I went to sleep last night with images of Newtown and the words of little Emilie's dad on my mind.   This morning when I opened the Bible the words in Psalm 91:14-15a stood out.  Here is the contents for a Tiny Purse Card God gave me this morning:
                                                          INSPIRATION!
   Ever get your mind set on something & nothing can change it? You are determined!  There is an incredible promise in the Bible for those who “set their love upon God!”   “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name, he shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble...”  Psalm 91:14-15a KJV  Trouble comes...we live in a world where evil runs rampant, but you don’t have to face it alone.  Set your love upon JESUS and He will be with you through all.  He is the only Guide that can bring you through the most horrific events in life, better not bitter.  
 TinyPursesWithAPurpose.com   Pass it on!   ✞
   May God bless you, as you face life's troubles with your hand in His and your love set upon Him.

This week's Tiny Purse Card Content:
A BIT O’ WISDOM!
     I hope this card encourages you today!
   Ever just needed an approving pat on the back?  Sometimes we judge ourselves by our “approval ratings”!   Imagine if a nation’s leaders gave up when their “approval ratings” were low!   A general walks off the battlefield, a president resigns, a cop quits.  a parent disappears....Our world would be a mess!      The only approval rating you need is from God Himself!  Base your actions upon the Bible!
 Be faithful!  Be honest!  Be loving!  Be strong!  Seek God’s approval!  “Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17 KJV     TinyPursesWithAPurpose.com Pass it on!  ✞

    My friend, Gloria, loves to come design the Tiny Purses for herself and friends.  Last week she picked out the fabrics and embellishments (including a pink ribbon angel charm) for a dear friend who is battling breast cancer.  I received this special note from her yesterday:
   "I gave Annette her purse tonight and she cried.  She loves it and said she would wear it everyday!  Thank you for your wonderful talent and sharing with others! "
   I pray that each of you will share your talents with others and that we will support each other with prayer & encouragement!

Merry Christmas!  
Kathy

P. S.  Gloria is a blue jean gal & wears her Tiny Purses clipped to her belt loop!  Another customer, Taelor, loves hers with a long narrow strap, slung over her shoulder.   I still wear mine clipped to my hand bag, makes it handy to "draw that card!"

Here is this week's new Tiny Purse Card content!

A BIT O’ WISDOM!
     I hope this card encourages you today!
   Time flies!  Ever look back on a day, a week, a year, & wonder where it went?!  With a sigh of regret realize you missed some of what matters most... Jesus knows how easy it is to get so busy important things slip away. He said: “You can’t serve two  masters...” & told us how very much He cares about our physical needs too.  He said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  He will help you prioritize the rest of your life, if you put Him in 1st place!  For a special blessing:   Read all of Matthew 6:24 - 34 KJV Bible       TinyPursesWithAPurpose.com   Pass it on!  ✞

This Week's Tiny Purse card:
    A BIT O’ WISDOM!
   Ever just totally “lose it” & know you’ve really blown it this time?  Words said, deeds done, & no take backs... God specializes in hopeless cases!  He takes man’s lost causes & transforms them into His treasured children!  He takes dead end situations & turns them into miracles!  That is why coming to Him is called being born again.
   God put examples all through the Bible of folks just like you and me transformed by His Love!  Liars, murderers, adulteresses, & more gave their messed up lives to God and He cleaned them up & gave them purpose!   Seek JESUS!  He has the answer to every problem.
    TinyPursesWithAPurpose.com  Pass it on!  ✞

   A little note about Tiny Purse Cards!  I appreciate every prayer that is prayed asking God to help me to write these cards.  Every card we give out is a reminder of a God who offers hope in a world with much pain in it.   There are times, like this week, where God exposes a problem in my life, where I need encouragement to do better, and a Tiny Purse card content is born there....  ouch!   Remember to pray for me to be led by God, not me.  Pray that I will hear His voice.   I am so thankful for the folks God has placed in my life to encourage me to keep doing this.  Thanks!  You are why I say "we", when talking about Tiny Purses!   Without your encouragement, I would have felt myself out of line, and retreated from reaching out.

This Week's Tiny Purse Card Content:
                                                            WISDOM!
     Can you imagine all the incredible, powerful, and situation altering things that JESUS could have said, when He was delivered bound before Pilate?  Yet, He “answered nothing”!  Love for you kept JESUS silent!  He was here on a mission!  Those hypocrites deserved a tongue lashing!   God offered mercy!      There are times in our lives when love keeps our mouths shut.  Scripture says: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” & “...mercy rejoiceth against judgement.”  Show mercy & rejoice!  JESUS did!  Mark 15:5 James  1:19 & 2:13b KJV Read the book of James!
TinyPursesWithAPurpose.com  Pass it on!  ✞

This week's Tiny Purse Card Content:

ENCOURGEMENT!
   Life has ups & downs!  Like a roller coaster!  During the bad times you may feel like you hate life.  Jesus said, “He that loveth his life shall lose it” (like someone who has it all & dies miserable), “and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (like a hero who gives his life saving another).  Then Jesus said, “Now is my soul troubled...but for this cause came I unto this hour.”  His cause is you!
   What is your cause?  Find one!  Volunteer to help someone learn to read, foster a child, give faithfully, help an elderly person.  JOY = Jesus 1st, Others 2nd, You 3rd!  Opposite of this generation’s “me first” philosophy! 
    Excerpts from John 12:25-27 KJV Bible
             TinyPursesWithAPurpose.com  Pass it on!  ✞

Good Morning!
      As Christians, we've all read the "Great Commission" in Mark 16:15:  "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."   I've never really noticed the last verse in that chapter!  Have you?
"And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.  Amen."
"Working with..."  Ever worked with someone who was great to work with?  Teamwork!  You worked together as one!  The work seemed like fun!
"They went..."
"They preached..."
"God worked with them..."
God confirmed their word..."
Wow!   We all want confirmation!  King David asked God to "Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me."  Psalm 86:17 KJV
You've got to DO something for God to confirm it!  So many times we set in fear, self absorbed, or downright rebellious (that's not my gift), and there is nothing for God to work with you and confirm you for!
So!  Get to work!  Give God some action to work alongside you "with" and "confirm"!
Blessings!
Kathy

A sampling of the cards - more to come!

♬  Yes, JESUS loves you!  ♪

  I hope this card encourages you today!

  Jesus asked this question of His disciples:  “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  We get so busy in the tangled web of life we forget that this life is only temporary!  Our soul lives for eternity!  Then Jesus said: “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”  Matthew16:26-27   Examine your relationships & activities with eternity in mind, for you are more than just a temporary body!     

YOU ARE LOVED!

I hope this card encourages you today!

  Did you know that God describes the love He has for His children?!  Listen: “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.”   JESUS said: “...him that cometh to me I shall in no wise cast out.”  >

   God is calling you!  Does your conscience hear? Don’t ignore Him!  Stop!  Breathe a prayer!  Acknowledge His love!  Whatever you are facing today will be easier with JESUS holding you close!  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jeremiah 31:3, John 6:36b, 3:16

♬  Yes, JESUS loves you!  ♪

  I hope this card encourages you today!

     He said:  “...Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”  Just before He said this, Peter said: “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.”  But as Jesus foretold, Peter denied him three times before the next morning!  On the cross Jesus cried: “My God, My God,  why hast thou forsaken me?   

  The love Jesus has for you gave Him strength to endure the terrible pain & loneliness of the cross.  He said to each repentant disciple & to those who now choose to follow Him:  “...Lo, I am with you alway ...”  He promises: “...Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”  He can give you strength to endure anything!  Trust Him today!  You may be lonely, but with JESUS, you are never alone!   Matthew 16:20, Luke 22:33, John 6:37

What a Friend we have in JESUS! 

I hope this card encourages you today!!

  “A friend loveth at all times...”   “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”  Proverbs 17:17 & 18:24   JESUS is that friend who is closer than any brother & loves you so much!     

  Jesus never throws our past up at us!  He said: “I even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”  Isaiah 43:25  Just ask for forgiveness!  “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12   What Love!!   Accept It!    

The Promises of God

I hope this card inspires you today!

TRUST....Who can you trust?   THE LORD GOD! 

  Scripture puts it this way: “But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the LORD GOD, that I may declare all thy works.”   &  “...we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”   

Psalm 73:28 &  I Timothy 4:10b  

     King David sang these words:  “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer.  The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour, thou savest me...”    JESUS is our Lord & Savior!  Trust Him today with every detail of your life.  II Samuel 22:2-3

Testimonials

I love testimonies! My biggest wish for Tiny Purses With a Purpose is to witness and encourage the people around me. To turn a frown in to a smile, to lift a person feeling down, to simply let a stranger know that someone cares, and that Jesus forgives and loves each person placed on this earth. Here are a just a few of the testimonies I have received:  

     "I own a cleaning business & found handing out the encouraging cards or leaving them for people to be such a blessing to my clients!   They tell me that the cards "brighten their whole day!" The cards show I care about them and have given me the opportunity to pray with them!"

Debbie Sanks, Foley, AL

     “People have told me they save these cards and put them on their mirrors.  One day at Wal-Mart I said, 'Oh, I almost forgot to give you an encouraging card!' the lady responded sort of disgusted with me, "I was wondering if you were going to forget!" Doing this is sowing the seed of God's Word.   God promises if we sow, we will reap! Even in our daily routine we can be a light & witness!

Suzanne Courtright, Foley, AL

     Giving cards of encouragment has been a great blessing in my life.  I say, "Hi, I just want to give you a word of encouragement.  With Jesus you are never alone!"  Then I trust the Lord to lead me if it's the proper time and place to go further. People have cried & said "You don't know how much I needed that", and I've even been asked if I was an angel!   Some folks look forward to their new card each week and ask for them. This has opened doors for me to witness! For instance a lady told me, "You just don't know how my life is falling apart right now."  I was able to minister to her right there.  I am always thanked and people are so excited to receive their cards.

Elizabeth Walker,  Foley,  AL 

     I received the following e-mail from Taelor & she came out & had fun picking out 4 more purses of her own "design"!
"Hi!  I bought one of your Tiny Purses a few weeks ago at the Under His Wings event in Robertsdale and I LOVE it.  I literally just wear it all day every day.  I was interested in buying a few more and I really like the style of the one I have.  (photo attached).  It is a little simple pattern with the leather back and the leather long strap."
Thank you, Taelor

 

My Testimony

   I was living the American Dream...I thought.  A successful business & a country home to raise my 5 kids in.  Then on 7/7/07, my world was shattered.  My 14 year marriage over, and less than 6 months later, he died unexpectedly.

 

   I wept for months in grief & confusion.  Jesus & His Word were my refuge.  I prayed, "Lord, You promised Your Word would not return void & I need healing."  Healing came, and as I healed, I noticed how many other folks at church were lonely.  Each week I printed a new card with scripture and inspiration.  Some weeks I would have a few left & hand them to people I'd meet in brief encounters around town.  "Here is an Encouraging Word for you today!",  I'd say.

 

  The response was AMAZING!   People want words of hope, healing, and salvation!  

 

  One morning at the Revenue Commissioners Office, I gave the lady who helped me a card.  Later that day, I had to return & she said, "You had no way of knowing how much I needed that.  My best friend's son committed suicide this week."    

  On another occasion I gave a cashier a card.  Tears filled her eyes as she told me how her son had just come home safely from the war only to fall at a Rehab Center and die. I couldn't believe she was at work, it had been so recent.  I went home and got her a Bible, a journal, and a card with my testimony of healing through the Word of God.

  A wonderful lady named Esther insisted on writing my name on the card, so that she could pray for me! 

   Another lady said, "I'll never forget the first time you came in. You had such sweet words.  I read the card over and over on my breaks."   I gave her a new card for that week! 

   Can you see why it's addicting to leave the Word of God wherever you go?!  Paul mentioned the house of Stephanas, who had "...addicted themselves to the ministry..."!   I Corinthians 16:15

Obedience to the Lord's Word always brings joy!

  It is fun to see others smile & feel blessed & cared about!  

Don't miss another opportunity to always SHINE for JESUS in a dark world!!

Kathy