Rainbows & TCPTUES196

Wow!  It has been FOREVER since I posted.  All I can say is....LIFE.  Finding the time to actually create has been challenging to say the least.  Kids are demanding, hubby is demanding, I am demanding.  It's all good tho.  I wouldn't change my life for anything.  I have a family who loves me regardless of all my faults.  And I am finding that "creating" in the kitchen has so many more perks than creating in the stamp room (although my kitchen creations do not last near as long as my paper creations.)

I think I mentioned the last time I posted, or maybe it's been a few times ago, that I was seriously considering giving up being a SU! demonstrator.  In essence, I have.  I have never really been the "salesman" type, and I honestly cannot handle it when salepeople approach me and push their product.  I guess my attitude is, "if the product is good, it will sell itself."  So, I am stamping for the mere pleasure of it.  It has been wonderful.  No pressure, no time restraints, no stress.  Not that I really had any to begin with, but just the fact that I can do this for fun frees me up tremendously.

So, since it has been so long since I've made anything, I still do frequent all my favorite blogs and websites regularly.  There are so many new ideas out there it has become quite difficult for me to keep up, and,  I WANT THEM ALL!!  Which is really not the best feeling to have.  Stepping away has allowed me to hear a voice that I have been suppressing for a long, LONG time.  It's like trying to push a beach ball under water and holding it there infinately, trying to ignore that it's there.  Well, it's there, and it's the voice of God.  I've learned that I am an extremely selfish person.  YUCK!!  Who wants to admit that, let alone allow God to remove it.  It is a daily battle for me.  I am selfish with my time, not so much my possessions.  I was chosing stamping and paper crafting over spending time with Christ, or offering myself to acts of service for those who needed help.  I think for me, it was when I saw the selfishness of my own children that I had to take a hard look at myself.  I am their mentor, who else would they model after?

So taking a break has been good, and I will probably continue to "take a break" and just post whenever I feel led...like today.  I was visiting a blog that I absolutely love to visit.  Amy Sheffer.  Such a talented designer and paper crafter.  I've often wondered how she decorates her house.  I was totally inspired by the challenge that was posted.  Here it is:

It is from The Cat's Pajamas.  How totally fun is this?  I get extrememly excited whenever there are rainbows.  It is such an appealing order of color for the eye.  I think that's why I love paper crafting.  Every time I go into a scrapbook store, there are so many pretty colors.  It's almost hypnotic for me.  No. Not almost.  It is!

So here is my submission.  Not anything fancy.  In fact, the only stamping I did was the sentiment.  It's a bit difficult to read, but it says, "Hope your day is all sunshine and rainbows." Everything else was created using the Big Shot and dies.  The dimensions are 4 1/4" x 4 1/4".  It started out as a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4, but I had to cut off the bottom portion.  It just didn't look quite right.

So, as stated, my intention with this blog is to draw all my visitors closer to God.  No more blogging just about me.  I want you to leave here feeling as though you've experienced a fresh word from the Father above.

 Did you know that in Scripture it states that during the Creation process, that God separated the water from water? (Genesis 1:6-7, the second day)  I've never really read into that before, what I've often wondered what that meant.  After a bit of study, I think it means that God separated one big blob of water into two separate water forms...one under the expanse (the sky) and one above the expanse.  Hmmm.  What?  There was water above the sky?  Evidently.

Hang with me...  So if there was water above the sky, what did it look like?  (These are just questions I asked myself as I was figuring this all out.)  Well, this is just theory, but I am imaging the earth encapsulated with some form of water.  Like the greenhouse effect with clouds, the same happened with this water above the expanse.  It was a protective form that created a tropical like earth...everywhere.  There was vegetation everywhere and the climate was balmy and hot...like a gardener's greenhouse.  The sun may have been apparant, like on a slighly overcast day when it is hazy outside, or when you look up and see the sun, but it's not crisp, it's hazy.  Clouds may have been non-existant.  There was no need for them at this point.

Ok, so I hope I have you thinking a bit now.  Can you envision maybe what the earth looked like from the heavens?  Even from the perspective of man?  OK, now lets jump ahead to the flood.  If you want to read the story, it is found in Genesis chapters 6 and 7.  When the flood began (vs 11 and 12 of ch 7) Scripture states that "the springs of the great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens were opened."  The flood not only opened up the heavens and poured down water for 40 days and nights, but the springs and rivers rose as well.

Huh.  The floodgates of the heavens?  Could this be referring to the "waters" that were above expanse?  I almost imagine it being like God "unzipped" this watery form from above the sky, and it just poured down...heavily.  I've heard so many people agrue that it could not even be possible for it to rain 40 days and nights.  Well, I tell them, first of all, ANYTHING is possible with God.  Secondly, I don't think the earth WAS what it is today.  Maybe, yes, it couldn't rain for 40 days and nights in TODAY'S world, but could it have in THIS world?

Here is the next thing to ponder...It had never rained before this event.  Never.  The climate was so humid and the vegetation was watered from underground springs.  No need for rain.  So when Noah and his sons began building a giant boat and telling the people of the day it was going to rain, that water was going to fall from the sky, they all thought he was a crazy man.  Even Noah didn't know what rain was.  But he believed God and obeyed Him anyway.  (I wonder, how many times do I doubt what God is trying to accomplish in my own life because I cannot see the big picture, nor do I understand His ways.  I wonder what would've happened if Noah had doubted.  Makes me think of all the blessings I could be missing out on because I don't understand what God was doing and just  CHOSE NOT to obey.  Heavy stuff, isn't it?)

Now, I am by no means a schooled theologian.  I just love Jesus and have a deep desire to know Him better.  To really know Jesus and His character allows me to love Him more.  It's win-win the way I see it, and I love thinking about stuff like this.

I hope this has provoked some thinking.  I do have just one more bit of information to share with you.  What makes a rainbow?  Rainbows appear when raindrops reflect sunlight, breaking the white sunlight into colors.  No rain, no need for a rainbow....rain, here comes the rainbow.  Can you imagine with me what that may have looked like for Noah and his family?  Not only the rainbow, but the promise that came with it.  God said:

"I establish my covenant with you:  Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."  Genesis 9:11

God made that possible by eliminating the waters above the expanse.  It's no longer earthly possible from our perspective.   The "water above the expanse" I believe is gone. That's why were have different climates around the earth. Our protective "water covering" is no longer there.

This is why I love, love, LOVE rainbows.  It's the story behind the rainbow, and every time I see one, I think of THIS.  How God so perfectly worked it out.  And He continues to work everything out perfectly and for His glory.

Hope you enjoyed reading my theory.  :>

TTFN,
Debi