Thankful for Today Card---It's October and Time for Another Monthly/Anything Goes Challenge at 613 Avenue Create!

Hello guys!  I'm back with another card to showcase for our Monthly Challenge happening at our neighborhood, 613 Avenue Create.  As always, it's Anything Goes with Optional Theme (Use Green and Gold in you project).  Finally,  the weather here in Texas have cooled down and so happy to be over the triple digits which we had to endure for several months.  I wish I could speak the same with the spiritual condition of our country but as the day goes by, it's apparent that we are up for some scary challenges in our future.  But my hope is in the Lord.  So although things aren't as promising in the world as we see prophecies written in the Scriptures being fulfilled, believers in the Lord are still here on earth to fulfill God's purpose and we are not to allow any fear, concerns and lies of the enemy (Satan) to deter us from accomplishing our task (to share the hope of the Gospel---the finished work of Jesus Christ to all mankind).

Today, I would like to share about thankfulness and gratitude towards God.  It is easy to be thankful when things are doing great for us.  But have you been grateful when things are literally falling apart in your life?  I've experienced it many times and each time, it's never easy. But I rely upon the Word of God (the Word of Truth) and I focus on a bigger picture to battle my own fears, doubts, complains or bitterness in those times.  With that, I meant seeing things beyond the temporary through the eternal reality declared by God's Word. One of my favorite promises of God (to every believer) in the eternal is in Revelation 21:4 which says, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away."  Yes, we may face difficult or even horrible things as followers of Christ in this world (look what they've done to Jesus!) but how can we give up the faith and the fight when there's so much more waiting for us in the presence of our Lord?  Don't we know that for us who entrusted our lives to Jesus Christ that "to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8)?" So, while I intercede for the future  of our nation and the world, I push aside every fear and concern for I am armed with the Truth of what my future is like in the arms of the Lord.  This life may soon end in circumstances only my Father in heaven knows but because I am in Christ and He is in me, my eternity is settled!  I am to rule and reign with my Lord and Savior for all eternity.  Glory be to God!

In addition, I found a wonderful article from gotquestions.org about being thankful/grateful and it has blessed me tremendously.  Therefore, I am sharing it to you.  Here it is:  

"Thankfulness is a prominent Bible theme. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Did you catch that? Give thanks in all circumstances. Thankfulness should be a way of life for us, naturally flowing from our hearts and mouths.

Digging into the Scriptures a little more deeply, we understand why we should be thankful and also how to have gratitude in different circumstances.

Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Here we have two reasons to be thankful: God’s constant goodness and His steadfast love. When we recognize the nature of our depravity and understand that, apart from God, there is only death (John 10:10; Romans 7:5), our natural response is to be grateful for the life He gives.

Psalm 30 gives praise to God for His deliverance. David writes, “I will exalt you, O Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. O Lord, you brought me up from the grave; you spared me from going down into the pit. . . . You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever” (Psalm 30:1-12). Here David gives thanks to God following an obviously difficult circumstance. This psalm of thanksgiving not only praises God in the moment but remembers God’s past faithfulness. It is a statement of God’s character, which is so wonderful that praise is the only appropriate response.

We also have examples of being thankful in the midst of hard circumstances. Psalm 28, for example, depicts David’s distress. It is a cry to God for mercy, protection, and justice. After David cries out to God, he writes, “Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song” (Psalm 28:6-7). In the midst of hardship, David remembers who God is and, as a result of knowing and trusting God, gives thanks. Job had a similar attitude of praise, even in the face of death: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).

There are examples of believers’ thankfulness in the New Testament as well. Paul was heavily persecuted, yet he wrote, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (2 Corinthians 2:14). The writer of Hebrews says, “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). Peter gives a reason to be thankful for “grief and all kinds of trials,” saying that, through the hardships, our faith “may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

The people of God are thankful people, for they realize how much they have been given. One of the characteristics of the last days is a lack of thanksgiving, according to 2 Timothy 3:2. Wicked people will be “ungrateful.”

We should be thankful because God is worthy of our thanksgiving. It is only right to credit Him for “every good and perfect gift” He gives (James 1:17). When we are thankful, our focus moves off selfish desires and off the pain of current circumstances. Expressing thankfulness helps us remember that God is in control. Thankfulness, then, is not only appropriate; it is actually healthy and beneficial to us. It reminds us of the bigger picture, that we belong to God, and that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3). Truly, we have an abundant life (John 10:10), and gratefulness is fitting."

For this Card, I used an image from Sami Stamps called "Butterfly Friends" that I colored using my ProMarker/Prismacolor markers. I paper-pieced the clothing of the image with DP's from my scraps.  The base is a white CS, cut and scored to make a 5.5 inches square card.  I used one of my Cuttlebug folders (Tropic Bloom) to emboss the main panel and incorporated some die cuts using Nestabilities to layer the image.   I used a couple of washi tapes from Recollections and mount them on strips of white CS, layered some Prima flowers with Recollections brad and added some glitters (Stickles-Gold) to the flower and butterflies.  Finally, I stitched all over this card.  I love the result.

THANKFUL FOR TODAY CARD

 THANKFUL FOR TODAY CARD LAYERS

 THANKFUL FOR TODAY CARD

 THANKFUL FOR TODAY CARD INSIDE

THANKFUL FOR TODAY CARD WITH ENVELOPE-BOX

This Card is entered into the following Challenges:

A Bit More Time to Craft---ATG
Just Keep On Creating---ATG
Create with TLC---ATG
Card Mania---Let It Shine
Classic DT---ATG
Crafts and Me---ATG
Crafts Galore Encore---ATG
Crafty Awesomeness---ATG
Creatalicious---ATG with Optional Celebrate
Creative Craft---ATG
CCC---ATG
Die-Cut Divas---Time to Emboss
Doodle Pantry---ATG with Digi Image
Not Just Cards---ATG
Oddball---Circles
Petal Lu---ATG
Tinker-Dream---Thanks
Your Scrapbook Place---ATG

This is it for now, guys.  Make sure to join us at our neighborhood---613 Avenue Create---for our Anything Goes Challenge.  If you want to be challenged (like I was), take on the Optional Twist.  But there's really no reason for you to miss it.  Our sponsors---Ppinky Dolls, Bugaboo Stamps, Sami Stamps, Eureka Stamps, Oddball Art Stamp Co., Lacy Sunshine Stamps, Melonheadz Illustrating and Toadstool Printables are giving away lots of fabulous prizes.  Can't wait to see what you create. The Lord is with you every step of the way so, don't be afraid of the what the future holds---we are safe in the arms of Christ always.