Bloom Bible Study

Several months ago I purchased a devotional form Illustrates Faith written by Stephanie Ackerman.
On the last morning using the devotional, I felt so renewed and motivated I was ready to make changes...for ME..after all, I am valuable, acceptable. lovable, forgiven, capable, usable...and all kinds so awesome because I am a child of God. Created in His image. So......I moved forward making short term goals, long term goals,  making plans...lots of lists! I was making a lifestyle change! Wow, there is that bad word again, Change....! I had already retired. I spent 20+ years of my life with 3, 4 and 5 year olds as a Director and Teacher in an Early Childhood Christian School so I had already experience a huge change just by not getting up every day at 5 a.m. and going to bed at midnight....whew, I was a emotionally, physically and mentally tired puppy...but I sure do miss those little sweeties.

God led me down a path with a flashlight, shining on different parts of my "Change" for me to see. Some of the "Change" I saw very clearly and some of the "Change"  needed a closer look.
The big "Change" is that I am joining my Stephen Ministry/Early Childhood training with Healthy Lifestyle Coaching for families....wow, I even had a avatar designed of me, see her below and I ordered business cards.

You can read more about that on my Facebook Group page called, My Genesis, just ask to join.
Also, I decided to get a group of ladies together who wanted a summer small group bible study using the Bloom material. This past Thursday we had our maiden voyage and we did to sink! Exciting times for sure. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to share with them...to share Jesus. It's a good thing.
Click on the Illustrated Faith Tab on this blog to see the bible journal page for this week using supplies from the Bloom Bible Study.

It is through Him that we are able to BLOOM where we are planted.
I know what it takes to make a seed grow but I never looked at myself as the seed!
Be planted in the good soil with daily bible reading.
Give yourself the good stuff, the fertilizer, when you attend worship and have fellowship with others , praying with others, giving praise and thanksgiving with others.
Pollinated yourself with the gospel, OVER and OVER and OVER.
And always look to the Son for growth.

Friends, we cannot Bloom on our own!
We need the Word and Worship and Prayer AND to hear the good news of love and forgiveness and our salvation and never stop looking for that light that shines for us daily!
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Neh. 8:10

The Gift Of A New Day!

A New Day....do we even consider a new day...... a Gift?
Our days sometimes are full of hustle bustle, stress, sadness, schedules, laundry, meals, bills, sickness......and the list goes on and on AND some days we just want to be done with the day and move on.
But......the GOOD news is that within all of the doom and gloom our good and gracious Lord fills our lives with good things and the GIFT of a new day to see it all, experience it all, know it all...The Good, the Bad and The Ugly!
Each new day offers us new beginnings, do overs, second chances..HIS love, grace, mercy and forgiveness. Just as a young child learns to get back up after a fall, we too pick ourselves up and work hard not to stumble ..to keep our balance.
We are His sheep, He is our shepherd! Each day we learn to know His voice and follow Him. He is always there to pick us up when we take those falls and He gives us the courage and strength to get back up and keep walking.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" John 10:27

So, yes my dear friends...Everyday Day Is A Gift. He Fills My Life With Good Things!

A bible journal entry on Mother's Day.

He Fills My Life With Good Things!....A Granddaughter!

A Good Day Print....in the Etsy Shop.

Paper Envelope DIY

I love , love DIY projects. Here is a paper envelope DIY that you can use for many things. Kiddos will love this. You can use the large heart shaped doily but I only had large doily placemats...worked great!

Check out the the Etsy Store for some beautiful water color cards . Great last minute Mother's Day gifts.

A Mother's Day Card

Are you still trying to come up with the perfect gift for Mother's Day?  For me, I always enjoy those hand made school projects  ~ you know the ones with handprints and all.

I have designed two beautiful cards that can be printed as a 5x7 card or as small as a 3x5. They make great book marks for bibles and devotion books. Get the kiddos involved in make them their own with beads and ribbons. turn the card over and they can trace their hand or make a flower with a stamp pad and thumb prints.
Use it as a gift tag or a insert in another card....all kinds of possibilities.
These prints make great "anytime" gifts.

Visit the Etsy store of The Buzzing BeeBee to purchase and download the prints.

Water color background.

Use decorative scissors to cut around the message. I added a cross charm and a letter bead as well as some  colored beads  strung on a ribbon.

This 3x5 size is perfect for this devotional book. 

Heaven Is For Real ~ A Legacy of Faith Journal

I continue to post in the Legacy of Faith Journal that I am creating for my Granddaughter. So many  little and big happenings inspired this page. A birthday, ladybugs , a found treasure in the garden and heaven. It is my joy to take these memories of the day and document them in a way that she can always go back and remember. She is 5 years old now but I am confident that she will remember this day very clearly when she reads this in years to come.

A Treasure

The ribbon that is tied on the tag, she found in the garden while she was helping her granddaddy plant seeds. The garden is at my husband's home place. She was so excited to find a "treasure", Preschoolers collect everything. As she was proudly showing us the ribbon I realized that it was a piece of cloth from one of her Great Grandfather's shirts, torn in strips to tie up tomatoes. I explained to her that Pal, nickname for Great Grandfather, used this ribbon to tie up his tomatoes. It is from one of his old shirts. She smiled and smelled it....she smells everything, and ask me to keep it for her...and I did. She will ask for it I am sure and I will show her where it is in her journal.

The Lady Bugs

The tag card comes out of the pocket where I have journaled about the ribbon and the Lady Bugs.  After finding the ribbon treasure she was siting on the lawn mower and a lady bug flew over and landed on her arm. She has been taught that the Lady Bugs are a friend to the plants and that we should not hurt them. I enjoyed watching her let the bug crawl from one hand to another until she got excited and the bug fell in the grass. ~ Sadness~  Now, she is not fond of bugs at all, so this was a special moment.

 When I was looking for supplies to use on the page  I found all of these cute ladybug stickers and decided to decorate the pocket with them to remind her of that fun "buggy" moment. And journaled with red Sharpie.

A Birthday

The day I worked in the journal just happened to be the first day of May, my husbands birthday so I decided to add a little note about that and used the page from the calendar reminding us of Granddaddy's birthday.

Heaven

I tag each page with a heading. This page is tagged, Heaven Is  Real. With finding the ribbon that "Pal" once used to tie his tomatoes , my thoughts were about him . We talked a lot about Pal and about Heaven that day in the garden with not a cloud in the sky. Only Carolina Blue. Pal was a big Tarheel fan.

The summer before he died he would sit outside in the warm sunshine and look at the Carolina blue sky and quote John 14:1-3 " In my Father's house are many mansions......I go to prepare a place for you....that is where I am and you may be also.  She knows that Heaven Is Real and that is where our Pal is .

Happy Birthday to ~ The Buzzing BeeBee ~ Etsy Store Is Open!

All teachers have to learn to be creative and teach while on a budget. I learned very quickly that all of the pretties that I wanted for my classroom and student projects were not in my budget so.... I began ...20 years ago, creating my own pretties. Over the years I have learned to use different computers and many different publishing programs making my own bulletin board supplies, kids folders, games, labels, gifts and the list goes on and on but I love it.

I am part of a bible journaling group where we take scripture and illustrate what it means to each one of us..Illustrated Faith, another creative outlet. So, It just made sense to put my 20 years of Early Childhood Christian Education and Graphics Arts together to create  many beautiful, inspirational and useful items for kiddos and grown ups and teachers.

At the Buzzing BeeBee Etsy Store I will be taking special orders for Scripture Cards, Subway Art, Birthday/Birth Subway Art, Baptismal Subway Art,  Scripture Subway Art, Inspirational Quotes, school labels for the kiddos and of course Teacher Appreciation Gifts. The store will also carry my original work as well for purchase.

I give God all of the glory for this opportunity to serve.

Buzz over to the  The Buzzing BeeBee Etsy Store for these little cuties. Patterns on the back too! Free shipping for now.

Now you know you want some!

Leaving a Legacy of FAITH

While shopping this weekend I found this great journal. The cover is cloth and the pages are much like scrapbooking paper. I am a lover of scrapbooks and bible journaling so of course I bought it.
As I pondered how to use this journal I kept looking at the cover ....the butterflies are a reminder of new life....Faith ~ Hebrews 11:1. The butterflies also remind me of our flower garden in the back yard. My granddaughter helped me create a beautiful space with plants that would attract the butterflies and hummingbirds. Then I had that Ah Hah moment! My new journal would not be mine. I will create pages for my sweet most precious granddaughter.  Walking In Faith, ~ Taking a Faith Walk and what happens when we do take those steps, especially those HUGE first steps?
Will she walk through muddy puddles? Yes she will. Can her great big messes that she makes in her life be turned into Hope and Forgiveness? Yes , they can! Should she spend less time asking God for answers and more time listening to what He has to say? Yes, she should.
This journal I will give to her as a Legacy of Faith.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

This is the inside first page. The theme for the page is from Luke 1:37. I used many types of craft supplies to illustrated what was on my heart and in my head.  Each week I will decorate a cover page for the posts that will follow for the coming week. Each week I will journal about my faith walk, my struggles, my failures...telling her my story of my faith. A gift that I am so excited to give her.

So now my sweetness, may your 

Faith be always be bigger than your Fear !