With Heartfelt Sympathy

Today's card is for the September Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge (week 3). I didn't know how tired I was until I sat down to make this card Sunday evening. It was a long week due to various reasons, capped off with the Alabama/Ole Miss game being so late and losing my voice screaming at the television in a losing cause.

I first stamped the largest greenery piece from the Verve New Mercies set with Catkin ink onto a white Neenah cardstock rectangle piece. I then stamped the sentiment onto a black cardstock piece using Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I also stamped the Soft Stone cardstock background panel with a background stamp using Soft Stone ink for a subtle tone on tone look. The image and sentiment pieces were attached with craft foam. A scattering of black enamel dots were the only embellishments. I tried to keep things as simple as possible - sympathy cards are so hard to make. This one is going out to a church member.

Products: Verve stamp, My Favorite Things stamp, Glitz Design dp, Neenah cs, PTI cs and ink, Doodlebug enamel dots, MFT die, Versamark and Simon Says ink

You don't know how very tempting it was to skip church on Sunday morning as we were both so tired. But I am so glad we didn't because we learned a beautiful lesson. An Egyptian Christian minister spoke to us and it certainly put our lives in perspective. It is one thing to be ridiculed for your religious beliefs but something altogether different to have your life in mortal danger because of them. Pastor Paul is normally the picture of quiet and steady calm but even his voice cracked when leading the final prayer. The whole service was very moving.

2 Corinthians 4:6-9(ESV)

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.