably have no clue to what I'm referencing, but just know that my intentions were not totally pure when seeking out a new church. But God used even the worst of my motives to gently bring me in, again.

The June 1st sermon was merely entitled "Worship", and in it Gary Purdy made a statement something to the effect that part of our worship is to stand naked in the eyes of God and let Him wash over us with his love and grace. Now, standing naked anywhere, even in front of my husband, is not a comfortable thing for me. But the picture is to stand in front of an Almighty, All-knowing God, bearing all our sin, and allow Him to receive us with grace, being washed clean because He wants to. He wants to heal us, wants to comfort us, wants to give us rest.

These thoughts have been resounding over and over in my head for the past 2 weeks(mainly the naked part) since I heard that sermon, which by the way you can download to an MP3 here. I can't get over the uncomfortableness of standing naked before a Holy God. That's so uncomfortable to show ALL my weakness, ALL my failures and then asking for forgiveness. I do so much to cover up my pain, my imperfections, just the fact that I hate to admit it when I'm wrong tells you how stubborn and prideful I am. So standing naked before a Holy and Just God is not some thing I really like the idea of doing.

But these last weeks, I've also really been struggling with my post-pregnancy body, hating myself and the way I look, hating to have to get into a swimsuit, but also little things like other blogs reminding me that I still hurt. I still grieve. I'm anxious and paranoid,lay awake at night in fear, and right about now I'm sure I'm sounding pretty "mental" (to steal from Ron Weasley). But it's true. All secret things that I'd like to hide, yet my "spiritual act of worship is to present myself as a living sacrifice to my Holy God" (loosely quoting Rms. 12:1) In doing so, I'm to stand before Him naked, bearing all my sin, my paranoid thoughts, my anxious tendencies, my irrational fears, my self-loathing, and my deep deep hurts. I've gotta lay it all out there, and let Him heal me. And the cool thing? That somehow is MY act of worship, to allow HIM to do this for me.

And that's where the song comes in. How Sweet the name of Jesus! That He stands in my place, takes the punishment for my sins, heals my hurts, understands my sorrow, brings me rest, and loves me more than any person can. How Sweet! Somehow that doesn't make my vulnerabilities seem as scary, or standing before Him so daunting. He's already loved me enough to stand in my place. I don't stand alone, but with Christ not just beside me but in front of me taking the guilt of my sin. I can just cower in His shadow as He approaches God for me. I can hide myself in Him, like a little kid who knows they did wrong and is shaking in the corner, afraid of punishment. Jesus is my corner, where I can go and hide, and instead He takes the punishment for me. He's the scape goat, and I just receive the benefits. The grace, the mercy that are so freely given. So it's with the confidence that I find in Him, that I stand. A confidence that knows I'm forgiven, knows that He knows my thoughts, my needs, my pain, and gives me rest. And I need it daily. I need Him every hour, because it's not easy. That confidence to stand in Christ is not something that is easy for me, but I know it's true. I know His message is true, and I know that He won't fail me even though I continue to fail Him. His love for me never ends. How Sweet the name of Jesus! He knows what I'm going through, and loves me all the still. O the deep, deep love of Jesus!

*Note: I did not write that song, I listened to it on my CD player 5 gabillion times trying to get the lyrics right. It's a praise song, and probably adapted from a hymn, that I listen to frequently. Since I don't have a playlist, I thought I'd just type it out for ya. I don't know any copyright laws, but I'm not trying to steal it. Just using it as a reference and as refreshment for me. I'm sure you understand.

more layouts

Well, I haven't really been up to a whole lot this week, but this past weekend I really got to scrapping. I stayed up Friday night until 2:30 in the morning watching movies and scrapping. I ended up watching 3 movies that night, and got 3 LOs done. Saturday night I was feeling the effects of the night before so I only watched one movie, and but got another LO done. Here's what I did (I may go back and edit a couple. I can tell it was getting late, and I was tired.)

"Paint with Rocks"

I did this one with a Becky Fleck sketch. LOVE the way it turned out!

"So very proud of herself"

I tried making ribbon hearts, and I like the pink ones, but I may go back and change the b/w ones. I see a giant HS flower going on the left side.

"Darling"

I had a blast making this one! I love shabby LOs! Although at the last minute I found a pink MME Bohemia piece of paper that I may mount it on. It blends in too much with my carpet! LOL! (and thanks V, for assisting in the photo editing dept. ;) :D )

Here's the title a little closer. I inked the paper, then used a Cosmo rub-on, then lightly inked it again.


"Sweet Pea"

I love these pictures of Sarah Kate, but when Josh saw this LO his first comment was, "Hey she's got a twin!" Yeah. And he didn't mean anything by it, but still. I can't look at it and not imagine my little Claire sitting beside her sister. So these will probably be made into 2 diff. LOs, not because it needs it but because I can't look at it and not tear up.

And that's about it. Sorry to depress everyone. Didn't mean to end on such a sad note, but that's life sometimes too. Hope everyone's doing well! Happy "hump" day!

Weekend update

Well, we really didn't do too much this weekend. It's nice to have days like that though. Yesterday we ran to Lowes and I picked out a paint color for my little scrap space. But then when I brought it home I realized that I'd have to clear out all my stuff, fill the holes left from the attempts at hanging the shelves, and scrape the ceiling,I gave up on that idea because I just wanted to scrap. Instead I moved my stuff to the coffee table. hehe! And I've been very productive too! 4 movies and 4 LOs! Sounds good to me! :) I hoping to get a little more time in tonight. Kinda feel like I'm on a roll, kwim?

Since the Event, I've been more cognizant of taking pictures during the week, and this weeke I got a few shots I really love!

Watering the garden


sidewalk chalkin' it up


someone was ready to get out of the pool


waiting....my granddad made us this awesome window seat, and when Caroline knows someone's coming over she'll wait for them.


You know, I've noticed that at this stage in our life all my pictures of Caroline are action shots or "doing" something (when I can catch her in the frame). Sarah Kate on the other hand is always sitting pretty, smiling, or in this case showing us her mad face. Must be the phase were in.

will post more layouts soon. :)

New LOs up!

It's time to reveal the June Simply Obsessed LOs!!! i LOVE love love this kit!!! So fun with all the bold colors! I've got a couple more LOs I want to do with it, but I've gotta find the time. With all the fun summer stuff going on, like going to the pool, landscaping the yard, etc. I've been falling asleep early at night, which means not much scrapping going on. Maybe I'll get to it this weekend.

Well, without further adieu....my June SO LOs and project:

Caroline at the Creative Discovery Museum


a close-up of the dimension (don'tcha just LOVE those colors!!!)


Her first "ball" experience, and a warm moment for mama. I didn't prompt her I promise! But all the warm fuzzy journaling is behind the blue tag.


I had SO SO SO much fun making this birthday banner! (See how to make one in the Simply Obsessed June newsletter.)


A tad closer so you can see the doodling.


And a wee bit closer.


Well, there you have it! I feel guilty for not being as personal on my blog lately. I promise I'll share more soon. I've caught some pretty funny in-the-moment pictures lately of the girls playing (cough cough destroying cough) the house. I'll post those soon. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

My Noel Mignon Summer Lovin' entry

I just love this picture of Caroline. The subtitle really says it all. She really is captivated (and mesmerized) by the simplest of things. She can play the entire morning just filling up her bucket with water and pea gravel. And she's totally in her element and the happiest kid on earth.

I did this for the Noel Mignon Summer Lovin' challenge, but it also fits into one of the challenges at Simply Obsessed. And I used a TON of Fancy Pants stuff, so I may even submit it there. Who knows? but I really had fun playing with the textures on this one. I liked the idea of contrasting some of the more earthly/rugged textures with the clear elements, and then the lace too. That kinda sums up Caroline actually. Loves playing, getting dirty, etc. but she's definitely got a little fancy girly girl in her too.

Here are some close ups:

New Challenges are up!

With the new month, there are a bunch of new challenges up everywhere! First of all Simply Obsessed has posted their monthly set of challenges called Jump into June! Each Monday there will be a recipe challenge, and then later in the week a leftover challenge, so that you can catch up on all the great challenges from previous months. Secondly, Noel Mignon has posted a new Summer Lovin' challenge! I can't wait to play with that one! Heaven knows I've got a ton of summer pictures! I only took over 100 during Memorial Day weekend alone! LOL! And lastly, the new Color Story challenge is up! I love the shabby chic/vintage-y inspiration of CS5. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to work on that one too. I love how much inspiration is out there! Whether it's a recipe, a theme, a style, or even a sketch there's always something to keep me going! Gotta love that! ;)

LOs for Coordinates Collections

This month I was lucky enough to be selected as Coordinates Collections June Guest Designer. I got to work with the "High Heels" kit, which was so much fun to work with! I loved the fun Magpie letters, the Maya Road felt birdies, and the 7gypsies paper was perfect for some of the outdoorsy pictures I needed to scrap. And the project is for my niece Emma (thus the E). She's leaving for camp next week, and she wanted me to make her a "diary". These papers, and 7 Gypies stickers were perfect for the project! I handcut the chipboard cover, and embellished it with the 7 Gypsies goodies. I also added the Hambly frame, brads, and the dymo label.

Emma's camp journal


That Grandparent glow--my dad and stepmom with the girls at their lakehouse last summer.


Water Baby--Caroline last year. I promise she has NO fear! Yikes!