Tea and Lace

Good morning everybody and I pray that your Sunday is going well before, during, and after church; and also when you participate in today's Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 52. Tomorrow is our very first birthday and we'd love for you to join in our Birthday Blog Hop. ALL of the Stampin' Sisters Design Team members, past and current, are participating and I think that's such a treat and so will you!

Our sponsor today is DeeDee Anderson, who is the owner of DeeDee's Digis,whom we would like to thank for her generosity to support us. Today our verse is Proverbs 17:22, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." I think the verse is pretty self-explanatory. We've all also heard that it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. Have you ever seen facial wrinkles point upwards? No. They always point downwards. In our daily busyness, we don't take the time to smell the roses anymore. I even have to schedule in pool time where I multitask there too and pray, if I don't fall asleep because I don't go to bed until 1-2 a.m. because I'm working all of the time on this, on card making that started as a hobby and now I feel like I'm in bondage to it and I am frankly. You get caught up in having the latest of everything that is changing daily of what's hot and what's not, It's insane really. Not to mention expensive! Do I really need to be on 7 different design teams? When and if I finally do make it to the pool, I call it my "prayer pool." That's not good enough though. That's squeezing God into my schedule. That means somewhere I need to lighten up my load, and I'm working on it, and make God THE priority in my life again. Without the Lord as number one, your spirit breaks because you are not communing with him. While your spirit dries up, everything else has a tendency to follow suit. You get sick, you get depressed, you don't want to get out of bed in the morning, every day is the same, and on and on and on. We all need to slow down and find our joy in Jesus again who will give us a merry heart. This has also interrupted my study time and spending time at church with my brothers and sisters in Christ because I have a deadline to meet somewhere. This is not the way that God wants any of us to live. Glorifying God through your work shouldn't be a job. It should come from a merry heart. I invite you to spend some time this week asking God for direction in your life of what can go, what needs to stay, how to manage time better, and most importantly, make the time for Jesus this week and let him fill your spirit afresh and new daily. Spend time with him and in the Word, and you'll get your joy back and your merry heart.

Today's challenge to you is to make something with some humor in it; something on the lighter side. This should be very easy because I'm praying we'll all have lighter hearts today.

All products used are Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Morning Cup, Favorite Thoughts
Card Stock: Stampin' Up! Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Naturals Ivory
Designer Paper: Elegant Soiree
Ink: Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Neutral brads, Metallic brads, Ticket punch, Chantilly Lace, Big Shot, Tasteful Trim Big XL Die, Blender Pen
Technique: Die-cutting
Size: 4-1/4 x 5-1/2
Challenge: Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge 52

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To purchase Stampin' Up! products, please visit Stampin' Up! With Cindy.