My thoughts after watching Monumental

   I have just seen the film Monumental, and would like to give my opinion of some parts of it. I like the film, especially the first half, but there were some things that disturbed me about the conclusions that were drawn. The Pilgrims were incredibly strong, character-filled people who stayed here even though almost half of them had died. They fought against incredible odds to get out of England, and then to get to America. The hardships they suffered are past imagining. I don't believe that they could have done that if they had not had a deep, intimate relationship with the Lord. I do not think that they did it because of their vision, I can't believe that they could have done what they did for a vision; the Lord had to give them strength to endure.
   At one point in the movie, when Kirk Cameron was at Harvard, the man he was talking to said that a nation must be built on God's law. This is what I take issue with. I think that most Christians in  America believe that the problem with our country today is that God's law is no longer being proclaimed and followed, and that the answer is to go back to the law. This is the conclusion that they seemed to be promoting in the film, but a lack of God's law is not the problem. The problem is a lack of a knowledge of Jesus and his truth. (Yes, I do not capitalize the pronouns. If you will look at your King James Version you will see that they didn't either.) Jesus fulfilled the law, and it no longer applies to us. We have the fulfillment of the law living in us in union with us (I Cor. 6:17), and God has written His law on our hearts, in the person of Jesus. We must not mingle law with grace, law with Jesus. Paul wrote two letters to correct that heresy, but the church today does it all the time. If you will search the scriptures, reading Hebrews and Galatians particularly, you will find that mixing the two is one of the worst things you can do. If we could live by the law, we wouldn't need Jesus. You can have one or the other, but not both! So the problem is not a lack of God's law in this country, the problem is a lack of people who know Jesus intimately, who understand that they are living in union with him, and who seek to introduce others to him. The only answer to the problems in this country is Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! It is all about him, not about the law, not about morality, not about imposing God's law on unsaved people. It is just about Jesus.
   If people know the truth about Jesus and have a deep intimate relationship with him, and they are resting and trusting in him and cooperating with him as he lives his life through them, then we do not have to  concern ourselves with politics beyond our duties as citizens. God will take care of us one way or another. Maybe it will be prosperity, maybe it will be persecution, but we are just being distracted if we spend our time wringing our hands over the state of the nation and the people and try to use law and civil action to fix things. The answer is this: love people and introduce them to Jesus, and teach your children to do the same. Watchman Nee, who wrote one of the greatest Christian books this world has ever seen, The Normal Christian Life, spent 17 years in a Chinese prison. God did not save him from that, he had to go through it. Bringing America back to its heyday of prosperity and freedom may not be his will for us, but I am not going to concern myself with that and work myself to death to try to prevent our losing what we have left and to bring back what we once had. I will do my duty as a citizen, and if God leads me to do more, I hope that I will cooperate with him. I certainly intend to, but I don't think that saving our bacon in America is on his agenda. I think his agenda is what it always was, introducing more and more people to Jesus so that he can express his life through them.

Lunch With Friends

   A couple of weeks ago I had lunch with my mother, daughter, and three friends, two actually because one had to leave before we ate, at Jester's on Castle Street. I love that place! They have the best food, and it is good for you. The desserts aren't so good for you, but they are wonderful, especially the brownie, which I passed on this time. Major miracle! The guy comes in and goes over all the desserts that they have, and it's the highlight of the lunch, lol. We had him take some pictures of us before we left, from left to right we have Beth, my mother, me, Lorie, and Cynthia in front.

I have absolutely no idea what we were looking at here, but it must have been good! We had such a good time that day; times like this make life wonderful.
Blessings,
Janis

Catching Up

   I have been very had about posting, and I have pictures from as far back as Christmas that I haven't put on here, so here goes.
   First, I didn't do much stamping this year, but I did manage to make a few cards. Not that I sent any! I came down with something a few weeks before Christmas, so I didn't get much done this year.
   This is something that I started Christmas before last,  and finally finished the next Christmas. I covered a piece of cardboard with foil and ran it through the Big Kick with an embossing folder. It worked really, really well. My glue pen wouldn't work so I had a time putting glitter on the snowflakes. I love the Martha Stewart icicle punch that I used at the bottom. Be sure to click on each picture to enlarge it.

 I used a bag that I have been saving for a long time for the heart on this one.

I love the Martha Stewart gingerbread boy punch that I used here.

The first tag was made with a piece of corrugated cardboard. Pulling off some of the covering and exposing some of the inside is very popular now. It makes a nice tag. I wish I had some of Tanmy's to put on here. Hers were great! You can't really see the next tag because of the glare, but it was a Tim Holtz style plaid made with alcohol inks, I think. The last three were done with the Stampin' Up! ornament punch, which I call
"the turnip", LOL. The snowflakes came from the SU! snowflake die. Love that thing!

And lastly, this is our tree from 2010. I don't think I have ever seen gifts arranged more artistically. Beth did it, of course, and she did a great job.

I thought the washer and dryer in the background were a nice touch! Very festive!
   Well, that's it for Christmas. Next blog will have pictures from lunch at Jester's with friends.
Blessings,
Janis

Another Lightbulb Moment

  I just realized that, even though I understood that I am connected to God with a connection that cannot be broken, I still let my unworthiness get between me and the Lord. Whenever I talk to Him, I still have this feeling of something between us; something hindering. I have always been taught that my sin separates me from Him, and that I have to constantly confess my sins to be able to "stay in fellowship" with Him. But the light just went on: I am forgiven, my sins, past, present, and future, were taken away at the cross, and there is nothing, nothing, nothing between us! There can never be anything between us! It isn't possible. Reality is that I am loved, sacrificed for, forgiven, cleansed, and created anew, and Jesus's spirit is one with my spirit. If I feel that there is anything between us, it is my imagination, fueled by Satan's lies. Thank you Jesus!

Let's Talk Books!

   This is book week for one of my favorite bloggers, dottie angel, and she is talking about a book a day. I thought that sounded like fun, so I am going to talk about a category of books each day the rest of  this week. My first category is the Love Inspired Christian romance novels. How I love these books! I get really mad at some of them because the authors make the characters do the stupidest things, but I still love these books. My favorite author in this genre is Jillian Hart. She has the most wonderful way with words, and her books are the most romantic of all. I just read one by her that was so very, very good, that I am going to keep it so I can read it over and over. It was His Holiday Bride, I think. I left it in SC, so I am going on memory here, and the memory isn't good these days! I read another of these books when I was in Ohio several years ago, Rainbow's End, which you can find just about anywhere these days. This book is everywhere! Just go in a thrift shop or Goodwill and you will find this book. It is so good! It is about a woman who lives a reclusive life on an island because her face is badly scarred. It involves a handsome stranger and a child who needs a home, how could it not be good?
   Then there are the Love Inspired series. There is one about the Hamilton Family, I think it is called the Hamilton Family Saga, and the Tiny Blessings series about an adoption agency. There is another series about a pararescue group in the army, and all of these are great! You can find these paperbacks in libraries, thrift shops, used book shops, flea markets, and yard sales.
   Oh, and they have a Love Inspired Suspense line also. They come out with 4 new books a month, and you can get them cheaper at Wal-Mart, but you have to be patient because they don't appear in the store at the first of the month. Sometimes it is late in the month before you find them. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that if you like romance novels and you are a Christian, you will love these books.
   I would love to hear from you as to what you like to read and your favorite book. Tomorrow I will talk about some Christian nonfiction that has meant a lot to me.
Blessings,
 Janis

Good Food, Good Fun, Good Friends

   Before I left town in August, we met for breakfast one Sunday morning at Jim & Cynthia's. The conversation was great, as was the food. So many times Jesus met with people over food, and I love it when we do too. So here are some pictures that I took, or maybe Jim took them, I'm not sure now.

We should do this again, but do potluck so Cynthia won't have to do all the work. Of course, some people did bring something to share, but I forgot to bring what I had planned. No big surprise there! I haven't remembered anything 5 minutes for the last couple of months, but I think I am getting better. I was beginning to think I was coming down with Alzheimers (sp?) I really, really miss getting together with you guys on Sundays. I am so glad that we have some free believer friends here in SC.
Blessings,
 Janis
PS. Obviously, Jim took these pictures!LOL

My Class with the Queen of Stamping: Wendy Vecchi

   When Andy first started working at the Savannah River site in SC  last July, I found out that Wendy Vecchi was going to do a class August of this year at the stamp shop in West Columbia. I waited for over a year for this class, and it was wonderful! I feel so fortunate to be able to take a class with someone as big in the stamping world as Wendy Vecchi. Now if I could just get to a Tim Holtz class!

   And here is the finished project. This is actually a lot brighter than it really is, but I have spent at least an hour trying to get it right and I JUST CAN'T!!!!

I haven't been able to publish this post either. The first two went on beautifully, but I have had nothing but problems with this one. Hopefully I will get it on here tonight. Needless to say, there is gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair!
Blessings,
Janis