“Totally Tulips” Collection in the Works, Digital Clip Art Kit by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

A quick reminder… today is the last day to post your entries for the Blog Free Digital Art Contest!  Just put a comment on any day of this month and tomorrow we’ll select a winner!

I’ll be leaving the Tropics and poolside for a moment to attend to a promise I made earlier in the year… to do a kit with Tulips!  I didn’t forget you, I’ve been working a little at a time in between the other kits until I finally have enough to send it on to Daisie soon! 

Totally Tulips Kit PreviewOnce this kit is in, I’ll be focusing on painting new art for my agent and creating some work for a few manufacturers that are interested in me since the NY Licensing Show and the NY Surtex show.  It will be a bit of a busy season for me in the other areas of my life, so I won’t have quite as many kits up as my pace has been , be patient with me!

The proverb of the day is a long one because it’s all related, I love how this reads in this version especially.  It sort of sounds like the news reporters of our day!

THE PROVERB OF THE DAY:  Proverbs 30: 1-6  "The skeptic swore, "There is no God!  No God! — I can do anything I want!  I’m more animal than human; so-called human intelligence escapes me.  "I flunked ‘wisdom.’  I see no evidence of a holy God.  Has anyone ever seen anyone climb into Heaven and take charge?  grab the winds and control them?  gather the rains in his bucket?  stake out the ends of the earth?  Just tell me his name, tell me the names of his sons.  Come on now — tell me!"

The believer replied, "Every promise of God proves true; he protects everyone who runs to him for help.  So don’t second-guess him; he might take you to task and show up your lies."

Have a great weekend!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

I Lied… One More Sneak Preview! Fourth of July Clip Art, Flags, Stars ‘n Stripes ‘n More! by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

UPDATE:  THIS WILL BE IN THE STORE TODAY, BUT HAS BEEN DELAYED BY COMPUTER DIFFICULTIES SO PLEASE BE PATIENT !

I found some art that I had forgotten that I had created (that happens frequently when you have 700GB of art on your computer!)  I hadn’t been sure that I could pull off getting it in on time for release this Friday, so I didn’t say anything about it.  Betcha didn’t believe that I could keep a secret so well did you?!  So I’m doing a last minute sneak peek!

Patriotic Clip Art for the Fourth of July I’ve shown the tiniest portion of this set, it’s a smaller set, but it has 3 different types of bunting, star borders, stripes borders, striped papers, frames, a text piece suitable for framing and a bookmark.  Bright, colorful and patriotic (for those of you in the United States) this set can be used to create invitations to a BBQ, make annoucements for your community’s parade, to create military salute pages or greeting cards for projects such as our recent Cards for the injured troops at Daisie Company. 

Hope your plans for the Fourth of July this year include taking lots of wonderful family photos and if you do, be sure to scrap them for your family!

PS  There’s a special coupon that will be good at DAISIE COMPANY through July 14th, make sure you enter the coupon code when prompted!  The coupon is a clickable link to the DAISIE COMPANY STORE.  It will take you to the new releases section of the store, where this kit and all of the tropical and summer kits featured this week will be available tomorrow. 

UPDATE: PLEASE USE COUPON CODE summer-day2, the first code was not working properly for some reason.  Sorry for the inconvenience!

DAISIE COMPANY COUPON

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Coming Tomorrow! Additional Previews of Tropical Clip Art Kit. Free clip art contest ends in 3 days!!! by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

There’s three more days left to enter in the Free Clip Art Contest.  Just read back through this month’s posts and leave comments.  The way it works is that we draw the # of a day and then look to see how many posts there were that day as sometimes I post more than once a day.  Then we draw the # of the post and the # of the comments, so those that read and post each day have a much higher chance of being selected (or go back and comment throughout the month if you’re late to the process )  The winner gets their choice of the two Tropical Breeze Scrapbook Quick Pages Kits shown earlier in the month.

Here’s the additional product shots for Tropical Breeze 2 and there’s a preview of a set of Premade scrapbook pages for Summer Fun 1 that also will be coming out tomorrow.tropical clip art previews, palm trees

It took an insane amount of time, but I carefully clipped out each and every palm tree or palm cluster from 4 different paintings so that they are incredibly useful.and flexible for your layouts..

There are also a couple of wide borders with torn edges and a wavy stitched border. preview tropical beach clip art cloudy skies

This cloudy blue sky can be used for a lot more than beachy crafts.  It was createded painstakingly from 3 different paintings. it has a similar purely beach and waves paper that I haven’t shown. 

The Summer Fun kit makes great summer scrapbook pages.  If you have pool shots, days at a waterpark, photos of your kids running through the sprinklers or any watery fun to document these pages are great for them.

scrapbook pages premade templatesDon’t forget to take lots of pictures as you enjoy your summer and think about what you want to scrap BEFORE you go play.  It can make things so much easier than trying to figure out what you want to do with the photos afterwards.  When you plan the shots that you would like to have you get much better results and avoid the "Oh no, I didn’t take a picture of….!"

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

THE PROVERB FOR THE DAY:  Proverbs 28: 1-2 "The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one’s after them; Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions.  When the country is in chaos, everybody has a plan to fix it — But it takes a leader of real understanding to straighten things out."  The Message

Dealing With Change & More Digital Clip Art Previews, Tropical, Beach, Summer by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Change… it should be spelled with four letters because most of us consider it a "four letter word" if you get my drift!  Change is stressful.  Change is challenging and unsettling and yet it’s the only consistent thing about life!  The only absolutely predictable thing we have in life is that it will change.

Do you handle change well?  Do you dread it or look forward to it with excitement and anticipation?  I remember watching a special on one of the three networks some years ago, where a study had been done and in-depth interviews had been conducted with a fairly large sampling of people who were over 100 years of age.  They were looking for a clue to help others live longer in the common emotional or personality characteristics that would be found in this group.

The #1 characteristic was adaptability to change and its counterpart, being able to deal effectively with loss.  When interviewed, each related that they had to be flexible and decide to keep on enjoying life after they experienced losses.  They stressed that if you live to be 100 you will have lost virtually everyone you have known and loved and will be left with a younger generation that you might not know very well.  Forming new relationships was key.  It was intriguing to think about.

How can you deal more effectively with change?  Here’s some of my coping mechanisms and I’d like to encourage readers to contribute your own in the comments section.  To post a comment, click on the "comments" link below and it will lead you through the process.

  1. Expect change.  Sounds simple, but we are constantly surprised that change occurs!   Expecting that things can change at any time can help you establish an emotional equilibrium that is stable even when your world is shaking a bit.
  2. Be Thankful.  Live in a constant state of gratefulness for whatever it is that you enjoy in your life, whether it’s a wonderful home, a good marriage, great kids, a job you love.  Enjoy it every single day so that if any one of those blessings are lost or must change, you have never taken them for granted.
  3. Be flexible.  I’ve noticed that rigid people are often shattered by change.  Those who are too set in their ways or unable to adapt often never recover or take a very long time to do so.  Flexible people are those who are able to bend and move to fit the situation.  They can adjust their expectations more quickly and find a "new normal" an begin the process of becoming comfortable with the results of change.
  4. Think positively.  Often our minds immediately decide that the proposed change will have negative impact on our lives.  Instead of going immediately to what you may have lost because of the change, think about what might be gained.  For example:  You have a home you love with neighbors that you are close to and your husband has just been relocated by his company.  If you dwell on what you are "losing" you won’t be open to the potential blessings that you may just be "gaining."  The move is inevitable, but only you can choose whether you will be happy making it or not.  Even the worst events in life can ultimately become a blessing in the long run because of God’s unbelievable ability to bring good out of evil. 
  5. God is in control.  When our world changes we feel out of control.  If we realize that God isn’t surprised by the changes even if we are, it helps us to quiet our hearts and rest in the knowledge that He is in control and more importantly loves us passionately and desires the best for our lives.

When I came home from a relaxing weekend camping, I never expected that our dear Miss Stacey would be leaving THE DAISIE COMPANY because of health reasons.  I didn’t want her to go (as many of you have also indicated!) but I know it’s the right decision for her and her family.  I also know that when anyone who is as key to a company as Stacey is leaves, change is inevitable!  Preparing ourselves to be flexible and patient while those changes occur will help us to not only survive the changes, but come out on the other side of them with an excitement of what can be rather than a hopeless longing for what once was. 

UPDATE, THIS KIT IS NOW AVAILABLE JUST CLICK ON EITHER PICTURE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THE STORE.  On a lighter note, here’s a couple more previews of the kits coming out on Friday:Summer Clip Art, pool, beach, or lakeside fun

This Summer Fun kit has 56 pcs.  and is complete with lots of complimentary papers,  frames, borders, charms and art pieces.  Perfect for summer crafts, scrapbooking, and even for tweener type projects.  I hope you’ll enjoy playing with it!

The final preview for Summer Fun shows the flip flops with and without a decorative ornament (so they can be used for boy or girl layouts).  Each flip flop is entirely separate so you can control their placement.

Summer Fun 1 Beach, pool or lakeside clip art kit previewI’m looking forward to seeing what you create with this kit!  Please be sure to post in the general message board if you post a project to the DAISIE COMPANY gallery as I simply don’t have time to peruse the galleries very often and I don’t want to miss your creative "masterpiece!"

THE PROVERB FOR THE DAY:  Proverbs 27:1-2 "Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.  Don’t call attention to yourself; let others do that for you."  The Message.

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Beach, Tropical Clip Art Kit Preview, Coming Friday. By Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Getting back to work after relaxing too thoroughly is a challenge!  But the fun part is that I have these previews ready to show you of Tropical Breeze 2 which is coming out this Friday!

Beach, tropical clip art previewThere are several text art frames that can be used for journaling, making a greeting card out of, a candy wrapper or?  The possibilities are endless!

There are a bunch of palm trees that have been isolated out of the paintings so that you can place them anywhere that works for you.

Also there is quite a bit of summery tropical bright papers and goodies that will work for a lot more than purely beach or tropical themes.

I’ve created a purely clouds paper that can be very useful as well as a purely beach/ocean paper.

 Tropical bright papers and clip art

There is so much in this set that I’ll have to take a couple of days to show you all of it!  Plus I also have my Summer Fun 1 set coming out this week too.  The rest of this week will have to be full of sneak peeks!

Remember, my blog contest ends on the 30th with the winner being announced the 1st of July.  Just leave a comment on any of this month’s posts and you are eligible to win.  The prize will be your choice of one of the two sets of Tropical Breeze Premade scrapbook pages.

Calla Lily clip art preview

These striking Red and Yellow Calla lillies grew in my garden but are a tropical flower that could be used in many ways.  The border at the top is a thatched woven pattern with a texturized edge.

I hope your summer is starting out with a bang!  Have a great one!  

THE PROVERB FOR THE DAY: Proverbs 26:1-3  "Clear my name, God; I’ve kept an honest shop.  I’ve thrown in my lot with you, God and I’m not budging.  Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests.  Make sure I’m fit inisde and out so I never lose sight of your love, but keep in step with you, never missing a beat."  The Message

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

What a Wonderful Weekend in a Beautiful Place, With People I Love (Does Life Get Any Better Than That?)

We extended our planned 3 day camping trip an extra night so we could stop by and spend time with our dear friend Floyd (who lost his wife to Breast Cancer a year ago this month).  We had a marvelous time really connecting with people that we love and enjoy.  We parked next door to our Pastor and his wife and we all have so much fun together.  Our Pastor is a total tease and playful soul so there’ s rarely a dull moment when he’s around. 

campout 1My beloved is in the red shirt, our Pastor (Jim Kennemur) is in the chair with his back to me and his wife Betty is standing up .  This was the picnic area between us and we spent most of our time in our chairs gabbing away here!

The campground was next to Stoney Creek in King’s Canyon National Forest.  It was perfect weather and about 50 or more of us showed up over the weekend.  It couldn’t have been any more perfect weather for the campout.  It got very cool at night (not that we would notice with our heater in our 5th wheel)  I like camping but I didn’t say I liked "roughing it!"

We have normally done some exploring during the day, but this year was a rest and relax trip.  Our daughters, Jacqui (the pilot) and Jennifer (the teacher in training) were with us and Jacqui’s longtime boyfriend Jacob and two young friends of his family made up our entourage.

campout 2

For me, camping is really about connecting with the people I love in the middle of God’s beautiful creation.  Judging by that criteria, it was a perfect weekend!

I finally took a picture of our trailer on one of our trips.  The ponytail belongs to my middle daughter, Jennifer.  There’s no picture of me because I was always behind the camera!  This space was quite tight to get into, but my husband is amazing and manuevering.  You can’t tell from the picture but he has parked it two inches from a tree on the left side rear!

Jacqui and Jacob spent most of their time rough housing.  Jacqui has been trying to "take him down" their whole relationship and still hasn’t accomplished the task.  My final picture is one I snuck of them wrestling and him tossing her around a bit!  They are close to the same size, but it’s really not much of a competition when he decides to win.

campout 3When I get time away, unplugged, I come back recharged and ready to create more.  I have some previews of this week’s kits that I’ll post tomorrow or Wednesday.

Make sure you get some time to enjoy God’s creation and the people you love… whether it has to be somewhere close to home or in some special place!  A vacation doesn’t have to cost a lot to renew your strength and joy.

THE PROVERB OF THE DAY:  Proverbs 25:2-3  "God delights in concealing things; scientists delight in discovering things.  Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth, the understanding of a  good leader is broad and deep."  The Message.

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

We’re Going to be Grandparents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were headed out the door to go camping when our oldest daughter, Ariane, called and demanded that all of us be on the phone at once… my heart started to race and I was holding my breath as she said "We’re 6 weeks pregnant!" 

Some people struggle with becoming grandparents thinking somehow it makes them old, but we’re thrilled!  I’d love to be called "Grammy" if I had the option to choose but any name coming off of my sweet grandchild’s lips would be music to my ears.

Got to run, but I just had to tell somebody!!!!  Hugs, AJ

Free Clip Art, Friday Freebie at Daisie Company by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Normally I would be able to take the time to link the Friday Freebie here so that you could go directly to the shop and download it, but Stacey doesn’t have it up yet this morning and I’m getting ready to leave on our camping trip.  There’s still a million preparations!  The first trip out of the summer is the hardest, then with a trailer we just load up fresh clothes and food the next time and we’re off.  We’re hoping for 2 or 3 more trips over the summer.  I find it so refreshing and one of the best things I can do to spark my creativity.

Friday Freebee at DAISIE COMPANYI am linking this image to the DAISIE COMPANY STORE and you can click on it to take you there.  The Friday Freebee is now up.  Please take a moment to go through the pages of new offerings today, there’s lots of neat stuff from lots of great artist!

  For those of you new to Daisie Company, take a look around.  There are forums for sharing designs, templates, cutting files (for those lucky enough to have one of those fabulous computerized cutters) and a whole lot more.  There’s also a section where other Friday Free Bees are located so you can take advantage of a few great offerings.

In my kit there is an invitation you can use for summer barbeques or pool parties, there’s a post card sized image you can use to create your own greeting card, post card or use in scrapbooking for a journaling space.  There’s the Fun in the Sun title and finally there’s a recipe card with a second page for long recipes.  I hope you’ll enjoy!

This is all made out of the art from my "Summer Fun 1" Clip art kit which will be debuting a week from today.

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Free Clip Art Contest Reminder! by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Just a reminder that there’s a little over a week to go in my monthly Free Clip Art Contest.  All you need to do to enter is go back through this month’s posts and leave comments.  The winner will be randomly selected from one of the month’s posts and will receive their choice of one of my two new Tropical Breeze Quick Pages sets.

There are two quick page sets to choose from so think about which you would prefer and be ready to tell me!  The other one is previeviewed a little farther back in the blog posts.  Both of these kits are coming out on Friday in the DAISIE COMPANY STORE.  I’ll link here to them once they become available. 

I will probably post tomorrow morning and then will be gone for the weekend out enjoying nature and our friends at the annual church campout.  I’l make sure I take plenty of pictures and will post them when I get back.

THE PROVERB FOR THE DAY:  Proverbs 21:1-2 "Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.  We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives."

Have a fabulous day!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Another Peek at “Summer Fun” Digital Clip Art Kit by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Since I don’t have the time to write above and beyond the book I’m working on at the moment, I thought I’d give you another peek at "Summer Fun 1."  I have created some quick pages that I hope to get uploaded to Stacey today for Friday, June 29th as well.

Sneak Peek at Summer Fun 1 Clip Art KitIf you have purchased or plan to purchase either of the "Tropical Breeze" kits, this kit will coordinate beautifully with either of them or their paper packs. 

I’ll show you a couple of Premade Scrapbook Pages that I created with this kit tomorrow so you can see a little of how the pieces will work together.

Today I go back to editing my book and will be painting a picture of my Uncle Johnny’s favorite plane.  One of these days I’ll do an aviation kit — having a daughter that flies and wants to do some scrapbooking will push me in that general direction!

THE PROVERB FOR THE DAY:  Proverbs 20:4-5, 7  "A farmer too lazy to plant in the spring has nothing to harvest in the fall.  Knowing what is right is like deep water in the heart; a wise person draws from the well within… God-loyal people, living honest lives, make it much easier for their children."   The Message

Have a blessed day!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Oooooops! Forgot the Proverb for the Day the Last Couple of Days

  Oh boy… my bad!!!!  I’ve been working intensively in the scriptures the last few days as the book I’m writing is full of prayers and promises, but I got off of my normal routine enough to forget to read my proverb for each day!  Soooo… I’m going to have to make up for two days in one post.

Proverbs 18:4-5 Many words rush along like rivers in flood, but deep wisdom flows up from artesian springs.  It’s not right to go easy on the guilty or come down hard on the innocent.

Proverbs 19: 8, 10-11    Grow a wise heart — you’ll do yourself a favor; keep a clear head — you’ll find a good life… blockheads shouldn’t live on easy street any more than workers should give orders to their boss.  Smart people know how to hold their tongue; their gandeur is to forgive and forget.  (quoted from The Message)

I thought I would take a minute to explain the translation that I like to use for these proverbs.  It’s called "The Message" and it speaks in a common, earthy way instead of religious sounding, eloquent but not understandable language. The bible in its original language was written in the language of the street — for the common man.  It was written to be easily understood and applied to simple people’s lives.  The Message is a true translation, but one that translates not simply word for word, but instead concept for concept. 

Many word pictures in the scripture don’t have the same meaning in English as they had 2,000 or more years ago.  For example "Rom 12:20-21"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  NIV"  Wouldn’t you think to heap burning coals on someone’s head is a mean thing?  Sort of getting back at them?  It’s not, in this context, it is a blessing.  It is doing good for them not bad.  The nomadic people of the time carried their coals from the fire from one campsite to another in a turban wrapped in some special way, so that they could easily start a fresh fire to get warm and feed themselves.  The Message picks current idioms (culturally understood imagery) to explain the ancient idioms in the original text.

In this case, The Message translates this same passage as  "Our scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink.  Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.  Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good."  Isn’t that clear and easy to understand (hard to actually do!!!!  but easy to understand)  Okay, lesson for the day is over, now I have to go back to editing my manuscript.  Thanks for the break!!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

More Summer Clip Art Coming Soon! First peek today, by Audrey Jeanne Roberts

I spent most of my day yesterday writing on my new book, which will be out in time for next year’s Mother’s Day.  I love writing (as those of you who read the insane volume of words I seem to produce here on a routine basis know!) but disciplined writing with a complete plan and step-by-step process just totally drains me.  My office is in the center of the house when Jacqui is home for the summer, so I can get a little cranky with the rest of my housemates !   The slightest noise disturbs me, so Jacqui loaned me her Ipod loaded with her Christian Contemporary music, great headphones and I was in my own world rocking out!

Preview of Summer Fun Clip Art KitSo, once I’d wrung every last little bit of writing energy out of myself, I turned to finishing up a new kit that I’ll be debutting soon.  It is "Summer Fun 1" and has a more poolside orientation than my Tropical Breeze collections though they will work wonderfully together. 

There are a bunch of really fun borders, pool toys, chairs, umbrellas, flip flops that are separate and plain so you can decorate them.  I’ve shown them with their "flower" top.

Well, back to the word processing for now, hope you enjoy the peek!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Even More Exciting News!

For our family anyway… we have a very favorite camping spot.  It’s only about 10 spaces in the entire campground and one of them is long enough for our 28′ fifth wheel, truck and a couple o cars to fit in it.  There’s a wonderful stream that flows down to the backside of the site and then splits in two, tumbling down on either side making an incredible water feature to both look at and listen to. 

Our favorite camping spot

Here’s a picture of the stream below our space.  When I went searching for pictures, I discovered that we never took one of our camping set up!  Isn’t that funny?!  We took pictures all around it but not of our actual camping experience.  It’s a reminder to think about what you want to do with your pictures before/while you’re taking them. 

Guess what I’ll have to do this year?  If I’m going to scrapbook our family’s camp memories I guess I’ll need it.  I want to start painting some camping art to use for scrapping (for me to use for my own purposes) but you will benefit as of course it will make its way to DAISIE COMPANY as a kit at some point.

Last summer when we went to check if everything was okay with our space we were stunned to find that they had blocked it off and made it a walk in camping spot only.  Apparently there had been some damage to the culvert that you drive over the stream on and they probably didn’t want the weight of a trailer or motorhome on it.  We were so sad that we never did end up camping anywhere else last summer.  But this morning we found out from friends that it is open again! 

Here’s hoping you will find a special place of your own to relax and enjoy your family’s company and make treasured memories.

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

I’m Getting So Excited…

Our annual Church camp out is this weekend!  We’re hoping to go up a day or so early (I may have my husband take me up and leave me there alone to do some writing)  I LOVE CAMPING.  When I was a little girl, my parents would take us good, old-fashioned tent camping up in the mountains in Southern California.  My little sister and I would sleep together in an army surplus hammock tent! 

My spirits would start to soar as we climbed above the smog line in Riverside.  The air was much worse then than now.  So bad that we had smog alert days rather frequently and I can recall not being able to catch my breath after playing.  So when we broke through into the crystal-clear pine-scented mountain air something in my child’s heart would begin to turn handsprings!

There’s also something about being "unplugged" in this modern age.  I won’t have the internet, phone, cell phone or television (sorry Daisies I won’t even be able to be on the message board or write my blog!) but I will take pictures.  I’ll have to entertain myself the old-fashioned way, which will consist of getting beaten by every team in the camp at horse shoes, spending time with my Pastor’s wife catching up on our lives, sitting around in my zero-gravity recliner chair soaked in mosquito spray and taking a power nap or two!

Do you have plans to get away somewhere to unwind?  You really don’t have to spend a great deal of money to do so.  The amount of restfulness of a vacation sometimes can be in direct proportion to how much was or wasn’t spent on it.  For me, it seems the more expensive the vacation plans the more I need a vacation from my vacation when I get home. 

My friend Karla Dornacher (www.karladornacher.com) and her husband just came to visit us last month and their summer vacation was a two week road trip with minimal planning and a lot of spontaneity!  They tent camped a little, slept in motels along the way (when it rained) and soaked in the wonder of God’s creation everywhere they went.  They also just enjoyed each other’s company and had as much fun just being together, as being together in some really beautiful places.

I want to encourage you to spend some time really, really relaxing this summer.  If you haven’t camped in a while, maybe that’s an option for you.  If you have children, camping can be a lot of work for the mom (it’s not quite as carefree as you remember it being when you were the child!) but it creates priceless memories for your children.  Exposing them to the wonders of God’s creation, whether in the mountains,at the beach, by a river, at a lake or in the desert is a really life-impacting experience for them.  So Mom, if you hate dirt and bugs, try to put yourself in your children’s shoes and remember how wonderful the world was to explore when you were little!  A little sacrifice on your part can make their eyes truly shine. 

Maybe you can borrow a friend’s trailer or motorhome, or perhaps rent one for a week.  We love camping, but I will confess that we do it in our fifth wheel, so it’s much more like being home in a new place.  Our trailer is an older one that we bought three years ago, and even though we use it very little it keeps aging (and time is making it fall apart) and we keep forgetting to take it down the mountain for repairs… the water tank doesn’t hold water so there’s no hot showers, the refrigerator broke at the end of last summer so we’ll be using ice chests… but we’ll be together, in God’s wonderful world so it will be PERFECT!!!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts

Please Pray for Me! I’m Speaking This Morning

I’m the featured speaker at our Women’s Breakfast this morning and I’m sharing on the topic, "Living a Legacy… Leaving a Legacy."  How can our lives make a difference in the world around us and the world we’re leaving to our children and grandchildren and the generations beyond?  I am challenging women to invest themselves in each of the relationships that they have in their lives.  Family, co-worker, friend or stranger, all can be impacted by how real our relationship with Christ is and how much we allow Him to use us each day.

There are at least three legacies that we can leave behind us, a legacy of faith, a legacy of love and a legacy of prayer.  Each one can outlive us in their influence and abilitiy to bless those who come after us.

I’ll write more this afternoon when I get back.  I just wanted to enlist your prayers that the Lord speak through me and His message be clear.  Without His power I might be entertaining, but no one’s life will be changed. 

THE PROVERB FOR THE DAY:  Proverbs 16:3 & 9  Put God in charge of your work, then what you’ve planned will take place…. We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it"

Have a great day with your family and if you have one in your life, Bless your Father!  Tell him what he did right in raising you (whether it was a lot of things or only a few).  If your husband is the kind of father you always wish you had, honor him for it.  If there’s someone who has been like a father to you, call him and tell him how much his love and support has meant in your life.  Gifts are wonderful, but the real treasure is what is deposited in the heart by the gift of our words!

Happy Father’s Day!  Audrey Jeanne Roberts