A New Year Prayer

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him." 1 John 5: 14 - 15

Dear Heavenly Father,

We praise you for your greatness. We praise and adore you and love you so much.
With a new year approaching, we pray that you will guide our paths in a way pleasing to you each and every day. Thank you for the year 2007 which is now behind us and thank you for giving us the new year.

The new year gives us another chance to draw even closer to you Lord. Please help us to study your word more, so that we can do the things that you would have us to do. Help us to hide your word in our hearts and the hearts of our children. That is what we are striving to do with our faithbooks. Bless each of us as we prepare to begin our new bible studies and faith sisters challenges.

We also pray a special blessing on the leaders, special guests, blog contributors, design team, creative team and anyone else who takes part in the ministry at Faith Sisters in the new year. You know who they all are and even the ones you are preparing to step up. We thank you for each of them and the ministry you have put on their hearts. We ask that you would draw them close to you and keep them sensitive to you in every aspect of their lives. Keep their motives pure. Keep their hearts open and obedient. Help them to keep their fellowship and communion with you number one. Make that time vital, fresh and productive. Continue to give them personal direction, vision and creativeness for the ministry you have given them. Help them to discern their priorities and give them wisdom on how to appropriate their time. Keep them open to the Holy Spirit and your ideas. Provide them with the provisions that they need. Allow their ideas to flow freely. When they need words remind them to look to you to provide them. Please let their ministry enhance and strengthen their walk with you as well as those that they serve. Give the Faith Sisters Ministry favor and abundance.

Thank you Lord for the wonderful community that you have brought together at Faith Sisters. It may just be another website to some people. Yet to those of us who fellowship together through the forum it has become much more and we are so grateful that you have allowed us to get to know more of our sisters in Christ. Faith Sisters has given us a little glimpse of what life might be like in heaven living among our family in Christ. We thank you for the relationships that have been built already! We look forward to meeting many more new sisters. If it be your will allow us to plant seeds in the lives of those who need you. Provide our faith sisters with a glow of Christ so that others will be drawn to them and learn more about you. Bless each of them in their marriages. Bless their families and finances.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus so that Love could be with us, and we could know You. That we could share Love with others. Help us, Father, to see YOUR fingerprints in every sunrise, in the chriping of birds in our yards, in the stories we hear,the fantasies of our children, the things other people call luck. It is no SECRET that you give us blessings every day...we just need to keep our eyes open to thank you and praise you for even the smallest things. Thank you for helping us see you at work in our lives.

Help us to stop and recognize your praiseworthy deeds and record them for future generations so that they may know You better because of the personal faith they see displayed. May you be glorified in each and every page we create. Help us to be in an attitude of worship and praise each time we sit down to work on our projects.

We rejoice in all that you have created. Thank You for another new year and for new chances every day.Forgive us for falling short this past year. We leave the irreparable past in your hands, and step out into the unknown new year knowing You will go with us. We rejoice in what's ahead this new year, depending on You to help us do exactly what You want.

All this according to Your will. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.

Scripture Challenge Study Resources

Well, are y’all ready? The 7th isn’t very far away! And remember for you impatient ones, I have to post the challenge on my blog sometime on the 6th so it will arrive in your mailboxes on the 7th. So, if you want to cheat, check the blog on the 6th. The challenge will be up sometime that day. Just thought a little hint might be in order. :) And I will be posting a picture of my altered card (front and back) each week to give you some ideas.

I wanted to go ahead and post a list of study resources for you. I thought it may help some of you dig deeper or for those of you that haven’t used any study resources, this might be a good list for you to refer to.

A Blank Journal: I know as I have completed a couple of the challenges, I have taken many notes. I ended up purchasing a journal from Hobby Lobby for $1.99 to keep my notes. Then I look over my notes as I create my altered card for the challenge. In my journal, I put the challenge word for the week at the top of the page and then note scripture, definitions, title ideas, or anything else I can think of on the rest of the page. It is kind if a scratch pad for me until I create my card. Some of you may want to do something similar.

Concordance or Subject Index: Look in the back of your Bible at the concordance or subject index. You may be surprised to find the week’s word there. It may give you a place to start.Devotions: Look at devotions online, in your Bibles, in separate devotional books. These might be of great insight some weeks! Usually Bibles or devotional books have a topic listing in the back. Look up the word in the back, and it will take you to that particular devotion.

Online Bible Resource: I use the passage look-up feature on Bible Gateway. This site is wonderful. You can search on a passage or a keyword. You can use the keyword feature to enter your word each week to find scripture. Did you know the word rubbish is in the Bible? I had no idea. Do a keyword search and you will find it! You also have the option of using any version you like. I prefer NIV but they have many others listed!

Bible Dictionary: If you have a Bible Dictionary, you may want to include definitions on your cards sometimes. You may not. You can also use a regular dictionary. I find my old trusty Webster’s includes theological terms a lot of times. Your church library might have one for you to use too.

I think that is it for now. If you have other resources you will be using, please let me know. I would love to add them to the list for other people to refer to. Have a joyous New Year!!!

Journaling 101

One of my strongest traits in my scrapbook pages is my journaling. When you look at most of my work there are some pages that most of the layout is covered in words. My love for journaling began when I was a girl and lost both of my grandmas in one year, I was seven. I wanted to know so much about them. But there was no journals. As I became a young mother and wife and would ask my mother question she would say “that was a long time ago…I don’t remember.” I knew that I would record everything…the good, the bad and the truth.

This is also why I have loved blogging! Because I can quickly record life and then have it printed as a journal. I have over 18 journals that I started when I was a girl to date. Most of my entries are now based gratitude and sharing the everyday blessing that I have found in each day.

One of the best tips I have for journaling and getting a topic started are from lyrics to songs. I have a small not book that I carry with me and when I am listening to songs and here one that has a line or chorus I like I jot it down so I can then search for the song lyrics I print them and mark the part I like. Then when I have photos and I am stumped I look through that list and WALLA!

I love using my own handwriting and to do this I will write on strips and then cut add to the page…I do that on a lot of layouts because then I do not need to worry about spacing of lines or when you have wrote two or three sentences and then mess up…darn that is bad news. If you do have a lot of journaling to add to your page that you want to add as your own handwriting this is something I do. I do it so 1. I can know how much space the whole story will take up 2. So I can edit and spell check (I need all the help I can get)
Type in a font size that would be equal to your handwriting size would be (with additional line spacing) then print it. Next use a light box as your guide and hand write your journaling.

I have been using a lot of handwritten journaling strips on my layouts (since my printer was out of commission for over a month) so I will be doing more again with typed journaling. I generally only use about two basic fonts when adding printed journaling.

I will be sharing a lot more on journaling throughout the month. I know there are people out there reading my blog…I treasure when you actually leave comments. I hope that what I do will help you and that you are inspired to journal more!

The Reason for the Season Challenge Winner

Cheryl from Florida has done another amazing layout. We love the wonderful colors, and most of all, the REAL Reason for the Christmas Season that is represented in her layout!

A word from Cheryl about her layout:

"MERRY CHRISTMAS! What an awesome way to start this day. I have been gazing at this nativity picture and reflecting on my Savior's names. Praise God that He is my reason for the season.

CREDITS:
PAPERS & ELEMENTS: Flittery Sparkles Collection by Lorie Davison/Studio Lorie
FONTS: Scriptina, Stamped DSG, The King & Queen, Old Typewriter, youareloved, formfound.com"

MERRY CHRISTMAS from all of us at FaithSisters.com

The Real Meaning of the 12 Days of Christmas

The Real Meaning of the
12 Days of Christmas

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come our of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church.

Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

• The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

• Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments

• Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

• The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

• The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

• The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

• Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

• The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

• Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

• The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

• The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

• The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

The Reason for the Season Challenge

Luke 2:11 NIV “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

Use His Christmas Story to make an eternal impact through your album. The story, pictures and moments of Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection are ones that we can, and, MUST share with future generations.

Sharing the gospel story in your album may seem like a strange thing but it just might be the key to salvation to someone in future generations.

Take some time this Christmas season to make a layout documenting why you celebrate Christmas.

Luke 2:14 NIV “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.”

Isaiah 9:6 NIV “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

II Corinthians 9:15 LB “Thank God for His Son – a gift too wonderful for words.”

View more "Reason for the Season" layouts in our gallery and upload yours there too!

Year in Review Challenge Winner

This weeks winner came to us last month as a new Faith Sister! She is a light to our community and this is her first challenge! Congratulations on inspiring so many Natalie!

Natalie Says: I've been wanting to do a challenge for a little bit now, and this one was perfect for me right now. I've been wanting to do a Year in review page for a while now, and I'm glad I did it. Haven't done a new page in a while. Thanks for the inspiration.

Credits: All Digital Elements:
Paper ~ Shabby Princess
Script 2007 ~ Shabby Princess
Frame ~ Rhonna Farrer

Find out more about Natalie in our community forum and see her layout close up in our gallery.

New in Our Shop! Freebies and Sale!

Scripture Challenge Participants' List

I have posted the participants' list and gallery links here. Also, if you have not signed up, you can join us at ANY time! I would love to have as many of you that want to join in! And lastly, I know a lot of you participating do not want to share your gallery link. That is certainly fine! However, if you ever want to share, I can always add you to the list anytime during the year! Blessings, and January 7th is just around the corner! I am excited!

Year in Review Challenge

2007 is coming to an end. It's time to take stock of all the events and blessings you've experienced in the past year.

Featured Layout by Patter

Celebrate the milestones by creating a layout that represents the "year in review". Use this time before the holiday rush to reflect and create.


Submit your layouts here at the Faith Sisters Gallery and then head over to Scrapbook.com and submit your layout to their Year In Review contest for a chance to win some great prizes!

Psalm 65:11 “You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.”

Hearing His Voice Challenge Winner

Congratulations to this weeks winner, Elizabeth!

Elizabeth is a new FS member and we are so glad to have her! We love the bright colors and the journaling on her layout along with the way she has incorporated her photos here! Great job and way to go!

Layout description from Elizabeth is:

This challenge was a fun one for me! I enjoyed it because I love hearing from God because to me it means I am being obedient in him. It means he has something for me and isn't finished with me yet and his will shall be done in my life.


I am a boat jumper, eager to do God's will. He speaks to me through visions, dreams, and most of all the audible voice inside. My problem is never hearing God, because he is always speaking to me. My problem is waiting for the right timing to do his will!


That is what this topic was about for me. Hearing his voice but waiting for him just like Peter did when he water walked with Jesus!

To find out more about Elizabeth, check out her introduction in our forum, see more of her layouts in our gallery!

{Faith Discovery} Challenge ~ 2008

Hello there! My name is Dahlia and I have been so blessed to be a part of this awesome family here at Faith Sisters. Not only am I currently on the Creative Team but, also a designer at our shop. So far, it has been one of the greatest experiences I've had this year and I'm so looking forward to what's in store for the new year 2008! Great things are happening already and with this year coming to a close, you can expect to see awesome things take place very soon! So don't miss out and please visit us often to stay informed!

My reason for this post is to get the word out for another new weekly challenge that I'm so excited about! First of all, before I go any further let me ask you this... Are you ready to go on a journey deeper into your faith and scrap about real life issues that many of us face? We all scrap about good things and that's perfectly okay but, what about those "less than stellar" memories? What about things that you discovered about yourself that you never knew? What about scrapbooking the every day details of life? What about lessons that we have yet to learn that have not been brought to our attention or issues that we are still continuing to deal with? Maybe we have had moments--good or bad--in our lives that have shaped our character, our integrity, and our faith. And maybe we find it hard to recall those things because we don't really have the inspiration or the motivation to "scrap outside the box" or in other words, explore our faith outside the boundaries of the ordinary and into the extraordinary. So for that reason, I'm so honored and grateful for this opportunity to host weekly challenges every Monday starting in January 2008, called "FAITH DISCOVERY". I'm so excited to see what God does through this and know that it will be such a blessing to see what everyone will come up with. There are no rules to this challenge except to enjoy and create to your heart's content. We each have a unique story that is worth telling so we're not here to judge one another's experiences but, to embrace the life that we have lived and continue to live in the light of God's grace in every circumstance. We all have had lessons in life that can be used to encourage and empower others especially our children and loved ones. We all have visions and promises that He has given us that we are holding on to by faith. And we all have had our faith stretched to the point of giving up but, still found ourselves clinging on to His Words and found that miracles are possible if we have faith. So here is a chance to scrap about all these things that we normally would not think about and of course add it on to our collections of faith legacy albums! Hopefully, as we reflect on our experiences it will give us a deeper look into ourselves and see how by God's grace we are being transformed into His beautiful image. I pray it will give us a deeper understanding of who we are as a child of God and wisdom to help us to become the person God has called us to be. And may those of you who participate, have a greater appreciation for your relationship with Jesus and that your faith will increase immeasurably as we discover that we have POWER within us when we exercise that faith!

Lastly, just be sure to post your layouts in our gallery so we can learn from one another and also praise each other for our God-given creations. Another awesome part to this challenge is that I will occasionally be giving free downloads to those who participate which will be both compatible for digital and paper scrapbookers. So please feel free to join in at any time throughout the year! And be sure to check the forums for any updates or announcements under Inspirational Challenges in the Faithbooking & Scrapbooking board. I know there are plenty of wonderful challenges being hosted here at Faith Sisters which gives you alot of reasons to faithbook and will provide tons of creative inspiration and hopefully you'll find FAITH DISCOVERY CHALLENGES to be one of them. I look forward to meeting you and seeing your awesome layouts inspired by this challenge! So please spread the word and share the good news about all that's going on here at Faith Sisters! Blessings!

Here are a few of many verses that have inspired me for this challenge!

2 Corinthians 5:7 ~ "We live by faith, not by sight."

Ephesians 2:8 ~ "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."

Hebrews 11:1 ~ "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:6 ~ "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

2 Timothy 4:7 ~ "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

James 1:2-4 ~ "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Hearing His Voice

Scripture art done by Krystal Hartley can be downloaded in our shop.

Describe a time you heard God's voice. He may have "spoke" to you through scripture, a sermon, another person, worship, on the radio, a church service, a dream, etc.

Did you know it was his voice you were hearing? Did you think it was just you thinking? How did you react?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

God can guide your thoughts by speaking directly to your heart and mind.
1. Hearing God's voice is a learned behavior. It takes some time and training to hear God's voice.
See 1 Samuel 3:4-10
2. God can speak to anyone.
3. God's voice has distinguishing characteristics.
He will always speak in ways consistent with his character
*if you have an anxious thought it is not from God.

We come to recognize God's promptings by:

• Focusing on God's attributes

• Learning from our personal experience

• Studying his voice in scripture

We can learn to recognize Gods voice by the way it affects our hearts. His voice...

• Will always be consistent with scripture.

• Will be consistent with who he made you to be.

• Will be consistent with love.

A simple question to ask: Is this action selfish or loving?
I used to really struggle with knowing if it was God or just me thinking. Two years ago when I started going to Intercessory prayer every Monday evening and really started spending tons of time in prayer...and taking time to stop and listen. Listening was something I had never really taken the time to do prior to those Monday night prayer meetings. I started deciphering the Holy Spirit from the other competing voices. I still have times when I wander if it is just me thinking or if it is really the Holy Spirit. Typically if I analyze a minute and it is a good thing that will bring God glory I just do it. Sometimes I can immediately tell that it had been from God because of the reaction that occurs.

See these layouts and others in our gallery. Upload your challenge layouts there too!

The Bible Challenge Winner

This weeks winner is new to Faith Sisters. We are blessed to have her join us in this challenge with her beautiful layout!

Terrie has used some great items for her digital page including the scripture word art by our own Krystal Hartley. You can download it here in our shop.

Other credits include:
Paper: In This Moment, O'Scraps
Overlay: Katie Pertiet Sanded Overlay
Bird Frame: Rhonna Farrer Round N Round
Frame: Sweet Shoppe Carnival

Learn more about Terrie in our Faith Forum and see more of her layouts in out Inspiration Gallery!

The Bell

THE BELL

I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15)
I am united with the Lord(1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price(1 Cor. 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt.5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ(1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil.3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31-34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God(2 Cor5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God(Rom.8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor.1:21-22)
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8: 28)
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16)
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12)
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship(Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected (Phil 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven (Col. 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child(Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
who you are!?