Bible Journaling: My January Pages Acts 1 thru Acts 20

Once a month I like to share my Bible Journaling Pages and what God has been teaching me.  In the month of January I began the book of Acts.   Sometimes I just color in the preprinted images of the "Inspire Bible" (available on Amazon) and I also create my own pages.

 

Unless otherwise stated, all the images are colored in with either gel pens or colored pencils.  I tend to color larger areas with pencils then get the more intricate spots with pens.  I high light my Bible with gel highlighters, and I usually use gelatos or  craft paint for my backgrounds.

I was so excited to get out of the gospels and begin the rest of the New Testament in January.  Don't get me wrong, I loved reading about the life of Jesus', but after four repetitive books I was ready for something different;  and the book of Acts is very different!

The book of Acts talks about the early years of the apostles, disciples, and the early church after Jesus' death and resurrection.  It is here where the Holy Spirit comes upon the believers and fills them with power so they can be witnesses throughout the whole world.  I loved the cover page of this book.  I felt the verse the "Inspire Bible" picked was the perfect representation of the book.  I colored all the words like "fire" with an ombre effect to emphasize the flames of fire that fell upon the early church.

My next page comes from a sermon of Peter's.  He is preaching to the crowd and he says"   "Everyone who calls on the Name of he Lord will be saved".  Isn't that amazing?  There are no pre qualifications for salvation other than to call on the name of the Lord!  We have been made right with God through His holy son's sacrifice on the cross.  All we have to do is believe, ask for forgiveness, and for Him to be Lord of our life.

Acts is a book of miracles but it is also a book of courage.  The apostles and early Christians were heavily persecuted:  they were beaten, whipped, stoned, jailed, and even killed.  Yet, they rejoiced because they had been counted as worthy of suffering for Jesus.

This is one of my favorite pages I did this month.  I love how it turned out.  So often the colors of gel pens don't appear on paper as they do on the cap.  I used an ombre effect to achieve this look.  Paul BELIEVES that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God in Chapter 9.  He was known as a severe persecutor of Christians, but God met him on the road to Damascus (on his way to arrest Christians) and changed his life.

God had chosen Paul to preach the Good News to the non-Jew (Gentiles) like me.  Everyone is welcome into God's Kingdom no matter what their previous religion or life.  Paul said:   "We are all saved by the same way, by the UNDESERVED GRACE of the Lord Jesus".

Whether you believe in God or not, you would not exist if it weren't for Him.  He created life, He created you, and every blessing or part of life you get to enjoy is because of Him.

And I end on this final word "It is more blessed to give than to receive".  Such truth, yet so hard for all of us to do.  It is a good reminder to us all.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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A Winter Hike At The Skyline Golf Course In Black River Falls, Wisconsin

Winter in Wisconsin can be so long and tough.  Most years it seems it will never end!  Our winter usually starts some time after Thanksgiving and although rare, has been known to snow even until May.  In fact, May 31st is actually our last frost date and it's not safe to plant until then.  That makes a very short growing season.

A lot of people get depressed in the winter:  they get bored, and they are tired of being cooped up inside.  Hey, my husband built me a huge sunroom so I could have sun and plants all year long so I wouldn't get depressed.

But if you can't build a sunroom onto the back of your house like my husband did, the next best thing is to get out and play in the snow!  There are so many winter sports in Wisconsin:  sledding, skiing, snowshoeing, skating, and hockey to name a few.   Many people in my neck of the woods love to snowmobile and we have snowmobile trails everywhere!  Ice fishing is also very popular.

For my husband and I we love to hike!  I know, I know, you're so surprised since the majority of my vacation posts involve trails we've done.  But yes, if you dress for it, you can hike even in the winter!  If the snow is too deep, then you have to either wear snow shoes or go cross country skiing.  On this day, the snow wasn't deep enough for snow shoes plus it was actually kinda frozen so when we stepped on it we didn't fall through the snow.

My husband discovered through a local magazine that we could hike on a golf course in Black River Falls.  Golf courses are so pretty in the warm weather months, of course they are pretty in winter too.  This course also allows snow mobiles!  The biggest concern about hiking in winter is that you may not be able to see the trail because it's covered in snow, but this one was very clearly marked with posts and flags.

Now please excuse "me" being in all the photos.  It was Valentine's Day Weekend (read more about our Valentine's Weekend in this post) and hubby was feeling a little enamored with me and took way too many photos with me in it.  I even told him, "Just take some pictures of the nature without me, people want to see the scenery and not just me", but I don't think he listened. 😀

Although we thought the golf course was pretty in winter, we really enjoyed this trail BEHIND the golf course.  I have no idea if it was private property and we were trespassing or if it really was a trail.  It seemed to be a trail as there was plenty of matted down snow and footprints.  At first I thought it was part of the "Foundation Trail", as that one runs near the golf course, but the description says it is paved, and this was more a meandering through the woods.

I did get a 'selfie' of the two of us, since it was our Valentine's Day celebration.  Yes, we're old but we're still in-love and adventurous!

We did wonder if we were lost as we had no idea where we were.  One minute we were walking on the golf course, then we saw this cute little bridge behind the golf course so we decided to check that out, then we looked further and saw all the woods and we decided to explore that.  Before we knew it, we were deep in the woods having a grand old time exploring!  It was an adventure for sure!

What trail it was, and who it belongs too, we have no idea but it had to be a public trail of some sort as there were so many cute bridges to cross.

I always hike with walking sticks, but this was the first time I got to use my "snow tips".  My poles came with many different tips to use depending on the terrain.  The snow tips keep the poles from falling too deep in the snow.  I was so grateful to have my poles as the frozen snow was quite slippery.

We were elated to discover a stream on our "mystery trail".

I'm laughing my head off in this shot because hubby was making fun of me as I very cautiously made my way down this steep snow bank.  As I said earlier, the snow was so slippery!  We had warmer weather earlier in the week, and all the snow started to melt.  Then it got really cold, and the wet, melted snow froze over the snow that didn't melt creating very slippery conditions.

Another cute foot bridge over the stream.

Yay, here is the one picture my hubby took without me in it!

Hiking in the winter is so much fun.  We don't have to worry about bears because they are hibernating.  We don't have to spray ourselves with bug spray.  We certainly don't get hot and sweaty.  And the best part is there's usually no other hikers and we get the trails all to ourselves!

The weather this day was a high of 17 degrees, but with the exception of my cheeks, I stayed toasty warm all day.  I love Under Armor "Cold Gear".  It keeps me toasty warm and I don't sweat wearing it.  To hike on this day,  I wore Under Armour "Cold Gear" top and leggings.  I then put super thick Puma sweat pants over my leggings.  My boots are by Sorel and keep my feet warm to -40 degrees, but I also had on two pairs of socks.  My coat is 100% down filled.  I wore a fleece neck gaiter that I pulled up whenever my cheeks got too cold.  And of course I wore a hat and gloves.

So what about you? Do you enjoy being outside in winter or are you more like a bear and hibernate all winter?  I'd love to hear from you!

Next week I'll be back with another hike we took that very same day in the Black River Forest.  That was a beauty.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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How to Style Ponchos and Wraps with Ageless Style

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women "over a certain age".  Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme.  This month's theme is "Ponchos and Wraps" and was picked by Joanne.

Ponchos and wraps are a fashion trend that seems to come and go through out the years.  It's almost as if the trend can't seem to make up its mind "Am I "In" or am I "Out"?  The first time in my life when I remember seeing a poncho was when I was a little girl and Laurie Partridge wore one on " The Partridge Family" television series.  That was in the seventies.  I really didn't see anyone wear them again until my daughter was in high school, that would have been the late 90's/early 2000s.  I remember purchasing a thick, short poncho.  I wore it a few times, but quickly donated it because "it made me look fat".  (I wonder how many clothes have been tossed by women for that reason alone?  😂).  And here we are, another twenty years have passed and ponchos/wraps are back in style.  Now, they never really go out of style.  In certain geographical areas like the American West or Europe people consistently wear them.  But like all clothes, they do trend in and out of popular style.

In my brutally cold climate of Wisconsin, ponchos/wraps are actually very impractical.  We have very short transitional seasons, where a poncho/wrap would get the most use.  Our temperatures are either hot or cold, with a couple of weeks in-between where one could even where a poncho.  They don't fit well under coats, so wearing them in winter is usually not an option either.  Nevertheless, I do have ONE!  I purchased this black hooded poncho in 2015 from a small boutique for $25.00.  I learned my lesson from the thick poncho I purchased in the 90's and this time I grabbed a very thin knit long poncho is a slimming black color.  And guess what?  It actually hung around in my closet for quite a few years!

When putting this outfit together,  I followed the one fashion rule I have for myself:  'When wearing something long and baggy on top, wear something thin and slimming on the bottom.'  So I paired my poncho with these black and grey plaid leggings from Stitch Fix.  Because it was cold out the day these pictures were taken, I wore tall black boots to help keep my legs warm.

The poncho is long enough to cover most of my butt, which I definitely want to do when wearing leggings.  This poncho also comes with a fuzzy hood.  I know it's hard to see in the picture because of the black color, but it's super cute.

Underneath the poncho I wore a medium grey turtleneck.

As I stated in my opening paragraph, ponchos can add some unwanted pounds.  I find belting it at the waist makes me look slimmer in a poncho.  You can do this with wraps too!  

I added a long silver pendant necklace to accessorize the outfit.

And just for fun, here are a couple of other ways I have styled this poncho in the past.  

               With a skirt, tights, and booties.

                              With Brown Denim and Booties

And now be sure and check out what all the other ladies in the group are wearing and be sure to link up your outfits with us as well!

Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits
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Bo ~ Bo’s Bodacious Blog
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Carrie ~ A Simple Lovely Life
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Joanne ~ My Slice of Life
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Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style
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Leslie ~ Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After
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Marsha~ Marsha in the Middle
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Mireille ~ Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom
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Rosemary ~ Distinctly Southern Style
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Robin ~ Hello I am 50ish
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