Karla's Korner

A Downloadable Thanksgiving Card for You to Give!

"I thank my God every time I remember you!"

I designed this FREE DOWNLOADABLE CARD especially for you... to say "Thank You" for caring enough to take time out of your busy life to stop by and read what I have to say... and also for your comments, emails, cards and letters of blessing and encouragement. I truly do thank God every time I think of you and I want you to know it!

Sometimes we can take the people around us for granted though, can't we? Our family, friends, co-workers, those who teach our children or offer us everyday services such as the bank teller or our favorite check out clerk at the grocery store.

We all long to be valued and what better time to express our gratitude then right now!

So be encouraged to take a little time in the midst of your busy schedule and print off a few cards and let this card be A Gift that Keeps on Giving. So who do you appreciate? As God brings people to mind, let them know... and thank God for bringing them into your life!

Thank You Father... for all the people You have sovereignly placed along the path of our lives... those You've used to bring us great joy and blessings,as well as, those You've used to challenge us into a depending on and becoming more like You. Forgive us for taking the people in our lives for granted and help us in the days to come to be more aware of those around us who need a "thank you" or even just a smile. Bless You Lord for giving us hearts of thanksgiving... for Your glory!

Remember the Wonders He Has Done

"Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done... tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name... Remember the wonders he has done..." Psalm 105

I love this verse and I love making known what God has done... remembering the wonders He has done in my life... and they are many. Out of all the wonders, there are a few that rise to the top above all others. My daughter... and my relationship with her... is one of those exceptional miracles for which I am eternally thankful and will forever praise His Name.

Children are a gift from God but when I was a young mom, without Christ, I didn't know that and as much as I wanted to be a good  mom... I just didn't know how. I had become a prisoner to the emotional pain and baggage of my own childhood and all that  ugly emotion just kept oozing out of me and onto the two people I loved the most... my husband and Michelle. And I can only imagine what might have become of us if God had not intervened in our lives... in my life... the way He did and the imaginings are not pretty.

The relationship I have with Michelle is truly a God miracle and my heart sings with thanksgiving at the thought of it! God took a relationship doomed and destined to repeat history and He transformed into something beautiful beyond measure! I write this with tears of joy!

I love everything about that girl... oops excuse me... young woman... but for today I wanted to share with you how creative she. This clock... called "Steamin Tea" is one of her designs and I am pleased as punch and as proud as a mama peacock to let you know that I have just added a number of new Michelle Allen Designs clocks, frames and jewelry holders to my webstore!  I wanted to hurry up and let you know in case you're looking for a very creative and unique Christmas gift for someone special. You may just find it here!

Michelle is a great mother, a caring friend, and a very creative woman. Tomorrow... I want to share with you a story about Michelle's creativity... something you might want to try with your own children! Stay tuned!!

I love you all and am so thankful every time I think of you!  Keep giving thanks, calling on His Name and giving Him the glory He so rightfully deserves.

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done..."
Psalm 105

Father God... thank you for being a God of transformation and restoration. Thank you for picking up all the broken pieces of my life and making me into a new creation in Christ... a vessel overflowing with your love, your kindness... and stories of how great you really are!  Help us all to be women who seek your face... remember your wonders... and tell the world about how great you are! Be blessed Lord by our praises! Amen.

A New Prize Added to the November Contest

What would our Thanksgiving Celebration be without good food and friends and family to share it with? In fact, our CARE group will be enjoying a traditional Thanksgiving feast and taking time to rejoice in God's goodness together tomorrow night... and then we'll be doing the same thing again on the 24th at Michelle's house with family. I look forward to spending the time remembering the good things God has done for each of us throughout the year and giving Him the glory and praise!

I also love knowing that both "the meals we share will be sprinkled with Love" because the love we share with one another is the greatest gift God has given us through His Son... the heart to love others as He loves us. And because this gift is one that keeps on giving... I thought how appropriate it would be to add this beautiful recipe binder to the November Contest Gift Bag!

Inside this Deluxe Recipe Binder, you'll find color coordinated paper to print or write your favorite recipes on, lots of helpful cooking tips, pocket pages to store your loose recipe clippings and cards, a shopping list and some refrigerator magnets... it truly is a beautiful gift to give and to receive. I know whoever wins it will love it for sure!

If you're trying to think of the perfect present for your kids or grandkids, I have a heart-warming idea for you to consider. How about passing down your tried and true recipes to the next generation of your family? I have had several people, over the years, buy my recipe binders for doing just that and each time someone tells me that, I think what a wonderful way to hand down a legacy of love.

Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the gift of love that you have handed down to us. How different our lives would be today if it weren't for Your Presence with us. Jesus... help us stay focused on You during this holiday season... and be your heart and hands and voice to those who need a touch of Your love in their lives. Amen.

Emmanuel Baptist and Freedom... A Privilege and Honor

I'm back... and so thankful for all God did in the hearts and lives of the wonderful women of Emmanuel Baptist Church! Jesus tells us that when we hear and receive and believe the truth... the truth will set us free and I know, without a doubt, that there are women walking around in Idaho this morning in greater freedom in Christ than they were last week! Thank you to all the women there who showed me such hospitality and opened your hearts to me in very honest and vulnerable ways.  I'm sorry to say the photos I took did not turn out well so I have none to post here.

I wrote this yesterday and got sidetracked and never pushed the publish button... so a day late but the same heart...
This morning as I continue to contemplate all that I have to be thankful for, the recognition of this Veteran's Day reminds me of all the earthly freedoms we have and I thank my God...

    1. ...for veterans and every soldier... past and present... who have served and sacrificed to protect the freedom of this country... we thank you and God bless you!

    2. ...for the blessing of living in this country where freedom is a privilege... and so often take for granted... especially the freedom of religion... the freedom to worship Jesus and gather together in His Name.

    3. ...for the freedom of choice... to choose our president and other governing officials, to choose where I live and the kind of work I do, to choose how many children I want to have, to choose when and where I want to go, and so much more.

    4. ...for the freedom of speech... being able to share my faith in Christ openly at retreats, blog it on the internet, or have a conversation at Starbucks without fear.

    5. ...for the freedom from sin and death that Christ died to give us... a freedom far greater and more glorious than all our earthly freedoms put together.

 

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:38

Thank You Father for all the freedoms that are ours in Christ and on this earth. Stir our hearts to remember more often the freedoms we take so for granted and those who fight for our freedoms... both here on earth and those who fight the fight of faith. Amen.

Gone for the Weekend to Beautiful Idaho!

Just a quick note to let you know I'll be in Clarkston Idaho this weekend at a retreat with some wonderful gals from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Lewiston.  I'll be speaking, once again, on Redeeming the Time, so if you read this  or think of me... say a prayer... for me... but more importantly for this group of women to hear from God and be blessed! 

Okay... hubbie is calling... we're on our way out the door to the airport... RIGHT NOW!!  Later...

Giving Thanks to the Lord for He is Good!

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!
His love endures forever.

That's verse 1 of Psalm 107 and many of us know it well... we sing it to the Lord and when we do our hearts our encouraged.  But listen to verse 2 in the New Living...

Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others He has saved you from your enemies.

I love telling others about how good God is! Everywhere I go... if God gives an opportunity... I am willing to share with others, not only how He has delivered me from my enemies of sin and death but so many other enemies as well... like these...

1. I thank God for delivering me from the bitterness, hatred and unforgiveness I once had toward my mother and my stepdad.

2. I thank God for delivering me from the fits of anger and rage I used to have before I came to know Him.

3. I thank God for setting me free from my enemies of drugs and cigarettes.

4. I thank God for delivering me from long bouts of deep dark depression... I can still struggle with depression on occasion but when I remember my past... three days is like nothing.

5. I thank God for delivering me from perfectionism... okay... I still strive for excellence but nowadays if it's not perfect... I may be bummed for a minute but oh well... all things will be perfect when we get to heaven... and I'm thankful for that too!

Yes... this list could continue on... and maybe it will in a later post... but for now... my heart is full of gratitude as I remember all that God has done for me. Thank you for allowing me to be obedient and to fulfill Psalm 107:1 in my life this morning... telling you how great God is!!

Pass it on!

Dear Lord,
You are so good...  so much more than we can even comprehend! We are so thankful for Your great mercy and kindness that You would reach down from heaven and deliver us from our enemies. Forgive us for taking so much for granted. Rekindle a desire in us to remember and tell others of how good You are and how much You've done for us. Amen.

A Circle of Thankful Hearts and Contest Entries

Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving
and His Courts with praise!

And something wonderful happens as we hold hands... even in cyberspace... and rejoice in the Lord together!  If you have a blog and want to share your heart of thanksgiving with us and be entered in the November contest... just do a post with the title "A Circle of Thankful Hearts" and list 5 things on your blog that you're thankful for... or as many as you want... and let me know by leaving a comment and I'll add your blog to this list.  It's an incredible thing to know we can hold hands all across the country and even the world through praise and thanksgiving!  Also it would be fun to know where you're from too... so let us know!!

If you don't blog and want to be entered in the November Contest... don't worry... I would never leave you out... just see yesterday's post and comment there.

So just click on the links below to see what some of our other blogger sisters and friends are thankful for...

http://www.allendesigns.typepad.com/  Michelle... Battle Ground, WA

http://journals.aol.com/hwoodred/everyday-cookies/  Heidi... Coos Bay, OR

http://encouragementfrommyheart.blogspot.com/  Lorie... Honolulu, HI

http://girottifamily.typepad.com  Deb... Shenandoah Valley, VA

http://www.jpd.typepad.com  Jamie... Foster City, CA

http://jenjahromi.typepad.com/visionsverses/  Jen... North of Baltimore, MD

http://www.morgandenise.com/  Morgan... Kentucky

http://mrsrabe.blogspot.com/  Mrs. Rabe... PA

http://myblog2002.blogspot.com  Pia... Manila, Philippiines

http://www.geoffandmelissa.blogspot.com  Melissa... where are you from?

http://acupofjoy.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/daily-dose-of-joy-24/  Deb... where are you?

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/thisiseek  Erika

http://lulashardt.blogspot.com  Sherry... Northern California

http://www.grandmagscottage.com   Georgia

http://www.rebeccastuhlmiller.com  Rebecca

http://www.sunnydaysatthebeachblogspot.com   Carey

http://kasiesallee.blogspot.com/   Kasie

http://www.amothersapron.com   Tracylea

http://melodiesandhymnsongs.blogspot.com   Cathy

http://www.theendoftheroad.typepad.com   Lea

November Contest... I AM THANKFUL FOR... !

I don't know about you... but as soon as I turn the corner and walk into November, thanksgiving fills my heart and thoughts. And not just the looking forward to the family gathering and fabulous food... even though I do... but I become more aware of all that I have to be thankful for. We have no less to be grateful throughout the rest of the year, but somehow an attitude of gratitude can easily get lost in the midst of the mundane challenges of everyday life, can't it? So... with the holidays ahead ... thanksgiving makes it way to the top of the list... where it takes its rightful place.

There are so many verses in the Bible that instruct, exhort and encourage us to give thanks and I have many favorites among them. I want to spend some time throughout the rest of this month, exploring some of those verses and I look forward to sharing my thoughts and discoveries with you along the way. One of the simplest and yet most powerful is "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus" found in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. I've been designing a new line of products and one of them is a plaque with that verse on it.

This wonderful plaque is also one of the items that will be in the GOODY GIVEAWAY BAG for the NOVEMBER CONTEST... how appropriate!  There will be a few other goodies in this months giveaway as well, but I decided to have some fun and tell you about them one at a time!

So here's HOW TO ENTER for this month...
    Comment on this post and tell me five things you're thankful for... (I know you have way more to be thankful for then you have time to write down... so five will be fine) and you can do it in three ways...
        1. Simply list the five things you're thankful for... this is the quickest for sure.
        2. List the five things and tell us why on one or all. It's good to give God the glory for the great things He has done.
        3. OR... you can list your five things on your blog... leave a comment to let me know when you do and I'll include a special link to your blog from mine under a separate post.

Gratitude can be contagious... by sharing your thanksgiving you might just inspire an attitude of gratitude in someone else who may just need a touch of encouragement today.

I will list five of my own a little later... but gotta run for now.  Love you all... and I AM THANKFUL FOR YOU!

Lord, thank you so much for loving us and giving us SO MUCH to be thankful for. Unite our hearts together this month in declaring your praises that all our thanksgiving might bring great glory and honor to You! Amen and amen!

Drumroll Please... The Winner Is...

I'm sorry I'm a day late in announcing the winner of the October contest but I just ran out of time yesterday and thought... suspense can be a good thing. Since there were well over 200 entries for the contest, I knew I couldn't spend the time printing and cutting each name in order to draw them from a hat so Michael and I came up with another plan... pretty smart if you ask me.  We numbered 31 pieces of paper for the days in the month and first drew from that hat... and Michael pulled out the number 18. So we went to the comments on October 18th... counted them... and left only numbers 1 through 4 in the hat and drew again. This time he drew the number 1.

Hmmmm... I could make you go to the 18th of October and find out for yourself... but that would be ornery.  So... drumroll please... the winner for the October Christmas Contest is... Shannon! Yeah Shannon!  Funny that we had entries from literally all over the world and Shannon happens to live about 7 miles from here and we go to the same church.  She is the sweetheart who invited us to pray for little Luke and you can get an update on how he's doing here. Bless you Shannon!

Thank you again for all your wondeful and encouraging comments... I read every one of them and only wish I had the time to answer each one of you personally.

Check back in a day or two and I'll decide what to do for a November contest. It will be Thanksgiving related I'm sure! I'm hoping to design a new Thanksgiving color page but until then you can check out last years free downloadable Thanksgiving color pages on my website. And I also have a Thanksgiving card I've almost finished that I want to share with you as well. So for now... I am thankful... thankful for my God... my Jesus... and you! God bless you and keep you!