Is Forgiveness Possible? // Easter Week

I was listening to a sermon on YouTube, and the speaker suggested reading the book of Proverbs with a notebook. He said to make a list of the ways of a fool, and one for the ways of the wise, in order to learn how to discern one from the other.

I thought about this for a couple days, and then grabbed my Bible and a journal to get started.

Both lists grew longer. I learned the ways of the foolish and the ways of the wise. But God wanted to refresh something completely different in my mind.

As I read, again and again I saw sins followed by the words "will not be unpunished." Sin cannot go unpunished.

I'd heard the resurrection story before. I believe it is true. But, I suddenly felt a renewed sense of gratefulness. There is hope for those who are guilty of sin.

Sin cannot go without punishment, but God will forgive because of the blood shed on the cross.



Jesus, the sinless Lamb, took all our sins as His own. Jesus was sacrificed and died an excruciating death on the cross as the final blood sacrifice to atone our sin. In our repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord we are innocent.

Then get this: Jesus rose from the dead. He left the tomb and appeared before thousands. He fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament and proved that He is the Son of God. God loves us so much that He sent His son to take the punishment for all inexcusable sins, so that we can be made righteous. This is incredible.

I just imagine the words in the Old Testament "can not go unpunishable" painted over with the blood and love of Jesus. Through Jesus, we can be forgiven. This is why I am joyful when I celebrate Easter. There is hope for us. God will forgive. God will give us life.


~photo credit to pixabay, freeimages, and myself~

Random Post // Flat Lay, Cats, Photography, Music, Etc.

I have been collecting a bunch of small, random things for many weeks, so here I am with a Random Post!

~ PHOTOGRAPHY ~

This is one of my kitty cats :)

I saw this on the street and thought it was really sad, so I took a picture. I also think it's kind of gross...

This is a beautiful peach colored sunset I saw in the middle of February.

I was using these three pencils and I just loved the colors together XD

I don't do flat lay photos very often, but this one just fell into place (atleast the pencils did).

I didn't even realize the connection between these two items until after I took the picture??

We made heart and strawberry cookies on Valentine's Day :)

Tea from Starbucks!

My orange kitty-cat! He's such a model :)

~ GOD AND FAITH ~

If you have ever watched Adventures in Editing on YouTube, then you've seen Tracy who makes these videos and plays all the characters in them (acted out versions of Adventures in Odyssey episodes). She recently started a new YouTube channel called "Candid Christianity" where she just talks about things related to Christianity.

I haven't watched them all, but one of her videos is called "The Lamb of God" and she talks about the importance of Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice and the history behind it. I think it's really important to understand why Jesus' crucifixion is so important and how it atones for our sins. There's probably videos out there that explain this in more detail and more directly, but this is just something I came across in my normal life and wanted to include it here!

~ MUSIC ~

I got to see the jazz singer Mandy Harvey perform, which was cool! She sang a lot of original songs, including "Try" and "Mara's Song", which she performed on America's Got Talent last season. She is d/Deaf, and it was really interesting to see her use American Sign Language while she was singing. It added a dramatic visual element to her performance. I didn't take my actual camera, so this picture was taken on my iPod :p Also, I reviewed her book here.

I came across the song "Scandal of Grace" by Hillsong on Spotify and I think the words are great. Have you heard it? If not, it's right there ↑ :)

~ Other ~ 

I put up the painting that I made in my last post, and redid my wall a little! The hexagon in the center had mini clothespins at the bottom, so I could attach special cards or notes I've received. There wasn't a lot of space though, so I decided to take the clothespins off.

To create a new place to hang the notes, I used jumbo popsicles sticks, glued together and painted to attach the clothespins to. I painted the clothespins gold, and glued them to the popsicle stick contraption. It's more spread out and looks much better this way, I think.

Well I think that's all the random things I have for you today!

What did you think of the dropped ice cream cone? Do you ever take flat-lay photos? Have you seen an of Tracy's videos? Have you heard the song "Scandal of Grace"?

My Bedroom Wall Decor DIYs

I was wondering what I was going to post today, when I remembered that I had taken pictures of the things I had made and put on my bedroom walls. So today I'll be showing and talking about it!

I love to DIY stuff to go on my walls; usually it's paintings that I make. 

Above my desk I have a hexagon shelf I made from jumbo popsicles sticks, and then painted.

I made a shelf that has a few shells on it.

There's another, lower shelf that currently doesn't have anything on it. Also, I painted some mini clothespins gold and hot glued them. I clip notes from friends here.

To the left of my hexagon (we shall call it that), is a small painting that says "Die Daily" in gold lettering.

Similarly, to the right, one says "Soli Deo Gloria".

Next to that, is a larger canvas with a "ILY" American Sign Language hand shape. This sign is interpreted in English as "I Love You", but, as with any interpretation, the English words don't entirely match the meaning of the sign. I feel like this sign is more like the equivalent of hugging someone. It seems to represent acceptance and warm feelings, at least to me it does.

I need to come up with a similar painting idea to put on the other side of the hexagon so the wall is symmetrical, but I haven't had any ideas.

On a different wall, I have a large canvas that I painted and wrote the Fruits of the Spirit on in gold letters.

To the right, I put up a little cross that has Philippians 4:13 on it. It was given to me by a friend, and seemed to go with my décor :)

To the left is a watercolor painting done on a 5x7 canvas.

Finally, on this wall I have Disney things! The "Disneyland" sign canvas I painted a few years ago. In 2016, I went to Disneyland and took an empty canvas that I drew a Castle on and wrote the year beneath it. On the trip, I had all the characters sign the canvas. My brother and I used the Disney Parks app  and were able to meet over 40 characters! The Mickey Mouse canvas is actually a duct tape creation that my friend made and gave to me for Christmas a while back. In the center, I taped up an old Thunder Mountain Fastpass ticket :)

I hope you enjoyed taking a tour of my bedroom walls! Which wall is your favorite? Any ideas for the painting I need to do to complete my hexagon wall?

PS I never know which is right and less confusing, text for the pictures above or text below? What do you think?

A Look at My Bible Art Journal

I happened to pull out my Bible art journal and looked inside. I haven't added anything new to it for a while, but I think I'm going to get back into it. For now, take a look at some of the things I've already done!

I use the Crossway Single Column Journaling Bible.

I pulled this verse out and illustrated it, because sometimes things may look like they are right and a good choice, but they're actually not. That's why it's important to always talk to God and using the Holy Spirit to make good decisions.

I did this page during a sermon at church. It's simple, yet effective.

This is an important verse, because Jesus states that He is God, using one of God's names from the Old Testament.

My devotional had four things to do as we await the return of Jesus, and used the passage on this page. I like to take things I learn in my devotional and put them in my art Bible.

This is another one I did during church. Jesus is the Truth that sets us free!

As you can tell, I mostly like to take out a verse and make it colorful, artistic, and add a few doodles. It's a fun hobby, and I couldn't choose a favorite out of these!

Do you Bible art journal? 

Recent Reads 2 // Words and Such

It's been a little over a month since I first did a "Recent Reads" post and I feel like I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Thus, here we have the second edition of what I've been reading! I seem to be in a inspirational/autobiography/Christian phase. I'm not sure what that genre is called... I'm enjoying it, but if you have any ideas of novels, tell me in the comments!

(all images from Google Images)

Stomping out the Darkness by Neil T. Anderson and Dave Park

Written for teens, this book was about who you are in Christ as a born-again Christian. It offers a lot of help on how to become more Christ-like. One small thing I didn't especially like was that the authors switched off writing and would have to articulate who was talking in parenthesis. Other than that, I liked this book and recommend it.

 

 Keep it Shut by Karen Ehman

I got this book from the library. It had ideas about what to say in certain situations and how not to engage in gossip, flattery, etc. It was supported by Bible verses to encourage you to speak Godly and honoring words in real life, and on the internet.

Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung

This was an interesting, thought-provoking book about God's will. Although I don't necessarily believe all the theories the author presents about God's will (such as, God doesn't care if you move or take a new job as long as you pray about it and make a good decision) there were parts that were really thought-provoking.

Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are by Alex & Brett Harris

I'm glad I finally bought and read this sequel! It had lots of stories of what teens have done in their communities, and tips on how to stay connected with God and grow your relationship with him even when you are super busy doing a "hard thing".

image from Christianbook.com

Listening with My Heart  by Heather Whitestone

This book is about the woman who is Miss America 1995. I really liked this book! The first half of the book (which I favored) was about her growing up in a hearing world, the challenge of learning orally as a deaf person, how hard she worked to achieve her dream, and how she found her relationship with Christ. The second half was about the good things and the bad things about her year as Miss America. Although the timeline for her story jumped around a bit, I was able to understand it and saw why she was telling the story out of sequence. Overall, I learned a lot from this book. I really want to read Heavenly Crowns next.

I think I'll wrap up this post! Do you like to hear about what I'm reading? Are you excited for Christmas?

Merry Christmas!