Word Art Wednesday: Draw Near to God

Welcome again to Word Art Wednesday!  Our scripture challenge is so relevant and personal to me this week.  For more than a week, I've spent time away from my normal routines, including the computer for the specific purpose of drawing near to God.  Life had become a little overwhelming for me with so many changes and unknowns in my extended family.  It seemed like nothing in life was stable, so I needed some time alone with God to get back on solid ground and root myself amidst all the changes.  God is good, my time with Him is always good and I'm feeling refreshed!

Our beautiful verse from Karen Murray is so versatile when thinking of design motifs.  So I've done several projects with it this week to demonstrate that while also showcasing some of our sponsors products.  Paper Temptress specializes is high quality cardstock and specialty paper.  Other products are available, but I'm showcasing samples from their cardstock line in my first project.

There is nothing quite like taking time apart from the world and drawing near to God for an intimate time of refreshing.  Even Jesus needed to do that.  He often left the crowds that clamored after him, departing from His disciples as well, to go to a secluded place to be alone with the Father.  Our world is chaotic as never before.  Time and pressure are accelerating.  We are crashing headlong into the last of the last days, and our world is rapidly changing.  We are seeing many of the signs Jesus told us to anticipate unfolding before us.  The perfect time to stand still and be with God is when life is rushing you at breakneck speed. 

Several amazing things happen when we go on a retreat with God.  First, He quiets our hearts.  When we lay the world and our obligations or allures to distraction aside, God steps in with a supernatural peace and quiet.  Part of my time with Him recently has been to simply be still before Him.  Being still is not in my nature, so it is a needed discipline in my life.  The quiet He brings stills my worried and anxious heart.  He refocuses me.  He trains my spiritual eyes to look on Him.  Once He has my undivided attention, He begins teaching. 

Part of my instruction during this retreat was to remember.  He took me on a journey of remembering all the places he has taken me, all the times His glory was revealed, the ways He has sustained me and strengthened me in the past.  He showed me again and again proof that He has never, ever, not even once failed me.  He has been with me, has guided and corrected, and has loved me unconditionally from the moment my heart was set upon His salvation.  Even before that, He orchestrated my steps so I would open my heart to Him at the right time in the right place, so I would surrender to His Lordship.  I can certainly declare His mighty works, not only in my life, but in the lives of my family.  We have been so blessed by His presence and providence.  Indeed, it is good for me to draw near to my God, to renew my trust in Him and to faithfully declare all His has been and done in my life!

I designed a card and this little quick easy gift bag.  I used the Navy Blue Leather and the Brown Antique Parchment cardstock.  Both types of specialty cardstock come in other colors.  The two I selected for this project go perfectly together. I also recolored the verse in Publisher and printed it on the Parchment paper to echo the navy/ivory color scheme.

In this view, you can see the luscious texture of the leather paper.  It's so easy to work with, and yields a beautiful finish. 

I backed the leather paper with Early Espresso cardstock for color, not because I needed the weight.  The leather cardstock would do nicely for a card or tag base.  I embellished the tag with some canvas ephemera I received from a friend.  I love it because it's embossed with clear print and you can use distress sprays to achieve any color you want. 

My second project is completely different, but show how wonderfully versatile digi art can be.  I enlarge our verse for the week and created this framed art piece.

For this I copied/pasted the rust houndstooth sheet from the Garden Delights paper pack onto a Word Document, the added the flower pot image from Garden Gifts right on top of the paper before printing.  I added another flower pot image to the side of the first (off the digi paper), so I could cut it out and pop it up on top of the original (see photo below).  That gives a nice dimension for the piece.

We'd love to have you join us for Word Art Wednesday this week and link up your own artwork.  We are thrilled that nearly 200 participants join us each week and offer so many wonderful inspirational art samples.  Come over to our main challenge blog to see what our sponsors have to offer and to see what the DT has designed for you this week. 

Thanks for stopping in!

Diane