Be Blessed and Be a Blessing

 

Here I sit in the middle of Hurricane Harvey, high and dry in my house.

Work is cancelled and school too. What to do, what to do.

I see the news filled with people blessing others. I am so proud of my community.

I feel antsy just sitting and watching...

How can I use my time and not waste it?

How can I give back?

I know the Word of God,

I have an abundance of inspiration and creativity,

(Sometimes too much and time is too little!)

AND God has given me the time in this rainy week.

 

 God blesses us with gifts, talents and time?

Do you have a boat? Go rescue storm refugees.

Do you have extra clothes? Go give to the wet ones.

Do you bake? Make cookies for your flooded neighbor.

Do ALL THIS in the Name of Christ!

 

Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30

If God gives you talents, do not bury them in the dirt to keep them safe out of fear.

Invest them, use them, be brave to put them out there.

For if you use what God has given you, he will be happy with you.

^" For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance."

 

DONT IGNOTE WHAT GOD GIVES YOU TODAY!

or it can be taken away...

This was told to the rich fool that stored away all his harvest for the future,

instead of trusting God to provide him with daily needs.

When he finally had time to use it, he was gone.

See Luke 12:13-21

We cannot take our "harvest" with us, so share it today.

 

YOU ARE BLESSED!

It's not by Luck of Chance or some changing thing that you have the good things you have.

 

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Treasures in Heaven

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

Hebrews 13:16

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

 

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

 



Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

 

 

Matthew 5:40-41

And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.

If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

(Go the "extra mile")

 

IN your good works and deeds, do not expect earthly praise.

Let your Father in Heaven clearly see your work.

For he is the only one that needs to know.

At times this is hard because people may be around you when you work,

for instance: what if you are a preacher or helping flood disaster.

How can you do that in secret? You cannot.

The most important thing in these circumstances is to bring glory to your Father in the act.

For example, "I give you these cookies in Jesus's Name" or put a note on the cookies that says,
"In Christ's Love". Basically, put the spotlight on HIm and give HIm the glory. He is what the blessing came from in the first place, you are just giving it back.

 

Matthew 6:1-2

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

 

I hope these illustrations will stay in your heart and be an inspirational reminder to you that

YOU ARE BLESSED!

God wants to give you more and wants to see you share it with your

Brothers and Sister in Christ.

When your kids share the things you give to them, doesn't it make you proud?

Does it not make you want to do it more?

Be Blessed this week.

Barn Hex SIgn

Allright, I am not sure what it is, but seeing these pictures of these barn blessings makes my heart giddy.

I guess it is the colors or the folksy style that appeals to my German heritage... not sure. 

but.... needless to say, I LOVE THEM!!!

I don't know why I always love things and just dwell on their awesomness for so long, then something inside me just stops and says, "You can make it!"

So, for as long as I have loved these barn blessing signs, I have decided to make one for my... uhh... barn?

no, wait... I don't have a barn, that's right...

oh well, why not just make it a home blessing sign? what's stopping me?

So, here I go...

I tried to find a few signs that I really love the design of for inspiration... it was hard...

But I decided to use the three below and just combine the ideas of all to fit my  personal  taste.
Where do I put this giant disk while I am working on it?
Well, I hide it under my table cloth of the kitchen table sillies!
Then it doesn't have to stare at me when I am busy, just begging to be worked on. I just do it when I have a moment.
I am not done yet,,, but will be soon!
SO, stay tuned to my blossoming blog to see the end results of my
Not-so-Barn Blessing!
See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya...
cause I like being me!

Maisy is assisting me with painting while Maddy eats Goldfish...

A little further progress on the sign... this time the whole family wanted to help!

WEEKS LATER....

Whhewww (wiping sweat from brow)...!

I am finally done with the Barn Blessing Sign I started weeks ago.

I think it looks awesome.

Another time proven that instead of wishing you had something, just use the creativity God gave you to go out and make it yourself. What's stopping you? 

Some people ask me how i get so much art done with 2 girls and a full time job.

Well, first of all I am incredibly blessed that my MIL works her tail off while I am at work to allow us to spend time with the kids when we get home. So, I really do not have to do a whole lot when I get home except tend to their needs. So, I can't pretend I am SuperTab on my own whatsoever...
The first step to being a REAL superhero is to first admit that it is NOT YOU that makes you super.

This is the cover of my autobiographical comic that tells my testimony (in the works).
SuperTab gets her super powers from her Creator.
If we let our heads get big, we are not so super anymore and our powers become in vain...

Also, I do take the gifts God gave me VERY SERIOUSLY!

I do not want to waste one single solitary second of my life just sitting and wasting my gift, and at any blessed opportunity I choose to glorify my God with my talent and time. 

The Bible says that when we give money (tithe) in faith to God, he will bless us back. 

(Job 41:11 and Malachi 3:8-12)
People say "time is money" which is really true.

If I give my free time to the Lord to create for Him, in order to attempt to bring otheres to Him through my creation... then he will in turn Bless me with more time. 

Sometimes, I just pray that if it is God's will for me to create something today, that He will make a way...

and he mostly does. I do have times where I feel dry on ideas...  I see that as God making time for me to rest which only makes my active times more meaningful and blessed. Usually it is a way for God to get me to come to Him alone in my quiet time to hear what His next creative step is for me.
I love these times!

In the same way, if I did not give back to Him the gift He has given me,
I would be robbing him of it (Job 41:11).
What He gives he can take away... anytime. So, I want to choose to have an attitude of gratitude daily.

Creating daily give me such pure joy.

It is my way of communing with Him, being still and quiet to enjoy the gift He gave me with Him. 

It is like a father making a one of a kind toy for his child as a Christmas gift... Till finally after all the thought and work spent, the child open the gift make just for them... all the time the Father is carefully watching thier expression in hope. 

Well, My Father in Heaven sees me open this gift everyday and each time I am surprised and amazed that this gift never gets old... it only gets better! I feel so special that he loved me enough to give me it and I want to use it responsibly the way He intended so He never takes it away.

We decided to put this sign at the front of our house  to see it everyday when we leave and return.

I am so happy!