Inspiration

Since deciding to make cards for Operation Write Home I have been blog hopping and drawing inspiration from a bunch of different sources.  Today's card is for the Mojo Monday 143 challenge using House Mouse stamps and CTMH papers.

Although this isn't technically the spotlight technique, it's pretty close.  Most House Mouse Images require lots of coloring, so using the spotlight technique allows you to only color one small part and let the rest of it just be.

To compliment the handstitched border, I decided to make french knots out of the same embroidery floss.

I love how the little mouse seems to be scolding the other mouse for picking the petals off the flower.  Hopefully, it brings a smile to your face and to the soldier who will eventually get it.

Until next time,
Becca

Sunday Prayers

I Thes. 3:11-13

"May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Fater when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones."

Amen

Operation Write Home

I just found an amazing site called Operation Write Home.  To date, they have sent 441,232 cards to service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Now I know what to do with all the cards I make just for the fun of it!  Like this one I made for the Mojo Monday card contest.

Here are the basic "rules" in a nutshell:  NO GLITTER (it's a safety hazard if it gets on uniforms), 4.25 x 5.5 size (no need to send envelopes), make sure the inside has a light colored writing surface, don't worry about buttons, bows and other bulky embellishments as service members can mail cards for free.  There is also a place on their website where you can check to see which mailing center needs what type of cards most and deadlines for shipping seasonal cards.

I hope you will visit their site and, even if you aren't a card maker, donate money to cover their shipping costs.

Weekend in Vail

Being in the Army has many stresses, but every once in a while there is a perk which makes the rest of it worthwile...almost.

My husband is an Army Chaplain and, as such, is responsible to put on Marriage Retreats for soldiers and their spouses.  The Army currently has a 75% divorce rate, largely because the soldiers getting married are way too young and marry a few months to a few weeks before a deployment simply so they have someone to miss them while they're gone.  Not good!  However, once they are married, the Army does all it can to support marriages.  One way is through the "Strong Bonds" seminars put on by Chaplains.

This weekend, the Army paid for us to host a seminar in Vail, CO.  Since it wasn't ski season, we missed the peak rates, but this is still one of the most beautiful spots on the earth.

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend some time in this amazing place.

Until next time,
Becca

Judge Not

I confess.  I am a Facebook addict.  I love keeping up with friends from the past and present, seeing pictures of their children and activities, and following links to see where their interests lie.  Today two of these links provided me with much food for thought regarding judging. 

***For those of you just here for the card, it's way at the bottom...waaaay down there.***

One of the links took me to an article written by a man who downloaded a new iPhone app. called "Offender Locator."  It allows you to check registered sexual offenders in the neighborhood complete with the offender's picture.  Curious, he checked his area and saw one of his neighbors was a registered offender.  A few days later, he saw the guy.  In his very thoughtful article, the man wonders how we would feel if our sins were broadcast over an iPhone app. and our pictures were posted with labels like gossip, glutton, adulterer, thief, liar and dead beat.  What if we were trying to make a new life, repentant for past sins, but could never get away from them?  Acknowledging that sexual predators rarely overcome their instincts, he admitted there was some benefit for parents to keep children safe; however, this app did not distinguish if the crime was a 20 yr. old with a 17 yr. old or a 49 yr. old with a 12 yr. old.  In the end, he deleted the app from his phone and, the next time he saw his registered offender neighbor out playing with his dog, he made a point of saying hello.  Comments left at the end of his posting varied widely.  One which stuck with me was a woman who intended to download the app. herself immediately.  As a "survivor" she landed on the side of keeping kids safe and chastised the author for "comparing the nearly irreparable damage of sexual abuse with having a parent who lies or gossips."  If she had been verbally over the top, I could have dismissed her, but she was also thoughtful and well-spoken.  And all I could think about after reading her comment was, "But that's the whole point of forgiveness."  We understand that there are no big sins and little sins, no gray sins vs. black sins, no special categories for Hitler, Stalin, terrorists and sexual offenders.  We all have sinned and done irreparable damage to ourselves and those around us.  Without understanding that, we stand in grave danger of judging and being judged which the Bible warns against in James 5:9.   I have witnessed the devastation of childhood sexual abuse; I am all for protecting children.  But, wow!  Someone needs to rewrite George Orwell's "1984" using iPhones.

The next link I followed was posted by a fellow military chaplain's spouse.  It concerned a letter written by retired military chaplains and the detrimental effect of repealing the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military.  Addressed to the President and congress, it says, “We are deeply concerned that these changes would threaten the religious liberty of chaplains and Service members. Put simply, if the government normalizes homosexual behavior in the armed forces, many (if not most) chaplains will confront a profoundly difficult moral choice: whether they are to obey God or to obey men.”  The moral dilema is, of course, that the Bible clearly lables homosexuality as sin and, as such, should be fought against the same way we struggle to put away bitterness, anger, clamour, evil speaking and malice (Eph. 4:31).  Sin is sin, and we should fight with all we have to rid ourselves of it. Instead, those pushing the homosexual agenda equate themselves with those who needed to overcome racial discrimination.  "We are born this way," they say.  Well, I was born a glutton, but I still have a choice about what I put in my mouth the same way they have a choice who shares their bed.  I have a choice about sinning or not.  By using only parts of Biblical text they agree with, the verse homosexuals often use to keep opponents defensive is "Judge not lest you be judged (James 5:9)."

But "judge not" doesn't mean put your brain on hold, keep your mouth shut about sin you witness, and never make any decision about the morality of someone else's behavior.  Stealing, murder, adultery, and abuse of every form are all sins, and if someone does them, my judgement kicks right in and I will speak up to say they are wrong.  So will you.  Why else are we downloading "Offender Locator" apps to our iPhones?  Homosexuals, sexual offenders, liars, cheaters, gossips and gluttons are all sinners.   As followers of God, we acknowlege no sin as "worse" than any other, and we work against it both in our own lives and by coming to the aid of those who need help overcoming their sin.  No sin is more "hateful" than another; no person stands on higher moral ground than anyone else because we are all mired deep in the muck together.

James 5:9 does not mean turning a blind eye and deaf ear to sin.  It means I examine my own life and see what a wreck I've made of it and, when I look at others, judge them with the same compassion I would wish for myself.

The 365 Card "It's So You" challenge today is to make a card which is a reflection of me.  The outside is very pretty with flowers and lovely words.  The inside is black.

Until next time,
Becca

A Gift for Baby

Over the past several years, my specialty for baby showers has been a set of note cards the expectant mom can use as either thank you notes or birth announcements.

Today's post uses all CTMH products which have been discontinued.  However, they are still great stamps and papers.  This card is based on the sketch for the H2H Challenge.  It also uses the colors from Jeanette Lynton's Color Me Monday:  Bamboo, Desert Sand, Cocoa and Dutch Blue...perfect for a new baby boy.

Until next time,
Becca

Imprisoned Trust

Gen. 39

I absolutely HATE this chapter of the Bible.  It screams injustice. 

Joseph has been sold as a slave, but he puts his nose to the grindstone and works diligently for his master.  After 13 years, Joseph is now the head servant in a very important house.

Potipher is the captain of the guards.  This is no small position...something akin to our Secretary of Defense.  However, in Joseph's time, the running of the household involved much more than just keeping the house clean.  His position would include things like making sure the crops were planted, harvested and sold for the appropriate price; managing servants and their disputes; overseeing the livestock used for both personal and commercial reasons; balancing the household finances and spending money for repairs; organizing social events; etc.  Given the status of Potipher's position, his household would have been enormous with numerous servants.  Like the CEO  of a major corporation, he did not do the work himself but made sure the people responsible for each task performed satisfactorily.  Joseph's job was to make sure Potipher had nothing to worry about at home so he could concentrate all his energy on running the Egyptian military.

He proves himself so trustworthy, Potipher has no problem granting Joseph complete control over everything from hiring, disciplining, and dismissing servants to literally having full access to all Potipher's finances.  The only thing Potipher had to worry about was which food to choose from the buffet spread before him at meal time.

This also means Potipher's wife has nothing to do at home except make trouble.  She solicits him to sleep with her...over and over and over again.  With Joseph in such a position of power over the lives of the servants, no one would have dared speak a word against him.  And they most certainly weren't going to speak against the wife!  The two of them could have carried on an affair for as long as they wanted and Potipher would never have known.  However, Joseph will not succumb.  Even after she arranges to get all the servants out of the house so she and Joseph can be completely alone (because the problem can't be he's not attracted to her so it must be his fear that word will somehow get back to her husband), he still will not.  Her humiliation is complete and she is furious.  She has thrown herself at a slave and he has refused.  Notice that Joseph's refusal has nothing to do with her looks, her feminine wiles, her age, nothing at all personal.  He simply will not, on moral grounds, sleep with the wife of the man who has trusted him with everything, has withheld nothing from him except his wife.

But when Potipher hears his wife say Joseph has tried to rape her, all that trust built over years flies out the window in a jealous rage and he throws Joseph in prison.  I wonder how long it took before Potipher figured out the truth.  How many other servants did the wife seduce?  Did she also sleep with his colleagues?  Did he ever find another servant who ran his household with such efficiency?  With Joseph gone, did his crops and livestock fail along with his finances?  Or did he continue to believe his wife blindly and go forward with the same prosperity as before?  We don't know.  One thing is certain, after publicly denouncing Joseph, Potipher would never recant his story and expose himself as his wife's dupe no matter what he learned later.

So Joseph rots in prison because he upheld his mater's trust.  If ever a man had reason to scream, "That's not FAIR!" it was Joseph.  And God doesn't do a thing about it.  None of Potipher's servants bear witness to Joseph's innocence, there is no last minute reprieve, no happy ending to reward Joseph's faithfulness.  And I hate it!  I know, I know, Joseph has not been abandoned by God and, because of his skills and trustworthiness, he eventually runs the prison, but excuse me for pointing out that he is still in prison.  I want justice now.  My attention span lasts about two to three hours these days...just long enough for a good movie.  I don't want Joseph rotting away for years on end.

But perhaps Joseph still had lessons to learn.  He was cocky and immature a couple chapters ago, he has risen to a place of prominence relatively quickly in his captivity, and God still needed to teach him a bit of humility and trust through unfair, difficult and trying circumstances.  Maybe the diplomatic skills necessary to run a country were not to be learned as the CEO of an important household but in the dungeon.  Or maybe Joseph just got the bum end of a rotten deal and God made the most of it.

Whatever the cause and effect, it still goes against my grain for God to allow such a clear case of injustice to stand regardless of the final outcome.  Then again, when we see Joseph as a sort of archetype for Jesus, it is of such benefit for me that God allowed the ultimate injustice and false accusations against Jesus to stand because the final outcome has saved me for all eternity. 

In the end, I can do all the right, moral, and trustworthy things and experience unjust consequences as a result.  I must trust, even while my soul screams out at the unfairness of it all, that God can work even this together for good (Rom. 8:28).  Maybe it won't be MY good, but it will still be for good.

Until next time,
Becca