obedience..........

hellooooooooo

i am still halfway suspended and not sure of which direction i am supposed to be going at work, but i am thankful that in all other areas God has been very good to me.  small things - a husband that tells me every day that he loves me, God's reminder daily when i open my Bible that if i obey Him, He will be faithful, the rain that fell, the roof over my head and food in the fridge.....to get back to work though, i am not nearly there.  just when i thought i was getting on track, school holidays started and the shop was wonderfully busy (oh, we had order number 1000 online - WOW) and classes were being taught while new stock kept arriving and we were(are) trying to get everything sorted for Bloemfontein in 2 weeks' time.

so, you know when people say "oh, it must be so nice to be able to scrapbook the whole day" when you own a scrapbook store or work in one.........uhm, that is just not true.  but, i don't want to bore you with the truth, so i will show you a layout i actually did make a few weeks back when i had a few hours one weekend and i desperately needed to just to something fun!  i have loved these papers forever, but somehow never had the right photos.  when i went through the Retreat photos, i found these, and knew i had to use them. i really like how it came out!

it has been a tough time as well for me - especially in the faith department.  i know that God values obedience more than anything else, and that we are supposed to hear His Word and obey it - all of it in context.  (Luke 11:28, John 6:63,John 14:21&23, etc).  i also know in my heart of hearts that when you are obedient to God's Word, you are never in the "popular" category and you will offend people - most people in fact.  it has always been very hard for me to actually choose a side - i was such a pleaser and i always wanted to keep everyone happy.  i am realising, however, that i only need to please God.  no one else.  i used to think that i cannot be too vocal about my faith, and i need to keep a low profile as it will affect my business.  this week i was so shocked when i saw a "fellow" Christian display images on her Facebook page that does not become a person who claim to follow Christ at all, that i actually posted a sentence saying that it was sad when someone who says that he/she is following Christ looks just like the world.  i was taken aback by the attacks i received from people telling me not to judge and saying that they were not aware that people who follow Christ look different from the world.  the Bible is actually emphatic about that - we are NOT to conform the world.  we have to look different when we follow Christ. we have to sound different.  we have to act different. we cannot hide our light.  we have to be the light in this dark world. i fail miserably and i think my light is very dim and mostly hidden.  i would like to come out of the dark, though and do my best to be light in this dark world.  i want to show people that Jesus does not give prosperity in monetary terms - He gives abundant JOY.  He does not make everything go right - as a matter of fact, the only guarantee you get from Him while you are alive, is that you will have a hard time.  He does, however, promise an eternity in His presence if you choose Him above all else and give yourself fully as a living sacrifice to Him.  i cling to that promise and i cling to Him.  you too, can cling to Him.