Winter Trees and Reindeer

Hi everyone. I haven't been very active on my blog lately. I have had a hard time, not physically but with very difficult situations in our Church where my DH was an elder. I have a husband who I love because he loves the truth and will not flinch for anything that is not Biblical or cannot see the light. Without going into details, it has quenched a lot of my love for writing about my walk in faith and also drained me of a lot of energy. I have been making cards but posted mainly on the Flickr gallery of Hero Arts, which is very dear to my heart because of all the wonderful ladies there. So I'm sharing a couple of cards which I made with the beautiful WINTER TREE Cling from Hero Arts, which has quickly become a 'go to' stamp at the moment, partnered with the die cut reindeer which sweet Sue Czosek sent me and also a lady called Sally, who I sadly don't see around very often anymore.
I will continue my story after the cards:

 

I stamped with the cling on patterned paper (thanks Sue!) and added dimension with the deer and some glitter to give it a feel of Christmas.

Stamped again with two different distress inks on patterned paper. The paper coincidently provided some nice shadows for the trees ! The deer is a smaller replica of the large one.

Here I tried a silhouette deer look and added a torn piece of embossed paper in the corner.

Here I also stamped on patterned paper.

Now to continue with an encouragement:

Yesterday evening we had a wonderful time with a couple who spoke and prayed with us in a revelatory way and I realized how much I had come to devalue and under-estimate who God called me to be. She prayed that God would confirm this in the coming days. This morning, God did confirm it, as I read this in my daily devotional (see below). I thought I would post this because sharing from the heart in transparency can just be the blessing someone else needs. I feel that the times are getting extremely dark out there and we need to be a beacon of light for others who are struggling in these end times!

‘As they wrestled together, the angel of the Lord asked Jacob, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” Then the angel said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, which means deceiver, but Israel, which means ‘a prince with God’, because you have struggled …and have overcome”’ (Genesis 32:27-28). God forced Jacob to look at his true identity. He wrestled him into a revelation of who he was—not who others said he was. His parents gave him his name and others called him by it, so he believed that’s who he’d always be. But God had a different plan for him. Hear this: you are not who others say you are. Why should they name you? Determine who you are before God. Let Him determine the level of your success. Why should others be allowed to live at their highest potential, but not you? You are more than your past, more than your education or CV, more than the color of your skin, more than your bank account, and more than your circumstances. Tell those who talk down to you and devalue you, ‘You’re confusing me with somebody else. God says I am a prince (or princess). And if I’m a prince (princess), then I have the right to be treated like one!’ You ask, ‘But is that true?’ Yes, the Bible says that when you walk with God, you are part of a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). You are an overcomer (1 John 2:13-14). You are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13-14). So dry your tears, lift your head, square your shoulders and begin walking in your God-given identity.
This was the devotional today from the UCB pamphlet.

Blessings,
Jacqueline