Confirmation- 50th Anniversary

Today is the 50th Anniversary

 of my Confirmation.

50 years of grace and mercy.

My Confirmation verse is:

John 10:27-28.

I have always especially like the part:

"no one will snatch them out of my hand."

This is my Faith Rolodex where we have 

all the important family dates 

as well as cards for important 

Faith Vocabulary Words.

Enduring Word Bible #40

John 10:14 and John 22-42

I really like this story now that I can picture

 just where Jesus was for these words.

Our trips to Israel and for here- Jerusalem, 

help me to SEE the landscape and city

  where Jesus spoke these words.

walking in the temple,

 in the colonnade of Solomon,

at the time of the feast of the Dedication

"I and the Father are ONE."

Blasphemous words to the Jews in authority.

They wanted to stone him.

They tried to arrest him.

But he escaped from their hands.

He went away across the Jordan

 to where John had been baptizing at first,

He stayed there.

Many came to see him.

And many believed in him there.

Soon on this Anniversary

 I am so very thankful:

that I hear the voice of Jesus, 

that Jesus knows me,

and I follow him.

I am blessed to have:

eternal life,

and know I will never perish,

and that no one can snatch me 

out of the hand of Jesus.

Schu Grandlove Adventures

Some Spring Break time 

with these two adventure lads in Michigan.

Capturing any sunny days we can!

We love the Matthaei Gardens in Ann Arbor.
Matthew Botanical Gardens

The Conservatory is great this time

 of year before Spring really arrives.

Right now you can hunt and find the Fairy Gardens

 that are hidden all over the conservatory.

They gave a map for Fairy Exploration.

We loved looking at the succulents 

through the kaleidoscope telescope.

Explorers and scientists!

Another day brought fun at Mill Run Park.
We had the place almost to ourselves!

A very fun week filled
 with precious memories.
Time together- what a blessing.

Wilson Grandlove Adventures

 A recent weekend had us with 2 of the grandsons

 for three days of fun and sleep overs.

Yes,there was wrestling.

Music jams.

Some firsts-

way to go Levi- 

Mr. on the move!

And adventures.

First a trip to HOME DEPOT 

and get the things to build a bird house.

Then put all the pieces together.

Then you get to paint it with the color

 you picked out and they mixed up for you.

And you get to do that in just your underwear

 so you don't get paint on your clothes!

Pretty awesome birdhouse- 

if I say so myself.

 Little guy got a bath in Ducky.

And found lots of new things

 to try out and experiment. 

Concentration for anything new.

It is just always a great time 

when Papa gets his guitar out.

Thankful for time with these little guys.

What a blessing.

Worship into the Week- Repent

Worship into theWeek-

Lectionary C

 Luke 13:1-8

Repent - 

Turn Back
 About Face
See Things Differently
Alter your perspective.
Change Your View.
Life is fragile and changes
 in our circumstances can happen swiftly.
Reorientation.
A new consciousness of my shortcomings
and situation.
Then that swings to the moral consequence
 of "fruit" and "deeds"
 and we get right to the barren fig tree.
That's a pretty harsh directive- cut it down.
We also don't know how that story ends.
Yet, we can imagine what new growth 
could adorn that fig tree.
Time to think about the necessary changes 
 in my spiritual formation orchard.

Supplies:
Visual Church Year Printable
visual-church-year/childrens-bulletin-luke-13:1-8
Scrapbook paper 
 Washi Tape
Fine-Poet Sharpie pen
Colored pencils

Isaiah is ONE

Catching up on 

another Granddlove Birthday.

Isaiah is ONE.

A simple family celebration-

with plenty of balloons!

Our big little guy wears

 his birthday crown well.

YUMMM - cupcake.

This is pretty good!

Watch out pedestrians on the sidewalks.

This is one serious driver!

Levi is such a great big brother.

Grandparents loved sharing 

the day with Isaiah and his family.

Paper is the best gift ever!

We loved joining you- Isaiah-

 for your very special day.

You are a precious gift from God!

Worship into the Week- Remember

Worship into the Week-

Lectionary C

Luke 13:31-35

The Lament of Jesus over Jerusalem

He really wanted a different story

 for his beloved Jerusalem.

To gather the people close, to care and love them.

But rejection rears again and again.

We see the hints  of third day language here.

Promise even now.

They may not "get it" 

while he is with them, 

but the reminder is given of his return.

Remember- The Lord is come!

Supplies:

Visual Church Year
visual-church-year luke-13:31-35-3 17 19

Colored Pencils

Scrapbook paper

Fine-point Sharpie pen

 Junk mail

Worship into the Week- Temptation

Worship into the Week- 

Lectionary C

(for March 10, 2019)

Luke 4:1-13

The Temptation of Jesus.

Time in the wilderness.

Part of the significance here is the contrast 

for what Jesus was able to do- 

resist Satan- that Adam and Eve could not.

Things were going to be different.

This section of Scripture shows Jesus

 as anointed by God, 

representative of humanity

 and faithful to God.

Satan sees the new rules of the quest.

Jesus is fully dependent on His Father.

and HIs Heavenly Father is faithful to him.

It is no easy life in the wilderness

 outside of Jerusalem.

Desolate and barren-

as depicting a life 

without a relationship with Jesus.

Jesus is able to both withstand 

the temptation and rebuke Satan- 

because of his connectedness

 to a higher guidance.

We are reminded that our feeble attempts

 to resist Satan on our own will be futile.

We too, must depend and be fully reliant

 on the power of a higher guidance-

our own reliance on our Heavenly Father.

Supplies:

Worship Printables- Visual Faith Ministry
bulletin-luke-4:1-13   3 10 19

Colored pencils

Scrapbook paper, 

Fine-point Sharpie pen

Junk mail words

St. Patrick's Day

Gathering a few vintage  postcards 

around the celebration of St. Patrick today.

Think many gatherings may include Guinness, 

soda bread and corn beef and cabbage.

I like remembering the story of St. Patrick himself

 and listening to In Christ Alone by Celtic Worship.

In Christ Alone

But, the green has also begin to herald 

the YELLOW that is popping up all over.

Also remembering my trip to Ireland. 

Though we didn't get to Black Rock Castle, 

we did love County Cork.

The stack of green books 
with the green bench.

  A nest and 

Ms. Green bunny. 

The gathering of the green.

So, on this day we hear the story 

of a faithful saint.

But, we are also reminded 

about our Heavenly Father 

who is the one and only forever faithful.

3:16 on 3-16

Bible Marginalia #303

John 3:1-21

Today as I wrote out the date- 3-16-

I was reminded of another 3:16.

So a great day to reread 

the story of Nicodemus- a ruler of the Jews.
He learns from Jesus about being born again-
of water and the Spirit.
How can this be?
But, we believe in the wind 
because we see where it blows.
Even though we can't see where it 
comes from and where it goes.
Nicodemus was challenged to believe
 in these earthly things.
Heavenly matters were even more perplexing.
Then Jesus speaks to Nicodemus
 the center of the Gospel message.
"For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only Son, 
that whoever believes in him 
should not perish but have eternal life."
Of the 31,373 verses in the Bible-
this one centers the whole Gospel
 message in a sentence.
God's love is so BIG that it 
includes the WHOLE WORLD.
And everyone in it.
God's love is so SACRIFICIAL
that He gave His only Son.
God's love is so GRACE-FILLED
that He had a salvation plan for me.
That is my Good News for today 
and yours too.

Supplies:
Enduring Word Bible
Prismacolor Pencils
Washi Tape
Yellow Gelato

A Visit with Joanne Fink

Following our Extravagant Love cruise last month

 we were also blessed to stop for a visit

 with Joanne Fink in her Orlando home.
L to R- Pat Maier, Joanne Fink, 
Connie Denninger and Diane Marra.

 We spent some time playing with supplies.

A bit of lettering how-to 

from a master calligrapher.

I had fun trying out different supplies.

This was a beautiful set of Pearlescent colours.

And some fun Koi Watercolor Brush Pens.

Joanne wrote the name of Grandson- Isaiah for me.

Pat got some "Procreate" hints
 and time to try it out.

 It is not surprising that Joanne

 has some beautiful ART in her home.

We had fun seeing the variety 

of Joanne Fink products-

books, cards, stencils, stamps and notepads.

We are very blessed that Joanne
 has a love for Visual Faith 
and creates downloadable printables 
that she sells in her Etsy store.
How fun to see the Visual Faith logo
 on the things that she makes for us.
These are the Prayer flowers 
for the Prayers by the Month journal.
visual-faith-prayer-flowers-by-joanne

Thanks, Joanne, for letting us stop by
 for a visit and spend some lovely time with you!