Digital Scrapbooking: Summer Memories

I'm back again with a digital scrapbooking post! It has been awhile! Life has been full, and I just have not been able to take much time for this hobby of preserving memories in digital scrapbooking form very regularly for the past half year or so. 

But I did put together a few pages over the recent months ... and here are a few to share.

From May ...

The page above captures memories from a beautiful spring day when three of our daughters and their families were here for a special picnic together, also celebrating a birthday!

From June ...

Capturing some of the summer fun with gardens, grandkids, and good  summer food!

From July ...

The beginning of July brought a big move for one of our daughters and her family - sad to have them move away from our town, but we're so excited for them for their new place, with lake view!

And from early September ...

It was such fun to make a trip down to the Dallas area to visit another daughter and her family. We absolutely loved our time there!

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Note: Most of the page templates and digital products that I use are purchased from Digital Project Life. About seven years ago I switched from paper scrapbooking, and took some online lessons from Digital Scrapper to learn how to digital scrapbook using Photoshop Elements. You can also click here for some great tutorials on the Digital Project Life website - this is a quicker way to learn than the site that I used seven years ago. I recommend using these tutorials. Also, besides being able to share my completed pages online, I also print them out at home in 8x8 inch size to fit in the albums that I purchase from Michael's.

We Become What We Behold

What do we⠀focus on
the majority of the day?⠀
There is so much that draws our⠀
attention, needs our attention.⠀
But, what is the primary thing⠀
that drives our hearts even in the⠀
midst of the hustle of our days?⠀

⠀

Is our deepest focus

underneath all the busyness⠀

and in the midst of all of life,⠀

set on God?⠀

⠀

"Nearness to God⠀

brings likeness to God. The more ⠀

you see God the more of God ⠀

will be seen in you."⠀

(Charles Spurgeon)⠀

⠀

"How we direct our eyes, minds, ⠀

hearts, and hands in the everyday ⠀

will determine whom we ⠀

ultimately worship and what ⠀

we ultimately become."⠀

(Ruth Chou Simons)⠀

⠀

Come Anytime, Come with Everything

"So the Lord

must wait for you to come

to Him so He can show you

His love and compassion."

(Isaiah 30:18a)

We can come anytime.

We can come with everything.

The invitation is always open.

We don't need to hesitate;

we can always come.

"I love the Lord because He hears

my voice and my prayer for mercy.

Because He bends down to listen,

I will pray as long as I have breath."

(Psalm 116:1-2)

Taking Time to Pause, to Reflect

The weeks of summer begin to draw to a close as the new month of September opens. What occupies your mind as a new month begins? I love the fresh starts - a new section in my journal, fresh pages in my planner, calendars to record the significant. Seasonal beauty that calls for a change in decor, that fills our senses, beckons our creativity. Bringing joy.

And the changes in the season and the entry of a new month always draw me to pause, and to gently reflect. What is the status of my heart? What has God taught me in the past month, the past season? What are the current longings of my heart? What do I desire for Him to do in my heart and my life during the coming weeks, and days?

"Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it."

(Proverbs 4:23)

As summer begins to slip away, and the

colors and scents of autumn emerge,

I will take time to pause, to be silent,

to reflect, listen, and to receive

from Him.

(Photo - from our Pacific Coast Trip 2016)

A Collection: Little Devo Posts on Instagram

The months of July and August were really quiet here on my blog, but the days and weeks were filled with many things. We've been enjoying the beauty of summer - while at home, at our biennual Cru Staff Conference in Colorado, with family visiting, and also with a little getaway trip over our anniversary. 

My writing filled my journal pages, and some of my thoughts slipped out onto Instagram in the form of little devotional posts during the summer months. You can read some of them here, as well ...

"For the Lord your God ⠀
is living among you.⠀
He is a mighty Savior. ⠀
He will take delight⠀
in you with gladness. ⠀
With His love,⠀
He will calm all your fears.⠀
He will rejoice over you⠀
with joyful songs."⠀

(Zephaniah 3:17 NLT)⠀

⠀
Photo: Potted Catalina flowers on our patio table.⠀

____________________

Love expressed ...
she gave her most precious
possession, anointing His feet,
wiping His feet with her hair.
For she had been forgiven much.

And how do you, how do I
express our thanks from the
deepest places of our hearts?

May it be my daily desire, 
and may it be yours, as well ...
to worship Him and give our thanks
with our lives, with our words,
with our most precious treasures
“when He turns our brokenness 
into something beautiful”.
From: (in)Courage Devotional Bible 

Photo: Taken from the Colorado cabin a few years ago.

____________________

In this world⠀
of noise and strife,⠀
busyness, desire for ⠀
approval, achievement -⠀
let these words slip⠀
quietly into our hearts ...⠀
⠀

“Be still and know that I am God.”⠀
(Psalm 46:10)⠀

⠀
“Let all that I am wait quietly ⠀

before God …”⠀
(Psalm 62:5a)⠀

⠀
“In quietness and trust ⠀
is your strength.”⠀
(Isaiah 30:15)⠀

⠀

“Make it your ambition⠀
to lead a quiet life.”⠀
(I Thess. 4:11a)⠀

____________________

A good book is like a precious treasure, filled with new insight and encouragement for our souls. And it's always a treat to come across authors who speak the language of our hearts. I just finished reading a gem of a book - You Are Free by Rebekah Lyons, filled with fresh insight into living in freedom - forgiven, abiding in His Presence, and for His approval alone. And I'm presently reading Shelter of the Most High, part of an amazing fiction series set in Old Testament times by an author I have recently discovered. This is my fifth fiction book by Connilyn Cossette in this calendar year.

____________________

⠀

In the expanse
of earth and of time,
do you sometimes wonder
if your one life even matters?

There was a time recorded for us⠀
when after 10 long generations⠀
from creation, there was just⠀
one man who walked with God.⠀
Only one man who followed after God.⠀
Noah's one life mattered.⠀

⠀His life, his choices, his heart to⠀
follow and obey made a difference.⠀
"Noah walked with God." (Gen. 6:9) ⠀

⠀
And your one life, and my one life ⠀
matters. We will never know the extent ⠀
of all the many ways that even one life⠀
can make an impact for eternity.⠀

⠀

____________________