Starting the New Year with GRACE

I never choose a word for the Year but this year God put the word GRACE in my heart.  I made mention of this in a previous post but I wanted to share the 18 scriptures that I found about Grace.  In sharing these verses with you please know that God purposely places messages in our hearts for the growth, peace and renewing of our strength. 

I pray that you may pick up your Bible rather it be on your Mobile Device, Tablet or Laptop!!! Here are the 18 scriptures I've been studying and Journaling about in my Journaling Bible.  If you are moved please take time to read these scriptures so that it will bless your life as it is blessing mine. 

Esther 2;16-20                2 Corinthians 12:8-10                Romans 3:20-24
John 1:14                        Romans 1:1-5                            Acts 6:8
Ephesians 4:7                 Hebrews 13:9                             Ephesians 2:8-10
2 Peter 1:2                      Hebrews 4:16                             1 Peter 4:10
James  4:6                      2 Corinthians 8:7                        Titus 2:11
Romans 6:14                  Romans 11:6                               Acts 15:11

Here are a few of my entries so far, I hope they will inspire you to grab your Bible and a notebook and get right into the Word of God.  Tip:::  Pray asking God to give you understanding of the scriptures that you're reading and how can you apply them to your life. 

This isn't every entry but I just wanted to share some of my journaling with you.  There are times that I actually Journal what God places on my heart after I study the Word but I mostly put that on paper or as you see the Chosen card has the thoughts that God gave me. 

Be Blessed and Stay Creative. 

It's a New Year with a New Perspective

I've never chosen a Word for the year but this has been by far one of my most trying years; Personally and Spiritually. So as a method of Encouraging myself I chose  GRACE  a :  unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification

b :  a virtue coming from God

c :  a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace  So in the days and weeks to come I desire to grow in Grace so that the love of God is able to shine through even on my worst day My Actions should show the Love of God because the Gift of Life deserves me giving God my Best!!!!

 

 

These are some of the entries I made in my Journaling Bible.  Bible Journaling for those who still aren't familiar is a method of writing, drawing, scraping the meaning you got out of the chapter, verse you read.   So as you can see my Focus is Grace and as the definition above states Grace is a gift.  I desire to live my life serving others because of the Grace (gift of redemption and salvation)  that God has granted me.

 

 

 

I try to journal daily but that doesn't always happen because of my illness but I feel so FREE when I'm able to sit quietly and commune with my Father and create what my heart is feeling

 

 

Being with God like this puts so much into perspective as to how we are suppose to train our hearts and minds to want to be like Christ Jesus. 

 

 

 

Here you see my first attempt at making and writing in a ribbon banner.  I don't like how it turned out but this is not about artist perfection it's about coming to God the Father seeking the Truth

about how he feels about me daily.

Just knowing that I am loved makes my storm easier to endure.  When you're sick and instead of improving you keep running into roadblocks....(but I know God is doing this with a purpose in mind). I'm happy in Grace that God grants me through the blood of Jesus Christ. 

As you see from the pages above and this one you can use abstract art, you can do tip-ins, paste items on like the flowers at the bottom.  You can add ribbons, tassels and so much more.  At the end of the day this is a wonderful expression of prayer, meditation, studying and journaling your heartfelt feelings and conviction.

 

 

I want to thank you for stopping by and checking out what comes from my heart.  I pray that you will be encouraged to try getting more in tuned with Father God and learn of Him so that we will know how to love one another. 

Be Blessed and stay Creative

How I found Planner Peace

Hey Ladies and Gents, so I am all over social media and in the various groups for Planners I hear us saying we're striving, looking, trying to figure out if we've in fact found Planner Nirvana.

So let me share my thoughts on the What, When, Why and How did I get there.  

***DISCLAIMER- I am not a paid spokesman***

When- I started paper planning in high school backing in the early '83 after going to Franklin Covey with my Aunt. I used that planner which was an hourly layout for I know the next 8-10 yrs.  By this time technology was moving us to use devices and I went digital. Although I used this method I still managed to forget, not receive alerts and I began writing things down here and there. In October 2011 my daughters, my Aunt and two of my cousins were in a near fatal car accident. 

Why- Because they were in another city and I had so much happening I found a Planner in Target because I now had to keep up with everything for 3 households at once.

What-  I discovered how much I missed writing my life down. It was so much easier to answer questions about what happened, who had what appointment, when to refill meds, therapy, how are they doing and also what's going on with church and the rest of my family.

How- I decided that I wanted to upgrade so I got the one on the R- Melvedy Designs on Etsy.  Once I got this planner it was to small and wasn't formatted to my liking so I gave it to my daughter who loved it.  After about 100+ YouTube videos I ended up buying the Erin Condren Life Planner and I have to say I loved it so much.

 This is the month-at-glance for June 2015 with enough room for several entries per day. 

 Here is how I use my Planner I'm not really big on going all out with decorations I'm more focused on functionality than anything else.  Please don't get me wrong I love a pretty planner

but I need it to work for me as a functional Planner especially with Dr. appts, therapy, tests, specialist and home and church life.

 As you can see from the photos above I have tried to figure out how to better work my Planner.  What do I want to track in it?  Will it be for everything like Appts., Meal Planning, Water Intake, online purchasing, when I mailed out packages, cleaning schedule for my house, church events, family events......the lists could go on and on and on!!

As I became more affiliated with FB and IG planner groups and people I learn I could take my ECLP out of the wire binding I got this Daytimer Binder and I went ahead and tore out my pages and put them inside I even made some dividers. I thought this was my peaceful place.....naw it didn't meet my real expectation.  BUT..............

Then I saw this pretty Kikki-K Binder and knew this was the right Binder for me and when she arrived this was the beginning of my Planner Nirvana

As you can see this is so beautiful and What I loved also was the additional pockets and pen loop.  I am beginning to be pleased with my Planner I'm figuring out what works for me and for the first time I know there's enough room to expand/decrease at anytime. 

As I look forward to 2016 I was really debating what Planner do I stay with ECLP or use a Printable, create my own inserts.  My concerns were; will the paper quality be the same, what is the Price Point; so back to YouTube I went and began to see MAMBI's the Happy Planner and based on the reviews and a with a bit of prompting from my Planner buddy Shirlene, I decided to go and touch it . 

Well I made my way to Michaels and as you can see I got my Happy Planner along with a few extra items to sweeten the deal. 

Here's my Month of December 2015 layout and really I love them.  This is by far a great Planner with the quality of a $50+ Planner for half the price.  The Happy Planner drew me in because it lives up to the implication that you will be happy using their planner. 

Here is a weekly layout without much writing but I love this Planner so much and feel that this is the best for having you keep record of things you don't always think about.  In the version I have at the beginning of each month there are prompts of what your focus is for that month, Birthdays, what are you Grateful for and Important Dates

here you have a week layout which to me is great there is a Thoughts Column to the Left which I use mine for To-Do and To Call, I love the boxes which are labeled Morning, Afternoon and Night.  I love this because there is a bit more room than the ECLP.  The paper quality is the same as the ECLP. 

What has brought me to Planner Nirvana isn't what type of Planner I have, what fluff(Stickers, Washi Tape, PL Journaling Cards)  I can use weekly.  Planner Nirvana for me is finding what works for your life no matter what that entails.  I'm happy and can't wait to find my Happy Planner for next year.  MAMBI hats off to you for creating a product that offers more than just writing down dates and times. If you don't believe me or are still looking and not sure.....why don't you come on over to MAMBI and see for yourself.

 Until next time Be Encouraged and Be Creative.

Working to Stay Inspired........Really Just to keep Smiling

So I just wanted to talk about me. I've been dealing with my failing health for the past four years and I shared a few post back that I had the privilege of having a Spinal Cord Stimulator inserted for 1 week.  The premise is you have the device to see if you can have at least a 50% decrease in your pain level and if this works you become a candidate for a permanent one .  For me this was absolutely the BEST thing I've experienced since 2012 before my nightmare began.  The first thing I realized is that by night 2 I had actually slept straight through a whole night no waking up to spasms shooting down my neck to my arms, hands and chest.  By the 6th day I was trying to figure out how not to give this technical wonder back. 

 

 

 

                         This was the remote control that I used to keep the signal going and when I stood up, sat down or layed down the signal would change.  Needless to say I felt a bit bionic (insert big smile)

                                This was the actual device that has 2 leads that were tunneled up to my neck
to stimulate the areas that cause me so much pain.  This device along with the exposed leads were taped onto my back since it was just for a 7 day trial period. Check out the last picture

 

 

So yeah this isn't my back but I was nearly completely taped and had very bad issues with itching and I still have an area that my skin was burned. 

 

 

I have spent the last few years trying to get some type of relief since having my neck fused in early 2014 and finding out that my surgery developed some complications a few months later.  Unfortunately for a person who's 48 it's hard to get any type of help and I can't work in my current condition because nerve damage doesn't come with an on and off switch.   I don't want to complain but honestly I am frustrated with this whole process of trying to find relief and go through all of the therapies, treatments, changing meds and all of the other aspects of  REAL life that never stop.  I'm thankful for my relationship with God and having the love of my family and my daughters for stepping up to help me.  This is all for now....... Please send up a prayer that my insurance will cover this device so that I can finally have some relief and feel human again.  In the mean time my meds have been increased the very thing I didn't want to have to experience.  But through it all I'm learning to trust in Jesus!!!

Before I leave you this is what I have on my Hook  and this is what's Next

Take care and stay Creative.  I will be sharing my Word of the Year in my next post and you won't want to miss how I documented it so far in my Journaling Bible.  No matter what comes and what goes God has it and us all in the palm of His hand.