We are all in this together.... UNITY!!!

First I want to say thank you for hopping with us over at My Paper Treehouse.
It is always wonderful to see how God truly works. My Paper Treehouse has announced it's winners!!

Unity.... that is what Sunday's message was about in Church. It was so nice to hear Michelle give the word, to see how she has grown in the Lord, but also in her faith. WOW! She shared about God's promises to us as individuals and how He is the one you can really count on not to go back on His promise. Now when she touched upon UNITY I had one of those Oprah a ha moments. She said "God wants unity, we need to finish this race together" if you have a disagreement with your brother or sister you need to resolve those issues because at the end of this journey there are greater treasures for us in heaven. I know I am not perfect I know that I have to let issues go and leave them at God's feet. It's the only way I am going to Grow, because in the end I want what God to say to me "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:23. I am going to leave you with this video I found


Here's a layout I created for Survivor challenge over at Tallyscrapper

Heartache No One Sees Blog Hop

Welcome to the Heartache No One Sees Faith Blog Hop. If you are hopping with us you should have come from (Bonnie's blog). if you just happened to find this post, please go to www.mypapertreehouse.com so that you can start the hop from the very beginning. :) Now to the hop:

Women have a very unique way of being strong, yet gentle. through this process we find ourselves many times hiding heartaches that truly affect us, but somehow we cannot bring ourselves to talk about. Sometimes it is because of "what would people say" or because we want to keep a certain image, or even because we are trying to keep our loved ones from becoming worried: we hold on to the heartache and even come to believe that "this is as good as it will ever get". Today we are out in the internet laying our hearts bare before the world. We have come to understand that God IS who He says He is and indeed He will complete the work He has begun, and so we lay our heartache before Him in hopes that He will meet us here. As you go through this hop, take the time to think about your own hidden heartache, and if any of our blogs motivate you to speak about it, leave us a comment or even send us an email. As sisters we should remain together and encourage each other to continue the walk towards His arms: the only place we will find rest and comfort.



Here's how the hop works:

Like last time we have some GRAND Prizes to share with you, plus most of the blog owners are willing to share some RAK with you. In order to qualify for the GRAND Prizes you ought to leave a comment under this thread and become a follower of this blog (if you are not one yet). We are asking that you would also become a follower of paper Tree House Studio on Facebook so that you can stay updated with our challenges and contests. In order to qualify for the RAKS i ask that you would also become a follower of those blogs and leave them a comment with your thoughts about the project they might have created or the story they were willing to share (if any). It can be very humbling to share our hearts with the world, yet the Bible says that our troubles come so that we can console another going through the same thing. My prayer is that the Lord would use this for His Glory as He heals all of our hearts.


Now for the GRAND Prizes:

Paper Tree House Studio:
Scrapbook News and Review Magazine: One Year Subscription
Bella Blvd.: $45 retail value worth of their yummy product
Echo Park: Love Line
Scrapbooks & Stuff: Cricut Your Story
Punky Sprouts:
The Paper Blossom Shop: $25 gift certificate to their shop.

Remember that in order to be considered a winner, you should leave a comment here and become a follower. :) It is that simple.

As you hop through the blogs you will see some very open lives, and others that are not as much. We are all being molded everyday more into His liking. Know that I have been praying for each of the participants, and as you begin to open your heart, I will be praying for you as well. It is my desire that the Lord would begin to build a community of bold women that would be willing to show their weaknesses so that in turn He can be their strength. Maybe next month we can hop through your blog as well.. This will happen every month on the very last weekend of the month, so please plan to be here learning about Him and about His love for YOU and His commitment to make you His!


Here is my story:

My journey I can tell you it has not been easy, I have recently come to the realization that as much as I joke about needing a happy pill I really do need to seek some medical counseling. You see I have always been made to believe that if I serve God it was wrong to be depressed. I have to say that mentality has gotten me right where I am today doubting Gods love and strength. As a believer I shouldn't be feeling down or right now strong enough. Yes I am stronger and seek God daily, but it's just much more it's what is happening right now with life. Then it hit me, wait a minute yes God is our healer, but sometimes we need more because God is the one who gave us life for us to breathe, He gave us the knowledge to know that we need doctors too. Who can help to heal the physical. I need to stop fighting and know that God is in control of my life, and that He is guiding me through this next step. So that I can begin to heal mentally, thank you Lord for allowing me to be Free.

I chose to create a layout using the lyrics from Casting Crowns Set me Free.

Thanks for participating with us... Now hop on over to Kari's Blog

Weight loss journey...

So it's been 4 months since I began this journey. At first I didn't think I could do it but week by week I noticed my clothes fitting a little loose. The scale is also showing me the weight loss, but what shocked me the most was the inches that began to shed. I went from a size 13/14 to a 7/8 in pants, my tops used to be x-large and now I fit into a medium comfortably. I have lost a total of 5 1/2 inches on my waist alone, hips 3 inches, thighs 3 1/2 inches my arms which is my biggest pet peeve of my body a total of 2 inches. It's just so exciting to actually follow through and see the results. I will post before and after photos. Thanks for reading along. Oh and did I mention I changed my hair color!!! Love it!

Big News!!! Redemption Island and Winner for Blog hop

Just wanted to share some exciting news with you all. It all started back in late January, Joseph (pictured above) called me and said he wanted to speak with my husband and I. My first thought was oh no, so I said yes come over my daughter Iliana (his girlfriend) was working that day. It was about 2pm on a Sunday when he arrived, he began by saying that he was here because he wanted us to know more about him and I thought not good, but then he said I want to say that I love Iliana with all my heart (can you see the tears flowing down my face) I mean really what mother does not want to hear that. He continued by saying I am a bit old fashion and my parents taught me that if I am going to do things I have to do them right. Ok! He then proceeds to tell us that though Iliana is graduating from college in June, she has spoken to him and wants to continue school to be a registered nurse he told her and I quote "Go for it, and I will help you pay for it somehow" I'm like OMG she is graduating with a Bacholers in Recreational Therapy and she wants more and he wants to help. I was surprised not only that she shared that with him but that he wants to help. My husband then told him that if that is what Iliana wants we will sit down and work it out. Then he says another reason I'm here is because I want to go to Ecuador in February on vacation and I am asking permission to take Iliana with me. We were both shocked, but we agreed she was going to stay with his parents. Now comes the big news while in Ecuador I would love to propose to your daughter who I love and I can truly see sharing the rest of my life with her. I cried, cried, cried I couldn't talk he must have thought OH NO!!! but they were tears of joy. I mean tell me when was the last time in this society that we live in now a young man of 22 yrs of age ask the parents permission for hand in marriage. Not many!!! I was a little scared at what my husbands reaction would be, but then he got up walked up to Joseph and said I respect you for coming here and doing this right. Yes you have our permission, I cried some more. He then showed us the ring it's beautiful, even my daughter Emily was crying. Well now of course I had to keep it a secret until he proposed, she called me on from Ecuador on Sunday and crying and saying mom guess what Joseph proposed and I said yes. I am so very happy for her and we are so happy to welcome Joseph into our family. Now I am technically a mother of a bride to be!!! OMG I feel old. LOL

Also I over at TallyScrapper playing Survivor and well this week I was sent to Redemption Island here is the layout I created

Now for the winner of the blog hop! I used Random Number generator

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 36

Marley said...
Hello Dolores, Im your new follower! This bloghop is so much fun, really nice to see all the beautiful projects! I started card making 2 years ago but now Im starting to make lay outs.. I have to say its so much fun to scrap photo's! Loving it.. I hope my lay outs will look as good as yours one day! Thanks for a chance to win and for this fun bloghop!.. HUgs Marley

Thank You! Blog Hop is Over...

to all hopped along with us over at My Paper Treehouse. It was such an amazing experience to see how many shared our love for God. Stay tuned to the My Paper Treehouse for not only the winners tomorrow, but also for our next blog hop. I will make an announcement on my Blog tomorrow for my Blog Candy winner.

Do you remember awhile back I had posted a photo of Elisa covering her mouth and saying this medicine doesn't taste good. Well I created a layout finally with that photo. I love the bright cheery colors of this layout. Thanks for stopping by..