Thursday, January 5, 2012

I have decided to Follow Jesus



This week's WAW - Word Art Wednesday, was a paraphrase of Ruth 1:16 "Where you lead I will follow." My first thoughts were to the old song

"I have decided to Follow Jesus."

"Though I may wonder, still I will follow.

The world behind me the cross before me.

Though none go with me, still I will follow.

No turning back, no turning back"

I also really like the words to the hymn that I have as the second panel. It is called "I will follow thee" by James L. Elginburg. It was written in 1886. It says

" I will follow thee, my savior, whersoe'er my lot may be; where thou goest I will follow, yes my Lord, I'll follow thee.

Though the road be rough and stormy, trackless as the foaming sea; thou hast trod this way before me, and I gladly follow thee.

Though 'tis lone and dark and dreary, cheerless though my path may be, if thy voice I hear before me, fearlessly I'll follow thee.

Though I meet with tribulation, sorely tempted though I be; I remember thou wast tempted and rejoice to follow thee.

Though thou leadest through afflictions, poor, forsaken though I be; thou wast destitute, afflicted and I only follow thee.

I will follow thee my Savior, thou didst shed thy blood for me;

and though all men should forsake thee, by thy grace I'll follow thee.



God has set up a specific path for each one of us to follow. My path isn't the same as yours. But one thing I have learned is that each path has smooth areas, and difficult areas. I have friends this week who are going through one of the roughest areas on their path. They lost their 6 month old granddaughter in an apartment fire. The aunt of the little baby was saying yesterday how no one knows how she feels. My first thought was that she is right. We each have our own problems. We can sympathize with eachother, and we may go through similar things, but when it comes down to it, each of us has our own cross to pick up and follow Jesus. The comforting thought to me is that while no one knows what I am feeling or going through, God does. I thought of the old poem about the footprints. Where there were two sets of footprints and then one set of footprints, and it was during the one set of footprints that God was carrying them. I am thankful that God goes with me down my path and that He carrys me when I am too weak to make it on my own. My last thought was that each of our paths may be different but for Christians our paths all have the same destination... heaven.

My card uses this weeks scs sketch challenge, and scs ways to use it challenge. If you look at the paper behind the hymn, you will see something new for me. It is the digital paper that I won from last week's WAW sponsor Gail from Shabby Cottage Studio. It was a black and white cream background, but I made it green with my ink spray smash technique. I had so much fun making these coffee filter flowers. I also had fun using a stamp in a different way. I used the icicle stamp from Mark's Finest Papers set called Ice and snow. I turned the icicles upside down and stamped them on the top panel with light green ink. I then ink spray smashed the panel. I think it kinda looks like grass.

11 comments:

  1. Love the color combo on this card.

    Thanks for playing along with WAW.

    Wendy

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  2. What a gorgeous card!! And thanks for sharing such encouraging words along with it!!

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  3. Beautiful art. Thank you for sharing your heart. Yes, only God knows what we go through. I am very sorry for their loss.

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  4. Following Jesus is the most important decision we can make & you have expressed it beautifully! Your card is so inspiring. Thanks for sharing with us @ WAW.

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  5. Oh this is GORGEOUS Marilynn!! Definately a winner *Ü* So what exactly is your ink spray smoosh technique? Do you use glossy c.s. for that? And how do you ink it? With a brayer?? Okay, I'm prolly outta the loop, sorry! :)

    Am praying for your friends' family this week. ((HUGS))

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  6. Hi Marilynn! Thanks SO MUCH for playing along again this week at Word Art Wednesday. Your work is beautiful, and is such a blessing to me! I wish you luck, and hope you will continue to play along with us. You are quite a talented artist. Blessings to you!
    Karen L - Design Team Member
    karen-mycuprunnethover.blogspot.com

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  7. Beautiful MariLynn - love your words of encouragement and your art.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  8. Well this sure is a beauty, gorgeous colors. Thank you for sharing..

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  9. Hi MariLynn, thank you for your kind words over on my blog. It's so encouraging to read what others think. Thank you for sharing the thinking behind your creation. I am so glad you follow Jesus, my sister in Christ! I love the colour combination you have used above and how you've used the icicles differently. I love finding alternative uses for my stamps!

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  10. Oh, I love the colours and the stitching -- and the coffee filter flowers!!!! :) Thanks for participating in WAW -- I really enjoyed your post :)

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  11. Thank you for this WAW. I am a worship leader and was looking for a bridge to put in a blues version of "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus" and I used part of the other song you referenced, "I Will Follow Thee". The association with Ruth is an aspect I never thought about before and I plan to share it when I introduce the song to the congregation on Sunday. Be blessed as you are already a blessing.

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