Stampin' Sisters In Christ - 5-15-11

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Stampin' Sisters In Christ - 5-15-11

I will lift my eyes to the mountains –
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
The Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip.

He who watches over you will not slumber;
Indeed, He who watches over Israel will
Neither slumber nor sleep.
Psalm 121 1-4

The contemporary Christian music artist, Chris August has a song called Canyons. The first part goes. “…Mountains and valleys the ups and the downs I go through. I will rejoice in you Jesus no matter the view.” Isn’t that an awesome thought? God allows us to go through Mountains and Valleys, ups and downs.

It is my opinion that the author of this Psalm knew what it was like to be in the valley. “I LIFT MY EYES TO THE MOUNTAINS”. The only way you can lift your eyes to the mountains is when you are in the valley. If you were on the mountain and lifted your eyes, you would see sky.

“WHERE DOES MY HELP COME FROM?” It has been my experience that I am more ready to ask for help when I have reached the bottom of the valley, than when I am on the mountain. When I am on the mountain I tend to get complacent and I take God’s help for granted, but when I am hurting, and I know I can’t fix things on my own, I cry out “HELP!!!!!”

I love the answer to the previous question.

“MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD. THE MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!” In the evenings, my family gathers together in our living room. There isn’t enough space for everyone to have a seat so sometimes we end up on the floor. When I get down on the floor, I need assistance to get up.(I’m not as young as I use to be.) When I ask for help, I don’t ask my youngest son, because he isn’t strong enough, yet, to help me. I ask my oldest son, who is almost 6 ft tall. He has the power and strength to help me. In the same way, when I am down in the valley. I don’t want help from this world. This world doesn’t have the strength. I want help from the All-powerful God. The very God who created everything.

“HE WILL NOT LET YOUR FOOT SLIP” Have you ever been mountain climbing? I grew up in Arizona and I loved climbing mountains. Sometimes when you climb the path is wide and fairly easy to climb. At other times, the path gets really narrow. If your foot were to slip at these times, you could plummet down the mountain and be seriously hurt, if not killed. When reading this verse, I imagined climbing out of the valley and being on that narrow path. How comforting that God is watching over me and won’t let my foot slip! He is protecting me and keeping me safe.

“HE WHO WATCHES OVER YOU WILL NOT SLUMBER; INDEED, HE WHO WATCHES OVER ISRAEL WILL NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP.” Living in a small town in Iowa, I don’t have many fears when night falls and I try to sleep. The town is fairly peaceful. When 10 o’clock comes, even the traffic lights go from their regular cycle to flashing red lights. There is almost no traffic on the streets. I have lived in a big city though. When I lived in Phoenix, Arizona, it wasn’t nearly as peaceful. I lived downtown, and I heard police sirens all night long and at least once a night I would hear the Police helicopters fly over my apartment. Traffic never stopped. There was always someone on the roads. But even all that chaos can't compare to what some people endure. I can’t imagine living in a war zone. I can’t imagine trying to sleep knowing that the “Enemy” could attack at any time. I think the only way I would be able to sleep is if someone was standing guard. I would want someone responsible, who wouldn’t fall asleep, and who would wake me if there was any trouble. Well, while I don’t live in a physical war zone, I do live in a spiritual war zone. I am glad that I have a protector who watches over me all the time aren’t you?

The challenge this week is to make a card with a tea/coffee cup or pot.

I used my FLORAL TEA set by Mark’s Finest Papers. I stamped it with black stazon and water colored the flowers. I then used porcelain paper technique on the cups. When they were dry I added craft foam behind them to make them have dimension. When I saw what the challenge was, this joke came to my mind and I just had to use it. I used my computer to print it. I made a pocket on the inside to hold a teabag.