Week of Praise! And, Our Winner of the He IS Able Card Set Give-Away!!

 ^"Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise..." 

(Psalm 51:15 NIV)

Hi Friends~

I have several things to share with you today!  The Scripture listed above has a special meaning to me.  And, I was recently blessed by it, and want to share with you what God has done with it...and me!  I learned this part of the Psalm when I went to a Jewish Camp for a week as a Senior in High School.  I learned it in Hebrew and in English, and they taught it with such a beautiful simple tune played on flute.

 The other day, I kept humming the tune...after not thinking of it in many, many years.  I knew that it wasn't a pop song or anything like that...and I just "somehow" knew that it was a gift for or from God...so I kept humming.  Eventually, after several hours of humming it...the English words started to form.  They are beautiful.  When that happened, I wanted to remember the Hebrew version, and offer it as a sacrifice of praise.  I want to remember things from my past.  I prayed for a while, asking Him to please provide the words in Hebrew to me...that I wanted to sing them to Him...with all of my heart.  I was told just keep singing.  So, I did. 

Soon it was time for bed, so I sang quietly.  Dave asked it I was praying.  I answered, "I'm being obedient."  I must have sang the beautiful tune another 50 times.  All of a sudden the words seemed to echo the English...I would sing a portion in English...and I could see and hear the words in Hebrew.  So, I started singing them to Him...I was so grateful for the gift of the words provided to me.  The tune was one we kids made up as we led the Worship Services at camp, and singing the tune would not help my parents know the words, because it was not in a traditional setting.  It was such a beautiful gift that He allowed me to share.  I cried. I woke up my not-yet-believing husband and shared how God is always good...and what had happened.  He held my hand happily as I sang until I fell asleep.  And, I felt that as I sang it quietly to Him...my heart would burst with happiness as I recalled blessings He had showered in my life...now including the words and tune to this Psalm...in English and Hebrew!  May you "open your lips and let your mouth declare His praise!" 

How about if you list some of the many blessings I am sure you have received in your life in the comment section?  Let's  have a Week of Praise!  Let's leave at least one item of praise daily for the next week!  Let it serve as way to encourage our Sisters and Brothers who may not be able to recall a blessing in their life right now. Or who may not know all that He is capable of!  I am so excited to read how He has blessed you. Or how you have served Him.  Of course, you can share anything in the comment section.  Whatever you write, gets you entered in the He IS Able Card Set Give-Away.  So, doing this will serve in many ways...including the most important...Praising God!

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So, let's announce the He IS Able Card Set Give-Away Winner!

Congratulations go out to Grace of  the Th-ink-ing of You blog! 

Congratulations, Grace you will have 2 beautiful cards heading your way.  I just need you to please email me, letting me know you would like to receive this gift!  It is our hope that you will use the cards to share about His Love, His Word, His Gift of Salvation with others.  I know that you do this in everything you do!  You are a wonderful example to me.

Grace's blog is filled with all sorts of amazing art.  She loves to share her love of Jesus through her art, as well as sharing on Christian based Design Teams like the Our Daily Bread Design Team.  (You all know that is one of my absolute favorite stamp companies anywhere!)  She shares from the heart about how Jesus has been a part of her life, and how amazing He is!  I promise you will be blessed if you visit her beautiful blog Th-INK-ing of You.

Here is Grace's comment:  "Hi Traci! Hope you are staying safe in the storms... I think they are headed here next. Romans 8:31 would be a reference for that verse! Looking down through your blog I'm just blown away by how beautiful you are doing on your cards!!!Your Copic coloring is really great! Don't you love them? They are so fun to shade with. Hoping you are feeling better!!! Have a great Sunday!" Grace

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And, if you knew that the Scripture  "If God is for us, who can be against us?" can be found in Romans 8:31, Congratulations! You are right!

So, since we were speaking of praising Him...who can tell us where this Scripture can be found? Be careful...many Scriptures have similar words in them, make sure you have the right one. Then go ahead and list the answer in the comment section--making you eligible to win our

 He IS Able Card Set Give-Away!

 "Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name."  (Hebrews 13:15)

He IS Able!

Traci Starkweather

Super Fast Message...

Hi Everyone~

Super fast note!  We are having horrible summer storms here in Central Florida.  They are lasting all day with hail, winds up to 60 mph, huge amounts of rain and more.  The weird part is we are all used to it in the summer...and in the afternoons!  But, all day and night?  There is a break in it right now...I wanted to let you all know that I will be back on Tuesday with our He IS Able Card Set of the Week Give-Away Winner!

It is NOT like hurricane weather or anything that serious.  We just have to unplug all of the electronics during these storms...which means no computer...or the lightning will ZAP! it, and it will no longer be able to work.

Did you know that Central Florida has more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the United States in one year's time?  It's true.  There are other countries with more...but within the US it's here.  Home Sweet Home.  At least no snow!

So, please leave a comment before Midnight on TUESDAY!!!  I have been mistyping it as another day.  You have a chance of winning a nice stack of cards!

I happen to be wearing my T-shirt that reads:  "The Lord is my Light and Salvation.  Whom shall I fear?"

I love the Verse, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"  Anyone know where this Verse can be located?  Leave your answer in the comment section...and you will be entered in the give-away!

He IS Able!
Traci

"We always thank God as we remember you in our prayers." (Philemon)

Cards by Traci

Hi Friends~

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  I am feeling better emotionally, still working on my body to feel better.  I was looking at some photos in my computer and realized I have some cards that I never shared here on the blog.  I hope you enjoy taking a peek at them, and if you have any suggestions on how you would improve them, I would love to hear them.

This is the first card that I have made using Copics.  I used some SU! Markers and two Marvy Markers also. I also used Prisma Color Premiere Pencils to blend the colors.  I used Gina K. Luxury 120 lb. white paper and stamped the image with Jet Black Stazon ink. I fell in love with the stamped image.  It is called "Bird's Nest" by ink-a-dink-a-doo.  I used the largest Nestabilities to cut out the circle for the stamped image, and traced the outside of the circle to form the pink background after I cut it out with my Tim Holtz scissors.  The gorgeous flower in the corner is a 2-tone Pink Mulberry flower which is hand made.  I bought this on sale from a family owned business in the UK named Wild Orchid Crafts.  They have so many types of flowers in various colors, leaves, embellishments.  All of the mulberry flowers are handmade!  I live in Florida, and I received my delivery in about 1 and 1/2 weeks! I will be a customer forever! The inside is decorated with the same Basic Grey-Bitter Sweet paper and some flowers.

This card is much lighter here than it was in real life, or appears in my photo area in the computer.  This was the first image colored completely with Copics.  I really like how you can get different levels of shading by using the same color marker over the same area.  I also like how her jeans look a bit faded in the front.  This was made for my niece, Emilie.  These flowers are from prima.  The card's base is on SU! yellow...I forget which one...they have so many yellows! 

I used the following Copic's colors: R95, R83, B95, E33, E00, E93, C95, C97.  I also bought one Prismacolor Premier (PM88).  I used it to color the basket.  I used the Oval Spellbinder, and stamped the Hero Arts "Happy Birthday" stamp.  I used a marker to add faux stitches.  I have no idea who made the stamp of the girl...if you know the company or her name, I would love to know!  Thank you!

To see my last card for this week, please click here:  Psalm 124: 8   I used the Our Daily Bread Designs Collection 3 set which has this beautiful Psalm stamp on it. It has many different Verses on it.  A wonderful stamp set.  I also used the "Don't Worry" set from Our Daily Bread Designs.  This set has several Scriptures about what to do when you are worrying.  As well as a beautiful flower, and a butterfly. I cut a Spellbinder's Oval and stamped the Scripture on it, then I surrounded the Scripture with ultra-fine aqua glitter.  I stamped the flower in SU! Caribbean Ink on white paper, and cut enough of them out by hand and formed an oval around the Scripture.

 

"Our Help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of Heaven and Earth."

(Psalm 124:8)

Here are a couple of examples of Scripture from the "Don't Worry" set:

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"  (Luke 12:25)

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself."  (Matthew 6:54)


The last one is a quote from Corrie ten Boom:
"Worry does not empty tomorrow of it's sorrows;
it empties today of its strengths."


I pray that you each have a week full of time with our Lord, Jesus Christ.  I will be back with the winner of the He IS Able Card Sets Give-Away! on Thursday.  So, please make sure to leave a comment of some sort.  Maybe you can tell us your favorite Scripture, and I'll see if I can make a couple of different cards with that Verse!  Also, please share your prayer requests in the comment section, and the Prayer Team as well as myself will be praying for you!


Remember, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)


He IS Able!
Traci Starkweather

Win Weekly!

Hi Friends~


Do you know how to be the recipient of the He IS Able Blog's Card Sets
Give-Away? You may receive 1-5 cards weekly!  All you need to do is leave a comment each week before midnight on Tuesday. A comment is randomly chosen and the writer is our recipient of the week!  Then the number of cards is randomly chosen!  The winner is announced on Thursday.  For now, this is open to US mailing addresses.  (I can't afford the extra postage.)  We are so glad that each of you are here.


One other thing, if you would like to donate cards to the He IS Able blog, we need them to be an A2 size and come with an envelope.  We love art, and want to share your creations, but please fit a Scripture or words like: blessings, friendship, love, faith, etc...on the cover.  Please put them in a plastic bag (it rains a lot here in Florida) and mail them to me:

 

Traci Starkweather

                                              116 Colyer Drive

                                              Longwood, Florida 32779

                                              USA


These cards are used in our give-away each week, in special give-aways like we have had at Christmas, and for special needs. Our Mission Statement is:  "The He IS Able blog:  Sharing His Love, His Word, His Gift of Salvation through Card Give-Aways."   We pray over the cards hoping they will be used in line with our Mission Statement, and that the people who ultimately receive the cards are moved to learn more about asking Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.  We appreciate your donation so very much. And, we look forward to sharing your A2 size cards with others!  This is a great way to reach out to people you know and strangers alike!


Today's Two Recipients will each Receive 3 Cards!  The Recipients are:

Seamom and Cindy H. Congratulations!

 

Cindy H. and Seamom please email me your complete mailing address before next Thursday.  If you do not get it to me before then, I will have to put your cards back in the He IS Able Card stash.  Here is my email: tracistarkweather@gmail.com

Here is Cindy H.'s comment:  "Thanks, Traci, for writing this. The story of the shepherd's fire resonates with me."

And here is Seamom's comment:  "Sorry to hear that you have been feeling especially unwell. But encouraged that you had the energy to compose another interesting blog post. "If God is with us, who can be against us?" His favor is all we need! All others are as we are, imperfect human creations."


I have been trying to reply to every comment.  So, please try to look back on the posts where you commented, and see if I had an opportunity to write you back.  Thank you so much to the people who read and understood how I was feeling in the last post about  "Hope."  And, thank you for sharing your times when you needed hope and God saw you through it, or when you shared a Scripture that was about Hope.  Or, even if you let me know that it made a difference reading it.  I really appreciate all of you so very much!  I would still love to hear your stories about Hope, or when you were feeling like you weren't having enough hope in your life...like I am currently feeling.  Or, the Verse you meditate on when you are feeling like that.  And, yes, you can leave these or any comment to be eligible to be our He IS Able Blog Card Set Give-Away next week!


Thank you  Joan, our Prayer Team Leader and Karen who has recently joined us for lifting up all of our readers and so many other things, as well as personal requests from you.  If you have a prayer request, please leave it in the comment section, so our other guests may pray for you as well.  Or email it to me, if you only want the Prayer Team to read it. Please let us know if you are willing to set any amount of time aside to join the Prayer Team.  My email is listed above.


"May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious."  (Numbers 6:24-25)


He IS Able!
Traci Starkweather

Hope Burns On

Hi Friends~


I hope that you were all blessed with a very special Easter.  I apologize for not being here.  Things turned a bit upside down.  Family didn't come down.  I have whip-lash (again.)  I didn't even get to go to church...but I am going to watch the video listed under blogs on the right side. (Northland Community Church)  I am in pretty severe pain, so this is going to be a rather short post.  I am glad you are here!  And, I will randomly choose 2 people to receive cards on Thursday instead of one!  So, leave a comment before midnight tonight!


I am going to share something that I really needed to read today.  It is a Devotion (is that word capitalized?  What do you think?)  And, it is from the book Quiet Moments in the Presence of God.  This book is published by Bethany House.

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"You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth." Psalm 71:5

Hope Burns On

An ancient Ethiopian legend tells about a shepherd boy named Alemayu.  One time he was stranded on a frozen mountain, clothed only in a thin cloak.  After a long and treacherous night, he returned home.  The villagers were amazed that he had survived as well as he had.  When asked to explain, he said, "The night was bitter cold.  The sky was pitch-dark.  Then, far off, I saw a shepherd's fire on another mountain.  I kept my eyes on the red glow in the distance and hoped of being warm."

Hope is a fire that burns in your heart and won't go out even in dark and difficult times.  Hope tells you tomorrow will be better.

Always have a supply of hope on hand to help you plan your tomorrows.

"What a God we have!  And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus!  Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for."  1 Peter 1:3

Let's pray the prayer that is included.  Will you join me?

Dear God, I know that my hope is a forecast of Your presence and a foretaste of Your power.   In Jesus' Name. Amen.

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I really needed to read about hope.  I opened the book to any page, and this was there!  I feel that I made a promise to God that I would write this blog to serve the Lord!  And, when I am in so much pain that I can't think straight, or it hurts too much to type, I told you I wouldn't be here on those days.  I feel like I have failed you...and that I have failed God!  I mean I know we all sin.  This feels different.  I need hope.  Now, I know you don't come here to be bummed out...I am here to help encourage you...but, I am in a low place.  A lot is on my plate physically...yet it could be worse.  And, He could heal me in a whisper...even after all of these years.  But, honestly, there are times when I don't have as much hope as I should.  As I feel I should.  And, then I feel like I am further away from Him than I would like to be. 

I would love to hear some of your stories of hope.  You could put them in the comment section...it will uplift others, too.  Or you can email them to me.  tracistarkweather@gmail.com  Please put He IS Able in the subject or I am nervous about opening email when I don't recognize the name.  Or perhaps, you don't want to share a story of hope...how about a Scripture or two about it?  I am very grateful to all of you.  Thank you so much for being here!  May your hearts be filled with hope.

He IS Able!

Traci Starkweather

And The Awards Go To...

Dear Friends~

I am so happy to finally have finished this blog post.  I apologize it has taken me so long to get it out. I had a lot of information to confirm and have been in extreme pain with swelling in all of my extremeties.  I am finally up to typing and sharing some wonderful news.

Karen Conner is the woman behind the blog titled, "KRC Masterpiece!"  It is a beautiful blog.  It's  full of interesting, beautiful art.  Karen uses this blog to share about God's Word in her art. Be sure to visit her blog here:
KRC Masterpiece   Well, Karen has been a regular guest of the He IS Able blog.  And, she is honoring this blog with a special award!  Karen, I thank you so much on behalf of everyone who: has submitted things to write on the blog, gave items to use for give-aways, prayed for others, card makers and donators, prays for the blog, put our blog button on their blog, or ever told anyone about this blog...basically everyone who is a part of the He IS Able blog.  Especially to anyone who felt encouraged by this blog, and spoke with someone about accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!  Thank you on behalf of all of us.  I hope I didn't lead anyone out.

This honor is called the "Liebster Award."  Liebster is a German word, it means favorite or dearest. No one seems to be taking credit for how this award was started.  Here, it is to showcase blogs with fewer than 200 Followers.  We have never reached the 200 number for people who have signed up to be a Follower of this blog.  Part of accepting this Award is passing it on to 5 other blogs with less than 200 Followers.


I  have chosen the people and their blogs.  I know from visiting them, that some of the blogs I chose have started over.  They have redesigned their blog page, and the count starts over.  Personally, I wanted to honor blogs that specifically honor God.  And, I love that each of these blogs also have amazing art to share.  Sadly, I could not get the Liebster Award Button to post on the blog yet...but I will contact a friend and ask for some help.  (That is just one of my personal areas for growth.)  So, if you are listed below, please stop back by and get your button to add to your blog as you pass this award on to 5 other bloggers with under 200 Followers.

And, the Liebster Award goes to...

Deb Saaranen-Dream in Color

http://deborahlynnesdreamincolor.blogspot.com

Realize your papercraft dreams in color daily, Deb has a special talent in a variety of areas to inspire you!  And, she often uses her art to inspire others about the Lord, Christ Jesus.

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Jan Marie Ennenga-

*Re~Creations* God alone creates.  We can only re-create.  To Him Be The Glory…*

http://re-creations4him.blogspot.com

Such an amazing blessing!  Jan shares about her love of God through art and through her words.  She is a wonderful artist and writer. 

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Jonia Smith-Stampin For Me

http://stampinjonia.blogspot.com/

Jonia shares inspirational cards and scrapbook pages.  She is a Stampin’ Up

Demonstrator and is very talented.  Of course, she gives thanks to God for her

Ability to share about Him through His art.

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Susan Farrell-Jones-Stampin’ Good Deeds

http://stampingooddeeds.blogspot.com

 

Susan’s writes about how we can be more Godly in our lives.  She shares about the opportunities she has had in her very unique life.  And, through her blog she shares daily reminders of God’s great promises and love for us from devotionals, beautiful crafts and home décor.

Congratulations, Ladies!

Please be sure to visit these blogs and leave them some love along with telling them you are from the He IS Able blog and saw their award!   I will not be back this week... I will be getting the house and everything ready for Dave's son and wife and family to visit for Easter weekend!  3 grand-sons!  I pray that everyone finds a way to commemorate the importance of Good Friday...and enjoys a way to celebrate Easter.  Even if it is you, your Bible, and God.  Sometimes it can be very nice to be in a crowd, and other times, it can be lovely and so meaningful to be with the Lord on such special times.

 

He IS Risen!

Traci Starkweather

I apologize that this post has changed sizes, color and fonts.  I have not changed any buttons whole posting this...so, I will just go with the flow...and try not to fight it anymore. God bless!