SSiC # 149

Hello sweet friends and welcome again to my blog.  Thank you for coming by today.  Your visit means so much to me.  If this is your first time here, welcome.  I hope you'll be back.

Today I have a card for the new challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ.  I have the blessing of being the hostess this time.  That means I chose our verse and our challenge.  As I was praying about what the Lord would have me share with you, He gave me these verses:

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Matthew 11:29-30

As I pondered these verses I wondered what the Lord wanted me to say exactly.  A yoke is not a common term these days.  I'm sure many people don't know what one is.  A yoke is a wooden frame that hooks two large animals, usually oxen, together, so they can work together as a team.  The animals would be used for farming or pulling a heavy load.  Jesus says He wants us to take His yoke upon ourselves.  What does that mean?  Notice at the end of those verses He says His yoke is easy and light. Hmmm  So it doesn't sound like a difficult thing.  Why were two oxen yoked together?  Couldn't they still do the job if they weren't attached to each other?  I've heard this portion of scripture taught more than once and as I see it when the two animals were bound together the job became easier for both of them and more importantly, the larger and stronger of the two animals not only bore more of the load but it also served as a teacher showing the younger and less experienced animal the proper way of performing their duties.  So, what does that mean for us?  First, God wants to shoulder most of the burden for us.  He wants to take the load so we don't have to.  Second, when we are attached to Him He is right beside us every step of the way guiding us, keeping us on track, helping us get to the finish line successfully.  Oxen were yoked together by the farmer, they had no choice.  We choose to yoke ourselves to the Lord.  We can choose to cast off the yoke and go our own way, but why would we?  The God of the universe is in love with us and wants to bless us.  If we choose to go our own way we risk missing those blessings.  Also, when we cast off that yoke we have to carry our burdens ourselves. I have walked with the Lord a long time.  As I get older I think I am more sensitive to the times I am wandering on my own and I RUN back to the Lord and gladly place myself under His yoke.  The burdens of this life are too much to bear without Him.

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting ALL your care upon Him, for He cares for you."  1 Peter 5:6-7

Beloved, cast ALL your cares upon Him today.  Don't try to bear the burdens that He will so willingly bear for you.  Walk in His love today.

My challenge for you this week is to make a clean and simple card (CAS); no extra frills and fan fare; something simple and easy.  Let this challenge be a blessing to you this week.  Won't you join us?

This was certainly a challenge for me.  If you have seen my cards before you know I like to embellish and sew and ink and embellish some more.  So, this was a challenge.  :)  But a fun one.  I have been looking at this adorable stamp set from There She Goes for a while now.  As I pondered this challenge I began to see the card I could make and gladly ordered Cutie Pi.  It has the most adorable images and expressions that are very current with young adults these days.

I used the sweet little boy scientist.  A friend's son just graduated with a degree in chemistry and his birthday is next week.  I will give her this card to give her son.  I colored him on kraft with my Prismacolor pencils.  Colors just pop on kraft.  I always forget that and fall in love with it every time I use it!

Here's the front of my card.  See?  No embellishments.  No inking.  No sewing.  Nothing.  Well, mostly nothing.  My friend's son uses the word "wonky".  Its sort of his go-to word for things.  They tease him all the time for using it.  Anyway, when I was looking through the dies at My Favorite Things I came across a die called, get ready, the Wonky Scallop Border!  Can you believe it?  So, of course, I had to buy it!  So I did add that one tiny embellishment.   I just had to!  It looks good, huh?  I hope he likes it too.  The great paper is from MME.  I love their paper!

Here's the inside.  Again, no extra stuff but it looks masculine I think.

And the back.  (lol I was just thinking....Yes, decorating all 4 sides is still clean and simple for me  ;)  truly!)

I hope you decide to join us this week with your CAS card or creation.  We would love to see you.  Be sure to stop by my Sister's blogs and see their lovely creations.

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle