A Very Special Book

Wow, how did so much time pass since I last posted! As with many of you, life is just plain busy. One of the fun and rewarding things I’ve been doing is being involved in a Care Cards Ministry at my church. We have a group of women who come together once a month to make greeting cards to send to those in need in our church family. The need may be for illness, hospital stay, cheering up, encouragement, sympathy, thank you, or maybe just a thinking of you card. I’ve been busy designing the cards and making up packets of the materials needed to make the cards. How thankful I am that God gifted me with a bit of artistic talent and a love for card making. And then on top of that, He blessed me with a way for me to use this talent in a ministry for His glory. My God is truly an awesome God!

Our group is taking a break through the summer, so we made our last meeting a really special event by doing a take-home project, followed by a great time over lunch -- lots of fun and laughter. Our project was a 4”x6” Prayer Book which has7 sections, one for each day of the week, with suggestions for who to pray for on each day. It also has a section called Stones (short for Jordan River Stones) where we can write down the spiritual markers in our lives. We used pretty scrapbook paper to cover the chipboard covers, ribbons and lots of bling for decoration, and the Zutter Bind-It-All to hold it all together. I’ve posted several pictures below so you can see what it looks like outside and in. But first, I’d like to share with you why prayer is so important.

God speaks to us through His Word, and He asks us to speak to Him through prayer. Prayer gives us access to our heavenly Father who knows what we need even before we express that need to Him. Jesus said, "Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him, " (Matthew 6:8). Prayer communication is a two way street. We talk to God and He talks to us. We don’t just bring our cares, worries, and frustrations to Him. We also offer our praise and worship to Him, the One True God who deserves all praise. In order to keep your relationship with God unbroken and fresh, it is important to put aside time for both prayer and active listening for His answer. The more time you spend with Him, the more you will learn about Him, and the deeper your relationship with Him will grow. God wants each of us to be His special friend. If you haven’t already done so, my prayer for you is that you will reach out to our Heavenly Father today, trust Him, and ask Him to be your special friend. Annie



This is the prayer book cover and the first page.


Here is what each of the divider pages looks like. The borders are made with a Martha Stewart border punch.

I've put pictures of my son and daughter-in-law, granddaughters, great-grandkids, and sisters on this page, for Thursday prayers. On other pages, I've added small pictures of ones I pray for, including my hubby, friends, church elders and leaders, missionaries from our church. I use Post-It Notes to list names and special prayer requests; then when the prayer is answered or the situation is resolved, I can just remove them. These little books would make great gifts, also.