And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. . Romans 8:28

truth

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 / KJV
Jesus is our soon coming King
James 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Welcome to the Jesus is the Reason Blog Hop!!!
We are delighted to have you with us as we celebrate the Good News of our Savior's birth! We are a small band of blogging crafters who love God, and in the midst of all the seasonal festivies, we wanted to take some time to focus on the real meaning of Christmas: the birth of Jesus Christ.


image by Fresh Brewed Designs

Christmas trees, bows, SANTA, snow, reindeer, cocoa, shopping, woes, laughter, family, memories that grow, children, elves, parties, candles all a glow.
I know we can all name the reindeer that pull Santa's sleigh, know what treats make his day. We can look for elves to sneak on our shelves and watch us as we play. Naughty or nice? Elephants for Christmas. Mistletoe hanging for you to sneak a kiss from your sweetheart. The smells of moms special pie baking in the oven. Cinnamon and pine trees. Ornaments hanging on the tree that capture and reflect the light and twinkle enough to make you escape away into the fantasy of all the wonderful things Christmas brings.

All of these things are a part of my Christmas. We love to laugh, share, spend time together, buy presents for one another.. and every year it seems the world gets busier and busier and busier and Christmas becomes less and less important. We do not take the time to spend with our family, we do not take the time to think of those less fortunate than we are. We do not take the time to sit on the couch and read books and share stories with our children. Why? Oh it is a very simple answer. We have taken our focus away from the REASON. The reason of Christmas is Jesus Christ. ALL of the things I listed are wonderful things. I am not trying to take the FUN out of Christmas. These things I listed are things MY FAMILY does. But the key, the key to it all, is that we focus FIRST on this: One day a mother, Mary, gave birth to a very special baby boy. That boy, God's son, Jesus, was given to us as the most perfect gift. I know as Mary held her little baby boy, she did not think of all he would have to do, endure, or face. She just loved him. And continued to love him and know that God had a plan for him. A mighty and great plan that is above all I can imagine. He loves us so much.

image by Fresh Brewed Designs(card in dark with a tea light candle behind it)

I want to add a special thank you to a few ladies. First to the lovely Catherine for setting this up and letting me be involved. She is such an inspiration and a wonderful friend.

Next I want to thank a few of our wonderful sponsors for their generosity.

Simply Betty Stamps
The Stamping Boutique

I am also honored to be able to sponsor this hop with my shop:
Fresh Brewed Designs

There will be a few secret hop stops (and we are not telling who they are) that will be hosting these lovely prizes being offered.

Also, Catherine is hosting a challenge on her blog. The challenge is for those of you who want to join in on spreading the love of Christ through the blog world with us. All you have to do is create a Jesus is the Reason themed card, post it to your blog and link it to Catherine's page during the duration of the blog hop. Those that participate will have the chance to win a little bit of blog candy!!


Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will be blessed during this hop and will feel the love of Christ through every post you hop to. Let us not forget this season that Jesus is the reason for it all!

Here is the hop order in case you need it along the way. Your next stop is
KADIE


Catherine http://paperaddictcatherine.blogspot.com

36 comments:

  1. Hello Heather. How beautiful are your cards. Fabulous images and designs, as always so beautifully made. Happy crafting.
    With lots of love, Sandra xx

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  2. Those cards are amazing! So excited to see a blog hope honoring the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

    Angela
    Simple Creations
    simplecreations @live.com

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  3. Such a special card! I really like the look and feel... clean & simple but so powerful! Thank you for sharing and for keeping Christ first place in Christmas! AJ

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  4. Awesome!! I just love that you are doing this blog hop!! And your cards are so pretty. Thank you for helping us to "re-focus" during this busy-busy holiday season.
    *smiles*
    debbi

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  5. Beautiful, beautiful cards!

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  6. Great cards! Thanks for a great blog hop! I enjoyed the inspiration.

    spunkycrayon at yahoo dot com

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  7. so so BEAUTIFUL Heather!!! What a great start to our blog hop!
    Bless you my friend...abundant & overflowing!
    HUGS!

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  8. Heather, your cards are fabulous (as usual), and your message is something that needs to be remembered by everyone during the holiday season and beyond. We used to have a birthday cake for the baby Jesus every year when our kids were growing up. It made us stop and remember to thank the Lord for our families and friends, and how truly blessed we are. The kids were always involved with the church pageants, but I was even more pleased when they would tell me the Bible stories instead of vice versa. It seems like everyone is in such a hurry anymore, and then become so obsessed about "things" instead of remembering what we should be celebrating! God's love reaches out to all that will accept Him, so I pray that more people will reach out to Him this holiday season. It shouldn't matter if you're out of work or living very comfortably, the message is always the same...Jesus is the reaon for the season!!!

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  9. Wonderful post! I feel like I just went to church! :)

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  10. Your creations are so great. Thanks for helping us remember the true reason we celebrate Christmas.

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  11. What a fab post. Your creations are amazing x

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  12. Love your card! Thanks for celebrating the true reason for all seasons.

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  13. Hi Sweetie!! Omgoodness, I LOVE these images (must have them)!! AND of course I love what you've done with them! I'm so thrilled that you and Catherine wanted to have this hop and that I get to take part. Love you, Gals!! Happy Happy Christmas to you and yours. xoxo

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  14. Beautiful card Heather!!! Good for you for sharing the real reason for Christmas!

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  15. Beautiful cards Heather they are so classic they are gorgeous. With love and hugs Shirleyxxxx

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  16. Heather, your cards are beautiful. so divine and serene. Thanks for sharing the significance of Christmas with all of us.
    Hugs, Neeti

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  17. Hi Heather! Beautiful post!! LOVED reading it and I love your cards and designs too! Thanks for sponsoring this hop and letting me take part :D
    Sammi
    xxx

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  18. Cute card and BEAUTIFUL tea light card!! Love the glitz on the front of that and the image is so cute too. Great start to this hop! =) I heard about it at Doodle Pantry on CDAC from Maria Matter! Off to hop!

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  19. Heather, your creations are beatiful! LOVE the tealight card! Thank you for sponsoring and allowing me to play along as we celebrate the true Reason for the Season! :-)

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  20. Heather, I can't tell you how wonderful I feel to be a part of this very special blog hop. Thank you so much for sponsoring, and helping to make this possible. Your cards and post are all lovely!! Thanks again!

    Hugs,
    Lorie

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  21. Hi Heather,
    I absolutly loved reading your heartwarming post...beautiful poignat words indeed!
    I'm feeling so blessed to be a wee-part of this blog hop too!:o)
    What wonderful projects U created!
    Stunning indeed....
    God bless!

    Paola

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  22. So glad to see a hop centered around celebrating the birth of our savior. Thank you!

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  23. Thankyou for your message and your card. It is nice to be reminded about the real Christmas blessing amongst all the santa cards... Thanks for sharing.

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  24. Hey there Friend! I am just a few people into the hop and already bawling like a baby! {{sniff}} I can not believe how blessed I am to be a part of such a beutiful testimony to our Saviour! I am so tired and have to work tomorrow so I am giving up for the day, this is too emotional I will have to finish hopping tomorrow night! Your cards are stunning as always, your words touched my heart in ways i cannot explain! You my dear are such a blessing to me!
    Love,
    Your sister in Christ, Stacy

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  25. Beautiful cards! Such wonderful inspiration for the true meaning of the season.

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  26. I honestly don't know what is more beautiful: your cards or your post. For sure the most beautiful thing about you is your love for God. Thank you so much for sharing your wise words and cards!
    I love the twine and felt on the first card. It has the "primitive" style I love and is perfect with your fab image!
    The second card is awesome, too! Love the glow from the candle, beautiful embellies and fantastic layout!
    (((((HUGS)))) and BIG THANKS for doing this with me and for being such a dear & special friend.

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  27. What a lovely card and blog. It was nice visiting you.

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  28. Wow, Heather, these cards are just breathtaking!! Love the new images!!

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  29. Thank you for having a blog that shows the true meaning of Christmas, also your card is beautiful.

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  30. Gorgeous cards, sweet Heather!! I really love the simplicity of the manger and the tea light effect with the second card.

    Love ya, my friend!
    Barb

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  31. So excited to see a blog hop honoring the real reason we celebrate Christmas.lets celebrate Happy Birthday to JESUS
    Rebecca Minor
    buzzybeedesigns(AT)yahoo(DOTcom

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  32. How creative, these are gorgeous.

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  33. Such beautiful cards and images, Heather. This was such a great idea and I feel so honored to have been asked to participate. Thank you so much.

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  34. Heather, your words have touched me! Jesus IS the reason for the season... what a joy to know Him!!!

    I love your card... especially how the circle surrounding the image glows. WOW!!! Awesome!

    Thank you for being you!!!

    Hugs!

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Thank you for your comments
they make me SMILE :D
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs3: 5,6

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