Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Year In Review To Move Forward (+ DIY Sketchbook Journal Cover)

It is New Year’s Eve!!! WOW… can you believe that we are on the last day of 2014?

I am thankful for 2014.

Looking back for what we’ve been through this year, I am thankful. As family we learned so many things together. The big girl started her Kindergarten this year. The little girl can say her ABC and counting 1-20, although she always says, “1, 3, 2, 4, 5,…” LOL!!! Both girls love dancing, singing and crafting, too. I am one happy Mama who can craft with her girls 🙂

As parents, Dave and I grow in learning to be parents, keep asking God to give us wisdom to teach them the truth and walk in love. We went through tough days but He was there to help us.

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it (Proverbs 22:6, NLT).

We love love love camping out in the Spring, Summer & Fall! That the best thing we found out our daughters LOVE being out in the nature because both my husband and I love outdoor activities.

As husband and wife, we celebrated our 6th Anniversary and this year was our 7th Christmas together. Each day we grow to love each other more and more… I am thankful for my amazing, loving and supporting husband. Dave is an answer to my prayer!

There was a bit change in our ministry. In January we resigned from Wycliffe Bible Translators. We were so discouraged and kept seeking God for answers. Dave and I felt in our hearts that God still want us to go to SEA* as missionaries. So, we went to a mission conference focusing on that particular country. There we learned so much important updates, talked to some people and meeting with some friends we knew before from the country. We were looking for an new opportunity to serve. Then couple days after we came back home, we got a call from the area director of Wycliffe Associates (it is a partner organization with WBT) and a director of a mission agency in the country offering both of us opportunities that we never thought of before. These new opportunities are perfectly fit for each of us. We were surprised by God and how He worked again and again! So we started our journey in September and right now we are raising support to go to SEA* serving with Wycliffe Associates as supported volunteers in 2015! We have some works to do remotely from home and cannot wait to work with the mother tongue translators & local churches directly soon to help them bringing the Good News to the 450+ Unreached & Bibleless People Groups!

If you would like to know more details, we would love to share with you more 🙂 You can sign up for our ministry newsletter & prayer update HERE. Please pray for us daily in our preparation to go and also please be prayerfully to consider to support us to go here. Your prayers & partnership end the Bible poverty in SEA*, because of your partnership those people can have God’s word in languages they can understand best in their hearts so that they may come to worship the one true living God through Jesus Christ through the works we will be doing there with the team.

We are thankful for our families, friends, church, and all new partners God has brought into our lives in 2014. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!

This year has been amazing for me personally. I learn a lot. Through personal quite time with the Lord, He help me to keep my eyes on Him and have faith in Him. Also, through group devotional time with our small church prayer meeting group & HelloMornings group, I learned so much of God, His love & truly He listened to our prayers.

In August, again, I was able to attend an amazing women blogging conference, Declare Conference, in Texas. I reconnected with blogging & online friends, met new “internet” friends I met in real life & even God led me to new connections with some friends. This was my second conference and He has blessed me tremendously! I am praying and hoping to go next year if we’re still here 🙂 You should check this conference and pray about going! They have limited seats for 2015!

In October, a scrapbooking friend introduced me to a group on Facebook, Journaling Bible Community, where I find lots of inspirations how to illustrate our faith and love for God in creative ways.

In that group, a lot by a lot of crafty friends inspire to learn more of this illustrating God’s word in creative ways. When we went out buying Christmas gifts, I found a big sketch book at Barnes & Noble for only $8.99! So I grabbed it and plan to use this sketch book for my 2015 Bible Study creatively 🙂

I decorated the book cover with some paper doilies, washi tapes (CTMH), gold sequins assortment (CTMH) and mini stapler (CTMH)

For the big year title, I cut the 2015 with my Silhouette Cameo using DCWV glitter cardstock and the triangle border I cut the glitter cardstock using the Triangles Cutting plate from Taylored Expressions.

The white polkadots is very easy to do. I trace the numbers, and then start stamping the dots using the eraser of my daugther’s pencil. I used CTMH White Archival Ink. I heat set it for a quick dry. Then I glued the numbers and triangle border.

Today I am sharing my project at Stuck On U Sketches Die Cut new challenge, Anything New Year. Check it out here!

Hope you can play along with us this week 🙂 Click here to link up your project(s).

I wanna take this day to THANK YOU ALL for all your love, prayers & supports in 2014 for me and my family! Thank you for inspiring me!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and your family.
God bless you abundantly in 2015!

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Link up this post at:
Inspire Me Monday – Week 156

The Pretty Pintastic Party #35

Posted on Monday, October 13, 2014

5 Minutes Monday: Pray In Private

There are many ways we can pray to our Father in heaven. We can pray in a group, or we also can pray in private. What does come in your mind when you read or hear this, “Pray in private?”

“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (Matthew 6:5-8, NLT)

The scripture says that when we want to pray, it is the best way to talk to the Father in heave in private place. To pray is a communication with the Father personally. When we have a close relationship with someone, we rather spend special time with them and have some private time with them to share what’s in our hearts. Just like when we pray to our Father in heaven. It is a special private time to talk with Him and share what’s in our hearts with Him.

And YES He knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him. But as His children and He is our Father, asking a request is a way of communication and building relationship. As parents, my husband and I know what our daughters need before they ask for it. But sometimes, we also need to know from them what they need. We want them to communicate with us what’s in their hearts and minds, what they need or want. And it is the beauty of relationship.

Today, as you come to the Father with thanksgiving, would you also spend 5 extra minutes to pray for the people of Daya?

They live in the Barisan Mountains in the southern part of South Sumatra province. They speak a dialect of the Lampung Api language. Although the Daya can understand Lampung Pesisir and Komering, they do not identify ethnically with the Komering. Instead they identify with the Lampung Pesisir and Ranau people who live to their South. The Daya are spread throughout the two subdistricts of Simpang and Muara Dua in South Ogan Komering Ulu regency in South Sumatra. (source: Joshua Project. Click on that link to read more about Daya people).

source: Joshua Project

There are about 85,000 people of Daya live without hearing the Good News. They do not have 1 single word of God in their heart language, Lampung Api.

Please pray for them that God will make a way for them to have access to His Good News for them in language they understand the best in their hearts.

Please pray God will send his messengers to share the Good New with them, to share His love for them, to make His name known among this people of Daya.

Thank you for praying!

Posted on Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Tuesday Thought: Seeking The Immanuel

God is with us here on earth, every single day, every single moment. He sent Jesus, His Sone, whom we called him Immanuel to be with us. Seeking the Immanuel is only through reading the Bible, His living word.

This is the first week I start the HelloMornings new session challenge. We are studying from the book of Matthew for the next 6 weeks. I got the HelloMornings Power Pack, this is packed with a lot of resources for my God Time, Plan Time and Move Time. Kat Lee, from Inspired To Action, did a podcast about what HelloMornings is all about. You can click here to listen to the podcast and to check out her awesome blog!

To do the study every morning, I love reading His word from couple different versions of the Bible, Indonesian and English. One of my favorite English Bible versions is ESV, the other one is NLT (New Living Translation). Couple years ago my husband got me ESV Journaling Bible as Christmas present 🙂 I like this Bible because it has extra space on each side of the page for journaling. This where I can jot down anything comes up when I read the passage right away. You can grab one of this amazing Journaling Bible from Amazon.

And a couple of months ago, my friend, invited me to join Journaling Bible Community on Facebook. Oh my! I was surprised with this community! These ladies who LOVE God’s word know how to express their loves through art and craft. They encourage each other through sharing the Word. I am so thankful for my friend and for this new community.

BothHelloMornings andJournaling Bible Community are 2 communities where God has put me there to be encouraged by others to encourage others.

Check them out and see if any of these communities fit for you 🙂

Posted on Monday, October 6, 2014

5 Minutes Monday: Pray with Thanksgiving

Prayer with thanksgiving.

We pray with thanksgiving because we know who our God is and what He is able to do.

We pray with thanksgiving because we knowing that he is always there with us.

We pray with thanksgiving because we know He listens and answers us according to His will.

And today would you spend your 5 minutes to pray for the people of Aji?

Here’s a little bit about this people group:

Source: Joshua Project

The Aji are a small community who live in a mountainous area of South Sumatra. They are often called the Haji people because according to a folktale they are descendants of a “Haji” (a person who has completed the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca). The Aji live in 14 villages. Eleven of the villages are clustered together in the Muara Dua District of southern Ogan Komering Ulu Regency (OKU): Sukarami, Tanjung Raya, Kuripan, Peninggiran, Surabaya, Sukarena, Karang Pendeta, Kota Agung, Pulau Panggung, Pirikan, Telanay and Sukabumi. In addition, there are three Aji villages located outside of the Muara Dua District cluster: Lubar Village in the Simpang District of southern OKU, Rantau Panjang Village in another area of Muara Dua and Palas Haji Village in the Palas District of southern Lampung Regency. (source: Joshua Project)

source: Joshua Project

Thank you so much for praying for God’s presence be there among the people of Aji. Thank you for praying that God will make a way for these people to access in His word in language they understand best in their hearts.