How Do You "Grow in Faith?"

* What does it take to strengthen and develop one's spiritual identity?

* What is faith, and why is it necessary?

* What does faith have to do with everyday life?

* How do I strengthen my faith?

* Where does faith come from?

* How does faith make a difference with the problems I face on a daily basis?

This drawing tells the story of the night that opened the floodgates of revelation about God's Good Plan for me...
It was a painful time that was the beginning of my education in FAITH!

I was slightly less than full of faith that night as I stood under the stars;
in the snow;
and shouted at Dad...

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

Life is a constant transition; family members move away, children grow and marry, jobs come and go...

One of the constants of life is the love of our pets! This is my Max... he's a Turkish Angora, and my favorite nap buddy!

Pets are a wonderful way to fill your life with a daily reminder to PLAY and enjoy the beauty of God's creation.

This beautiful young woman is my daughter...she's a wonderful woman who loves her mom, her kitty...and her continuing journey of discovering what she wants to be when she grows up!

Like everyone, our lives, interests and goals change; and we are happy to have learned to fully engage in and enjoy that process.

Part of that process is our understanding of God, and how our relationship with Him enriches, defines and directs our lives.

She loves God with her whole heart, and we talk often about the scriptures, and how they relate to our life.

It's wonderful when God keeps his promises...

"He setteth the solitary in families."
The Book of Psalms

I Corinthians 13 tells us that love bears all things...

That's why Bootsie gets away with taking "my" chair!

I can't stress to you how much love these two beautiful kitties have brought to my life!

When I was sick and alone; they were there to love me, coax me to play...they helped me maintain a regular routine on the days when depression would have kept me in bed...

Hungry kitties will drive you out of bed; for sure! But, just as we do; they need more than just food and shelter...

They were there to make me laugh and play as they insisted (daily!) on their needs being met.

It's a lesson that serves us well to remember:

"I have come that you might have life, and life more abundantly!" John 10:10

As you can see, my life is filled with lots of love, and many wonderful people!

That hasn't always been the case...I've been on the journey of a lifetime; and I have many stories to share.

Stories that I hope will encourage you to open the pages of God's Holy Word, the Bible...and earnestly seek out His Good Plan for YOU!

Like me, you'll no doubt discover...it's not just a GOOD plan, it's a GREAT PLAN...filled with lots of love, action, daring and adventure.

Life in Jesus is an exciting way to live... the Bible is filled with resources to teach you how to become a woman of great resource, grace, mercy and successful living!

Come, read;.seek; discover...

You'll see that little "aka" behind my name pretty often. It's because like all women, I wear many hats, and they each have a place of their own. You know, a time and a place for everything!

Check out my links to some of the other ways I express my faith through my art and creative endeavors.

You know me as God's Grace Notes, Connie's Craft-a-Holics Club, Ye Royal Party Planner, and His Invisible Child; but whatever hat I'm wearing for the moment, my life is aimed at building faith.. in myself; my family, and in my community at large.

I invite you to join me through the Word of God for a lesson in building your faith. It's a journey that is part of the faith building process.

There's a lot to learn, and I can hardly wait to tell you about my best friend. He wrote the book, and we spend a lot of time discussing it.

His name is Jesus, and he would love to get acquainted with you as well. Just read and listen, you will hear his voice and it will be the sweetest sound you have ever heard!

He's the original "Grace Note"... and his life is a symphony of unconditional love.

Lori Arriaga is the Founder and Director of
Christian Women's Resources.
She is sincere, warm, encouraging, and very insightful about the needs of women of faith. Not only that, she's a complete genius when it comes to the technical side of web building and maintenance.

Women's issues are universal, but in the modern world in which we live, women of faith strive to address these issues from a Biblical perspective. There is great wisdom and insight available to us in God's Holy Word, the Bible.

It's a unique perspective that gives life to the hearer, and the Bible instructs the "elder" women to teach the "younger" women.

I'm the elder, and Lori's the younger (in chronology) but we share lively discussions about the Bible, and how we want to impact the world with it's life giving message.

I've learned much about faith in my life journey thus far, so I'm writing this lens to introduce you to the story of a life gone wrong, and the faith it took to re-direct it's course to happiness and fulfillment!

It's great when the good plans of God lead you to friendship with other women who understand the finer nuances of the life of a woman who strives to live by faith.
Lori is one of those treasures whose presence has become an integral part of my life.

If you have read any of my other lenses, you know that my house is a constantly changing place. Even my "virtual house" that I am building here at Squidoo.

Life changes, ideas and perspective change, and my lenses change to reflect my ever changing attitude and purposes in my life. But, whatever the circumstance, I will always be evaluating my reactions, actions and attitudes to make certain I respond to life based on the foundation of my faith.

This little lens is a small portion of my virtual garden. I've planted a few seeds today, and I will be back periodically to weed, water and fertilize my thoughts with hefty doses of scripture, and gentle sprinkles of love.

I invite you to visit often, and see what transpires as we continue our task of learning to work together to grow our faith.

Visit again soon, like life; faith is in a constant state of flux. Squidoo lenses make it easy to reflect those changes with just the click of a "PUBLISH" button!
Join me in the journey, won't you?


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