Scrapbooking My Faith

I have been raised by a devout Catholic mom.  We go to church every Sunday.  I was educated in Catholic schools from kindergarten until college.  My faith has anchored me through life's most difficult situations.  My faith played a huge part in my decision-making.  My faith gave me hope and encouragement when I need them the most.  

Surprisingly enough, my faith is the one area in my life I least scrapbook about.  Just recently, I took an online class about scrapbooking my faith by Courtney Walsh.  I also bought her book, Scrapbooking Your Faith, in hope of getting faith into our scrapbooks more.  I want my children to read my thoughts, give them encouragement and strength to look up when they feel so down, to say a lot of a little prayers, to be mindful of the God that will provide for them and keep them safe.  I want them to have a personal relationship with God like I did.  

Here are the three layouts I did.  I have another layout that is much too personal that I'd rather keep to myself.  

Template - Scrap Orchard; Papers - Princesa Kit by Jessica Sprague; Journaling Strips - Crystal Wilkerson; Quote Fonts - Georgia and Zapfino; Journaling Font - Pea Marie Christine; Date Font - Myriad Pro

Template - Scrap Orchard; Papers - This Week by Carla Dudley; Title Font - Big Mummy; Journaling Font - my own handwriting

Template - Anna Aspnes; Paper - Nancy Rowe Janitz; Journaling Strips - Crystal Wilkerson; Journaling Font - my own handwriting; Title Font - Carpenter ICG and Big Mummy; Amen font - Zapfino; Date Font - Rockwell Extra Bold


The following photos + words are sized 4x6 that contain passages and quotes that moved me, encouraged me, strengthened me, touched me.  Some of these quotes were taken from Pinterest.  I am printing them as 4x6s, slipping them into an ongoing album which I'll keep adding into.  I have made use of the landscape photos I've taken over the years.  My hope for doing this is that my children will someday find strength, encouragement, hope, and faith in reading these passages and quotes.   

If you haven't done so already, I encourage you to scrapbook about your faith (if you're a scrapbooker like me), or write about it in a journal.  You never know who among your family will one day need a lift, and maybe that's the type of encouragement that will change their lives for the better.  

Landscapes

I first fell in love with photography when I used to take landscape photos of places I've traveled.  I am always amazed at the beautiful scenery before me, and would try to capture them with my camera.  It is overwhelming to know that God's mighty hand created these beautiful landscapes.  Our most recent trip to the beautiful Sedona and Grand Canyon in Arizona, the breathtaking Valley of Fire in Nevada, are proofs that God is an excellent sculptor and artist.  I was in awe of the beautiful rock formations that surrounded us.

We left home and drove for Las Vegas on Christmas Eve, exactly at 12mn.  We arrived in Vegas by 10:30am, rested and laid low on Christmas Day, and had dinner at Rainforest Cafe.  The next day, the 26th of December, we were up early to drive to Sedona.  Along the way, this beautiful sight inspired us to get going:
   

   
We got to Sedona around 1pm (2pm in Arizona because it was on Central time).  We dropped by Sliding Rock State Park and stretched out to this amazing scenario:

 
We stayed for the night.  Thank God that we found affordable lodging even without prior reservation.  We had dinner and retired to bed early, to be able to rise up early and explore more of Sedona before heading to the Grand Canyon.

After a couple of hours or so, we reached the Grand Canyon and explored these breath-taking sceneries:

We left the Grand Canyon with a heavy heart, but with a promise that we'll be back to explore more someday, when the kids are a little more grown and wouldn't complain from walking too much.  After all, it was a bit chilly when we were there.

We returned to our hotel in Las Vegas and made plans to visit the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada the very next day.  We were in shock that even with the Valley's unmistakable charm, it was only a State Park.  It would've passed as a National Park in our standards, except it was a bit small.

These are even similar rock formations to those of The Arches National Park in Utah:

So, in a span of 5 days, we've managed to go through 3 states - California, Nevada, Arizona; one National Park - The Grand Canyon; two State Parks - Falling Rock in Sedona, AZ and Valley of Fire in NV.  You'd think we were done for this leg of the trip.  Uhm, not really.  On our way home, we decided to visit another National Park in California - Death Valley.  There really wasn't much to see, though we have only visited for a day.  We spent the night a couple of hours outside the park before heading home the next day.  If I've shown you proofs that God is truly a marvelous sculptor, you will be even more amazed at the paintings He created with the sky as his canvas and the setting sun as his pallette with the following images:

I am not truly an outdoor type of person, but these sceneries converted me.  When we were planning this vacation, it was a toss between theme parks and national parks and we were grateful we decided to go with the latter.  It gave us a sense of peace, tranquility, and appreciation of the beauty that surrounded us.  It humbled me, centered me, and made me realize the power that made all these possible.  We wanted our children to share this deep appreciation of nature, to instill in them the importance of taking care of their environment so their offsprings will be able to enjoy the same sceneries.

I know that this blog has been silent for a very long time, but what better time to post an entry with images like these?  I am definitely in love with photography, and the love affair with my camera continues.

A blessed new year to all of you from our family to yours!

Lastly, to my beloved first-born, happy, happy birthday 6th birthday K!  The day you were born, you brought with you joy beyond imagination and challenge beyond comprehension.  I cannot believe how fast you're growing.  We love you so, so much!