Challenge #21--Midway Reflection & Voting Reminder

Hello everyone! We have reached the midway point of Challenge #21. The theme for this challenge is all about FAITH.   As usual, I am going to share a little introspection with you all that I am also presenting on my own personal blog in my "Motivational Monday" feature.

Have a Little Faith

According to the Google dictionary, the definition for faith is as follows:

fāTH/

noun

1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
3. a strongly held belief or theory. 

 

Faith like love, is something that must be experienced. It is not something that you can touch or hold. While faith doesn't necessarily have to with spirituality alone, there is a quote in the Bible that describes faith quite succintly, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is an acceptance, a belief, a hope--the complete trust in someone or something, even though there is no visible proof for it.

Now that we've looked at what faith is, let us briefly explore why it is important.  You may not realize it but you experience a type of general faith,  many times over, every single day.  Right from the get go each morning, many have faith that their alarm will go off on time to allow them to get a start on their day.  Then it is having faith that their car will start or the bus will be on time, to get them to where they need to be. Most have faith that the people around them know what they are doing.  Trusting everyone from the doctor making a proper diagnosis to trusting that the pharmacist knows one medication from another relies on faith.  Trusting that people are competent in their various roles and duties so that society will run efficiently, runs on faith as well.  Without faith in yourself and those around you, you would more than likely have difficulty getting anything accomplished.

Though secular faith might be more prevalent in one's day to day life, it is spiritual faith that most people generally think of when they hear the word “faith.” We are surrounded in our lives by people belonging to a variety of religions and spiritual groups, each having a system of beliefs that they hold to.  Adhering to religious doctrines and values can be very important and life changing for those people involved.  For many individuals facing challenges in their lives, turning to the faith of their religion can help them believe that things will work out the way they are supposed to even if the road there is an arduous one.  Spiritual faith helps to keep people moving.

Whether looked at from a general perspective or from a spiritual one, faith allows us to exist, believing in the wise words of Bob Marley, that "every little thing, is gonna be alright."  It allows us to push forward through each day with a sense of peace if we allow it.  There is a really great quote that I found that exemplifies this ideal, "Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or by the handle of faith" (Author Unknown).  I know which handle I am grabbing.  Do you?

References:
Dobrin, Arthur. (2012). Why Faith Is Important. Available: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201209/why-faith-is-important. Last accessed 14th December 2014.
Harmon, Beau. (2008-2014). Secular Faith Vs. Spiritual Faith. Available: http://people.opposingviews.com/secular-faith-vs-spiritual-faith-6131.html. Last accessed 14th December 2014.
Maly, Laura. (2010). How Does Your Faith Affect Your Personality?. Available: http://lauramaly.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/how-does-your-faith-affect-your-personality/. Last accessed 14th December 2014.

As a reminder, here are the watermarks and links for the wonderful images that the team worked with for the midway.

From Pickled Potpourri Designs...

Christmas Candle

Wish You a Merry Christmas

From Fresh Brewed Designs...

Christmas Candles

Daydreaming

 Jesus is the Light

We are fortunate and blessed to have the chance to work with all these fabulous images this month.  Thanks so much to our amazing sponsors.

To help inspire you down the path of faith, check out the wonderful projects my Design Team had the opportunity to create...

 <<<coming soon>>>

Finally, that leaves our...

Sue K., from Sue's Paper Crafts, who is our guest designer this month, created this pretty card...

Clicking on the team members name (or in the case of our GDT, the blog name) will take you to their blog where you can check out the details for their inspirational creations!

So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for?  Create a project and/or post that is positive AND relates to faith, provide an explanation of how your project and/or post relates to the theme somewhere in your post or come over and leave a comment with the explanation.  Easy, peasy!  You can enter our latest challenge by clicking HERE.

Also, I know that the participants would love for you to go and pay them a visit.  Remember we're creating a Path of Positivity to follow one project at a time and we'd love to see you somewhere on that route even if it is just by leaving a comment on an entry from someone who has touched you somehow with their project and/or post!

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

Don't Forget...

You still have until 11:55 p.m. tonight, to vote on your favourite entry for Challenge #20.  Voting is quick, easy and painless so I hope you will consider casting your vote if you haven't already.  Don't forget, if you leave a comment after voting, you have the opportunity to walk away with a selection of digital papers created especially with your interests in mind. To check out all those eligible and cast your vote, click HERE.  Winners for challenge #20 will be posted next Monday.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE ON FAITH?
If you need some additional motivation to help inspire you, I've provided another sentiment on this month's theme (the first is available HERE), free for you to download.

 Left click to bring the image up into the lightbox in its full size and then right click and scroll down to 'save as'.

Credit Notes For This Creation:
© 2014, Lisa L. Décosse.  PUO.  However, you are allowed to use the sentiment on handmade projects that you intend to sell on a small scale basis provided credit is given. You also need to include a credit note and a link to this blog should you use any of my images in your creations and post them on your blog. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with my full terms of use found in the 'Download Instructions & T.O.U.' tab at the top of this page.  Of important note:  Please do not share my images with family, friends, etc. Additionally, do not post any images to file sharing services like Box®, 4-Shared®, etc. Instead, please direct people to my blog so they can grab the image for themselves. If you would like to post a watermarked version of the image, please contact me to obtain one. 

This word art creation is in png format and published at 300 ppi. It is quite large in order to accommodate different programs that people work with.   If you are a card maker you can always resize it smaller without distorting the quality.

Font Information:

• Beyond Wonderland font created by Livin Hell
• WWDesigns font created by WindWalker64

Click on the font name to take you to a download location.  These fonts were listed as free for commercial use at the time this project was made.and as such, it is my understanding, that I am within my rights to use these fonts in my creations and offer them to others.  Please refer to my full terms of service for what you can and cannot do with this digital creation.

SUMMARY
Whether you are new and need to familiarize yourself with all the details,  or a returning participant and just need to refresh yourself, you can always find out everything you need to know in order to enter this challenge in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page. You can enter the challenge by clicking HERE to take you to the current challenge post where you can also find a quick summary of the details related to this challenge, towards the bottom of the post. 

GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY...

Please show your support to our wonderful sponsors by going over and checking out their work and saying hi if you have the chance.  This month our guest sponsors are...

Our regular sponsors include..

 

 

That is me and I'd love for you to visit me on my personal blog.

If you ever have any questions be sure to EMAIL ME or just leave me a comment.

We look forward to seeing you participate!