Word Art Wednesday

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Anything Goes - Weeks #685-686

Welcome back, everyone. We praise God that you're here to join us for another FABULOUS challenge here at Word Art Wednesday. We have so many great things to share with you all including two lucky winners, a brief devotional, some inspirational art, another fabulous sponsor, and a brand-new challenge where you can share your amazing creations. Let's get started and THANK YOU for being part of our challenge blog. We appreciate you!

Our scripture of focus is Luke 1:79 says, "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace". This verse reminds us that Jesus came to Earth to save us from our sins. He did this becoming the literal "light" that we each need. Our sin separates us from Him, and we are born into darkness (original sin). We don't have to remain in the darkness separated from God because JESUS is the light of the world, and He's the only light that can lead us out of the darkness towards Him. He paid our sin debt on the cross to make a way for us to reach Him. This verse was originally spoken by Zechariah following the birth of John the Baptist. He was using the word "light" to describe Jesus by comparing Him with knowledge, purity, truth and being in the presence of God. This is opposed to the word "darkness" which represents confusion, evil, and separation from God. By "stepping into the light" (the presence of God), we can avoid the darkness where God doesn't dwell. Spending our lives on earth WITH Jesus (God) is SO much better and so much more blessed than living without Him. Spending eternity "in the light" (with God) is the difference between being in a PERFECT state for all eternity in His presence as opposed to being separated from God for all eternity in a literal place called Hell where the Bible (God's Word) tells us

there is constant burning, fire, gnashing of teeth (pain and torment) in a never-ending pit pf darkness. Let's face it, separation from God is AWFUL. Today is the perfect time to accept the LIGHT and let God make a way for you to be in His presence forever. Praise God that we can know for sure.... because of what He did for us.

As always, you are welcome to save the word art to your computer; but you are never required to use it in order to play along or to win in our challenges. We welcome you to share all of your art with us; remembering that Anything Goes as long as it's family friendly. This includes any type of altered or digital art (not just limited to cards). You may link up to five (5) projects each week for a total of ten (10) entries per two-week challenge. Any entries over that limit will be deleted and will make you ineligible to win. The more you enter, the more you increase your odds of winning. It is our desire that God's Word will be a blessing and an encouragement to you as we share it. If you have any questions about the rules, be sure to read the complete list of rules found under our Page tab marked "Challenge Rules". Because our ultimate goal is to honor God, we have no other choice but to delete any entries that do not adhere to our guidelines. Please know that this doesn't mean we are judging anyone. We're not. We are simply attempting to honor God and follow His rules. Please let us know if you have any questions about anything; and thank you for your understanding and participation.

Our FABULOUS Sponsor:

Have you heard about Love in Faith?

Well, this is something completely different

and it's something really SPECIAL. This

fabulous store, Love in Faith, is a really

cool Christian T-shirt and Sweatshirt company.

They carry all sizes and styles of Christian

T-shirts with wonderful quotes and images to

help you express your faith and love for God.

They have generously donated FIVE (5) different

T-Shirts for this Challenge. That means we will

have FIVE (5) different winners. The sizes we

have include shirts very similar to these:

2X (He Owns the Cattle) T-Shirt,

a Medium (His Grace is Enough) T-Shirt,

Small (Sisters in Christ) T-Shirt, and a

XL (His Mercies are New) T-Shirt,

and a Sz. Large (Give Thanks to the Lord)

PLEASE put your preferred SIZE after

your name in your Entry. Sample:

Karen L - XL

This will really help me know who would

like what size shirts. Whether it's for you

or a friend/family member, just let me know

what size you would prefer to win. Thanks!!

You can check out ALL the Love in Faith

products including T-shirts. Sweatshirts,

Coffee and Water Mugs and more

at Love in Faith. SO cool, right?

Let's meet our TWO Lucky Winners:

Owner, Raya, and her friends at Scrap 'N Stamp

generously sponsored our last challenge. One

lucky participant has WON a $50 (CA) gift card

to spend at this AWESOME store. Located in

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, this FAB

store services Canada, the United States and

crafters everywhere. They have an inspiring

Blog with a monthly Blog Hop where you'll

find lots of great inspiration. They carry SO

many amazing products and they carry many

of your favorite name-brand stamps, dies and

products. Be sure to visit Scrap 'N Stamp

to check out all their wonderful products and

to thank them for their amazing support. Our

Winner of this AMAZING prize is:

Entry #33 - Dawn E.

AND

YES! It's our dear friend Newton and his "staff"

at Newton's Nook who sponsored our

previous challenge. We're SO grateful, Newton.

You can visit Newton's Nook Inspiration Blog

to check out what's new, you can participate in

their monthly Inky Paws Challenge for another

chance to WIN, and you will always find lots

of great shopping when you visit Newton and

his friends at Newton's Nook. One very lucky

participant has now WON a generous $20

credit to spend at the awesome Newton's Nook.

Thanks, Newton. Our Lucky Winner is:

Entry #146 - Bonnie Lynn

Our Top 3 Honors Go to Our Friends:

Entry #10 - Francesca

Entry #63 - Karen M.

Entry #148 - Sandy J.

Please email Karen if you'd like a

Top 3 or Winner's Badge for your blog.

All winners must also email Karen to

claim prize (per the Rules Page). Thanks!

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much. We

pray for them, and for God's hand of blessing

upon their businesses. We're SO grateful.

Here's Some Inspiration to get You Started:

Our January Guest Designer, Bev Jordan

Wanda Cullen

Cynthia Olheiser

Christine Miller

Karen Letchworth

Natalie Houston

Coming Soon

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Anything Goes - Weeks #683-684

Welcome back to Word Art Wednesday for another AWESOME challenge. As I've mentioned so many times, God is SO GOOD and He has BLESSED us with many amazing Sponsors. For this particular challenge, we have TWO (2) Sponsors. We have one Canadian sponsor and one U.S. sponsor. We realize that, many times, prizes that are won can carry heavy shipping fees for those who live outside the Continental U.S. For that reason, we are blessed two have two different sponsors for this challenge. We're super grateful for all our sponsors, and we're also looking forward to our challenges this year that are sponsored by on-line stores in the UK. We appreciate ALL our participants, and we want everyone to be able to enjoy the prizes they win here. Thanks so much for sharing your art with us, everyone.

The scripture of focus for this beautiful piece of word art is found in the blessed Word of God in the Psalms. It's Psalm 119:50 which says, "This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me". These words are truly a comfort to us, as is every precious Word of God. Here we are reminded, once again, that the wonderful words of God make us feel alive. They comfort us, they encourage us, they instruct us, they bless us and they bring us life. However, how can God's beautiful words bless us if we don't know them? Just owning a Bible doesn't make you wise. We each need to get into the precious Word of God as much as possible. We need to read it, study it, seek it, understand it, apply it and live it. This is when we truly learn the deep value that His words (God's instruction to us) have for our daily lives. I'm no different than any of you. I often fail to get into the Word as much and as often as I should. Let's each give it our very best effort to take out our Bibles every day, to read as much as we can, to study and learn the beautiful truths God has for us, and to allow God to BLESS us and make us alive with His holy Word.

Let's meet the TWO amazing sponsors of this challenge:

Owner, Raya, and her friends at Scrap 'N Stamp

are generously sponsoring this challenge. One

lucky participant will WIN a $50 (CA) gift card

to spend at this AWESOME store. Located in

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, this FAB

store services Canada, the United States and

crafters everywhere. They have an inspiring

Blog with a monthly Blog Hop where you'll

find lots of great inspiration. They carry SO

many amazing products and they carry many

of your favorite name-brand stamps, dies and

products. Be sure to visit Scrap 'N Stamp

to check out all their wonderful products and

to thank them for their amazing support.

AND

YES! It's our dear friend Newton and his "staff"

at Newton's Nook sponsoring this challenge.

TWO prizes! How AWESOME is that?

You can visit Newton's Nook Inspiration Blog

to check out what's new, you can participate in

their monthly Inky Paws Challenge for another

chance to WIN, and you will always find lots

of great shopping when you visit Newton and

his friends at Newton's Nook. One very lucky

participant in this challenge will WIN a $20

gift card to spend at the awesome Newton's Nook.

Thanks, Newton.

Here's Our Next Lucky WINNER:

Our first Sponsor of the New Year was the

WONDERFUL Waffle Flower Stamps & Dies.

This fun store carries such cool and creative

stamps, dies and all sorts of wonderful crafting

supplies to help you create amazing cards and

projects. Stop by the Waffle Flower Blog to

check out their New Releases and to get some

fantastic inspiration. Let them know how

grateful we all are for their support of our

crafting community. One lucky participant

has WON a $15 credit to spend at the FUN

Waffle Flower Stamps & Dies store.

HURRAY!! The winner of this prize

is Lucky Entry #116 - Diana Larson

Our Top 3 Honors Go to Our Friends:

Entry #41 - Lynne

Entry #60 - Fiona W.

Entry #74 - Melanie H.

Please email Karen if you'd like a

Top 3 or Winner's Badge for your blog.

All winners must also email Karen to

claim prize (per the Rules Page). Thanks!

May God bless all our AWESOME sponsors.

We appreciate them all SO very much. We

pray for them, and for God's hand of blessing

upon their businesses. We're SO grateful.

Here's Some Inspiration to get You Started:

Our January Guest Designer, Bev Jordan

Newton's Birthday Balloons Stamp Set from

Our fabulous Sponsor, Newton's Nook

Wanda Cullen

Cynthia Olheiser

Christine Miller

Karen Letchworth

Natalie Houston

Using Christmas Basics 6x6 Paper Pad

from Sponsor, Newton's Nook.

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Anything Goes - #681-682

Welcome to our first challenge of 2025 and thanks so much for joining us. We're excited about all the awesome Sponsors we have with us for the new year, and you can read about all of them on the Sponsor Page. Some are returning sponsors, and some are brand new this year. They're all AWESOME. If you're interested in being a Guest Designer this year, please email Karen to inquire. Let's get started with this new challenge. We have NINE (9) Lucky Winners to announce, a fabulous new sponsor, a brief devotional, a beautiful piece of scriptural word art, and lots of fun planned for everyone.

The scripture in focus that was used to create this beautiful word art is Acts 2:28 which reads, "Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance". Have you ever heard that comment that "life doesn't come with an instruction manual"? Well, actually it does. The Bible tells us the most important things we need to know in order to be happy and successful in this life. This is why we read "thou hast made know to me the ways of life". It's so that we'll realize we have the necessary tools needed for us to be prepared for life's trials. God's Word also equips us so that we'll know what to do when life throws hurdles in our way. The latter part of this verse tells us that "thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance". Our countenance (and God's countenance) actually refers to the face/smile. When we study our Bible and learn how to handle life's troubles, God will smile on us and bring us great joy. When we don't study God's Word, or when we try to do things our own way, life gets even more difficult. That's just a fact. God literally smiles on us and brings joy into our lives when He sees us living the way He's instructed us to live. He's given us all we need to know about how to deal with people, how to deal with trials and stress, and how to please Him. Yes, we will all make mistakes. Those mistakes are made primarily when we try to solve things according to our own knowledge. But when we study and are prepared, it gives us the strength and wisdom of how God wants us to deal with things, with people and with situations. If you're not someone who regularly reads and studies the Bible, I would suggest letting this be the year you begin to do so. God's Word is full of information, stories and examples of how to live a life that will please God. As He begins to smile on us, we become filled with joy. Life is easier and better when we do things His way. We really do hope that you will draw closer to God than ever before this year. Watch as God smiles on you and brings great joy to your life. Happy New Year!