Musical Mondays ~ 10,000 Reasons

I hope you've heard this one by now. There was one service that I heard it going in, while in, and going out - and I listened every time. One of my favorite worship moments last week was hearing and watching 6,000 people in Georgia worshiping Jesus together. Can't get enough.

Enjoy.

Psalm 103

English Standard Version (ESV)

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.

103 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

² 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

³ 

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

⁴ 

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

⁵ 

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

⁶ 

The Lord works righteousness

    and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷ 

He made known his ways to Moses,

    his acts to the people of Israel.

⁸ 

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

⁹ 

He will not always chide,

    nor will he keep his anger forever.

¹⁰ 

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

    nor repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

¹² 

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

¹³ 

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

¹⁴ 

For he knows our frame;^[a]

    he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ 

As for man, his days are like grass;

    he flourishes like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ 

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

    and its place knows it no more.

¹⁷ 

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

¹⁸ 

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.

¹⁹ 

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ 

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

    you mighty ones who do his word,

    obeying the voice of his word!

²¹ 

Bless the Lord, all his hosts,

    his ministers, who do his will!

²² 

Bless the Lord, all his works,

    in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Creative Thursday ~ Stash & Buttons at SOS

This is a fun one! Last day to enter, so if you you have some scrappy time, get 'em in!

Here's my edition of sketch + buttons:

Cousins by Lindsey Krauss. Paper: , Crate Paper, Letters (and Numbers): American Crafts, Heidi Swapp, Making Memories;
Buttons: Maya Road, Wood art: BasicGrey.

The background paper helped me keep it simple, but I'm kind of thinking that I might add a little sumptin' sumptin' before I put it away... 

Anyhow, hop over to SOS - take a look thru all the dt layouts and all those entered; SOS is rockin'!

Photography Friday ~ Now Is The Time To Worship

I snuck into the final worship songs of Easter last weekend - just because.

What a sight.

I'll spare you the details, but I took about 50 no-flash shots with both my camera and my phone and had to do some serious work in PhotoShop to bring this to life. 

This tiny girl, sitting on dad's shoulders, the only one with her hands held high in that worship moment. It's both revealing and comforting to generations before her and generations after. A little thank you to that parent, as he drives her, holds her, teaches her. 

Faith truly is God-given. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Matthew 5:5 and Psalm 37:11 also came to mind that day: 

Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.

But the meek will inherit the land
    and enjoy peace and prosperity.

Creative Thursday ~ Dots and Stripes at SOS

Another fun challenge is up at Scrap Our Stash! Dots and stripes, birds, butterflies and bees! There are some really cute projects already up over there, so be sure to check out Dots and Stripes to see them all. Here's my layout.

Legos by Lindsey Krauss. Supplies: Paper: Love, Elsie (Toby Go & Claire Powder Puff), Pink Paislee; other; Artisan tape: Pink Paislee; Rub-ons: Crate Paper, Inc.; Letters: VivAmerica, Making Memories; Markers: Sharpie; Other: chipboard button, large butterfly, paper words, ribbon.

Journaling: McKenna, you got this Lego set for your birthday and you were done with it, with very  little help, in just minutes. Maybe it was all those times watching your brother, but you were so proud when you were done, you, too, now have a Lego city in your bedroom.

Dots and stripes! I know, for being such a fan of polka dots, I used remarkably very few. And since the pink paper was so lightly striped, I played with striping in the overall design. I also fought tooth and nail to keep bugs and birds out of my stash so long ago, so I had to look long and hard for some! Imagine my surprise, to come across those perfect Crate Paper butterflies after the layout had been laid out and adhered! The rest is just more stash - rub-ons, some punch-outs, even a chipboard button and its holes. The paper and rub-ons clearly didn't come together, but I love the way they go together.

Truly, I have very few animals in my stash. So I was so pleasantly surprised to find not only green and pink butterflies, but pink and white polka dot rub-ons as well. The rest is just some things I found while fumbling around in my color-coordinated storage. On the right side is a Making Memories sticker (remember those huge monogram letter stickers?) - I cut it so it was an "l", but I love the way it blends in with the green on and around it. The two small green dots in the cluster are, indeed, the holes in the heart button. The purple ribbon was just a tiny scrap I found in my ribbon bucket. I'm not sure who made those word punch-outs (My Mind's Eye?), but they went well on the page, uncut and untouched. Same with the background page; the arrows were busy enough so that paper went untreated as well.