Mountains and Tears

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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Usually I fill these pages throughout the month of October, bringing awareness. Instead, this year, they’ve remained blank. I’ve filled the Freely Whole social media, but here? My own heart has been in a whirlwind this month. I am so very thankful to be out of my own DV situation. But those aren’t the only mountains we face in life. The last 6 months have held many. Mountains are challenging, whether they are good things we desire and happily choose, or sad or even evil things that are thrust on us. Regardless, we climb… Continue reading →

Job 14:7 Hope

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Today I posted about the Hope we have, as trees before the Lord, Hope that we will sprout again. Here is my Bible Journaling to go along with that. Project supplies: Journal the Word Bible image from online, resized, printed, and traced into my Bible with Micron 01 pen—and notes written Image and Verse colored with: FaberCastell Pitt Artist Pens-Bold: May Green, Dark Phthalo Green, Green Gold Tim Holtz Ditress Paints: Walnut Stain, Twisted Citron Dylusions Paint: Vibrant Turquoise You wouldn’t need all colors. I mixed what I had to get what I wanted. Hope: 110# card stock, previously ink… Continue reading →

Hope for a Tree

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In the midst of Job’s list of woes, he inadvertently makes a statement that we can draw wisdom and hope from. He is complaining about how hard life is and that we live, have trouble and die. Like a flower we are cut down, and then we’re gone. But then he makes a statement that I think is very pertinent to us as Survivor Warriors. He says basically that trees have it better, “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease.” Job, at this point,… Continue reading →

Out of the Valley

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When life’s been full of darkness, the Valley of the Shadow of Death feels like an endless tunnel. No Light shines forth. Yet I know He is there. He walks with me. He holds me close. He is the Hope that keeps me going, the Hope that Light is there. He will never leave or forsake His beloved children–Me! He protects me. He comforts me. He leads me forth in the dark, step by terrifying step, through the evil. I trust. I Hope. But fear lurks near. Then… A flicker is seen in the far distance. Ever so slight. Ever… Continue reading →

SHERO – Move Forward Now

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SHERO: Your WILD Guide to Warrior After Abuse Course. Join my friend, Sarah McDougal, for her SHERO course to grow from wilderness to warrior. I believe women who have survived trauma and abuse can heal. I believe you can grow strong enough to move past the pain, to find purpose, meaning, beauty, and hope – as you pursue truth and justice. Whether you are a survivor, an advocate, or a professional, you have likely accumulated some scars along the way.  I believe in post-traumatic growth.I believe you can not only leave victimhood behind – but even move beyond survivorhood –… Continue reading →

Hopes & Dreams

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We all have desires. They may be grand. They may be survival level. But hope is what keeps us living. The question is, how can we get more living out of life? One way is to put a visual focus on those dreams and desires that are priorities in our life. These aren’t wishes that we hope will magically appear, but priorities we want to work toward. Perhaps they seem too “impossible” or too “crazy” or too anything. While no-doubt some people have expectations of their life that truly aren’t going to happen. Too many more fail to see a… Continue reading →

Christmas Cards in January

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Back in November, I ordered supplies to make this year’s Christmas cards. They arrived after Christmas, long after I designed and sent photo cards instead. I decided to make a couple cards this weekend though, before packing my Christmas supplies away, just to play and get a feel for the new supplies. First tries rarely come out exactly like you’d like; that is the point of trying and playing with your supplies. Seeing what they do and look like, and deciding how you want to use them. They are your tools for creativity. Made for practicing and playing. Here’s my… Continue reading →

Happy New Year!

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Everyone has a story. Perhaps you love your life. Perhaps you don’t like where you’re story seems to be heading. But until you take your final breath, no one really knows what all their story has to tell. Our plots take so many twists and turns that only God knows where they’re leading. But that doesn’t mean we should just let life sweep us along, throwing at us whatever it brings, with no active response from us. The issues of life are meant to strengthen us. We are to learn and grow from them. Although God directs our steps, we… Continue reading →