happy crafting and the book of james

Dear friends,

Well by now it shouldn't be a shock to you all that it's been yet another month since my last post.  What can I say, time just sneaks right on by me.  But while I had just a few minutes to spare, I thought I would share a few fun things going on at the moment.  

February has gotten my creative juices flowing!  Ok... creative isn't the right word, since I've "borrowed" most of my ideas from crafting blogs and friends, but we'll just say that I've been a mini crafty machine!  (Still not as crafty as I'd like to be, but it's a start.)

At the beginning of the month, my friend Hayley and I decided we needed to get together for some craft time.  Now let me just say, Hayley is a great crafter!  And we have a lot of fun crafting together.  In the spirit of Valentine's Day, we decided to make some hand-stitched felt heart garland for our "mantels."  There is no fireplace in the Camp household, so we use the entertainment center.  I found this idea from a link to a blog on the Tatertots and Jello website.  Used some funky colors, and overall I was impressed with myself.

heart felt!

I also decided to get crafty with David's Valentine's gift.  I definitely "borrowed" this idea from Hayley, and used another link from TTJ to help me out a bit.  It's a date jar with 12 date ideas (can't tell you because each month is a random surprise!)  Each month David will open one of the date pouches, and I'll plan the event!  Our first date is a road trip to Kansas City!  

 "love you"

"let's date"

Now... onto the Book of James.  In my first post of the year, I'd mentioned strengthening my relationship with Christ.  It's still no where near perfect, and never will be, but I've been so encouraged lately.  I signed up for the Women's Bible Study at church right before it started a month ago.  We're studying Beth Moore's, "James:  Mercy Triumphs," and let me tell you, it is awesome.  Having never done a Beth Moore study before, I didn't know what to expect.  But she gets right in there and touches on some wonderfully deep stuff.  We've spent the past four weeks learning about who James was, as well as diving into the first chapter of the epistle.

The part of the study that has stuck out to me the most the past few weeks revolves around James 1:2-4.

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

So often when trouble finds me, or I find trouble, I pout or mope or react in anger.  I think, "why is this happening to me?" or "why today?"  I rarely see it as an opportunity to build my faith and rely on Jesus, but James pretty much says that's exactly what I should be doing!  

Consider it joy.  Consider it joy.  Consider it joy.

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!