Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Challenge #117 - Anything Goes

Praise God!  He is SO GOOD, and His blessings are obvious and plentiful.  We see His hand of provision, and we praise Him for allowing us to have this challenge blog where we can share our art, share lessons from His precious Word, and fellowship with one another.  We're grateful to each of you for sharing your talents with us, but all the praise and glory goes to our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for allowing us to have this challenge blog.  God continues to bless, and we're SO grateful!

This week's word art is a beautiful psalm of David.  If you've never read the stories of David and all he experienced in his life, it's some really great reading.  You can find these amazing stories in 1 & 2 Samuel.  Understanding all that David experienced from the time he was anointed until the time he became a king (and everything in between and beyond) will amaze you and really help you to understand much of what he wrote in the psalms.  We tend to gravitate to the psalms as "happy reading", but there are really deep lessons here that correlate with David's life experiences.  In this passage, found in Psalm 40:1, David is praising God for hearing his cry when he called to the Lord.  David clearly had a heart for the Lord and wanted to be close to Him, but David also made some major mistakes in his life.....like we all do.  What got David through his trials was his close relationship to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  David realized from a very young age that he could never get through life's struggles on his own.  When he drew close to God, he was comforted.  When he cried out to God, he was heard and God drew near to him.  We can all learn valuable lessons from this.  We simply cannot get through life's trials alone.  Having friends and family is a tremendous blessing, but it's not enough.  We each need a close personal relationship with God, and when we cry out to Him (whether literally or figuratively), He hears our cries and will draw near to us and comfort us.  What an incredible comfort to know that the great God, Creator of the universe, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, cares so deeply about us.  Simply cry out to Him, and He WILL draw close and comfort you in ways you cannot even imagine.  He wants to do a great work in and through YOU, but first - you need to call on His name.

As always, you are welcome to save this week's free scripture/word art file to your computer, but are not required to use it in order to play along in our challenges.   We welcome you share your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family-friendly, and uses an encouraging or uplifting sentiment. This includes any type of art (not just limited to cards).  You may link up to 5 projects each week. The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning.  It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and encouragement to you each week. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules under our page tab for "Challenge Rules".  Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to these guidelines.  Let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for your understanding and participation!

Here's this week's beautiful scripture/word art file.
We hope that it will be a blessing to you!
This week we have ONE GRAND PRIZE:
One VERY lucky winner will receive
a $50 Gift Certificate to the AWESOME
Scrappy Gourmet scrapbook store!
This is one INCREDIBLE prize.  The
Scrappy Gourmet carries all your favorite
big-name brands and supplies.  Check it out!

Also, the first week we hit 300 entries,
there will be an extra prize offered!

Here are our LUCKY WINNERS!
Lucky Entry #217- Elizabeth gets to go shopping
at the beautiful shop, Moonlighting By Mary
and select some new vintage delights!  Enjoy!
AND
Entry #41 - Gail has won
a $25 Gift Certificate to the WONDERFUL
Paper Temptress - way to go!
May God bless all our amazing sponsors.
We appreciate them all SO very much!

18 comments:

SCarol said...

Thanks for this great post and lovely scripture for this week. We can't be reminded often enough that God is there for us whenever we call to Him.

Gail said...

Thank you for the message on David - what a man after God's own heart - may we all strive to have that spirit. Thank you for another challenge at WAW - the DT rocks and it is always a blessing to enter = have a great week! Gail

Gail said...

Oh My - I won last week challenge - I overlooked this the first time. Thank you very much for the wonderful win - I will email after this posting -congrats to Elizabeth too - way to go! Enjoy your day -I am doing the Happy Dance!

D- said...

Beautiful projects as usual.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Crafty hugs,
D~
DesignsByDragonfly.blogspot

Wendy Swenne said...

HI Ladies,

It's been quite a while, but I finally was able to make some art again. :D

Love the work you've done with this scripture! And the encouraging words you wrote.

Keep up the good work ladies!

Hugs,

Wendy van der Zwan

(my new last name, it was Wendy Swenne before Januari 9th 2014 :D )

Papercrafting Princess said...

Yes indeed...I know about crying out to the Lord!! Thanks for the inspirational post. It was a blessing.

Beautiful creations DT!!!

Unknown said...

Gorgeous creations :) Thanks for the fantastic challenge!!

- Susan
{Scrap A Thousand Words}
{Open-Minded Crafting Fun Challenges}

Ustvarjalni utrinki Tamara P. said...

Fabulous presentation from DT like every week
blessings to all
congrats to winners
Tamara :)

Ann said...

Lovely creations by the DT.

Natalie said...

Beautifully done, ladies!!

DIANA L. said...

Thanks for the fun challenge and all the wonderful DT inspiration.

Granmargaret said...

Lovely cards by the design team.
I have added my card.

HeARTworks said...

Hi Karen, I wrote about David too! Charming card, Karen! Love the beautiful flowers! God bless you! Patsy

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

ah such lovely words a blessing to my heart and to so many over the years.. what wodnerful work by the DT too Shaz in Oz.x

trisha too said...

As always, a beautiful variety of DT inspiration!

:)

Bunny said...

Very beautiful and creative work by the DT. Thank you for the challenge.

Unknown said...

Amazing projects everyone!! Thanks for the great challenge again!

Bunny said...

Entering a 2nd card. Thank you, again.