The Fruit of Her Hands

Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T21:23:00.004-05:00

I'm convinced I have the sweetest family in the world.

Need proof?

I'm sitting here at my computer, nibbling chocolate from my brother. Out on the kitchen table sits a vase filled with roses; from the same brother. Gifts to my sisters and myself. He gave some to Mom, too.

My parents gave me the nicest card ever today, wishing me a day filled with love, and telling me how much I am loved.

My youngest sister gave me two Hershey kisses, and a cookie dough spoon to lick - and a pink construction-paper card.

As I sat here writing, I had to get up and answer a knock on my bedroom door - my other sister stood there with a beautiful handmade card. And two more chocolate kisses. The red paper heart was filled with carefully-written words, all sweeter than the sweetest chocolate.

But it goes beyond today.

Yesterday Mom gave me an iron. An iron. Do you remember my last post? She read it, too. Little did I know she had an iron tucked away for my birthday. She impulsively, spontaneously, and generously, and lovingly, gave it to me yesterday. I used it for hours today, as I sewed, and I love it. My own iron! Incidentally, it does not spit water, and it does not have automatic shut-off; it will stay on for hours!

A couple of weeks ago, my older sister gave me a thank-you note, for a baby shower gift. But this was no routinely stated, stiffly polite, typical thank-you note. She took time, in her flowing handwriting, to list just about every single thing I've helped her with or given her during the entire time she was pregnant! She had noticed everything, and taken the time to remember it. And even write it out.

I was out with one of my brothers tonight, and we drove pass a brightly-lit store window in a plaza. I saw a dress I loved, and said I wished we could pass it again so I could see better how it was made. (Hoping to someday copy it.) Without missing a beat, that brother of mine turned around and drove pass the window again!

I'm telling you, I have the sweetest family ever. Every single one of them astounds me with their thoughtfulness and generosity. I know that's Christ in them. And I'm so glad He's in them. He makes our family work, ya know? Life would be so wrong without Him.

Today is Valentine's Day. I've heard it called "singles' awareness day." I don't really do much to celebrate Valentine's Day - maybe someday, when I have a sweetheart, I will. But I don't feel lonely or depressed today. I'm not single. I'm surrounded by a loving family unit, and they make my heart sing.

Did you see the sun today? Did you feel the breeze? Your Heavenly Father loves you, and He's showing you it every moment, if you'll only take the time to look!

How to Iron

2012-01-28T15:20:00.004-05:00

Our iron and I have a love-hate relationship.

I use the thing a lot, of course, because of my sewing. And it's a very handy invention. I'm glad I don't have to stand over a hot stove every time I want wrinkle-free clothing or smooth fabric.

But I really can't stand our iron.

It's fussy. Nit-picky. Spits at me. Lets loose a puddle ...right on top of the skirt I'm ironing and want to wear to church in 30 minutes.

At first, I thought it was just him. Couldn't behave. Was defective.

A tiny part of my brain started beating me over the head with certain phrases I had read in the instruction manual for the thing. Specific instructions on how to fill the iron with water - and how NOT to fill it.

But our old iron - bless its dear departed machinery - could be filled with water at any time and any way and work just fine. Never ruined moisture-sensitive fabric. Never spit out rust-colored droplets on my white shirt. Why couldn't our new iron be just as friendly? It's new after all! High tech. Who care about instructions?

What's so hard about putting water in an iron, anyway? You just pour some in, being careful not to overfill, and wala! You're done. Why must the iron be unplugged? And why must it be cold? And why must it be sitting on a perfectly level surface?

I compromised. "Fine. When I run out of water in the middle of an ironing session, I'll unplug you before I refill you. But as for letting you cool and setting you face-down before filling you...no. Not happening. I'm in a hurry. I'll dump it in while you're sitting upright, and it's not too important to shut the "steam" switch off while I'm filling you, either."

He said "Yeah, right. If that's the way you feel, see what kind of results you get. How would you like a puddle of warm water leaking through the ironing board onto your bare feet?"

Actually, he didn't say that. And I didn't talk to him, either. I'm not that far gone. But I thought it. And I'm almost positive he thought it too. ...No, I can't lie. I do know irons don't think.

But on with my story. I finally got fed-up and desperate, and decided to do everything according to the book. Steam switch "off." Iron cool and unplugged. Sitting face down on a level surface. Water poured into spout at correct angle. Lid flipped closed. Iron plugged in. Heat turned "on." Iron heats up. Steam switched "on."

Big breath.

Ironing begins.

Iron spits NOT.

Clothes get steamed perfectly.

Amber sticks tongue out at iron.

...No, that part is a lie. Actually, what Amber did was sit the iron down and think to herself that she's a lot like that little machine. She's been given specific instructions on how to operate herself, and she doesn't bother reading the book. She fills herself with water, of course, but at her own pace and on her own terms. She doesn't bother to slow down and fill herself properly, and she sure doesn't humble herself face-down to receive that water. She likes to take it standing up, on the go, when she wants it.

And then I think that iron stuck his tongue out at me.

Aren't we like that, though? God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, in His Word. His Word is so precious that we cannot live life properly without it. Like an iron without steam. Many of us realize that, yet want to use His Word on our own terms, at our own pace. He didn't just give us His Word, then walk away - anymore than we would give a sharp sword to a child and tell her to go play. He has given us instructions on how to use it:

We are to be doers, not hearers only.
We are to meditate on it day and night.
We are to treasure it.
We are to obey it.
We are to receive it meekly.
We are to believe it.
We are to READ it. Often.
We are to hide it in our hearts.
We are to hear it.
We are to teach it to others.

Can you think of any other ways we are to use the Word of God? Any other commands? Any thoughts you'd like to share on the topic?

By the way, thank you for all the congratulations on the arrival of my nephew. We went to see him yesterday (again!) and I have to say I just adore cuddling him.

But...anyway...thoughts on an iron. Who knew you could be taught a lesson from an appliance? An enemy appliance, at that. :)

I'm an AUNTIE!!!

2012-01-25T16:30:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's true. My darling sister (and my beloved brother-in-law) have given me a nephew! My heart overflows.

New life is exciting, fun, and mysteriously common-place when you become a big sister at 6 or 7.

When a newborn nestles in the grocery cart of a stranger, it's precious.

When friends have babies, it's special, awe-inspiring, and sweet.

When your own sister gives birth to a new human - a physical blend of herself and her husband - a being who has never yet opened his eyes to the light of day before, never been hugged before, and has yet to learn all the amazing things of life...an individual who will one day go to Heaven or hell...a baby who belongs to you by right of love and blood, who fits your hands like two puzzle pieces finding each other...a new life, that has never happened before....

...That, my friends, is beautiful, solitary tear-drop of emotion, suspended in a held breath, and sparkling with billions of reflected rays of possibility. It is joy so sweet the sweetest honey would taste bitter on the tongue in comparison. It is an awe so overcoming that it leaves you powerless.

Byron David

"Oh Lord, I thank You for life! For Your power to create and infuse life into new little bodies! For the construction of the family; that mysterious bond between parents, their offspring, and the third and fourth generations. Thank you for the precious privilege of being an aunt. Thank you for the blessing of living close by my sister and her little family. Thank you for new life in Christ. May this little boy meet You at an early age, and dedicate his life to Your service. Help me lead him to You!"

I knew from the moment Heather married that her first child would be a boy, and that he would be special to me. I was right. I never wavered from predicting a boy when Eugene and Heather told us she was pregnant, and the ultrasound only confirmed it. I could not wait to meet this little fella, and February seemed so far off. He ended up coming early, and since mom and baby both are well and healthy, I'm glad he came early. I was tired of waiting!

He arrived last Sunday night, and has been home for a week and one day now. Life has been a little disrupted, or I would have shared the happy news earlier. But when it's a choice between blogging or holding a baby, where is the contest?

When I held him in my arms for the first time last Monday, I instantly lost my heart to him.

...So...anything exciting happened in YOUR life lately?

Thank You, Jesus!!!

A Rock

2012-01-02T19:18:00.003-05:00

I'm thinking about the house on the rock tonight.

Did you ever sing that children's song about the wise man who built his house on the rock, and the foolish man who built his house on the sand (which went "splat!" in the end)?

Jesus' illustration of houses on different foundations gives us a vivid example of how trust-worthy his law is. If we commit ourselves to "hearing these sayings of Mine, and doing them," our house - our life - will stand.

Whenever I hear those verses, my ear focuses on the words like this:

"...Whosoever hearth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."
(Matt. 7:24-25)

That's great. It's wonderful. We can be confident in our foundation. But tonight, I read those verses again, and my eye caught a different theme:

Oh. You mean I should expect storms? I'm not a little child singing a song anymore. I've seen that life can be rough and unfriendly. But part of me wants to pull the covers over my head and pretend that the pattern of the ages is going to change somehow, and one human life (mine) will transpire without ever suffering loss, pain, or damage.

Then I read through some more verses, and I saw Jesus warning his disciples. The Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Enter in the strait and narrow gate. You cannot serve both God and mammon. Not everyone who says unto Him, "Lord, lord," will enter into the kingdom.

I think He's trying to make a point. Life in His service will have trials. There will be floods, and wind. Money-back guarantee.

But that's what makes His assurance so precious. His Word will stand, like a rock - not just through rose gardens and sunshine, but through all the storms of a thousand lifetimes. And we can build upon it. By doing what He says.

This year - what will it hold? Only my Father knows. I bet it will include some storms. But He hasn't left me without instructions on how to prepare. Do His Word. Obey His commands.

And I'll have a house that will stand through any storm.

The view isn't bad in the sunshine, either.

My "Secondly" Blog Post

2011-12-27T00:00:00.001-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I can't tell you how mine went, because I'm writing this post ahead of time, so I won't have to worry about it the week after Christmas. But I'm sure it was splendid.

If you've been reading my recent blog posts, you know the title for this one came from a post where I started a list of things I was going to talk about, and never made it past "firstly."

My "secondly" thing happened to be about New Years, so I decided to wait until after Christmas to write about it. After all, I'm the one who complains when stores start putting up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving.

New Years resolutions are the topic of many newspapers, magazines, and blogs this time of year. We all like the feeling of a fresh new start, a chance to change for the better, and begin anew. Never mind that most people forget about their resolutions by the time February is winding down.

Are you like that?

Do you consider your word something to be given seriously, and kept faithfully - even if you've only given your word to yourself? What does a commitment mean, if it's not kept?

Well, it's easy to scold, but I admit it can be hard to stick with something. That's why I think of these things in terms of "goals," not resolutions (for the most part). To have a goal is motivating. To make a promise to yourself or to God and not keep it is much more serious. So I had goals.

I flopped on one item myself, last year. I wanted to study Spanish five days a week. I made it through February, then started getting pretty sketchy.

But I made it with other items. By the end of this month, I will have read Proverbs through once every month for this year (that was a resolution). And I published a book I had been working on since I was 16. That was a goal.

I had a few other goals, but I try to keep it basic. For the most part, I keep things pretty realistic. This isn't a time to dream of what I'd do if I suddenly had 3 extra hours in my day, unlimited funds, and the brain of a genius. This is a time to figure out what God is calling me to pursue this year, and what I can reasonably accomplish if I work hard. Now is the time to figure that out, before the heat of battle makes me tired, nervous, or discouraged. When that time comes, I'll have my goals staring me in the face saying, "You figured this out before hand; you counted the cost. You can do this! You know you can, with God's help! It's not impossible!"

I like to have categories in which to divide my goals; intellectual, spiritual, and physical. Reading through the Bible in one year would be a spiritual and intellectual goal. Working out three times a week would be a physical goal.

These are all examples of positive goals. Not positive in the sense of "good" (though they are good!), but positive in the sense that they require you to take action to fulfill them. They are offensive rather than defensive.

To stretch yourself a little bit this year, I encourage you to try some negative goals in all three areas. You don't just want to add good things to your life; you want to remove those things which are harmful.

So what needs to go? Maybe your goal is to de-clutter your life and get rid of all those items that you really don't need. Maybe you want to stop a bad habit. Is there a certain sin you need to work on and pray against until it is thoroughly conquered? Maybe you want to get rid of certain harmful foods in your diet. Maybe you want to stop being a procrastinator.

So get yourself a blank piece of paper (Or Word Document, if you're on the computer more than you're off). At the top of the page, write "Goals for 2012", and below that make three columns.

Now stop and think. And pray. Envision the past year, and look forward into this one. What do you see that you want to stop? Where do you see God's hand of blessing? What needs to continue?

In the first column, list (let's keep it simple) five things you want to change/stop. Opposite them, in the middle column, write what you want to replace them with. If you're not a morning person, and want to change that, your goal sheet might look like this; "Stop sleeping until 9:00am" "Wake up at 7:00 every weekday morning." In the third column, write the steps that will make it happen; "Set alarm 15 minutes earlier, every third day, until I am getting up at 7:00 regularly."

Put the paper somewhere you'll see it often. Inside the front cover of your Bible? On the wall in your bedroom? At your desk?

I find that goals need to be a mixture of positive and negative to be the most motivating, because our human nature wants to be both offensive and defensive, depending on our mood.

New Year Resolutions aren't a "must." For years I didn't do them. I thought they were only for people who wanted to lose weight. But now I love challenging myself so much that I do month goals as well.

In the Bible, there were many times the nation of Israel took the time to read through God's law and dedicate themselves anew to following it. That ought to be a part of any New Year's goal-setting plan. Of course, the reason Israel did it many times is because they kept failing. And I'll fail, too. But that doesn't need to stop me from trying again. The struggle itself helps you gain strength.

What are some of your goals for the New Year? Are you remembering to consider all areas - Spiritual, Intellectual, and Physical? What do you think of positive and negative goal setting?

My Christmas Story

2011-12-21T12:20:00.000-05:00

Unexpected Gain

Sometimes we must lose to gain.

I was like that. I lost much – and gained more. And it all started when Jesus was born.

I am deeply moved every time I hear someone describe our Lord’s birth. You must understand that, until I was saved, I knew very little about Him. But when I heard about His birth, and where He was born …well, I’ll never forget what I felt.

You see, I own an inn. Or, I did until 5 years ago, when my second son officially became the owner. There was really very little to give him, with business being the way it is, but what is left, he owns. Maybe taxes will go down. Maybe cows will learn to fly.

I remember when, 40 years ago now, all the filthy government mismanagement really began to hurt our income. No one could afford to travel, and when we did have guests, we lost most of our profit to taxes. I thought we would sink.

Until a new census required everyone to travel. Now that tax I liked. We made more money in two weeks than we made the rest of that year. For 14 days straight, every room was full. I concentrated on using our opportunity to the utmost. And that, today, is what I regret.

Thinking back, I remember that, halfway through the first week, we started turning away many people every day. We had two or three rooms that might have held a few more occupants, but I was saving those spaces in the event a rich man was desperate and willing to pay double. You learn tricks like that when you’re in business as long as I was.

Soon there were only two spaces left. The first went to a poor man. He had walked for miles and could pay only half price. I wanted to help him, but I was sure that if I gave him the space, ten very rich, very desperate men would walk in right behind him. I almost said no, but then Caleb entered the inn.

“Look – he’s watching,” my mind whispered. “If you turn this man away, Caleb will tell the town how harsh and greedy you are.” On the other hand, if I had pity, Caleb would note that, too. And being favored by a man as rich as Caleb was a good thing.

So the poor man got a room. I blush now to think how much effort I poured into making the religious crowd see me as something I was not.

Ten minutes later, a young couple showed up. Maybe they had in-laws with them – my memory is blurry now. But I remember the couple. They could pay full price – but no more. I wasn’t about to lose my last space for regular price. Not on a night like that. Not when dozens of people would pay double. It was the one time government was benefitting me, and I intended to profit from the situation. Caleb was gone now. This was my business.

So I turned them away. And tried not to remember that we were Bethlehem’s only inn.

I heard later that our neighbors took them in. Many people were opening their homes and renting rooms for a small fee that month. Apparently our neighbor’s house was already packed, but they let this couple and the group they were with use the stable. They stayed there while waiting their turn to register for the census. All government projects take awhile.

On the second evening, the woman had a child. That’s all I remember about it. I’m sure there were noises, and lights in the wee hours of the morning; but I was running an inn. My wife remembers a group of temple shepherds coming to the door, asking permission to search our stable, but I was busy then, too. I know now that it was not ours, but our neighbor’s stable, that held what they sought.

Those busy weeks were soon over, and life returned to normal. I paid little notice when that couple left the stable and rented a tiny house in our town. A few months later, I hired the man to repair our worn-out front door – now that he was a useful neighbor, I wanted him. He did good work, I paid him, and we occasionally greeted one another in the street after that.

Many more months passed. My own wife gave me a boy – my first born son. He came into the world in a warm room, above the inn. He grew fast, and filled my heart with pride and love, with every coo and gurgle.

Then that awful night came. Only a few hours before sunrise, dozens of riders and terrible snorting horses came thundering down our peaceful streets. I looked out of the window with groggy vision while my wife tried to calm our crying Nathan.

They were pounding on the door, breaking in before I could answer. And then – my heart aches as I remember – they grabbed our little boy. His pudgy hands flailed the air. His big dark eyes tore my heart. The men said something about our king demanding the death of Bethlehem’s children. My wife was shrieking and sobbing as they held her back. I was halfway across the room before I was knocked to the floor. They held me there until it was over. The knife they used killed more than my son; it destroyed my heart.

Life didn’t matter after that. Why should I struggle to live, in a country where leaders could take what was dearest to me, and tear it apart? I did not live. I only existed. I grew old. Other children came, but I loved with fear, expecting to lose. And God? I no longer cared about pleasing Him. If He could let such gruesome wickedness go by unpunished, He could overlook my petty faults. Of this I was sure. He obviously did not hate evil as much as I had thought.

It was 30 years later that I finally understood. We had traveled to Jerusalem for the customary Passover feast, and as we left the city, we walked by the hill of the skull – Jerusalem’s place of execution. We saw the agony of the three men dying on that hill, and looked the other way. We were close enough to hear the gasping breath, and the dying moans. I heard the man on the center cross say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and I did not know what to think.

That was the scene God used to bring me to salvation a few months later. Philip visited Bethlehem and told us about Jesus. At first I scoffed, but then I heard that Jesus was the man who forgave while dying. And this Jesus was God’s Son. Images of my infant boy’s lifeless form, and a man’s destroyed body on a cross, mixed in my mind, and I felt pain. So God, too, had a Son who was killed by soldiers. And both the Son and the Father had willed it to be so. For me.

How could this be? Were my sins truly so awful that they demanded such a price? Perhaps God hated evil more than I thought. Did God really love me so much, that He would pay that painful price?

That day, I saw how awful my sins are, and that day they were paid for by the blood of Christ Jesus.

“You know, He was born here, in Bethlehem,” Philip told me later.

My brows raised. The Messiah? Born here?

“It was during a census, thirty-some years ago – I guess you are old enough to remember it.”

Yes, I did.

“His mother tells me she gave birth in a stable,” Philip said.

My tongue thickened and stuck to the roof of my mouth. “Tell me about it,” I croaked.

Can I describe how I felt when I learned how He was born? It did not take long to put the pieces together. To think – God entered the world in my neighbor’s stable, and it could have been my inn! Did ever a man lose so great an opportunity for so small a thing? I might have held Him in my very arms! My grandchildren envy me because I can say I saw Christ in the flesh, but O how much more I might have had! When I sit and ponder how my selfishness put the Son of God in a dirty stable on the night of His birth, I am even more thankful for those words, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

To be forgiven by the Almighty is more than I can understand. I still miss my son. But I doubt I would have listened to Philip had I never known such loss. Such is the wisdom of God.

He took my son, so He could give me His.

Christmas

2011-12-19T14:52:00.004-05:00

Is it just me, or does blogsphere get really quiet this time of year? Everybody is busy doing things like spending time with family or shopping, and blogging gets put on the back burner - along with little things like cleaning one's bedroom and keeping up with emails.

But I digress. My bedroom looks much better this actual moment. Never mind that a few days ago I had to kick (Ahem. I mean nudge) bags, clothes, and books out of the way to get from the door to my bed. I have reasons. Where else can you store presents except your bedroom? And if you're going to have bags and boxes everywhere, why bother to pick up laundry or put books back on the bookshelf?

My logic is warped, I'm afraid.

But I've reformed. My bedroom is half-way decent again. The emails.....um, different story. But I'm working on it.

Now, what did I get online to write about? .....Oh yes.

First, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, just on the grounds that I may not speak to you again until after New Years. ...But, then again, you never know. It might be just the writers that are absent from blogsphere. If you prove to me that the readers haven't gone anywhere, I might be tempted to do another post before 2012 rolls around.

Secondly, ...

Well, before I get to the secondly thing, let's talk about Christmas some more. Because I like Christmas. And 'cause the secondly thing is really more about New Years, and 2012 scares me a bit at this moment.

So, Merry Christmas again.

I know not every Christian celebrates Christmas - I have several friends who don't. And those who do, celebrate it in very different ways. That doesn't bother me. Everybody has their viewpoints on it.

I know Christ probably wasn't born on Dec. 25th. I think there is a good bit of evidence to suggest that the wise men gave him gifts on December 25th (see this video to know why), but birthday? Nah, probably not. And I know that, traditionally, years ago, December 25th was a pagan celebration. (Please note; Christmas was not the pagan holiday; but the pagan holiday fell on December 25th. I have no idea what it was called. )

Does it bother me that the pagan holiday and the celebration of Christ's birth are on the same day? Maybe a little. But it makes me think of a story I heard about Patrick, missionary to Ireland. In his days there were still druids in Ireland, and they had a special day dedicated to the worship of their gods. A special part of the ceremony was the lighting of a gigantic bonfire on a high hill. No one was allowed to light their own fires that night until the large one was lit. The land lay in darkness.

Patrick saw the spiritual darkness of the land. He decided that he and his small band of Christians were going to light a fire in honor of the God they served - before the druids lit theirs. And they would do it on a high hill near the one the druids occupied - in open, direct defiance to the pagan gods.

So, on the night when no other fires were supposed to be lit, even before the druids lit their own fire, a bonfire raged opposite their hill. "Who had dared to light that fire?" the druids asked. The man of God, Patrick," came the answer. "He defies our gods."

I feel the same way about Christmas - the fact that I want to worship my God on a day pagans want to honor theirs doesn't bother me a bit. I know Christmas isn't a Biblically-commanded holiday, and I have no problem with those who don't celebrate it. But I know Christ was born, and I like to celebrate that fact.

So now that I've gone off on a bit of a rabbit trail.....

I'm excited that Christmas is only a few days away, aren't you? Some people chose to do things simply. Some become very elaborate. Our family does very little outside the home (parties, events, etc.), but we do love to make the home celebration a big'un. Decorating, Christmas Bible reading, getting up early on Christmas morning, a big meal, gifts, music, singing, candlelight....

I do love the tradition of gift-giving. Picking out things to make my loved ones smile is such a joy. I wonder if God the Father felt a lot of joy when unto us a Son was given.

I guess He did. His will was being worked out, and His plan was being accomplished. As a human, I would have been serious and pensive about my son being born with the purpose of giving his life for sinners, but God loved us so much....I bet He even smiled that night. The angels must have marveled.

I must move on the the secondly thing before I run out of blogging time. But now that it comes right down to it, I don't feel like writing about New Years quite yet.

I have two posts to write before the New Years. The "Secondly" one...and a short Christmas story that I wrote and want to share with you. I'll try to get that up before Christmas. If you want to read it, that is.

I hope you are having a wonderful week. This is my "holiday week." I'm allowing myself to spend time doing just stuff the workaholic in me always screams at; like sitting and browsing gardening books for hours and hours, or taking time to have a tea party with my younger sister (I know - I should do that more often!), or writing a blog post. I'm also spending lovely long hours in the kitchen, which makes me very happy. :)

I must go for now. Hope to talk to you soon.
Amber

Vision Forum Sale!

2011-11-15T20:06:00.002-05:00

I know that many of you are Vision Forum fans, so I'm happy to share some good news with you!

This week, Vision Forum is having a HUGE sale. Almost everything on their website is at least 20% off. Yes, a TON of stuff is on sale!

But the BEST part (in my humble opinion) is that shipping is a flat FIVE DOLLARS for ANY order. No matter what you buy, how much you get, or how heavy it is. Five dollars flat. And that's important, because anytime I get a good sale online, the shipping always gets me. Ugh. But five dollars? I'd pay that for the smallest order, so why not take advantage of being able to get LOTS of items for only 5 dollars?

Now, surely there's something Vision Forum has that you can use for Christmas gifts. Do you have G.A. Henty fans in your household? Little girls who love doll clothes? History buffs? Adventurous boys who love hats and knives and spyware? Go take a look!

In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that if you go shop by clicking on this link, I will earn a small percentage of what you spend. But I still think it's a great sale. I mean, if you're going to get gifts anyway....why not get them now? :) :) :)

Advice for the unmarried

2011-11-12T17:41:00.005-05:00

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." Proverbs 4:23-27

What do those verses mean to you?

Do you know what I think? I think God put those verse there especially for unmarried people. I think it's His solution to the crusade of crushes, flirting, daydreaming, castle-building, and discontentment that runs rampant in even our Christian circles. And even in our own lives, sometimes.

I mean - think about it: it's all there.

Vs. 23 - Guard your heart. Use diligence. Why? Because that's where your life source is. That's where who you are stems from. And you want it to be pure and good and focused solely on Christ.

Vs. 24 - Don't speak boldly and flirtatiously. In fact, don't say anything that could be counted as unfitting to a disciple of Christ. Put such things far away from you. Let it be completely out of character for you to be boisterous and loud and giggly and attention-grabbing.

Vs. 25 - Let your eyes be focused on one thing, and one thing only: Jesus. Let Him be your life and your goal, and your source of happiness. Keep your vision fixed on where He is, and where He wants you to be. Remember eternity. Look at life through His eyes, through His perspective. Don't get distracted.

Vs. 26 - Think about where you're going. Think about who you are. Don't wander into situations that you will regret later. Don't let life just happen to you; you have a purpose and a calling. Follow it. Follow Him. Let your habits and your life be rooted in godliness and obedience. Seek after wisdom with all your heart. Walk with your eyes open.

Vs 27 - Don't give in to temptation. Don't get distracted. When you wander off the path, forsake the byways quickly. Run from sin like you would a poisonous snake. Embrace truth, and walk with the knowledge that the path God has set for you - and His timing and His plan - is the absolute best.

See what I mean?

It's all there.

Nice of our Heavenly Father to put it so concisely, wasn't it?

Sewing Project: My Banquet Dress

2011-11-11T12:29:00.004-05:00

Back in September, I had the privilege of being part of a banquet for our local pregnancy center. The event was quite posh, and all the ladies involved wanted to be sure we dressed our best. I used the occasion as an excuse to make a dress I've been planning for awhile. I had the fabric, and the general idea of what I wanted.

I was quite pleased with the result. Mom says it's her favorite out of everything I've ever made - and she isn't hard to please, but that still means something.

So here's how the design process went...

First, I dreamed. Then I selected my base pattern. It wasn't this one exactly, but very similar:

The dress had the same lines; princess seams, flared near the knee, knee-length (though I made mine a few inches longer), built-in sleeves, etc.

I had the fabric already; a shimmery navy. I bought the whole bolt (5 yds.) at WalMart, for $5.00. It's so cheap they don't even tell you what it's made of, but it feels like good quality stuff.

I cut the pattern out exactly as called for. (Gasp!!!!) I've discovered which size I am, and - sure enough - this dress fit perfectly right "out of the box" at the size I cut it. (I know, I'm so terribly blessed. I can cut a pattern at one size, and not have to alter it! I should use patterns more often.)

So, this is what it looked like after I sewed the main seams:

Please ignore the mess of my sewing shelves and table. I always have a dozen projects going on at once.

I liked the basic lines, but this look just didn't quite "cut it" for me. I wanted something more.

So I added a sheer shimmery layer on top, and a pleated waistband (which took forever to make, but was so worth it).

And the end result?

Much better.

This dress fits me like a dream, covers everything no matter how I move, and makes me feel like a princess. I LOVE it. It was worth the 10 hours it took to make.

It was worth the $15.00 I spent on materials, too. :) :) :):) :) :)

Generational sins

2011-11-01T11:51:00.004-04:00

Today I keep thinking of a saying my Pastor repeats quite often.

"What you do in moderation, your children will do in excess."

I caught myself doing a vain thing, and excused myself by saying, "It's all in moderation."

Then that saying came back to haunt me.

"What you do in moderation, your children will do in excess."

Do I want my (Lord willing) future children to copy me in everything?

Um...gulp...no. Most things, yes. Everything? No. I shiver at the thought. They can copy my strengths all they like, but I hope they don't inherit my weaknesses.

But, "What you do in moderation, your children will do in excess."

So...do I want my vanity to become full-blown arrogance and pride in my children? No.

Do I want my private longings to become open selfishness in my children? No!

Do I want my stingy giving to become greed?

Do I want my "independence" to become rebellion in my children?

Will "indulgences" become addiction to entertainment?

Will sarcasm become cutting words?

Somehow I want to make excuses for myself, but I want my children to be perfect. Looking at things from the perspective of several generations makes everything more serious. I can understand why people say that when you become a parent, all of the sudden you grow up. When you realize that the health of your child's soul depends a great deal on you,...it makes a difference.

Lord, grant me grace to live in such a way that I can say, "Follow me as I follow Christ!"

Sugar Report

2011-10-31T19:18:00.002-04:00

Okay - here is a summary of my two weeks without sugar, and then I promise I'll get off the sugar soapbox. For awhile.

Disclaimer:
I didn't go 2 weeks without eating refined sugar.

You know, of course, that I was allowing myself 1 meal each week to eat whatever I liked. I did that on Friday night for both weeks. I had pizza and ice cream, and one week I had a sip of Joe Beans' Iced Mocha as well. Mmmm!

Those were my permissible flumps. (Don't you like that word? I just made it up!)

I had a few other Cheat Moments.

#1 - The homemade chocolate cheesecake at a friend's party last Saturday. I held out through the cookies. And the chocolate raspberry truffles. And the pizza sauce for dipping the Stromboli. But when they sliced the cheesecake....I said "who cares?" and ate a small (very rich!) piece. Oh, It. Was. That. Good.

#2 - I ate a few dried dates that had sugar on them. (Honestly - who in the world thinks they need to sweeten dried dates, of all things? As if they weren't sweet enough?)

#3 - I almost gave in yesterday when Mom served fudge pie for Sunday dinner dessert. The only thing that kept me strong was knowing I'd have to blog about my naughtiness. (I knew there was something to the accountability theory!)

So, what did I observe, and what did I learn?

Well, I'm not sure which was hardest to abstain from; the known sweets (chocolate, ice cream, etc.) or the "hidden sugar" (bread, cereal, crackers, mayo, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, etc.) I certainly craved the desserts more, but the "regular food" was hardest to avoid. I was hard pressed to find food that I could eat.

And that surprised me a little bit.

For example, let's say you, like me, are "good about sugar." You don't drink soda, you don't munch candy bars, you dislike Pop Tarts, and love most any veggie. Great. Let's create a example menu and see what the sugar content is.

Breakfast: Granola
Lunch: Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Supper: Lasagna, Salad, and Rolls (let's say you're good and you skip dessert)

Sounds okay, right?

That's what I thought before these past two weeks. But I can't argue with the math.

The math says that (depending on what brands and how many helpings you have), this menu supplies you with - are you ready? - 52 grams of refined sugar.

100 grams sugar = 20 tsp. sugar

So, 52 grams is about 10 tsp. .....

That's almost 1/4 cup of sugar.

Picture a quarter cup of sugar dumped onto the table. Now pick that up and ingest it.

And we thought we were "good with sugar"?

Enough with the depressing news.

Anyway - so my eyes were opened to the way sugar has invaded my diet. But I also learned that skipping dessert is possible.

And I learned all sorts of ways to sweeten food naturally. ...But I'm kinda sick of raisins. :) :) :)

All in all, I'm glad I did these two weeks. I feel good about it.

How will I eat tomorrow?

Well, my tongue craves some old-fashioned granola and chocolate, but my mind feels a little sick at the thought of what that means for my body. One TBS of sugar sounds like a TON. I think I view sugar in a whole different light now. Hopefully that lasts for awhile. I will definitely be looking into ways to limit my sugar, but I don't think I'll go cold-turkey. At least not yet.

How do you think a sugar fast would affect you if you did one?

Thoughts

2011-10-26T12:34:00.002-04:00

This post struck home with me. Something about it moved my heart.

I had to share it.

http://lifewithabibliophobia.blogspot.com/2011/10/kaleidoscope.html

I'm happy about my shopping ...

2011-10-25T21:16:00.005-04:00

So I must tell you about it!

Usually, I hate shoe shopping.

Gasp! Breathes there a girl who can say those four words and mean it?

Hello, folks, and my name is Amber.

Yes, I usually despise shoe shopping.

Not that I hate shoes. No, no. Don't believe that for a minute. I used to think I'd escaped the fatal feminine sickness of shoe-love, but I no longer labor under that delusion. I am now quite aware of my weakness for shoes. All the boxes are neatly stacked in the bottom of my closet. I won't say how many.

I do try to control myself. I don't want to be consumed with a love of fashion - there are too many more important things to think about! But I like pretty things, and when I can afford new pretty shoes without stealing funds from worthier causes, I like to get them.

So why do I hate shoe shopping?

It's a remnant of my past, I guess. Memories of spending hours as a young girl, wandering shoe store aisles with Mom, going from store to store, vainly searching for the perfect shoe. ...Melting in tears when I can't find it.

I'm very picky, you see. Very conservative (or shy) in my tastes. I remember one shoe-shopping trip where Mom could not accompany me, and Dad had to take me. When I came home, I told her, "Now I know Daddy is patient."

Anyway. I have bad associations with shoe-shopping. Shoe-shopping means tears, and a lot of wasted gas.

I'm also a cheap-skate. And shoes are not cheap. So I hated that part of it, too.

That explains why I ripped a hole in the bottom of my trusty black ballet flats back in September, and didn't go shopping for a new pair until this week. And I wore that old pair multiple times each week throughout this month. With a pea-size hole in the sole. Yes, I'm that cheap. And lazy. And that afraid of shoe shopping.

That couldn't last forever. I needed a pair of black flats. And a brown pair, as well, since the button on my old brown flats was hanging on by a few threads, and I regularly pulled the sole lining out when I removed my feet from the shoes. I literally remember wearing those shoes when I took the test for my driver's license...quite a few years ago.

Proof positive: I was afraid of shoe shopping.

But I knew I wasn't being frivolous this time. I needed shoes. ...So I began to get excited.

And God was with me in a special way on these trips. (Yes, I made two trips!) The first time, I spotted an exact copy (different brand)of my old pair of black flats. Right away. An identical brown pair was close by. On sale; buy two, get each one for $10.

A sign. It was meant to be.

I grabbed the boxes, bought them for $20, and took them home. Record time for a shoe shopping trip.

Just when I thought I might get excited about shoe shopping. I buy an exact copy of my old pair of shoes. How exciting.

Only problem was, one pair didn't fit. Exact same shoes - the brown ones fitted, the black ones didn't. Stubborn. Must have been related to that old pair.

So I went back today to exchange them. This time I was going to live a little. Find a different black flat style.

I walked into Show Show, and not only did I find a nice black flat, but I noticed a lot of sales going on. And I realized I wanted to have some fun. So I did. I tried shoes on I never would have tried on before, strutted the aisle (it was empty!) in front of the mirror, played dress up, and shed not one tear.

I came home with 3 pairs of shoes. Plus the brown ones at home.

I don't have photos, but I looked online for similar pictures:
#1 - Brown flats:

They look exactly like this, but are a different brand.
(Incidentally, my hated old black flats looked just like this, too.)

#2 - Fun plaid shoe (summer shoe on sale):

This isn't really close...the plaid is like this, but the style is different.
Picture a ballet flat in these colors...sorta. More of a "sailor shoe" than a ballet flat.

#3 - Needed black flats:

Something like this, only with a ribbon ruffle on the toe,
and polka-dots inside (Don't you love those little touches only you see?
My pair is TONS cuter:

#4 - And, last but not least, my personal favorite. A pair of red heels. I've secretly wanted one for years, but I'm not a heels girl. Too uncomfortable, and I don't like the "swing" they add to your walk. But these are supportive, comfortable, and even my mother agrees they aren't so high that they add any swing. I love them. Wish I had an actual picture. Imagine:

Something styled like this:

With colors like this, in patent leather:

(Now you know I'm lazy when it comes to taking pictures and uploading them.)

Best of all?

Remember how I said I'm cheap?

I'm rejoicing.

I got 4 pairs of shoes.

Normal cost: $82.96

Way beyond my price range for an impulsive shopping spree.

Guess what I paid after sales?

$33.00

For 4 pairs of shoes.

That's less than $10.00 a pair, in case you didn't do the math.

Yes Ma'am. I'm happy.

P.S. I forgot to add: I came home and had a party and threw the old black flats in the trash, and got rid of the old brown flats, and gave away two more pairs of shoes - so I got 4, and got rid of 4! Pretty good for a girl who likes shoes, huh?

Two Flavors

2011-10-19T12:47:00.004-04:00

So....yesterday night was hard.

Supper was green beans, rice, and slow cooker chicken. It was yummy! The chicken was especially good, and I enjoyed a whole leg, which is a lot for me. I usually have just a bite or two of meat with my meal. (Yeah, I know that's pitiful.) I knew I didn't need to save room for dessert, so I filled up. I even had seconds on rice, which is another unusual occurrence for me. (I've developed a habit of skimping on the good food so I have plenty of room for a big dessert. One reason I knew I needed to do this "sugar fast." ...This look even worse in print.)

At the end of the meal, my tummy was full, but my tongue wasn't. I roamed the kitchen like a crazy girl, looking for something sweet I could eat. I'm so accustomed to that sweetness to finish off a meal! I finally settled for a dried fig.

Here's a list of foods to help satisfy that sweet ache:
Raisins
Dried figs or prunes
Dried fruit, if there's no sugar added (hard to find, with some brands)
Blueberries, 'specially good if they're frozen
Strawberries
Nuts can help, too, though they aren't sweet

I've come to a definite conclusion. Americans are programed to enjoy only two taste sensations; sweetness and saltiness.

Think about it - almost every food we eat has sugar added, from pizza sauce to bread. The foods that aren't sugar-enhanced are the savory type, and they all have salt added. Canned veggies, soups, lunch meat, chips, etc., all taste strongly of salt, but unless you're used to eating those foods without salt, you don't notice that flavor. The flavor you expect from canned beets, for instance, comes mainly from the salt in the can. We think that's "beet taste," but if you cook up a garden beet and eat it, then take a bite of canned beets, you immediately notice that you aren't tasting true "beet" from the can. You're tasting salt. Our tongues automatically expect to taste either sugar or salt in every mouthful of food we eat. We don't even notice it any more. We think salt or sugar equals flavor.

Even if salt and sugar wasn't so disastrous for your health, wouldn't this still be a sad state of affairs? There are MILLIONS of flavors in the world - why mask them with the two we've been programmed to like best? These other flavors are milder, and with a tongue accustomed to the strong bite of salt and the pervasiveness of sugar, it's hard to pick up any deep taste, but once you avoid sugar and salt for awhile, I've been told you taste everything else much better.

Wouldn't it be worth it to avoid two flavors for the sake of experiencing zillions of others in their place?

...Not that I'm ready to give up salt and sugar entirely. I think some in moderation is enjoyable. But I am hoping that through my "experiment" these two weeks I will be able to enjoy some richer flavor in the foods I eat.

What do you think? Are we over-salted-and-sweeted?

Sweet Overkill

2011-10-18T11:28:00.004-04:00

The USDA reports that the average American consumes anywhere between 150 to 170 pounds of refined sugars (this includes glucose, fructose, and sucrose) in one year.

That's a lot of sugar.

What does 150-170 pounds look like? Imagine 30 to 34 five-pound bags of sugar lined up next to each other on a counter. Now imagine eating all of that sugar. To break it down even more, eating 150-170 pounds of sugar in one year is also equivalent to consuming 1/4 to 1/2 pounds of sugar each day.

1/4 pound of sugar is equivalent to 30 teaspoons and 1/2 pound of sugar is equivalent to 60 teaspoons.

Studies have shown that consuming 75 to 100 grams of simple sugars (about 20 teaspoons of sugar - the amount found in two-and-a-half average 12 ounce cans of soda) can suppress the body's immune responses considerably. These sugars are known to create a 40 to 50% percent drop in the ability of white blood cells to kill bacteria and germs within the body. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours. By consuming 150 to 170 pounds of simple sugars each year, a person may have up to 80,000 hours of immune suppression!

(These facts were taken from: http://EzineArticles.com/2252026)

No wonder we are a sick society. And this isn't even taking into consideration that other effects of sugar - it's the leading cause of dental problems, and we all know what sugar can do to children's attention spans. There are studies that show that sugar feeds cancer cells, and causes heart problems.

Enough already.

I've always known sugar is bad for you. Refined sugar, that is. I know we need a little sugar in our bodies - it actually feeds the brain, I've been told. But that's natural sugar - the kind found in fruits, honey, and molasses. Refined sugars (white sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) is not at all necessary. Your body survives much better without it.

As I said, I've known that for ages. I've tried to watch how much refined sugar I eat, and I thought I did pretty good. At 6 or 7 years old, I was famous in Sunday school for refusing any candy offered me. (Yes - you can say it...."health nut!")

Lately, however, I've gotten sloppy. My trouble with low blood sugar flared up again this year, and it just seems too easy to eat a few chocolate chips mid-morning, or nibble a piece of chocolate before bed. I've always loved ice cream. Chocolate chip cookies? Mmmmm! And my real weakness is "real food" that is chocked-full of sugar. Sweet potato casserole. Quick breads. Especially quick breads. Pumpkin bread, banana bread - you name it, I'll eat it 'til the cows come home.

And don't forget granola. That stuff could be served breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I wouldn't complain.

All that has lots of sugar. It's addictive. Sugar is addictive. And yet it's so bad for you.

Wow. Now why does that sentence remind me of sin?

I can't snap my fingers and remove all the sin in my life, but I can try to do something about this sugar thing. I've become motivated to see if I can go for two weeks without putting any refined sugar in my body.

Do you have any idea how hard that can be in America? That not only means no chocolate or ice cream, but also no spaghetti sauce, salad dressings, store-bought bread, or granola!

Of course, there's still plenty left to choose from. God's a creative Creator, and He made plenty of "real" food that is delicious. It will be hard, but I fully believe it's possible. That's why I'm going to do it.

Two weeks. Cold Turkey. Nit-picky. Starting today.

Now for the big question - will you join me?

I'd love some accountability. And some companionship. Somebody to say "keep going!" and to tell me I'm not crazy.

Maybe cold turkey is a little much for you - but what about making a smaller commitment for these two weeks? Maybe you'll skip dessert every day. Or drink your coffee black. Anything to show us you're challenging yourself!

If you decide to do a challenge for these two weeks (Oct. 18- Nov. 1), please post a comment and tell us what it is.

If you want to join the same challenge I'm doing, let me tell you the rules I'm giving myself:

1 - The obvious; no refined sugars. This means I read the labels on everything, and if it contains any unnatural sugars, it's a no-no. I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot of from-scratch foods for awhile. :)
2 - You can "cheat" on one meal each week. (Don't you love making up your own rules?) I already know which meal I'm going to "cheat" on; Friday nights. It's our family pizza night, and I'd hate to miss out on that!
3 - Don't starve yourself. Be sure to fill up on good foods.

So what can we eat? Lots! Oatmeal sweetened with molasses and raisins, homemade bread made with honey, vegetables, baked potatoes, cheese, sour cream, apples, oranges, bananas, beans, noodles with herbs and butter, carrots, grilled chicken, meatloaf, fried potatoes, tuna-cheese-butter-and-lettuce sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, ...and much more!

If you discover a "hidden" source of sugar, that some of us might over look (like ketchup or BBQ sauce) post a comment to remind us! And be sure to post a comment if you join the challenge.

If you feel like it, post about the challenge on your own blog, to keep up your spirits.

On of the best parts about this challenge, I think, will be the new recipes we come up with. I've created one already! I had it for breakfast this morning. Shall I share?

Oven-baked French Toast

- 4 homemade rolls
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/2 cup or so of milk
- lots of cinnamon
- 2 TBS molasses
- 1 TBS honey
- 1 TBS water

Slice the rolls into 1/4" slices. Layer in a 9x9 glass baking dish. Combine eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Pour over bread. Mix molasses, honey, and water. Drizzle evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until eggs set. Don't over bake.

This was delicious as-is; sorta like cinnamon french bread on the bottom, and gingerbread cookies softened in milk on the top, but next time I might add a TBS of melted butter to the molasses mixture, and pour it all in the bottom of the dish before I add the bread, eggs, and milk.

I'm also sprouting 1 1/2 cups of navy beans for a recipe later in the week. Start today if you want to try it! Sprouting is easy. ...but this post is long enough, so I won't give detailed instructions. Just google it. :)

Anyway....I am holding my breath for comments! Remember, if you meet this challenge, you've just escaped 3 1/2 POUNDS of sugar (or 420 tsp.) that would have been in your body if you ate the normal 1/4 pound a day.

Let's do it, folks!

I see the moon

2011-10-11T14:45:00.005-04:00

One thing I love about night falling earlier this time of year is the chance I get to see the moon and stars whenever I come home from an evening outing. I routinely stand in the driveway and star-gaze for a few minutes before I can manage to break away and go indoors.

A few nights ago I was captivated once again by a nearly-full moon in a clear sky. I stood there in the driveway gazing up, gravel hurting my feet through the thin soles of my shoes, and the cool night air touching my arms. I could almost feel a cold-ish warmth from the moon, if you know what I mean. I wonder if a person's cheeks can moon-burn? Though I have seen it hundreds of times, I never get over the sheer amount of light the moon can reflect.

Nearly every time I see a full moon, I think about the science behind it. The moon is a ball of rock, dust, earth, and craters. No light source of its own. I know, in my head, that it reflects the sun, but that's so hard to imagine, in a dark sky. The sun is far away, on the other side of the world. How can it be causing this yellow glow I see?

I wondered, the other night, how the moon manages to reflect anything. It's dirt, after all. Grey, dusty, dirty dirt. How does dirt glow like that?

And then I couldn't help but think of myself.

I know the Great God. The King of kings. His glory far surpasses any earthly glow and beauty, even as glorious as the sun is. And I am made to reflect Him, in a dark sky. I am not a star - I don't have my own light source. I am a moon; a humble circular mass of grey rock and dirt. And I can't figure out how dirt is supposed to reflect light, but somehow it happens.

No credit to the moon, of course. It doesn't do anything. I mean, it sits there - or hangs there, rather. And it does have to be in line with the sun to catch its light. But really, all that glow comes entirely from the sun.

Of course, sometimes earth casts a shadow on the moon. When that happens, less of the surface of the moon is lit by the sun. A crescent moon doesn't even compare to the glowing radiance of a full moon.

A full moon is beautiful. The sun lends its stunning rays to this humble object, and manages to makes the dirt beautiful, while at the same time teaching the observer something about the nature of the sun itself. Even though the sun is hidden. Even though the sky is dark.

I think I'll stop here. I won't continue to explain for you the obvious parallel to be seen between the moon and ourselves. You'll see it - and feel it - all for yourself, if you will just go outside the next time there's a full moon to be seen, and stand there for awhile looking at it.

Beautiful dust. Because of a glorious Son.

"How to Cook Chinese/Japanese/ Filipino food at home"

2011-09-29T20:40:00.005-04:00

To be honest, I don't know which this recipe is. The rice bit is (with minor adjustments by me) from my aunt , who is Filipino, but the rest is just what I thought smelled good and looked oriental. And it tastes FANTASTIC, if I may say so myself. A friend of mine saw this dish once and thought I had ordered it from a Japanese restaurant. And it must be sorta kinda authentic, since part of it came from my aunt, right?

I've never had restaurant-style oriental food (only dishes made by people from those countries - lucky me!), so I don't know if this tastes like what you would buy in a Japanese or Chinese restaurant. Make it yourself and tell me.

This recipe below makes one serving. Multiply it according to how many people you need to feed. Of course, like most cooking, it's very flexible. Add a little extra rice to make it stretch. Skimp on an egg or two if you don't have enough. And so on and so forth.

So...Here we go: (And, once again, I apologize for how wordy my recipes are. Can't help it!)

Orient Rice, Amber-Style

~ minced garlic (the kind you buy in a little jar in its own juice is so convenient! ...But you could chop fresh garlic too. Just be sure to chop tiny.)
~ 2 TBS butter, or a little less. Maybe 1 1/2 TBS
~ 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, one day old (the age is important so that it's not too moist.)
~ 1 egg (home-raised is best!)
~ 2 TBS ground beef, cooked with onions (Is your family like mine, where you cook up a bunch of ground beef with onions at one time, early in the week, and use it throughout the week for spaghetti, sloppy joes, soups, casseroles, etc.? I just grabbed a little bit from the fridge.)
~ 1 tsp. soy sauce (Please do measure this - just 1 tsp. is enough! Ever read the back of the bottle? 1 TBS gives you 38% of your daily salt allowance!)
~ 1 large carrot, scrubbed
~ 1/2 of one large green sweet pepper (fresh from the garden is delightful!)

Are you ready?
Directions: (Note - you will be making two parts for this dish - rice, and fried vegetables to go on top. Make the rice first and keep it warm, or, if you're talented, get the veggies going, and when they're almost done start the rice.)

Rice Directions:
Melt some of the butter (3/4 TBS or less) in a small frying pan. Once it is melted, turn your heat down to simmer and add a small scoop (1/4 tsp. or so, to taste) of minced garlic. Let that saute until the garlic is soft and smells wonderful. Don't let the butter get too brown. Keeping the heat low is key. Think slow cooking.

Add the cooked meat, and toss to coat in butter. Let it heat for a few moments. Turn the heat up to medium. Once it reaches the heat level you would use to cook eggs, continue.

Now, you want to do the next three additions quickly, so have them all ready. Have your rice measured out and ready to dump in, plus 3/4 tsp. of soy sauce and one egg.

Add the egg to the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon. You're making scrambled eggs. As soon as the egg starts to cook, add the rice and soy sauce. Stir continuously as the egg cooks. You want the rice to fry, but you don't want the egg to over-cook and be rubbery. Find that perfect moment of "doneness." And remember, eggs always continue to cook in their own heat once you take them off the stove, so stop a few moments before you think they're done.

Now, set the rice aside, but keep it warm until your veggie topping is ready.

Fried Vegetables Directions:
Chop your carrot and green pepper into 2.5" lengths. Then slice the pieces into strips. The strips should be thin, like a lasagna noodle, and about 1/4" wide. Now melt your remaining butter in a larger fry pan, and saute a small amount of garlic until soft. Turn heat up to medium. Add remaining soy sauce (about 1/4 tsp.) and the carrots. Let the carrots cook for 2-3 minutes, to give them a head start, since they're crisper, and then add the green pepper. Fry until the veggies are soft and limp, and just starting to caramelize around the edges. (Mmmmm!) Remove from heat and serve over the rice.

Try to restrain yourself.

Enjoy!

Virginia Earthquake

2011-09-05T20:42:00.005-04:00

Saturday, as I sat on top of a mountain (yes, really!), I told two friends that I really needed to write a blog post about "the" earthquake, but that it would be senseless to write so late. I mean, honestly, everything that can be said about it has been said about it, right?

All except my bit of the story.

So, what do you want to hear? An explanation of where I was, what I thought, how I panicked? ...or an explanation of what in the world I was doing sitting on top of a mountain on Saturday?

That one is easy. I climbed up there. All 1.5 miles. Lovely climb. My favorite mountain in the world. It is nothing but bare rocks at the top, so the view is unimaginable unless you've been there.

So we were sitting on rocks at the top of the world discussing blogs and earthquakes.

Just in case you are a reader from another country, or the other side of my country, let me explain: I live in Virginia. On August 28th, an unexpected 5.8 earthquake rattled life all up and down the east coast of America. We felt it.

Everybody has their own story about where they were and what they were doing when the earthquake hit. I doubt we'll ever forget it. It was the first - and maybe the only - earthquake I've ever been in. (Honestly, an earthquake in Virginia?)

Actually, I didn't panic. It took me about 10 seconds to realize that this was not a plane overhead, a train close by, or our friendly neighborhood quarry giving off a long blast. The word "earthquake" hit my mind, and I suddenly knew. It took approximately 2 more seconds for my heart rate to kick into high gear.

My first thought was to warn everyone. "But who would believe me?" Honestly - in the midst of what could have been a emergency situation, for all I knew, I was worried about what people thought of me. I'd rather not analyze this part of my reaction.

My next thought was wonder - how bad was this going to get? And I wondered if I should try to find safety. A doorway was nearby, and I stood in it. The ground was still vibrating, and the loud rumbling continued steadily. A friend of mine stood in the doorway across from me. "Do you know what's going on?" she asked (she's from California).

"It feels like an earthquake!" I replied, trying to sound skeptical in case I was wrong.

"That's exactly what it is!" she replied.

We stood there in silence and waited for something to happen. I thought about the plates miles and miles beneath me, grinding over one another, affecting so many people. God was moving the world - and those atheists couldn't do a thing! I found it quite satisfying to think how frustrated they must be to realize it. Then I realized I was quite helpless - and the concept of my own insignificance in the realm of the universe nearly suffocated me.

I didn't know what to expect. When the noise and shaking just kept going, and going, and going, I began to wonder if something really big was going to happen. Would the building collapse? Would our town become a disaster area? Were people being hurt?

"This is what the end times will be like..." Then a breath of wonder caught in my throat. Could it be?

Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. It was over. We were still here.

My pulse was throbbing in my wrist and chest. My legs were having their own private little earthquake. But, strangely enough, the sensation in my mind was one of disappointment.

That's it? I wanted to feel it again, just to know I hadn't dreamed it.

A few minutes later, I realized why I was so disheartened.

It could have been the rapture.

But it wasn't.

I suddenly ached so much to see Jesus that my eyes got misty. "Why don't You come, Lord? When will it be?" There was no regret, no longing to live "a few more" days here. For that glorious moment, all I wanted was Him. And I was sad He hadn't come.

Then I realized what would have happened if that HAD been the rapture. There is so much to do! So many people to reach! So much to say! Reality slapped me.

Facebook came alive moments after the quake. I read the posts, imagining what facebook will look like moments after the rapture. What will they say? Oh, the panic that will surge in their hearts! The hopelessness of it all! My heart aches for them - and yearns to spare them that.

There is much to do, folks. Much to pray for. We've been given a precious gift - time. Time to work, and preach, and implore.

Let's not waste it.

A Letter to Someone I Know

2011-08-13T17:35:00.003-04:00

Dear Friend,

You are my friend.

You make me sad.

Every time you talk about yourself, it's wrong.

When you talk about your looks, you mock. You can catalog - and will, if asked - each detail of imperfection in your body. You can't give a compliment to someone else without bringing your body into the equation. Their hair is exactly what you always wanted. It must be so much easier for them to find clothes that fit than it is for you.

When you talk about your brains, you laugh sarcastically. You can't talk about a computer without explaining that you aren't a techy. You can't talk about your hobbies without explaining that you aren't an expert. When someone asks for advice you backpedal out of the conversation as fast as you can.

When you talk about your talents, you awkwardly insist, as fast as you can get the words out, that you have none.

Can't you see? Can't you hear?

So it's all about you, is it?

Beneath the shy laugh, the weak smile, the altered tone of denial, it's so easy for others to catch it:

You are proud. You are suffering. You are wounded. You have seen yourself as what you wish you were, and you guess how others see you. The difference between the two tears you apart. You cannot bear that the difference should be there.

And so you go through life apologizing. Comparing. Trying to show how sorry you are that you aren't what you want to be. Making sure everyone knows that you are aware of how short you fall.

And, that, friend, is exactly what you are. Aware. Self aware. So self-aware.

I feel your pain. I hear the grief in your voice. But it is pride masquerading as pain, and I wouldn't be a friend if I didn't tell you that. Because I've been there too. And it hurts. I know.

But pride is pride. Pride is sin!

Let me whisper to you, with the voice of experience and the heartthrobs of well-wishing;

Let it go.

Let the truth be what it is, and put yourself outside of the truth.

We all know how wrong it is to be constantly telling people you're wonderful. It's equally wrong to be constantly telling people you're awful.

Just let it go.

If you are ugly, so be it - God has a purpose for you no one else can match. If you are gorgeous, so be it. You have a purpose and use for your looks that you would do well to find, that you might not waste what you've been given. If you are brainy - use them!

Just be who you are. Reality is not what you imagine you could be, nor what you imagine others see you as. Reality is what is.

Be content. For He Himself has said that He will never leave you.

If He's given you gifts, don't pass the buck.

If He hasn't given you the gifts you want....

...get over it!

Please.

Get over it.

You've got other things.

Promise.

Enjoy those.

Look at Him. At what He has given you.

And enjoy those gifts. Accept them. Admit them. Bask in them. Be verbally grateful for them.

'Cause I see them. Others see them. We'd love to know you see them.

It would make things so much easier on everyone.

Sincerely,
Your friend

Eleven Men

2011-07-30T15:17:00.003-04:00

We just finished a week of special meetings at my church. Every night but one we had the pleasure of hearing from a missionary we support, updating us on the work being furthered in their field. Then, after they shared, our guest evangelist preached a message each night. He spoke every night from Matthew 28 - the Great Commission - and his sermons were some of the most practical mission messages I've ever heard. Nothing vague or cliche; he was right to the point, challenging and convicting.

I love mission conferences!

Last night, Friday, was our last meeting, and Dr. Bane did something unusual. He began his message by asking for eleven volunteers from among the men in the congregation.

Our church body is not huge, and not everyone was able to come to the meetings, and not everyone there was a man, and not every man was bold enough to volunteer, so - all in all - it took awhile to get 11 men up front.

Then Dr. Bane asked them to face him, and he spoke to us all.

"This is what Jesus had to work with. After his resurrection. He's down to just the eleven, now, since Judas isn't there. Twelve main leaders among his disciples. And at the top of the mount, he commands them to go into all the world and preach the gospel."

Here Dr. Bane began to pretend he was the Lord, walking back and forth in front of his group of 11, and looking them in the eyes.

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..."

Dr. Bane looked out at the rest of us. "Can you imagine the conversation as the disciples walked back down that mount? 'We're supposed to reach the whole world? Just the eleven of us? You got any money, brother?' 'No - you?' 'Nope, silver and gold have I none.' 'Well, do you know anybody in high places?' 'I do, but they're all after my head!'"

As Dr. Bane spoke, I sat in my seat and looked at those eleven men.

Eleven men made a smaller group than I thought.

They were so different.

Four grey-haired men. One younger than me. Two bikers. Two very shy men. One very outspoken man. One politician. Two preachers. One builder. One from a medical profession. Some wearing suits. Some wearing polo shirts. Some wearing leather vests. None of them rich. None of them influential in a big way beyond our community.

It gave me a totally new way of looking at the eleven disciples. This is what Jesus had! A unlikely group. A group of very diverse men. A tax collector and a zealot. Fishermen. Farmers, perhaps. One outspoken. Two "sons of thunder." All of them were prone to doubting and bickering amongst themselves.

But when the Holy Spirit gave them boldness and love for God, they were unstoppable. These were the men who preach at Pentecost and 3,000 people were added to the church. These where the men who, as the Romans themselves said, "turned the world upside down."

Sometimes it's good to step back from the mindset of little Bible stories and scripts and tradition, and take a good healthy look at reality.

History wasn't dressed up. It wasn't laid out in neat little scripts for people to act out. It was real life, happening to real people, with a real God making things happen.

Somehow, looking at those eleven men last night, I got excited.

Annoyed...or just making a bad choice?

2011-07-20T16:23:00.003-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that there will always be people in your life who rub you the wrong way, or annoy you, or make you uncomfortable. No matter what circles you run in, they will be there.

Because we're all humans, and humans have that nice little characteristic called sinful nature. And so we annoy one another.

But I've also realized that annoyance doesn't come from other people's sinful nature. It comes from mine. Sometimes I get angry when people sin against me, and sometimes I get angry when they haven't done anything wrong. It doesn't really matter whether or not they were in the wrong - I can still be ruffled, see?

It's the same way with the times when I keep my cool. Sometimes people are nice to me and everything's smooth sailing. Other times they are rude, but it doesn't bother me.

The issue is me. Like it or not, I determine my own responses.

But how can one learn to control her responses? Not on my own, that's for sure. The Natural Me goes with whatever emotion springs to the surface at the time. The Natural Me listens to my body, and reacts more snappishly when I'm feeling tired or achey. The Natural Me has only one line of thought, and that's ME. It keeps track of every time my own wishes are crossed, my feelings hurt, my desires thwarted, etc., and reacts with the instincts of self preservation.

But I'm not my own! I've been bought with a price. The Natural Me isn't me anymore. Sure, she lives in the same body I do, but she's an unwelcome guest, a claim jumper, trying to pretend she still owns me. The New Amber is a dulas - a bond slave to Someone she loves very much. And that Someone has given her a new heart, which delights to do His will.

The New Amber has only one line of thought, and that's CHRIST. His wishes. His feelings. His desires. She is in tune with His law and love, and is so content in His affection that human kindness - or lack thereof - is of no consequence. Everything is Him, Him, Him.

Oh how I wish I always could live in that! No - what I mean is how I wish I always would live in that! It's a choice, because Christ has given me the power to live in newness of life. So I can....I just don't.

And that, my dears, is a terrible, awful shame.

Thank the Lord He doesn't alter based on my failures!!!!

DELIGHTFUL Chocolate

2011-07-12T22:57:00.004-04:00

It's late, and I really shouldn't be posting, but I HAD to share this one recipe with y'all. It's another Amber creation...

Amber's Brownie Sandwiches
(Isn't the name enough to make your mouth water?)

4 (1 oz.) squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate
2 TBS Butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup flour (I think....it was somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2...Sorry! It all comes, as Pooh Bear would say, of baking too much without writing down the ingredients as you go...)

Coarsely chop the chocolate. Place in micro-wave safe bowl with butter and bake on high for 1 minute. Remove, and stir until chocolate is smooth and completely melted. Add vanilla, sugar, and egg. Stir until smooth. Add powder and flour, and stir. Add a touch more flour if you think it's too soupy....but it's supposed to be soupy. Like cake batter.

Pour into grease cookie pan, with sides....um, I used an odd size. Not a 9x13...smaller...but not a 9x9. ...Can you tell this recipe wasn't planned? Batter should be spread thinly, but not so thin you can see the pan through the batter. Almost, but not quite.

Anyway, bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until just barely pulling away from sides of pan. Remove and let cool. Will harden as it cools, until it's stiff, like a cookie or wafer. (But if you over-cooked it, it will be HARD, like rock!) Cut into 1.5" squares.

Making Filling:
2 oz. cream cheese
1 TBS milk chocolate chips
1 TBS powdered sugar

Melt cream cheese and chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl - about 15 seconds. Do not over cook. Stir until smooth and completely melted. Add sugar. Stir.

Use frosting and wafers to make mini sandwiches. Refrigerate until filling becomes firm again.

Eat.

Try not to eat too many.

Sorry for the odd directions. But I didn't want you to miss out on a good treat.

And no picture. They didn't last long enough.

I've discovered something....

...I used to think that hype about "caffeine addiction" was nuts.

It's not.

I'm officially addicted to chocolate.

I'm serious.

What should I do? Try to break it? Or feed it?

How 'bout control it? Just bits at a time?

Yeah. That sounds good. :)

A Sighting

2011-07-06T21:23:00.004-04:00

Today I saw her.

The perfect model of beautiful young womanhood.

The hair I've always wanted - dark brown, perfectly smoothly curled, falling in fat ringlets around a perfectly framed face.

Gracefully curved cheek and jaw line. Delicate brows.

Eyes large and liquid, soft and gentle.

Just a touch of makeup - enough to accent pink rosy cheeks, sparkling eyes, and perfect lips and teeth.

Poise, grace. A cheerful, gentle voice. Not too loud or too soft.

Clothes that were so perfectly appropriate and beautiful that I don't remember what they were, just that they were neat, clean, and made her cheeks pinker.

And her beauty was not spoiled by arrogance, impatience, or fretfulness. She smiled, waited her turn, asked for things politely, and knew how to articulate her desires clearly and honestly.

I stared, and felt humbled. For a fleeting moment, I felt jealous. Then I felt awe. Then I felt jealous again. Then I wondered who she was, and how she had stayed so unspoiled in manner while being so beautiful.

And right now, I'm sitting here thanking God that He blessed me with chance to see outer and inner beauty combined.

It's inspiring.

Weeds next door

2011-06-25T19:23:00.003-04:00

This morning I dressed in my oldest, messiest clothes, plunked my wide-brimmed hat on my head, and went out into the garden at about 8:45. It had been long enough since I'd been out there. It was time to let the plants know I hadn't forgotten them.

My mission: weeding. Rain has been pouring down nearly every night for over a week, and the weeds have really taken off. Some - many - were as high as mid-calf. Not in the beds, of course, but in the paths between beds. There the soil is harder, and the weeds less-noticed... until they get out of control, like they were this morning.

I wore through one finger of my left-hand glove, muddied my clothes up to my knees, ground dirt into my arms until I looked like I had a sudden tan, and landed hard on my rear more than once when a stubborn weed gave way suddenly.

I pulled them up by the roots; the small young sprouts, the slender, easily-removed shoots of grass, the four-leaved weeds that have a red tint, the spinach-like weeds with the stubborn root system, the wild violet leaves that have no flowers, and the short maple saplings, slender like grass. I pulled dandelions, too, but most of the time the root stayed in the ground. Those things are strong.

I worked until 11:00, so I had lots of time to think. I asked myself, why am I pulling weeds from the path? What does it matter? I reminded myself that weeds that went to seed near the beds would surely end up broadcasting seeds into the beds, causing dozens of miniature versions of themselves to spring up among our precious crops.

That's a lot like life, I thought. Who would want bad seeds nearby? If a bar opened next door, you would want to close it down. But what about more subtil influences? What are things that I don't count as "in" my life, but are near enough to influence me? Am I taking active control of my climate?

Someday I hope to be a parent. Then I'll really have my job cut out for me, making sure the influences surrounding our home are wholesome and godly.

When I was finished in the garden, I had a pile of weeds that looked like a small green haystack - roughly 2.5' in diameter, and 2' high.

And I had a lot of thinking stored away in my head.

My Bedroom Redecorated

2011-06-21T19:15:00.005-04:00

Hello! Welcome to my bedroom! I'm thrilled to finally be able to show you around.

If you missed my previous posts describing the process that led to my owning a new bedroom, and pictures of the pre-decorating phase, visit here for post #1, and here for post #2.

(To summarize, this is the first time I've had my own space to decorate as I please, and I did it little by little over the course of the past year. Now I feel like it's "arrived," and I want to share the finished product with you.)

So come on in!

(Regular readers, be warned; this post contains a record amount of pictures, and will likely throw you into shock over that fact. :) :)

Here's the photo I left you with last time - the view from the doorway:
(I realize these are rather small. Please forgive me - they load faster, and I'm short on patience when it comes to uploading things.)

I made the quilt for the bed, finishing it just days before I moved into my new bedroom. The headboard belonged to my mom when she was a little girl, but it was dark brown and the rest of the bed frame was non-existent. My brother Curtis built the new bed frame according to my directions, Dad drilled holes for the rope, and I painted the whole thing.
The bookshelf was made by Curtis several years ago, especially for me, and it matches my hope chest.

My closet is at the foot of my bed. I can select my outfit in the morning in comfort! :) (I don't really do it that way. I have to touch clothes when I'm picking them. :) There's a verse painted above the closet doorway. (Isaiah 26:3) There was no door for the closet, so I sewed a curtain, and I like it better anyway. The fabric is home decor weight, and is pale blue, white, and brown stripes.

I store my instruments in their cases at the foot of my bed, too. And don't you like my two big windows? I chose a sheer swag rather than a full curtain, to let in as much light as possible. I had the perfect fabric - all I had to do was hem it.

Here's a better look at my bookshelf:

I love my touch-lamp; it's one of the more recent additions to my room.

Now, here's my favorite corner:

I custom-designed this desk to suit my needs. It fits perfectly in that corner, and the two matching shelves hold my "pretties" and some old books. This is where I'm sitting right now, and where I sit to do my writing and computer work. I built the desk and shelves myself - with occasional help from Dad, and I'm quite pleased with it. The top of the desk and shelves is coated with a varnish to make them glassy-smooth. :) I love the look of stained wood, but I chose to paint part of the structure white so it took up less visual space.

Here's better view of the shelves. I love my old books!

And here's the top of my desk. I love my jars with paint brushes and pens and pencils. And see my miniature oil lamp? It's a pencil sharpener! :) That stack of books it's sitting on has continued to grow; it's where I keep my writing books (dictionary, thesaurus, writing inspiration, etc.). At this moment it's 10 books and about 12" high.

Don't you love my drawer handles? Too bad you can't see them up close. They're a pretty iron weave design.

And here's the wall to the right of the desk:

Dad made my shelf, with my name carved in it, and I use the top to display pictures of me with friends. The bouquet of flowers is from my sister's wedding.

Here's my hope chest. I love it. Daddy made it for me several years ago, and it's full of linens and kitchen items. I sewed the cushion cover and pillow cases when I moved into this bedroom.

The pink tote on the floor by my hope chest is my portable craft room. I have a sewing area in the basement, but I always have a little project or two (or three or four....) that winds up in my room. This tote helps contain everything, and saves me from running downstairs every time I need a pair of scissors. I also like that it's next to the computer, so I can pick up stuff to work on it any time my hands are free while my eyes are busy.

Aaaand this is what I see when leaving my room. I built the peg rail (well, teased Curtis into doing it, really) and painted it the same blue as my ceiling. It's nice to have a place for purses and hats, but I really need more that that, because those pegs are always overflowing! My full-length mirror makes the room seem larger, and it's nice to see what I look like when I'm heading out the door to face the world. The vintage luggage on the floor by the mirror is my "compact vanity," and holds all my hair items.

So there you have it! I love my little paradise. It's compact, and everything has a purpose and use. Practically speaking, I've put out comparatively little money for what I got in return:

- The low-odor paint for my walls, ceiling, and bed was my birthday gift (by request) from my parents last year.

- The wood for my bed and desk were probably my most expensive purchases, and I bought pieces a few at a time over the past months.

- The lamp was a gift from my mom (thank you!) to help me with my room.

- I bought the fabric for my quilt long before I started working on my room, so it was already taken care of. I had to buy fabric for the closet curtain, but had leftovers for two matching pillows for my hope chest, and leftover fabric from the quilt made one more.

- I didn't have to buy any of the foam for the hope chest cushion and pillows; the foam was from one of those "pads" that goes on top a mattress (from the double bed I used to share with my sister), and the pillow forms were "recycled" from other sources.

- The wood for the peg rail was scrap wood from Dad's projects over the years.

- I already had my bookshelf and hope chest.

- Someone had given me a bag of fabric, which is where my curtain fabric came from.

So, most of what was "spent" on this room was effort and time, not money. I'm pleased with how it turned out. I think it has a country, colonial feel, but not strictly so. It's "me," and I'm pleased to say that my family seems to enjoy hanging out in my bedroom.

What do you think? What are some decorating tips you use in making your bedroom a place of peace and comfort? And how do you incorporate workstations into your room without letting them take over?

101 Reasons to Never Visit the Library in the Evenings on a Wednesday

2011-06-16T14:50:00.004-04:00

#1 - Books gotten from the library are meant to be read.

#2 - Everyone knows that staying up late (waaaaay too late) is the best way to get books completed when you have a busy schedule.

#3 - Everyone also knows that sleeping in on a weekday is NOT the best way to get life completed. Therefore...you don't sleep in.

#4 - Ambers - Ahem, I mean people - who don't get enough sleep do silly things.

#5 - They feel a rediculous temptation to close their eyes while driving.

#6 - They call lightning bugs "light bulbs."

#7 - They mis-type important emails.

#8 - They type the wrong password for their google account while trying to get on their blog.

#9 - They sit at computer screens and try to remember what the other reasons were.

Edited to Add:

#10 - Chocolate becomes much too high of a temptation.

#11 - You look at people standing in front of you and look right though them.

#12 - Everything you right lookes hilike this be-unlesds you retype it , wheich means whceveything takes much longer to do. . (I did not type anyofe this like thins on puropose, I just left it whthe way it was...) ..Whcich is a very good represntation fo the way my braing is thinking right now. )

I've seen it done before.

2011-06-14T11:59:00.002-04:00

Many times.

The girl starts a blog in her mid-to-late teen years. She blogs avidly, on every topic that catches her fancy. She posts often. She posts energetically.

Then life starts to get busier. For awhile, she posts even more often, trying to explain to the world how revolutionary this new concept of busy is, and how the "busy" that she used to complain about really was sunshiny childhood, and not true business at all.

Finally, when the posts have dwindle into the rarity of a worm in a chicken pen, she announces to her few remaining loyal readers, "I've had enough. It's plain to see that I can't upkeep a blog and live at the same time - not in this season of life, anyway. It's not fair to my readers. I am shutting down my blog for now. I'll return in a later season of life; when I have more time. (Whenever that that mysterious and golden time of life is.)"

About that point, I feel like plunging my hands through the computer screen, grabbing the said blogger by the throat, and screaming, "What are you thinking?!?! You can't leave now! I was just starting to like you! You've become a friend - how can you walk out on me? How can you upset my routine this way? I demand that you continue to blog!"

Yes. Many times. Many blogging friends have disappeared...sadly. I miss them.

That being said...

I'm determined that I won't put any remaining readers of this floundering blog through that kind of wistful sadness. I'm stubbornly refusing to admit that I really don't have time to blog. Because you know what? I bet you "really don't have time" to read my blog. But you do. And I love it. We encourage each other.

We're gonna make it through this crazy time of life, and we're going to make it through together - even if we talk less often. I'm not going anywhere, Lord willing.

Not to imply that anyone who quits blogging - or reading - is somehow less together or somehow less time efficient. Even though I get mad at them, in my heart I take my hat off to the ladies who know when to evaluate their priorities and call it quits for anything that is not necessary to reach the goal. They're an amazing breed. I applaud them. And if you have to do it, by all means do it. Even if it means I lose a reader.

Who knows - someday I may reach the point where God tells me, "that blog of yours is not profitable to you anymore. Set it aside and pursue a new path." I hope that if that time comes, I can obey with as much stubbornness as I'm using right now in facing my time shortages.

But, for now, with all my quirks and oddities, I'm sticking with ya.

So I hope you're set for a bumpy ride.

Highly Recommended

2011-06-07T21:02:00.005-04:00

Hey, folks!

For those of you who get tired waiting for me to pop around and write my next blog post, I'd like to recommend a fun cooking/budgeting blog for you to read in the meantime: Once a Month Shopping for Couples.

Don't let the title fool you; you don't have to be married to read it. If you like to cook, you'll enjoy this blog. Nice pictures, yummy treats, witty writing, and a blog author who has a wonderful personality.

Did I mention she's related to me?

Go on over and check out my sister's blog. Heather will be delighted to see you; she's always been good at hospitality.

P.S. (One disclaimer; though I LOVE devouring her treats, she's never been known to skimp on the sugar. :) :) :) But, hey, we all need a little sweetness in our lives!)

Bedroom Design, Post #2

2011-05-20T20:24:00.006-04:00

Are you ready to see more of my new bedroom?

This month, in honor of my one-year anniversary in this bedroom, I'm posting photos of how I've decorated it. To see the first post, click here.

Now, as I explained before, this is a modest-sized room, and there is nothing extra spectacular about it except that it's mine. A few basic statistics:

~ The room measures approximately 8'x12' (minus the space the closet takes up).
~ There's one double window, on one of the long sides of the room.
~ I have a small closet, with two rods for hanging, and two shelves.
~ The floors are wooden.
~ The walls are simple, with no molding or otherwise "extra" architecture.

It was a blank slate, just waiting for some love and imagination. And I was happy to provide both.

My tastes in room decor are basic and traditional, with a touch of my own personality. I believe in the old saying "have nothing in your home which you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

I lean toward colonial furniture and colors, and I love to have echoes of nature about me.

My idea of beauty in a room is sunlight, and real flowers, and fresh air, and good, sturdy materials that can stand up to wear and tear. I hate idle little knickknacks that do nothing but collect dust, and fussy arrangements that can't last through real life. I want things about me that I use, and I want to use beautiful things. I don't like to be tied up in trends, and I'm not fussy about sticking to a particular "style," though I love historical-looking rooms. If I enjoy having it around me, then I incorporate it into the decor. Everything matches because everything is "me."

I love space. I think space and light are two of the most valuable things to put in a room.

Here were my main goals in decorating my bedroom:

~ Make the room look larger than it is
~ Have a place for everything I use on a regular basis, and make it easy to put things away
~ Have some blank spaces, just for visual peace
~ Make the room feel peaceful
~ Have a work area, for writing and business
~ Have only furniture that I love

To accomplish this, I:
~ Chose to use a lot of blue and white in the decor. I love that combo anyway. White makes things look larger and emptier, and blue give the impression of calm.
~ Took a lot of effort in designing a closet that could hold a lot of things
~ Concentrated my storage in some areas so that I could have the luxury of empty spaces in other areas
~ Did not use full curtains on my windows. I wanted as much glass and light as possible. I used a light white swag on the top, and I pull down blinds at night.
~ Got rid of a lot of stuff. :) :)

Of course, I had to make at least one compromise:
~ I picked a bed that was high off the floor, because I loved the colonial style, and I did not use under-the-bed storage. It was a lot of storage space that I gave up, but it would have ruined the effect, and by leaving the floor visible, I gave the appearance of having a larger floor. It gives a touch of luxury to the room, by having nothing under the bed. :)

(This is coming from a girl who spent her childhood stuffing all her pack-rat-collected items under the bed and pulling the comforter down a little farther to hide the mess from Mom and Dad.)

Oh dear. I've just realized how very opinionated and brisk I sound in all my lists and descriptions; "I can't stand this," "I hate that," "I love that." You must think I go around criticizing every room I enter.

The truth is, I love interior design, and I love the variations one finds in every room. I love how personalities are displayed in each room, ...and I love having a room of my own to play with. Don't think that because I love one thing I hate everything else. I present this room to you as enthusiastically as I honestly feel about it. I don't expect everyone to love it like I do, but maybe you can get some pleasure from my honest excitement, even if our tastes are different.

Now, ...last time, I left you with this picture:

I had just finished painting the room, and cleaning the floor and windows. And I had begun to hang things on the walls.

With the exception of the chair I am sitting in right now, every piece of furniture in my bedroom was made by me or someone in my family. I didn't start out with that goal, but I think it's pretty neat. Of course, that meant I had to wait awhile to furnish my room. One doesn't just walk into a store, pick out wood and paint, and say "I'd like that in my room next week."

Actually, two of my items of furniture came with me from my old bedroom; my hope chest (made by Dad) and my matching bookshelf (made by my brother Curtis), but the desk looked like this until just a few months ago:

I am very proud of my finished desk, but it took me almost a year to make, working whenever I had a free Saturday or Friday (which wasn't often!). I cut out all the pieces in the above picture by myself, which was a first. :) :) I'm rather scared of Dad's table saw. :)

My bed is part new, and part history. I mentioned in my last post that my headboard used to be Mom's, when she was a young girl. The headboard, however, was the only part of the bed that remained, so I added to it:
That bed took awhile to make, too. And it took a lot of help from my brother Curtis before I got it right. He basically made the bed; I just gave directions, and then painted it. :)

But then the room went from looking bright and empty, to looking kinda like this:

Um..., that is....rather messy. Are you sure you want to see? .....

I lived in a mess for several months. Ugh. Of course, it wasn't always this bad, but it took awhile for things to get better. I needed a desk to organize my writing supplies. But, ignoring the mess, doesn't my bed look nice? An "authentic imitation rope bed."

Here's the other corner. Not much better (usually all the mess was stacked in this corner, but here I was cleaning out space for my desk):
Now, as for linens....they were all homemade, too. I finished my quilt just before moving into this room. And it took only a month or so to finish the curtain for the window, a curtain for my closet door, a cushion for my hope chest, and throw pillows to match.

Then the room began to come together. Now it looks like this:

But that's all I'm going to show you until next time. That's when the fun will begin!!!!!! A photo tour of my finished product. :) :)

FINALLY! That post I promised: Designing My Bedroom

2011-05-14T21:21:00.007-04:00

Do you realize it's been one year and 14 days since I got my new bedroom?

Do you also realize that means I've been promising a "decorating-the-bedroom post" for a little under one year?

Okay, so maybe you didn't remember that. Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. It sounds so terrible.

Then again, most of you probably aren't surprised. You've been around long enough to know I'm a slow, get-around-to-it-when-I-get-a-chance type of blogger. That's why I blog for fun, not income. :)

But today...

...Well, today is my birthday, and I'm turning over a new leaf.

Not really. I just wanted to say that.

Actually, I've been planning this post for the past two months, and knew I wouldn't get around to it until May. So I didn't.

I could say all sorts of things about my birthday - tell you about the wonderful day I've had, the lovely gifts my family gave me, the laughs we had around the supper table, my thoughts about the future, my hopes for the years to come, my wistful and pleasant memories of the milestones behind me...

...But instead, I'm going to post pictures. Consider it a gift from me to you.

Now...for those of you who weren't around last year...last May I moved into a new bedroom. My older sister, Heather, who had been my roommate for my entire life, was married at the end of April, and our larger room went to our younger sisters. I took their smaller bedroom as my own.

It was the first time since I was a baby that I had my own room. And I've already posted at length on the huge adjustment it was for me to get used to sleeping alone, without late-night chats and giggles and secrets...so I won't go through all that again. Instead, I'll tell you how much fun I had making this new bedroom my own domain - a room suited just for me.

I've always loved interior design, but never had a whole room to design from scratch. To say I was excited is an understatement. The fun I had in the design process helped me make it through those lonely nights the first few months.

Now, one reason this post is so long in coming is because the room itself was a slow process. In fact, it wasn't until ...hmmm...this March, maybe? that I actually completed everything I wanted to do with this room. And I liked it that way. I appreciated it so much more when I had to work, and save, and plan for each element in the design.

But back to the beginning.

My first project was to strip the room down to its bones. It had been awhile since anything like upkeep had been done to it, and there were lots of holes from nails that had been used to tack things on the wall. The floors needed to be shined, and the paint was faded. I knew that the "ideal room" in my mind was going to cost me some money, and I had been saving, but my birthday gift that year from Mom and Dad was a special type of paint for my room. I'm sensitive to most paint smells, but I enjoy painting and wanted to do the work myself. That special "eco-friendly" paint allowed me to do that. :) And I spent my money on materials for building furniture. (More on that later!)

So I began. The first day, I think, was all prep work. I scrubbed the walls. And took out dozens of nails and wall anchors. And filled holes with putty. And taped the edges of the wall.

Then I painted. It's a small bedroom, but it took a long time to paint. And I did two coats. I was starting to wonder what I had gotten myself into - I was so sick of painting by the end of day two! But I wanted it to look nice.

And it did.

One of my major goals for this room was to keep it from looking tiny and boxy. Since the space is so small (about 8'x 12') That was going to be a challenge. I chose a bright white for the walls, to keep the room looking open and spacious, but I wanted a touch of color. So I painted the ceiling blue, to evoke a sense of open, spacious sky above.

My family was skeptical. But they love it now. :)

I mixed the blue shade of paint myself, and I think it was just right; not so dark as to be oppressive overhead, but bright enough to show up. It's the sort of thing you don't notice right away when you enter the room, but something eventually causes you to look up, and there it is, a pleasant surprise.

But let me stop talking and show you some pictures.

First off, here is the bedroom I left. The picture is taken from the bedroom doorway, looking toward "my side" of the room. (Anybody who has shared a bedroom understands that term.) My sister took the double bed with her, and the hope chest and bookshelf are mine. (Made by my dad and brother.) The curtains I made myself, and they stayed here, too, but I ended up cutting the fabric for another use.

And this is my new bedroom, just after it was emptied. The headboard was my Mom's when she was little, and I ended up using it for my own bed in this room (more on that later). It was in there at this point because I was testing space for furniture arrangements. This picture was taken from the doorway.

Here, I am standing where the headboard is in the previous picture, facing my new closet. I re-vamped this entirely later, adding more rods and making it oh-so-pleasantly efficient. I love my closet! :) It's small, but it's mine, and every square inch is in use.

Here you can see one entire side of the room. It's small, but I love how necessary that makes every square inch.

Painting away. And feeling quite sick of it. :) But happy anyway. :)

Here are the finished results. First, look at what went above the closet doorway. The atmosphere I strove for in this room was peace, and this seemed to set the tone (Can you read it? It's Isiah 26:3. It's right where I will see it every morning when I open my eyes.):

Doesn't this look better than the previous closet picture? The paint is nice and bright! And the floor has been scrubbed. Can you see my new shelving? And notice my mirror? That helps the illusion of space, too.

By now I had started putting things on the wall; a shelf (to the right of the door) and a beautiful picture from a friend, which I think just takes the whole room a step up on the ladder of classiness. (I always underestimated artwork until I saw the effect of this picture on my bedroom.) The overhead light fixture was already in the room, and is one that I used in the bedroom I had when I was little.

So there you are. Enough for now. Later, I'll continue my bedroom tour with details on furniture building, sewing, bedding, curtains, etc., and bring you up to date on what the room looks like now.

In the meantime, tell me about the last time you re-did an area. Whether it was a whole room, like my project, or just reorganizing a shelf in your living room, if it brought you satisfaction and pleasure, it was a job worth doing. Doesn't it feel nice to have pleasant, orderly surroundings? God made us that way. :)

Bold?

2011-05-03T14:43:00.006-04:00

Today I was reading the book of Acts and was struck with the idea of boldness. The disciples were so bold for Christ - but only after receiving the power of the Holy Spirit. Stephen, too - and Paul, later on. All the early Christians had a fearlessness about them that seems unnatural.

And not just them. Others, through history, have had that unmistakable voltage about them; I'm reminded of Corrie TenBoom at the moment. I'm reading her book "Tramp for the Lord" - have you read it? I picked it up at our local library sale for $1.00! If you haven't read it...you must.

TenBoom. Judson. Livingston. Bunyan (reading one of his books, too!). Carmichael. Spurgeon. Luther. ...

...That list could be as long as the grand canyon, and still incomplete. There's no end to the names that pop into my head when I consider the word "boldness." Think of Esther; "if I perish, I perish." I mean, how much more resignation and quiet determination can you have?

The stories of these people are so familiar to me that I don't always stop to ponder them. I mean, what would it be like to be in their place? It's all well and good to applaud Peter for standing in front of the high priest and saying "we must obey God rather than man," but what if I was standing in front of...say, the supreme court, with the possibility of a death sentence breathing down my neck if I offended the chief justice? What if I had just watched the execution of my dearest friend, ordered by this same court? Would I dare say all I was thinking? Would I even be able to make my dry mouth form any words?

Let's make it simpler. Suppose I was sitting in a room with a stranger, and we had struck up a conversation. Suppose I had the opportunity to talk about Christ. Suppose she said something about herself that I knew to be faulty - such as "I'm not a sinner," and I have the perfect open door to correct her. What then?

Well...

I sit there and shake in my flip-flops, to be quite honest. What if I come across as too harsh? What if I get carried away and say something that isn't true? What if this isn't the right timing? She older than me; surely she'll think, "what's this kid trying to do, acting like she knows more than me?" She'll stereo-type me into something I'm not. She'll be defensive. I'll say something I'll regret. I'll be judgemental. I'll do it in the flesh, not the Spirit. I'll make her think ill of all Christians because of me. I'll be at a loss for words.

Oh yes; this scenario is much more familiar. Too familiar.

Boldness? All of the sudden, it becomes an unreachable ideology. Yeah, I'd love to feel it, but I don't. I'm scared stiff. Of mankind. Of myself. Of failure. Of bringing shame upon the One I call Lord, because I don't perform well enough.

But scripture tells me that those who are filled with the Holy Spirit are bold.

I sat there and just admired boldness this morning. Oh, how lovely it would be, to be so confident in the outcome of a situation! Not really knowing how it will turn out, but confident just the same; sure in the God who arranges things according to His good pleasure. Convinced of every word I speak. Unafraid of the truth, and the results of publishing it. Calm in the face of the unknown.

Oh yes. That's definitely Spirit ground. No natural man-made abilities there. No wonder the thing is so beautiful; it's so out-of-this-world.

The only way I know of to have that boldness is to know the Source. And His Word. Being seeped in scripture, until it penetrates my very pores, and flavors everything I do and think.

"Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things."
(Joel 2:21)

"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

(Phil. 1:6)

"Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it."

(1 Thess. 5:24)

"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man."

(Col. 4:5-6)

"I, even I, am He that comforteth you: who are thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens..."

(Isiah 51:7&12-13a)

Enough with insecurities. Enough with worry about myself and the way I'll appear to mankind - or to God. It isn't about me performing for Him. It's about Him performing through me. There really is a Spirit that works in us. ...And through us.

I should be careful with my words. I should think before I speak. I should place a guard before my lips. But, sometimes, the Spirit prompts me to say something that either doesn't make sense to me, or I'm afraid to say it...and I analyze too hard. I reason my way out of saying it. I keep my mouth shut. That isn't right, either. There is a time to speak, just as there is a time to be silent.

Lord, grant me wisdom!

Spiritual Warfare

2011-04-18T21:49:00.003-04:00

It's about time I wrote another blog post.

I don't have time to download pictures, get fancy, and give you a nice little how-to post about anything, so I'll just tell you what's on my heart tonight.

I've been thinking about spiritual warfare, and its most prevalent battlefield; the mind.

Anyone who has been a Christian for any length of time has encountered spiritual warfare, but not all of us recognize it for what it is. I know that I am often far into a battle before I realize that it is a battle. Where did I think those thoughts and temptations were coming from, anyway? Why was I suddenly depressed and anxious, without warning? Where did that sense of oppression come from?

I have learned that when I think I am strongest and most victorious, the Enemy strikes. When I have taken a major step of faith, walked in obedience, conquered a particular fear or sin....it doesn't take long for the enemies to retaliate.

A general feeling of anxiety hangs over me, completely disconnected to the circumstances around me. Temptations swarm over me, and my defenses against them are weak. Anger I didn't know I possessed will bubble up at random moments, like lava. A filmy smoke screen seems to obscure my view of my Beloved, and my prayers stumble all over the place.

Can you relate?

Those times of warfare are exhausting. I feel like a green solider, still wet behind the ears, facing Apollyon in the valley of humiliation, like Christian in Pilgrim's Progress. Every time we face each other, I end up on my back, always reaching my sword only in the nick of time.

I've found that the first step towards victory in these battles is recognizing that I'm in one. I have to train myself to watch for the signs.

Secondly, I use advice given me by a wise preacher; if the battle is major and repetitive - such as when the devil was constantly using depression to weigh me down - I go tell my spiritual authority that I'm under attack, and ask him (my father) to pray for me, ...aloud. Our enemies are alive and can hear, you know. The name of Jesus has power to strike fear in them.

Then I try to look for the lie I've believed. Satan is the father of lies, you remember, and they are his major and main weapon. He always, always, always lies. Count on it. If you're under attack, you've been lied to. It's that simple.

So where's the lie? Sometimes it's hard to spot.

Have you believed something about God that isn't true? That He doesn't love you? That His blood isn't enough to cover your sins? That He isn't in control? That He doesn't know what He's doing this time?

Have you believed a lie about yourself? Have you believed that your flesh is enough? Have you trusted in self? Have you believed that you deserved something that wasn't really yours by right? Have you forgotten that you are God's child, and an heir with Christ? Have you forgotten your access to the Father?

Have you believed a lie about someone else? Have you been looking for something in them that only Christ can supply?

Look for it. Identify it. You may have to dig deep, because they are often disguised so beautifully. Pray hard. Prayer is the fire that melts off the pretty package and allows the Holy Spirit to enter and expose the filthy lies for what they are.

Once you have been shown them, speak truth. Find verses that speak the truth about those situations or thoughts, and speak them over and over to yourself. "Take every thought captive." Remember that verse? Do it. Don't let your mind run where it will - it will take the low road. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. He is the Truth.

And the truth will set you free.

And if the Son make you free, you are free indeed.

Blessings, friends, and may Christ give us victory! His blood is our power and strength.

Starting a Web-based Business, Part 3 (Finally part)

2011-04-04T21:01:00.004-04:00

Welcome back. This is part 3 in "how-I-stumbled-into-web-business-and-didn't-drown." (For part 1, click here, part 2, click here.)

If you haven't caught on by now, let me repeat that I'm not expert in this field. My sister and I started into web businesses with our online thrift store, Simply Modest, and we're learning as we go. It's been a trial-and-error process, but I do believe it's been an upward climb.

So far in this series, we've discussed what to think about before you get into web businesses, and traits to develop in yourself to help you in your endeavor. Today, we get more practical.

How do you actually take your business online? Well, first things first.

Let me assume that your business deals with items, rather than services. That's the type of web business I'm most familiar with, because that's what I do.

You need to set up a website. Thankfully, it's much easier to do that now-a-days than it used to be. You don't really need to know HTML to set up a site; many companies exist solely to help people like us - who don't know HTML - get websites up and running. Running a website with these companies is like blogging - you click on what you want, and the program takes care of the HTML. If you can blog, you can run a website. If you are starting from scratch, and haven't done any blogging, it might take you longer to get the hang of it, but, trust me, it's not impossible.

When you have a website, you'll be paying for two things; a web host, and a domain name. I've heard of free web hosting, but I'm not familiar with it, and, as you may have noticed, I'm trying to stick to discussing things I've actually done, here.

I investigated many web hosts before we bought our business, but in the end I didn't chose our web host because we bought an already-established business, and kept the original host.

Papa Shop is our web host. I've had a wonderful experience with them, and have nothing but good things to say about their service. I've had site trouble only twice, I think, since being with them, and both times I got to chat online with a representative, and they fixed the (minor) problem in a couple of hours or less. They are also very reasonably priced.

Most hosting companies that I've checked out charge by the month or by the year, or by several years at a time. If you're determined to be in it for the long haul, I strongly recommend going "in bulk" - it's usually cheaper. But if you're not sure this is all going to work out, don't pay for 5 years in advance! Start with 6 months or so. We pay for our hosting on a month-by-month basis, but we've committed to a long term, so we get the cheaper rates. In most cases, you can set up this fee to be paid automatically (so you don't forget one month, and shut your website down for several days!) but be sure to keep track of that in your bank account!

Your web hosting company is where you will get the tools to design your website. This is where you pick colors, fonts, and set up shopping carts. I've found most of this to be very self-explanatory. Think of Blogger. If you can blog, you can do this.

The web host you choose must have an option for an online "catalog" or "shopping cart" if you are going to sell on it. Most hosting companies offer this, but not all, so make sure you double-check that the options available are what you need to sell on this website you're creating. Once you start designing the site, you'll learn how to list items, enter shipping fees, etc. Always do a test order on your shopping cart to be sure it works!! Also, get a web host that offers free support for when you have questions...because you will have them.

You will also need to buy a domain name. Think of it as the copyright to your website; it's a guarantee that only you can use your website address. Nobody's going to steal it. This is usually paid for in 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year chunks, or something like that. It's no big hassle; just be sure to do it on time! Your web host will usually recommend places to buy a domain name (from THEM, quite often!), but you can have a domain name with a different company than your web host. It's up to you.

Hmm...what else?

- Keep your passwords, log-in information, user names, etc. written down somewhere OFF computer (as in "ON AN ACTUAL PIECE OF PAPER") in case your personal computer crashes.

- Set up a business-only email, to avoid having all the junk mail a website generates delivered to your personal email. But do check your business email every day.

- Be prompt when shipping orders.

Oh yes - advertising. This is a whole post in itself. Proper exposure for your site is crucial to its success. Send an email out to everyone in your address book. Facebook it. Start a facebook fan page. When creating pages in your site, do type words in the "keywords" box. Those are the words that will trigger your site to pop up in searches, when people type in those words. Talk about your site. Get business cards printed up professionally and place them wherever you can, all over town. Have a newsletter. Anything you can think of.

I'm running out of time right now, so I'll close this post with a hearty "best wishes!" to any of you embarking on the adventure of a web business. I'd love to hear thoughts on this matter - both from newbies in the field and those of you who know tons more than I do. What do you think is most important in choosing a web host? What will you be looking for? Companies you recommend?

I've enjoyed doing this series. I'm sure I've bored some of you, but I hope at least some of you found it to be beneficial.

Bye for now! Talk to you soon!

If you were that man

2011-03-31T20:49:00.005-04:00

I'm going to live dangerously, and publish two posts in one day. :)

I just wanted to share a thought with you.

We just finished reading part of Luke 5 as a family; the story of the man who was let down through the roof by four friends, in order to be healed by Jesus. The Bible says Jesus saw their faith, and told the man his sins were forgiven. The Pharisees thought "who does this guy think He is? Only God can forgive sins." (I'm paraphrasing, you understand.)

So, to prove He had power to do anything - forgiving sins and healing bodies - Christ turned back to the crippled man and told him to rise up and walk.

Familiar story.

But tonight I thought of something I never had before.

How much time elapsed while Christ spoke with the Pharisees?

Picture it: you're that crippled man. You lay there on your bed, just having reached the floor. You've been lowered through the roof by your four friends. The dust is still settling. Everyone is staring at you. No one moves. You lock eyes with Jesus, and realize you're holding your breath. So much hangs on this moment. You've come to be healed. Will He heal you?

And He tells you your sins are forgiven.

Then He turns to talk with the teachers and lawyers.

How long? One minute? Two? Five?

However long it is, you're laying there. Everyone is still looking. Your friends look on from above, peering through the hole in the roof.

What are you thinking?

You came to be healed. Jesus hasn't said a word about that. Is this all He's going to do? Is He going to leave you like this?

But He's just forgiven your sins. Is He really God, after all?

Do you suppose your sins had been weighing heavily on your conscience? Had you been convicted in your heart? Has a burden been lifted by those words of forgiveness? Was it worth coming, just for that? If He never turns around and looks at you again, has it been enough?

What do you think?

Of course, we know the end of the event. Jesus healed the man. But what if He hadn't? What if that was us? Would we be satisfied with "only" spiritual healing?

To be reconciled with God - what a thought! Our future secured, our soul made new...surely such a thing is priceless.

Do we value it as we ought? Do we prefer it over physical wellness?

Forget physical wellness for a moment. What about "trivial" little things, like food, clothes, and jobs. Do we count even those things of more value than spiritual wellness?

If you were that man, and Christ had never turned back to heal you, would you have been content?

What about your real life? Even if you are saved, surely there are other things in your life you'd like God to "fix." Are you happy, even while in those circumstances? Or do you put off happiness, saying "I'd be happy/content/peaceful if He'd only answer this request"?

Something to think about, isn't it?

We have salvation through Christ! We ought to be the happiest, most content people in the world.

Even if He hasn't lifted hardships we originally came to Him about.

Because He is enough.

Hello, and a Recipe for Banana Cake

2011-03-24T18:41:00.004-04:00

I'm sure you all thought I'd dropped off the face of the planet, but the truth is that I took a vacation from blogging for awhile. Sorry that I didn't give you any notice. Ever have those times where you just want to break free from all the Internet expectations? Disappear from the web world? Not check your email for days at a time? Forget you have a blog? Ignore facebook updates?

Yup.

I wasn't brave enough to do all those at once, but the blog dropped to the sidelines for awhile.

Now I'm back, and feeling more inspired than ever! I have a list of posts to write, and an idea for a new series, once I finish the last post of my "Starting a Web-based Business" series. (See - I didn't forget!)

My fingers are feeling awkward. I can tell it's been awhile since I blogged. Thoughts aren't flowing in a logical manner. Give me a few posts, and I'll be back to normal.

Let's stick with an easy post to break me in again; a recipe.

Isn't it beautiful? I think so, anyway. It was delicious, too. This is a banana cake, with peanut butter cream filling, and real whipped cream and walnuts on top.

Peanut butter and banana, you say? Don't tell me you've never heard of that combo. It's deLIGHTful! We eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches all the time. (Spread a slice of bread with peanut butter, add a banana in the middle like a hot dog, fold up the bread slice like a bun...mmmmm!)

The cake is from scratch, of course, and is one of the nicest from-scratch cakes I've ever made. It's SUPER easy to throw together. This is an old family-favorite (is 5-6 years old?) but we usually make it in a 9x13 pan, and eat it plain or with a bit of cream cheese frosting, if we're feeling extra sweet-hungry.

But, if I remember correctly, the last time I made this cake (and took pictures) the day was two of my sibling's spiritual birthdays, and I wanted to do something special. So I made it like a "birthday cake."

The cake is a little moister when made in a 9x13 - either because it's slightly thicker that way, or I over-baked the circle pans by a few minutes. Not sure which reason is correct. But it was still mighty good stacked in layers! The filling and frosting were yummy.

It's been awhile since you read one of my long-winded recipes, with all my little comments and rabbit trails. Are you ready?

Banana-Nut Cake - the best! (title copied exactly, from my faded recipe card)

2/3 cup shortening or softened butter (I prefer butter, for health reasons.)
2 1/2 cup flour (measurement is for unbleached white flour. If using whole wheat, use slightly less flour, or your batter will be too heavy)
1 cup packed brown sugar (would you believe you could make a cake with one cup of sugar? Of course, the original recipe called for more...but I tweaked it, and I think it's still great - 'specially if you use really old bananas, which are naturally very sweet.)
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
2/3 cup buttermilk (I used kefir. Remind me to do a post sometime on how much I like that stuff!)
2 eggs (fresh from our chickens!)
2/3 cups chopped walnuts (or almonds, if you want to spend a little more.)
1 tsp. imitation vanilla extract

Whew. Who would have believed a list of ingredients could take so many words? :) :) Now on to the directions.

Stir butter/shortening to soften. Sift in dry ingredients. Add bananas and half of buttermilk/kefir. (By the way, if you thinly slice the bananas before mashing them, it's a lot faster!) Mix well. Add rest of buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. (Don't over-beat the mixture once the eggs and buttermilk are in it, or you'll get cracks in your cake and it won't rise as high.) Mix gently. Fold in 1/3 cup of nuts.

Bake in greased and floured pans (two 9" cake pans, or one 9x13" pan) at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until done in center. Don't over bake.

*Tip: If you use 9" cake pans, wrap a strip of flannel, as wide as the pan is tall, around the outside of the pan, and pin with a clothespin. It is oven-safe, and will make your cake stay level, instead of rising just in the center, and giving you a "mountain effect." Cool, huh?

Frosting and Filling Recipe:

This is hard to recall, because I didn't measure anything. But I think it was something like:

1-2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter

The first thing to do is whip the cream. Put it in a mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar, and whip it until it forms peaks.

Next, put all the whipped cream in a separate bowl, and put the peanut butter in the mixing bowl. Whip it to make it soft. Add a few scoops of cream, and fold it into the peanut butter as gently as you can. It will probably deflate some. Add a little more cream, folding it in again. The whole point is to mix about 1/2 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter, with as little damage to the cream as possible. Once you're done, wala! That's it! You have peanut butter cream filling. The leftover whipped cream and 1/2 the nuts from the recipe are for topping the cake.

Well, that's my post for today. Hopefully you'll be seeing more of me. I'm glad to be back! Did you miss me, with all my lovely word-y-ness? :) :) :)

I'm not dead...

2011-03-07T22:01:00.002-05:00

...I'm just busy.

I have a delicious recipe - with pictures - to post for y'all, and also a more "theological" post in mind, too, but life is keeping me on a fast-moving treadmill right now, so I just have time to pop in really quick and say hello. I hope you are having a wonderfully blessed day.

I'm sending you a great big hug, and a prayer, through this post!

Amber

The Abortion Debate

2011-02-24T10:21:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending a debate at a Christian law school near my home. The topic of the debate was "Does Abortion Help or Harm Women?"

I was particularly interested in this debate because I am acquainted with the woman who defended the pro-life side of the issue. She is on staff at the Crisis Pregnancy Center where I volunteer. She has had an abortion in the past, and has been involved in counseling women through post-abortion Bible studies for 19 years. She told her story as a part of her presentation for the debate.

The woman defending the other side of the issue had, as someone else put it "degrees as long as both my arms." She is obviously highly educated, and has been involved with the pro-choice movement since 1970. She was soft-spoken and congenial, but for all her education, she did little to further her point of view during the debate. (In my opinion.)

During her times to speak, she talked a great deal about getting along, and the need to understand the "other side" and the contradictions both "sides" have made with their arguments. I got the feeling that she was there to discuss the big picture of abortion, and point out what was wrong with the pro-life "techniques" of persuasion, rather than argue the specific question at hand; does abortion help or harm women?

When she did get around to discussing the main topic for a few minutes, her sole point of argument was that the majority of unplanned pregnancies happen to young women who are unmarried and living at or below the poverty level. She spoke about the difficulties of expecting these women to take on the extra burden of the expense of a child. She quoted statistics about how children born to these women are much more likely to be abused, go to jail (if they are boys), repeat the actions of their mothers (if they are girls), and never finish high school. She practically called it cruel to allow children to be born into the world when their lives would be so difficult, and she was of the opinion that asking women to take on this burden was asking too much of them.

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that I am strongly against abortion, and that I have good reason to be. But I found myself with mixed feelings at the end of the debate. So little seemed to be accomplished this way. I yearned for this woman's heart to change. She was so impersonal; bound up in her statistics.

This morning I found myself sitting in my bedroom talking to myself. ...Well, not really to myself. I was imagining what I would have said if I was the one doing the rebuttal after she had made her opening statement. Would you care to hear it?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, my worthy opponent has said a great deal about the need for us to get along, and understand both sides of the issue of abortion, which is true. She is right when she says we need to know how the 'other side' thinks. That doesn't mean we must agree, but how can you change a mind when you don't know how that mind works?

However, I find very little in her statements that addresses about the topic at hand. Her main argument has been based on statistics that she says we will not accept, because we are biased against them. She is right when she says that the pro-life and pro-choice movements are always suspicious of one another's research. I find that rather amusing, because she's right - it's true most of the time! But in this case I'd have to disagree. I do think the statistics she's quoted are accurate.

She says that the pro-life movement tends to focus solely on the unborn child, and the pro-choice movement solely on the woman, and that such a bias in either direction is unfair and un-logical. Again, I agree with her. We do wrong if we focus on the unborn baby at the expense of the woman. She is very much in need, and we need to help her. I see these women all the time at the Pregnancy Center. I go there because I care about them, and want to help them. Abortion is harmful, and would totally change their life if they were to have one, but most of them don't know that. I'm there to make sure they are informed.

I say this to point out that Miss ______'s argument is also based a great deal - but not entirely - on the life of the child. She says it is not worth bringing them into the sort of life they would have. She accuses us of focusing too much on the child, but her own argument is rooted in the same person, to a degree - though I do understand that her main point was that the mother is going to suffer if asked to bring a child into the world she lives in, and care for it.

So here we have a main problem that we both agree on; children born in unplanned pregnancies are born into difficult circumstances. However, we both give different solutions to the problem.

Miss ________'s solution is to kill the children before they ever enter the world. She hopes to avoid the added difficulties by making sure they are stopped as quickly as possible. She admits that ending the pregnancy does not solve the woman's condition in life, but says that it will at least make sure no new difficulties are added. She emphasizes that women should be able to chose when, where, and how they bring life into the world. It is their liberty and their right.

This solution ignores the fact that the children are already in the world. There are millions of children, all over the globe, who are suffering. They are starving. They are naked. They are uneducated. They are abused. Yet our solution to this is not to kill off the children. No person in his right mind would suggest that as a solution.

These unborn children are already in existence. Their mothers have already made the choice to bring life into the world. They have already exercised their right to decide.

I know many a poor family with several children. They struggle to make ends meet. Should I suggest that they eliminate a child or two to help with financial difficulties? 'Oh, let's just kill off the two year old, and you'll be able to make it.'

Of course not! No one would think of such a thing. But what about a 2-month old? A two-day old? It is equally unthinkable. Suppose we go two days before birth?

My point is that as soon as a woman finds out she is expecting, she is already entered into the responsibilities of motherhood. Those responsibilities will continue for years. If she, at any time, is allowed the freedom to "cancel" those responsibilities by killing her child, then, logically, she should have that freedom at any point in her child's existence. It is the most warped form of logic to suggest that her "freedom" applies only to a certain time frame of her motherhood.

My solution to the problem is two-fold. First, to prevent these pregnancies in the first place. Miss______ is right when she says that women need to be more responsible. I am not sure what exactly she refers to when she says that, but I just want to mention that I see women all the time who were on birth control and still got pregnant. Abstinence is the only foul-proof method of preventing pregnancies. I know it's politically incorrect to suggest that, but it is still the truth. ...But that's a topic for another time.

Secondly, we need to provide for the women who are already unintentionally pregnant and are unsure where to turn. They need to be educated. They need financial help. They need to be informed on all their options. My worthy opponent took offense, earlier, when I said women are being lied to about abortion, but it is still the truth; they ARE being lied to. They do not know everything it will involve. They do not know the risks. They do not know about the side effects that can be hidden for years and then pop up. They have no idea what they are getting into.

Abortion is harmful to women. The arguments Miss _______ have presented totally ignore the fact that the "problem" - the child - is already here, and what has happened can not be undone. Abortion purports to be able to "turn back" the clock, by undoing "the damage," but time machines are the property of science fiction. That woman is already pregnant, and if she crosses her natural mothering instincts - which a part of her very being, even if she is not aware of them - she will suffer trauma later on in life. It may be 50 seconds afterward, and it may be 50 years; I have seen both. But it will happen.

We need to be about the business of protecting both the unborn and their mothers. Because abortion is harmful to women."

...I think that would have filled up the 4-minute rebuttal time. :)

For those of you readers who don't know it, my father was born to one of those mothers who was poor and unwed and logically "unable" to care for a child. According to Miss X, he should have been aborted.

And I would have never lived.

Chew on that for a minute.

Here is a passage for you to meditate on today:

"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth He not know it? and shall not He render to ever man according to his works?"
Proverbs 24:11-12

The Wind of the Past

2011-02-19T15:31:00.003-05:00

Like most of the east coast of America, (I assume), we are enjoying splendid spring-like weather this week. I know it won't last, but it's been absolutely wonderful while it has been here!

I spent two hours doing yard work this morning, clearing up some places where I'll plant flowers in a of couple months. The sun was warm on the back of my head, and a comfortable breeze kept things nice.

After the work was done, I walked to the back of the yard to get a view of the big picture. The flower beds against the back of the house looked great!

As I stood in that corner of the yard, my eye fell on a nearby tree. A swing hangs from one low branch. On a whim, I strolled to it and fingered the yellow rope thoughtfully, then sat on the wooden seat and pushed myself into a gentle motion. I closed my eyes, felt the sun on my cheek, the puff of wind in my hair, and I let my thoughts take me back....way back...

For as long as I can remember, there has been a swing in this tree. Oh, it's been replaced several times, and moved to a different branch once, but this back corner of the yard has always been the swing tree. Some of my earliest memories grew from this tree, like bright tender leaves on its greying branches.

For a while I just sat there and felt, rather than thought.

The sun hitting my cheek was so familiar. How many times had I felt it just like that, while sitting here? It always came from the left.

Moving through the air, feet off the ground, hands twined around the rope, my eyes are shut. I don't see blackness - the sun is too bright for that. It's more of a solid orang-y glow that surrounds me. The gentle movement of the swing is as familiar as my own walk.

It has been at least a year since I swung on this swing. I realize it with surprise. But that gentle movement, through a warm orange glow, shocks my memory into overdrive. Sensations come flooding over me...

...The softness of the "tassels" on our first swing. It was just the frayed ends of the white rope, but they were so soft....

...Dirt in my shoes, scuffed in from the many stops and starts I made...

...The exact feel of that wooden board...

...The brush of scraggly grey tree bark against my bare arm when I swung crookedly and hit the tree...

And the sounds. Oh, the sounds. Our road is just off a major highway. The hum of traffic is ever-present. In five minutes we can drive to an airport, stone quarry, or fire station. The jets fly over our yard, the quarry blasts shake our windows, and the fire whistle sounds at random times. But for all that, our backyard can be very quiet much of the time.

Like now. Yet even now, a breeze kicks up, in the tree tops behind the garden. The wind catches in the branches of that great big oak tree, and bounces from oak to pine. The gentle murmur swells to a louder one. It is all as familiar to me as my mother's voice. That wind. Those trees.

If I listen closely enough, I hear voices and sounds in that wind.

...The hum of the lawn mower on a summer day....

...Children laughing and screaming over the sound of the mower...The smell of lemonade mingles with that of gasoline and freshly cut grass. Somebody has brought Daddy a drink...

...A hammer pounding and an electric drill whirring - and Daddy's voice telling us to stay off the fort until he is finished making it...I feel sand on my skin, fresh from the sandbox under the fort. It is rubbing off onto the ropes of the swing...

... My younger brother is swinging in the swing across from me, in the next tree. We are pretending we are blind, and we talk to each other about what we hear. It has been so long since I heard that young boyish voice!...

...My older sister is pushing me, her small hands on my back. Her voice reminds me that it's her turn next...

...Now she is in the swing across from me. We sing gospel songs at the top of our lungs, over the sound of the lawn mower, hoping that our unsaved neighbors will hear us through their open windows...We kick our feet in the air and rejoice in victory when our shoes go flying off...

...I hear Mom calling for lunch, and I smell the hamburgers as Daddy tends the grill...

...I hear my own young voice, crying...pouring out my troubles to an empty back yard on a quiet afternoon, after fighting a math lesson that just didn't want to be learned...

It is all so real. I can hear the voices so clearly on that wind.

Then I feel tears on my cheek. These are real. I can't help myself from thinking, from feeling...from asking.

Where did the years go?

Starting a Web-based Business, Part 2

2011-02-16T12:23:00.003-05:00

Welcome back!

In this series, we've been discussing how to start earning income from home through a website-based industry. (If you missed part 1, go here.) In other words, in the kind of business we've been talking about, there's more to your business than just the computer screen; you're selling a product or service.

Last time we covered how important it is to count the cost before getting involved in an entrepreneurial venture. You don't want to put your hand to the plow and then quit when the going gets tough. You've got to be in it for the long haul, and be committed to hard work.

You also must realize that even if your business is based around something you love to do (sewing, for example), you will probably have to do things in that business that you hate. I love shopping for our Simply Modest business, for example, but I hate loading inventory on the site.

Guess what? I have to do it anyway; because I'm not only the boss, but also the employee. There's no passing the buck.

So be prepared to be challenged and stretched. It's quite the adventure! Reward yourself every so often. Sometimes I hold myself back from something I want, until I finish uploading "such and such" amount of inventory - then I treat myself.

Today I want to talk about the traits you will need to develop in yourself as you become a business owner. You may be good at some of these things already - in fact, it's highly likely that you've got at least one covered, judging from the fact that you want to start a business, and these are business skills.But few people start out having all these bases covered. I know I didn't. And I still don't. It's a learning process. But little by little, I'm growing.

#1: Organized

You've got. to. be. organized. Absolutely. You can run a business slip-shod (ask me - I did it the second year of our website!) but you will end up bouncing checks (I didn't quite do that one, but came close!), re-selling products that have already been sold to someone else, and forgetting to ship out orders.

If you aren't the naturally organized type, consider a business partner who is great at those things, or just whip yourself into shape. Ask yourself "could I make myself stay organized if I worked for an organization where my job depended upon my organization skills?"

Yes? Good, because you do.

If you want to be more organized, but aren't sure how to be, take the time to learn. The word "organization" is often thrown around as if everybody knows how to do it. That's not true; you have to learn. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll have your workspace neat and clean, but spend many precious minutes finding everything, because the space doesn't work.

#2 - A Good Accountant
Let's face it; a business means dealing with money. Can you balance a checkbook? Will you balance a checkbook? Do you know how to figure costs and profits? Can you keep track of everything?

No? Work on it. Get somebody who's good at it to teach you.

#3 - Skilled
This kinda goes without saying, but you must be good at what you do. This has to be something you can do in your sleep. That doesn't mean you have to be the best, just that you have to be good.

Aim for high quality, and be proud of your work. You're building a brand, and you want your name to be associated with high standards. Practice, practice, practice, and be confident in your ability to turn out good results every time, before you start marketing your skill or product. No customer wants to be a guinea pig.

#4 - Somewhat web-savy
Relax - you don't have to know html to run a website. Not now-a-days. But you do need basic computer skills. If you can blog, you can manage a website.

I'm sure that if you are looking into starting a web business, you want to know all sorts of information on which web hosts are the best, how much websites cost, what to look for in hosting, etc., so I'll probably deal with that in my next post. It's an important topic, so stay tune!

Valentine Dinner

2011-02-08T22:47:00.004-05:00

I promise I'll be back soon.

I'm coordinating a couple's dinner, "in honor of love and marriage," at our church this week, on Friday. All the young people will be serving a sit-down, fancy, homemade (well, almost all of it) dinner to the married folks at our church.

We're expecting 36-40 people.

Decorating
Shopping
For forty people!!!!
Baking:
~ 6 dozen rolls
~ Cheesecakes
~ Frosting for a cake
~ Appetizers
Music
Menus
Organizing volunteers

So much to do.

I love it, and I'm totally thrilled to be able to praise and honor the godly husbands and wives in our congregation.

But don't expect me to be around for awhile longer. Normal blogging schedule will resume when I recover. :)

Have a splendid week!

Worth It.

2011-02-05T20:07:00.007-05:00

I gave today away.

It's a Saturday. So much potential. So many projects to accomplish.

But I gave it away.

I gave it away. With a smiling heart, and a gleeful laugh.

Because, you see, I was giving it to my younger sisters.

We spent today cleaning their bedroom. It took us nine hours, from start to finish. They had so much stuff in there, piled up, from all those moments when their young hands just didn't know where to put it, and their young hearts were overwhelmed by all the organization needed. A room can be semi-clean, (ahem), but not really clean, you know? Organized.

We took half the stuff out, piled in great heaps in the living room. We swept...and swept...and swept. We rearranged the furniture. We threw away SO much trash...and things no longer needed. We took EVERYTHING out of the closet and organized it.

Now it is beautiful. Peaceful. Feminine. Minimal clutter. Minimal stuff. Everything has a place. My youngest sister, who hates to clean, laughed, and said, "Now I'm almost looking forward to it being messy again, because I know where everything goes!"

And she does. She stuck with me all day - both of them did, actually. Their own hands helped with every project. They know where all their things are. And they can repeat the process of putting them away. I'm so proud of them!

It was a long day. I got tired. I got tired of saying, "let's keep going!"

But I didn't get tired of them. I didn't tire of praising them. I didn't tire of their arms being thrown around my neck, their lips planting a kiss on my cheek, and their voices saying, "thank you so much for helping us!"

I love a clean room. I love happy sisters. I love seeing dog-tired sisters, who have earned the right to be proud of their labor. I love a job well-done.

I gave today away.

And it was totally worth it.

Starting a Web-based Business, Part 1

2011-02-02T14:56:00.003-05:00

Recently, I received a question about websites:

Naomi said,
I noticed that you have a good number of websites. I am trying to start a sewing business online and I was wondering, how much does it cost you and how do you get your a websites started?

I read this, and had to chuckle. Me? Know anything about websites and web businesses? Yeah right.

But an honest question deserves an honest answer, so here I go.

To begin with; yes, I have quite a few "websites," or other web presences. To sum it up briefly...too many:

~ 10 blogs (yes, ten. No, they aren't all public.)
~ 1 Online Thrift Store, Simply Modest
~ 1 Online Bookstore, Better Books

This blog, The Fruit of Her Hands, is my oldest one, and the one on which I am most active. In just a few days, it will be 3 years since I began blogging. Simply Modest has been running for several years, but I only became a co-owner of it in 2009. Better Books is fairly new, and I'm still working all the bugs out on that venture.

So you can see that my experience with web presence has been limited to the past three years, at the most. My time in web business has been a short year and a half or so.

That being said, I feel that I've learned several things very fast - many of them the hard way. If you, like Naomi, are considering a web-based business, perhaps I can save you some hard knocks by mentioning things I've learned in the past couple years. Keep in mind that this is all based on my own experience, and is by no means an exhaustive list of advice. If you are better grounded in this topic than me (and that wouldn't take much!) please leave additional suggestions - or corrections - in the comments section.

For the sake of time, let's forget about blogging in this discussion. Blogging can be a money-maker, but it blogging for income isn't an avenue I've chosen to pursue at this time, and we want to discuss business right now. Let's talk about home-run businesses that are mostly web-operated.

In other words, the kind of thing a stay-at-home daughter can do, to have an income and still be involved on a day-to-day basis with what's going on at home.

It sounds so inviting, doesn't it? Make money, still be a daughter who lives at home, earn an income from your hobby, and wala!

It's not that easy. Truly, I went into web business with no idea of the tremendous amount of work a successful business takes.

That would be my first piece of advice to the entrepreneur seeking to start a web business; take good thought to what you're getting into! Even Jesus said that nobody goes to war without counting the cost, numbering his soldiers, and determining if he has a chance to win.

By started a web business, you are, in affect, becoming self-employed. That isn't for every personality. Not everybody thrives when they are their own boss. Be honest with yourself; do you have self-discipline? A lot of it? Are you self-motivated? Do you pay attention to details? Can you manage money? Do you inspect your own work, and hold yourself to high levels of quality?

Beyond the question of personality and character traits, there's the issue of time. If you treat this like a part-time job, you'll earn part-time, minimum wages. Or less.

Many young ladies work from home because of conviction. They want to be under their father's authority, and they don't want to treat their home like a hotel/fast-food place combo. They aren't afraid of being out and about, doing things outside the home, but they don't want to leave their focus out there.

But they also want to earn an income - not to build a career centered around personal ambition, but to become a asset to their home, rather than a liability.

That's not to say a job-less girl is a liability. In a non-material way, a helpful, kind, loving daughter and sister is worth much more than her weight in gold. And, even in a financial context, a frugal girl can be saving her family much more than she costs it.

But an income is nice. It's great to be able to not only help cover your own expenses, but also give gifts to others. And how wonderful it is to be able to give to the Lord's work, and further God's kingdom with money you've earned yourself!

So go ahead, if you feel led of God to do so; try a home-based business.

But the world of supply and demand doesn't soften just to deal with young ladies who are trying to be the "Proverbs 31" woman. Few people are going to say "Aw, look - so sweet! She's working from home; let's help her business along." Some people will, but not many. You cannot depend on good intentions to carry a business. Your motivations mean nothing if they aren't backed up by sweat, and time. If you don't put work into this thing, it will fail.

So count the cost. Do you have time? And the determination to see this thing through?

End of point one.

Somehow, I feel a series beginning.

Enticed.

2011-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking, lately, about how often we make provision for the flesh.

What is it, to "make provision for the flesh"?

I don't think the scripture is talking about providing food for our stomach.

No; our flesh is more than bodily appetites - though those are included. It's those longings we have that stem from the old man. Those desires that come from selfishness, pride, and other wrong motives.

We know we shouldn't desire certain things. But we play with ourselves. We show ourselves things we know we can't have, and shouldn't want. Our imaginations run to places they shouldn't go, and we soothe our consciences with the thought that we "wouldn't really do that."
We just want to play with it. Watch other people do it.

What are we really doing when we look at things we know we shouldn't do or have?

We are wishing we could do it, or have it. Even if we don't admit it even to ourselves. The fact that we find it attractive betrays us. We aren't treating it like something our Lord hates. Instead, we are pampering that old man inside us; showing him what he longs for.

Do we really expect him to stay content, to be dead to sin, when we keep tantalizing him? He won't be pacified by looks. Sooner or later he'll act. Because he's human.

To provide for the flesh is to make sinful options available. Just in case. Just on the chance that we have to give in. You know. Like sticking that chocolate chip cookie on the counter instead of in the jar, just in case we get hungry.

Or keeping that questionable book on our shelf, just in case we change our minds.

Or hanging that "iffy" shirt in our closet, just in case it doesn't look so bad the next time everything else is in the dirty laundry pile.

Or keeping our computer turned on and within reach, just in case we give into the temptation to waste time when there are other things to do.

What are we doing?!?! What happened to fleeing temptation?

A verse in Proverbs 19 struck me along the same lines. It tells us what to do in these cases: "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."

It's so simple; if something causes you to err, to be less interested in the words of God, stop listening! Turn it off. Shut it up. Throw it away. Whatever you have to do.

The huge simplicity of this concept has occupied my mind often during the past few days. It is a marvel to me, how alluring sin is. I wish it wasn't. It is amazing to me, how enticed mankind is by sin. We go for it, like a dog to poisoned meat. The only thing strong enough to keep us away is love. The Bible says love is stronger than death. It's stronger than anything. The only way we will stay away from sin is if we love the Saviour more.

What are you doing today to foster that love?

Sweet Potato Coffee Pie

2011-01-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

I want to share a recipe with you, but first I have to brag on my brothers a bit. They made supper for us the other night; not a common occurrence, but one that we enjoy whenever Mom decides it's time to assign them a meal.

Potato soup was the menu, with apple pie for dessert. But not just plain old soup and pie. This soup was creamy, and cheesy, and thick, and savory, and oh so good! The pie was high and golden and sweet...extremely good pie crust, 'specially considering that it was Curtis' first time making a pie.

I took a picture, and Justin said, "Are you going to put that on your blog?"
I said, "I might. Think I should?"
"Yup," he replied.
"Want me to brag on my brothers a bit, huh?" I smiled.
He just grinned.

And so, swelling with pride, I present the photo:

Now for the recipe. This is another one that I made up, so if you hate it, there's no one to blame but me. :)

But I don't think you'll hate it. Not if you like pumpkin pie. Or brown sugar. Or nuts. Or cinnamon. Or sweet potato casserole.

Sound good? Let's continue.

To begin with, this was going to be sweet-potato-cinnamon-rolls, made almost exactly like normal sweet cinnamon rolls, for breakfast. But one thing led to another, and I decided to aim for coffee cake instead. The finished product turned out more like pie than cake, however, so I have dubbed it "Coffee Pie." I know it sounds nothing like what it is, but, hey, I made it - I name it. :)

This Coffee Pie is really a thin, very moist cake. With crumble topping. The stuff is sweet, but not too sweet. Would you believe I could make two 9" coffee pies with only half a cup of brown sugar? It's true! You would never guess it is only that bit of sugar, when you're eating the cakes.

Ahem. I mean pies.

I have a confession; I've only made this recipe once, so it may still need a bit of tweaking. But if I wait for that, I'll never post it, so I'll offer it as-is. It's pretty tasty that way.

Without further rambling:

Amber's Sweet Potato Coffee Pie
Oh - wait - one more thing. (Sorry!) This recipe is great for being made ahead of time, to save you time when you're fumbling around the kitchen in the morning because you overslept.

Well, it's actually best warm (I think - it didn't last 'til it cooled), but you can mix the ingredients ahead of time. I'll show you:

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 generous tsp. cinnamon
1 sprinkle ginger
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder

Add 4 TBS cold butter, and 3 TBS shortening. Cut into flour until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Cover and refrigerate immediately.

In another bowl, combine wet ingredients:
1 cup cooled, well-mashed sweet potatoes
1 or 2 tsp. of lemon juice
1 cup milk (*I use almond milk. It's got more calcium than regular milk, but it's sweeter, and has fewer calories and less fat. It's yummy!)
1/4 cup water
2 eggs, well beaten

Combine until smooth. Refrigerate this bowl, too. (You can wait, and add the eggs in the morning, if you want them to be a bit fresher.)

In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup well-chopped walnuts
2 TBS ground flax seed (see how healthy this is?)
1.5 TBS cold butter

Mix until well combined and crumbly. Butter will get soft and a little pasty instead of crumbly, but do your best. Refrigerate.

The next morning, you'll be able to assemble this before your oven is done preheating!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9" cake pans. Take all 3 bowls out of the refrigerator. Pour wet ingredients into dry ones, and fold together with a fork just until combined. Pour evenly into the pans. Divide topping in half and sprinkle each half over one cake. Let the batter sit in the pans for 3-5 minutes, then put in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Don't over-bake; you want it nice and moist.

Serve warm!

Projects

2011-01-20T13:12:00.005-05:00

Gasp! A post with a picture!

This is one of those evenings when I'm just dying to blog. I have so much to say that my fingers are flying on the keyboard. Of course, with me, that's counterproductive, because I just have to backspace twice as much.

If I can get my appendages to behave, I'll move on to what I want to say.

I've been supremely happy lately, and one byproduct of that glorious state is increased immersion in handiwork. My hands have been finding all sorts of things to do, and my mind is way ahead of my hands. I haven't been nearly as productive as I want to be, but it's a start.

To begin with, my bedroom project is nearly completion. Many of you know that I got my own room for the first time in my life this May, when my sister got married. (She was married in April, but didn't get back from the honeymoon and move her things out of the house until May, so I count from there.:) I've had loads of fun creating a haven of peace and productivity in my little room, and can't wait to show you what I've done with this little space. I haven't forgotten my promise to post pictures, but before I will do that, there's one last project to complete: my desk.

It's a set, really; one desk, and two matching wall shelves, made to be attached one above the other, on the wall above the desk. I designed the desk, and cut out almost all the wood on my own, and with some help from my brother, and loads of help from my Dad, I've slowly been assembling it since the summer. Now it is completely together and ready to be stained, painted, and given coats of polyurethane to give it a glass-like finish. I plan to work on that tomorrow.

My new room is small (about 8'x11'), and it's been a delightful challenge to me, to find ways of making it work. I've cut down on the amount of stuff I have (felt so good!), rearranged furniture, and done all sorts of things to make this room work. I can't wait to tell you all about it.

I've also been inspired to sew again, which always feels good. No matter how recent my last "spurt" of sewing has been, it always feels like ages ago. I've been smart this year, and begun working on summer clothes before July. My summer wardrobe has needed help for several years, but if I finish my projects in time, I think I'll actually have a pretty efficient wardrobe this summer. (Did you hear the word efficient? That's a whole 'nother blog post...) I'm excited to wear the stuff I've been creating, once the weather gets warmer.

My favorite way to get new clothes is to take old ones and reassemble them in an entirely different way. Here's a sneak preview at one project I'm planning...

And, to continue; I've been indulging in one of my favorite pastimes the last few days; kitchen time! I so delight in working with food, even though cooking from scratch can be very time-consuming. It really could be faster, but I just enjoy it so much, I don't rush the process. I bet that habit would change if I was a full-time wife and had to cook 3 meals a day, but I'll enjoy the leisure of choosing my kitchen days, for the present. :)

I have a recipe to share with you, but that just feels like too many random stuff in one post, so you're going to have to wait for my next post. Won't be too long a wait - really! It's a reeeeeally good recipe, if I may say so myself, so stick around!

Ways to Keep Warm in a Cold House

2011-01-08T20:00:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I'm writing a post with that title. Only a year ago, I was Miss Always-Warm. I lived in short sleeves almost year-round, except for a very small window of time in Jan.-Feb. I always felt bad that I couldn't enjoy all those lovely furry sweaters I had, but what can a girl do? If I wore "winter" clothes, I died of heat!

But, whether from "old age" (haha), some unknown physical reason, or because we are keeping our house thermostat set much lower this year (probably the later), I have been freezing most of the winter. It's the first year I've dealt with such a problem, and I find it quite bewildering. I've always wished that January first marked the first day of spring, but this is the first time I'm constantly equating "spring" with "heat."

At least I can finally enjoy my cozy sweaters...and several of them at once, as a matter of fact.

As winter has progressed, I've learned a few things that help me keep warm. If you are struggling with "freezing" temperatures in your house, maybe you'd like to hear some of them. And maybe you have a few to add! PLEASE do, if you have some!

By the way, I'd like to go on record as saying I'm all in favor of keeping the thermostat set lower. It saves money, and it feels more natural. My body never did know what to think when the house felt like July in January. I think it must kill some germs, too...Anyway, I like the idea. It's frugal, and I get to wear all my wardrobe! You just have to learn to work with the system.

Without further ado, here are some things that have helped me keep warm in a cool house:

~ Wear clothes! Lots of them. Learn to layer.

Skirts really are your best friend. A lot of people think pants are warmer than skirts, but that's only if you are thinking of those flimsy, dressy, skirts with only a slip and pantyhose under them. If you wear skirts in the winter on a regular basis, you'll soon learn to get sturdy everyday ones, made from denim, corduroy, flannel, and wool.

But don't stop there. Add a pair of leggings underneath the heavy skirt. I have two pairs of knee-length denim leggings that I've practically lived in this winter. They make all the difference. Add a pair of warm knee-high socks and you're set to go.

On the top half of your body, learn to wear cotton near your skin, and then add something less breathable, like wool or acrylic. Wear at least one shirt with a high collar, to keep your neck warm. And, if you're still cold, don't be afraid to go around the house in a thick hoodie ...with the hood up!

~ Try fingerless gloves. Daddy recently found a great deal on high-class gloves made from cashmere and wool. He bought quite a few pairs, and gave them to his wife and daughters. :) :) One of the pairs he gave me are fingerless, and I wear them around the house quite a bit. They're great for playing the fiddle. :)

~ Drink warm things. This was a new one for me, because I'm not a fan of hot drinks. I'll just take my water, thank you very much. But there's no denying that a warm drink helps you warm up, so I decided to "get into" warm drinks. I didn't want to overload my system with sweet coffee and hot chocolate, and we don't often get apple cider (which I love warm), but I do love hot lemon and honey, and it's good for you. And I'll occasionally have that cup of black (ugh!) coffee. (Though I take that back if it's black German coffee.)

~ Exercise. Spending at least 20 minutes getting your blood flowing in the morning makes all the difference for the next several hours.

~ Sleep warm. It's very important that you feel warm while you're trying to fall asleep, or you won't sleep well. Pile those covers on! I have...let's see...five covers on my bed, and I'm never cold when I'm under the covers. Just like with clothes, have a mixture of fibers, and keep the more breathable ones closer to your skin, and the less breathable ones on top.

~ Bake! The oven will make the kitchen warm and toasty.

~ Eat enough. Don't overeat, of course, but do eat enough. You'll be colder right after you eat, but in the long run you'll stay warmer. Believe it or not, this is one I've had trouble with this winter.

~ Laptops. Did you know it's actually bad for the skin on your legs if you rest your laptop right on top of your lap? The heat from the computer can actually create burn-like skin damage over a long period of time. But all that heat can be comforting on a cold night. Just be sure to put a pillow between the laptop and your skin - the heat will warm the pillow, which will in turn warm you - safely.

~ Pay attention to when you wash your hair. If you're like me and always let your hair air-dry, don't wash your hair at the coldest time of the day!

~ Move around more. Nothing will warm you up quicker!

And always remember - a cheerful spirit will warm your home better than anything. :)

Happy January to you all!

Slam the Door?

2011-01-07T14:22:00.003-05:00

You know, at times I get really frustrated with some of the side effects of being a stay-at-home daughter.

Making my work and influence sphere center around my home and family was my own choice, and it certainly a choice that I don't regret (although phrasing it that way makes it sound like a one time decision, rather than an ongoing commitment), but that doesn't mean I love every minute of it.

There are times when I shake my head and say "Amber, why do you choose to live this way? Don't you get tired of planning your schedule around your family's schedule? Don't you wish you were more independent? Don't you want to prove to the world that you are a mature, capable adult?"

I have to squeeze my eyes shut and remind myself that the most mature, capable people I know - my parents - also submit themselves and their schedules to what is best for the family as a whole. They can't run around doing whatever they want. They don't live on their own, and yet no one questions their maturity and "independence."

But there are times when I get frustrated anyway. Take this afternoon, for example. Or yesterday afternoon. I've just sat down to work on my computer, a work load staring back at me from the screen. Website maintenance, business correspondents, language studies, and O how I wish for time to work on my newest book that I'm writing! And free time to research hobbies online would be wonderful.

Yet how many times must I get up and answer my bedroom door? No, sister dear, I cannot cut your rabbit's nails right now. Yes, Mom, I can help you edit my sibling's school work. Yes, Daddy, I can come tell you what it exactly that I wanted you to help me with the other day. Yes, Mom, if the phone call is for me, I'll take it. Yes, Mom, I'll watch whatever is on the stove while you run an errand. Yes, brother, I have your project all ready for you - here it is. Yes, other brother, I can cut your hair sometime this evening. No, Dad, I don't want to go the the garden store with you, though I absolutely LOVE doing that. Yes, Mom, I'll help you find that book. Yes, yes, yes...

Sometimes I get so TIRED of saying YES! I want to slam my bedroom door, lock it, pound on it a couple of times and yell, "What do you guys think I am? Do you think I exist in this home to do nothing but help you with all your problems? I've got a few projects and problems of my own, guys!"

This is a moment of terrible honesty. Because, truly, I don't like confessing that that is what I ache to do and say. I'd rather say that I am constantly cheerful and always willing to help out. But I'm not. And even if I'm helping out, I'm not always doing it cheerfully. Sometimes I'm secretly yelling at the person I'm "helping."

My projects are important to me. I like to have time to work on them. And as an adult, I do have stuff that is necessary for me to accomplish. I have to take time to make a budget every month. I have to maintain our online thrift store's website. I have to reply to certain emails. And so on and so forth. When I don't have the time to work on these things, I get a sort of panic rising in my chest, starting at my stomach, and getting tight toward my throat.

But do I really want to be on my own, free to pursue only my own projects and passions, never disturbed or encountering conflicting schedules? Do I really want to still live in this house, but operate completely independent of its other occupants, only interacting with them at mealtimes and on holidays? Do I really want that?

Let's see...I'd get a whole lot of work done. Maybe even finish writing my book. I wouldn't be so tempted to lose my temper so often. It'd be less stressful.

But what would I have to give up to get that?

~ Family. Real, true family, that interacts with me constantly and knows me ever-so-well.

~ Strength of character. How else would I ever learn patience and kindness, if my limits were never tested? It's easy to be sweet and helpful when there's no one to demand those things at a moment when you feel anything but sweet and helpful.

~ Help. It's only fair to admit it; these people who constantly ask for my help also are constantly giving me help. If they weren't here, who would do all the things they do?

Am I willing to give up these things - family, character building, and help - in exchange for solitude and peace?

Not hardly.

Because there's a forth blessing involved; the knowledge that I'm right where God wants me to be. I'm convinced that He put me in this family to serve, and to further this home. Sure, He's given me personal projects, but that doesn't cancel out my other job; that of daughter, and sister. I know He can give me the strength to do both. ...And if I start running out of fuel, then I should start asking myself if all those "personal projects" are things God wants me to be doing, or things I thought up on my own.

That's all I have to say for now. I just needed to sit here and remind myself why I should not get up and slam the bedroom door. Because I really do want to be cheerful and helpful. For Christ's sake. Because He is the one I am serving.

P. S. For those of you who read my New Year's Eve post, I ought to mention that I have postponed that series I mentioned; I still plan to publish it, but probably not until February. Stay tuned!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T23:12:00.003-05:00

Hello, dear friends!

I thought about coming into Webland last week, to wish you a merry Christmas, but I didn't think many of you would be visiting my little corner of the web when there were so many other fun things to do...

...so I didn't. But merry Christmas, anyway! I hope you had a lovely one. I had one so lovely that it almost felt too perfect. I savored every minute.

I have shown up to with you a happy New Year, however. Aren't you proud of me? I also must tell you that I have a new blog series in the works that I plan to launch in January - three of the posts are already written. The reason I'm mentioning this is two-fold; one, to encourage you to stick around and not put me on that list of "blogs-to-never-bother-checking-'cause-they-never-update," and, two, because if I tell you about it, I'll have to publish the posts, and I need the motivation to publish. I'm feeling shy about the topic.

F0r those of you who have blogs, do you ever feel nervous about broaching certain topics, or writing certain posts? Are there some that are so intimidating, you've never written them, though you've composed them in your head?

But I'm getting away from my point. This is New Year's Eve. Almost New Year's Day. What are you doing tonight? Are you staying up until midnight? I usually don't...and I wasn't planning on it tonight...but it looks like I might end up doing it just because I haven't caught up on all my computer work yet.

Let me encourage you to take a moment and look back on this past year, before looking forward at 2011. Take some time to discuss the last twelve months with God, and ask Him what He thinks of how you spent them. Thank Him for His blessings. Remember the lessons He taught you. Rejoice in His goodness.

Here are some questions to get your memory kicked into full gear:

~ What was the most challenging month for you this year?
~ Did you make any new friends?
~ Read any new books?
~ What did you write?
~ Did you start a new hobby/work?
~ What new skills did you learn?
~ Where did you travel?
~ Did you have an opportunity to do something you had always wanted to do?
~ Did you conquer any special sins or temptations this year?
~ How much Scripture did you read this year?
~ How many people did you witness to?
~ What were the darkest hours that God brought you through? How did they challenge you, and mature you?
~ How has your family changed this year?
~ Did you smile enough this year? Laugh enough? Work enough?
~ What did you do to bring beauty into your home?
~ What season did you like best this year?
~ Did you try any new foods this year?
~ Has your prayer life grown this year?

Those are just a few random questions to help you get started thinking. It's always good to look back and see where you've been; it helps you get your heart set correctly on where you should go. Besides, it's fun!

Do you have goals for this new year? Would you mind sharing some?

Yesterday and Today

2010-12-14T19:44:00.003-05:00

I had a rotten day yesterday.

You think I got online just to tell you that, don't you? Not really. Yesterday was awful, and I expected today to follow suit.

I decided to expect that just seconds after waking up - right after I bounced out of bed and landed - smack! - on the floor. As I sat on the floor beside my bed, head spinning, stomach feeling queasy, and my entire left leg asleep, I thought to myself "I thought yesterday was over!"

But my stomach improved, my leg woke up, and my head finally got oriented about twenty minutes later.

But I had to leave the house in about 1.5 hours, and I still had to eat breakfast, shower, get a package ready to ship, fix my hair, and spend time in God's Word. I was supposed to be headed to the Crisis Pregnancy Center, where I volunteer once a week. In about 2 hours, I would be talking with women who need hope and help. When I read this morning, I assure you that I was looking for a verse to grab onto, to get me through the day.

I read 1 Chronicles.

Every read 1 Chronicles? The first nine chapters are genealogies. Hardly inspiring, at first glance.

But lo and behold! In chapter 5, I found my verse: "..for they cried unto God in battle, and he was entreated of them; because they put their trust in him."

Now that is not what I got online to tell you, either, but it's not a bad thought, is it? All it takes is trust. And Who is more worthy of our trust than God? He's proved that over and over.

What was I going to tell you?

Oh yes - even with a verse to hold on to, days can get rough. (Even when they're better than the day before.) But deciding to praise God in the midst of difficulties makes a world of difference. I re-discovered today that you can't complain while praising.

Try it.

That's what I wanted to tell you.

Sewing, fashion, and what I was up to a month ago

2010-12-01T16:42:00.007-05:00

This post has been a long time in coming.

Proof:
a) I've been telling y'all for ages that I'd update you on sewing projects, and,
b) I started this post several nights ago. ...and I almost never take three sittings to write a post.

But here I am, at last. I'm sharing two projects with you; both were completed at least a month ago, and both of them are my favorite "genre" of sewing; alterations.

Project #1 - Striped Shirt

Don't you love thrift stores? I went through my closet the other day, and counted the number of things I've bought or had given to me that were brand spanking new - I think the number was 8-10 items. Everything else is either hand-me-downs, freebies, or (most numerous!) from thrift stores. I love it!

Of course, when you do so much shopping at second-hand places, you have to be careful that you don't lower your standards too much. It's tempting to buy a shirt that you would have loved when it was new...even though it definitely shows signs of wear now. Unless you need paint clothes, or have a ton of extra money to get rid of, try to stick to items that feel and look like they've got miles of wear left in them, and then treat them as if you paid full price for them. Quality counts more than quantity when it comes to clothes, folks.

All that being said, I've picked up many items from Good Will that weren't in "wearing condition." I promised myself I'd hem them, lengthen them, take the seams in, ....whatever it was that was needed. Most of those projects never made it to my closet.

So I've learned that when planning a "Good Will" project, as I term them, I need to stick to these basic guidelines:

1) Item must have good bones. (Fabric feels new, plenty of ease to play around with, etc.)
2) The needed alteration must be a day-long project or less. (No week-long jobs!)
3) If it doesn't meet these two rules, DON'T BUY IT!

Sticking to those rules makes things SO much simpler. Saves me a lot of money, too. And things actually get done this way! Take my first project, for instance.

Here is the shirt as I bought it. ($3.50)
I loved the colors, stripes, 3/4-length sleeves, and yoke.

It fit me well, but the neckline was a little too low.
Not good when I bent over. :)
What to do? I was so sad - such a nice shirt!
Did I have to put it back, just for a measly 1.5"?
Nope.

I picked up some stiff, wide, black ribbon from WalMart ($2, I think)

I had plenty left over when this project was done.

And here's what I did:

Tada!
The wide ribbon added just the perfect amount of height to the neckline.
It took FOREVER to iron it into pleats, but it sewed on zippy-fast.
The flower was the inspiration of a moment, and took only a few minutes to make.
It's safety-pinned on, rather than sewn, and I've worn it in my hair with other outfits.
Love it!

What'cha think? I love it when I can make clothes work, that at first I thought were unwearable.

That's how I also feel about my second project:

Project #2 - Ruffle Plaid Vest

I'm going to confess it; I'm interested in fashion. Not obsessed, I hope, but interested; enough to know that plaids and ruffles are both "in" right now. That's fine with me, because I like plaid, and ruffles are very feminine.

Sometimes, however, lovely plaid fabric just doesn't look appealing, because of what it's made into.

This jumper, for instance, didn't match me:
(The picture was taken after I'd already cut it in half.)

It was in a bag of hand-me-down clothes, from a friend, so it was free.
I liked many things about it.
The color. The buttons. The Princess-seam style.
I didn't like the skirt part. Too narrow.
Didn't fit me. Wasn't "me" anyway.
The top part reminded me of a vest.
I hate vests.
...Don't I?

I have no idea where the inspiration came from.
Probably browsing clothes on the web.
But I hate vests.
...Don't I?

I thought I did.

But I like this!

There was enough fabric in the skirt to create the ruffles, with generous scraps - and several buttons - leftover. I never would have called this outfit "me," but once it was on, I liked it a very much!

This las tpicture was taken right before bedintme and as hyour ca =n see by this ytpeing (which I am, not, byt the way, doign on purpose), I it is rather late, and I really ought to go do to bed. Honestly , this paragraph was tpyed without any backspacking to fix erroesrs, and is an example of how thankful I am for backspace buttons wh on nights when I am to o tired to type straight.

Whew! Aren't you glad all my blog posts aren't like that? :) :) :) The above paragraph was written the night I was trying to load all these pictures.

Now you know why it took three sittings to write this post.

Humility

2010-11-29T15:19:00.003-05:00

Huh. Just writing that word as a title to a post feels awkward. How does one write about humility? Just to open your mouth on the subject seems proud; "I've got it all together, folks!"

Yeah, right. :)

But I had a thought about the topic yesterday, and I thought I'd share it with you.

What is the definition of humility? Is it thinking humbly about yourself? Yes, of course, right? But what does that mean?

Does that mean you are shy? Does it mean you tell yourself that you "can't do anything"? Does it mean you put yourself down, or are constantly comparing yourself to others, to your own disadvantage? Does it mean that always, at all times, in all places, under all circumstances, you never, ever, forget that you are nothing? Does it mean that you weep over your own horribleness, and are broken over your depravity?

I don't think so. And hold on - I'll give you the reasons why.

First off, consider the person who constantly puts herself down in her mind. I've been that person; constantly berating myself for not being good enough, not being kind enough, not being godly enough, talented enough, sweet enough...the accusations stretched out like a holiday "To Do" list. All of this was done in the name of holy zeal - I wanted to be better.

That isn't bad - to want to be better. It's an inborn instinct of human beings. It is that drive that causes us to work for things, and to become things. And it is that drive that finally, in the end, shows us we aren't good enough.

In the Christian, it is often given the name of "the longing to please our Lord." We know we are sinners, yet we also know we've been saved, and, boy, do we want things to be different now! We know God says "be holy, as I am holy," and with everything in us, we want to obey that command. So we strive for excellence.

But it isn't too long before the truth dawns upon us; we're not "good enough." We're not good enough. Time and time again we fail. We may have it all together on the outside, but we know our own thoughts, our temptations, our wayward minds, our selfishness, our laziness...we know we aren't what we ought to be.

Is this where humbleness comes is? The admitting of how low we really are? The loud embracing of this unworthiness, denying all claims to perfection, or even goodness?

Well, sorta. This is where humbleness comes in, but not in that way.

Because, think about it - why does it bother us that we are flawed? Oooo, doesn't it just drive you mad? That stubborn sin streak - why must it persist? You'd better believe I hate it.

And, not too long ago, I hated myself. For having that sin streak. For being the flawed child. For not being what I wanted to be. Oh, I was so mad at myself!

Because I wasn't what I wanted to be.

Did you catch the number of times I used "I" or "me" in the previous three paragraphs? Six times, to be exact. And every sentence was focused on the trials of yours truly.

That's why I believe that attitude, that anger at myself, isn't true humility; it's focused on me. I'm sad because this precious, treasured being of mine isn't as beautiful as I want it to be. I want me to be perfect. Isn't this the sum of pride?

I was so afraid of the other sort of pride - the kind that says "I don't have to worry about my character. I'm already perfect," that I slipped into the pride of the other extreme - frustration at my flaws.

Just for the record, I'm not talking about a healthy hatred of sin. I wasn't mad because it was sin - I was mad because it was in me, and "me" wasn't supposed to have anything wrong with her. See the difference?

So here's what I count as the definition of true humility. My thoughts and heart on the topic had already changed, a few months ago, but I hadn't formulated it into a cohesive thought until yesterday:

Humility: "Knowing the truth and being content in it."

Knowing the truth. Not what I feel, but what God tells me is true. Truth is "are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal. 3:3) Truth is "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." (Jer. 31:3) Truth is that God will finish that which He starts - including making me perfect one day, when I stand before Him in Heaven. Truth is that He loves me now, as I am, still flawed, but His precious child. Truth is that I need to hate sin because God does, not for selfish reasons. Truth is that He put talents in me that He expects me to use, not deny. Truth is that He made me untalented at other things. Truth is that God loves me. (I just had to say that one more time!:)

Being content in it. I must come to terms with this truth. I must trust God's truth. I must trust that what He decrees is best. But isn't He worthy of my trust? Absolutely! I owe Him everything.

So I can know that I'm not so good at some things, and trust that He doesn't need me to be doing that particularly well - He plans to use the weakness for His glory.

I can know that if I can do something well, He made me to use that. And it would be wrong to deny it. I can be confident, gracious, and quietly content, instead of wrestling with fears of "should I be up here doing this? What will people think of me?"

I can know that I am still loved when I sin, and that I should rejoice loudly in His forgiveness, rather than bewail the fact that I had to accept it. I used to be really afraid of this - I mean, come on - "accept the fact that I sin? Are you crazy, Amber? If you start believing this nonsense about rejoicing in God's forgiveness, you'll lose your fear of sin, and you'll lose your conscience!" Nothing could be farther from the truth. The confidence I have in my Father's love and forgiveness creates such a wellspring of thankfulness and love in me that I cannot bear the thought of sinning against Him.

I don't think I've solved the problem of pride. That, I'm afraid, I will wrestle with until I reach Heaven. But it helps to know that humility isn't a false abasing of myself, a loathing of myself. In fact, it isn't about myself at all. It's a quiet resting in the grace of God, and trusting that He knows what He's doing with me. It's all about Him.

Isn't He wonderful?

Things I'm Thankful For

2010-11-24T21:11:00.003-05:00

~ God's love. It's the first thing that comes to mind when I think about what I'm thankful for - which is often. It's absolutely foremost in my mind this year - so much so that I feel like running around, grabbing people by the shoulders and saying, "have you heard? God is love! God loves me!" I've been made aware of His love in a new and bigger way this year, and it's totally indescribably wonderful.

~ Salvation. Mercy. Grace. Forgiveness. All offshoots of the above item, but each one a separate world of delights, full of its own implications and joys.

~ Music - I've fallen deeper in love with it this year. :)

~ Parents who are in love with each other. This means more and more to me, the older I get.

~ Daddy. My leader, protector, and teacher. The one who makes me smile when I'm sad.

~ Mom. The kind of friend every girl should have. Faithful, wise, and constant. Unselfish. And a wonderful person to hang out with and do things with - something I've been doubly thankful for since my older sister has moved out of the house. :)

~ Siblings who are my best friends. Brothers who make me proud, and sisters who fill me with joy.

~ My sister's marriage - it's been a beautiful picture of Christ and His bride.

~ My new brother-in-law. My sister has good tastes. :) ...So does he, come to think of it. :)

~ Our location. I love where I live.

~ The beauty of life. Growing things. Animals. Babies.

~ The opportunities God has given me this year. I've gotten to do so many things I'd only dreamed of doing before.

~ My hands. I love working with them.

~ Books. Words. Language.

~ My Bible. God's Word. Seriously, that dear, precious, book....I owe so much to it.

~ Kind friends. I have so many of them, and they are so kind and unselfish and encouraging and loving that they are continually surprising me; "oh, you mean you are that kind? You mean you care that much? Wow."

~ My church. Our Pastor. God's people. Sweet fellowship.

~ Freedom. Liberty. Such a high cost, and such a exquisite prize!

~ My Dad's job. With so many people unemployed, I'm so thankful Dad's been able to continue working. And my brother has a job too, now.

~ My new (own!) bedroom. Never thought I'd get used to it this fast! :)

~ God's patience. Wow, I don't know what I'd be like without this.

~ Smiles. Singing. Laughter.

~ Sunshine.

~ Plants.

~ Food, and the ability to make things in the kitchen.

~ Love.

~ God's direction.

~ The Holy Spirit.

~ The unshakable assurance of knowing that God finishes what He starts.

~ Trials. Really. I started this year with some very deep, dark times, and they have been the springboard to draw me nearer to God. I'm so thankful for them.

What about you? What are you thankful for?

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Salad I Love

2010-11-18T20:28:00.003-05:00

So....I love it. I really, really, love it.

Mom likes it.

My brothers tolerate it.

A little sister dislikes it.

How 'bout you? Try it! Pleeeeease?

Amber's Spinach and Peas Salad

Ingredients:
~ Lots and lots of fresh, washed spinach. LOTS. As in a heaping salad bowl full.
~ 4 hard-boiled eggs (Please do boil these long enough. If you don't....well, you could always wail, dump them in a skillet, and scramble them, and hope nobody notices the slightly different texture...but hard-boiled is just better. Not that I've had the other experience, of course...)
~ 2 cups frozen peas, thawed, but not cooked
~ 1/2 cup raisins (I LOVE these in my salad, but my family doesn't.)
~ Croutons (Optional. I don't care for them in this particular salad, but others in the family do, so I put them in, hoping to coax reluctant salad-eaters into trying the salad. :)
~ 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese...or more. :)

That's the salad. Toss everything together and rip up the spinach leaves into bite-size pieces. Now mix up the dressing:
~ 3 TBS miracle whip
~ 4 TBS sour cream
~ Spices, to taste (in order of amount):
Garlic Powder (I like a lot)
Onion Powder
Turmeric
Salt
Thyme
~ 2.5 TBS water

Mix thoroughly, and pour over spinach mixture. Toss to coat evenly.
You can serve immediately, or let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so, to let the flavors blend together. Then dish up a plateful, and eat it! Serves....well, anywhere from 6 t0 8 people. It depends on whether you make a meal of it - like I'd love to do, or if you only take a few leaves on your plate, like my brother did. :)

I think it's delicious. How about you?

I'm Launching!

2010-11-12T21:40:00.003-05:00

That's right - I've got a new project up my sleeve, and I'm finally ready to share it with you.

Ready?

I've got a new blog!

(You may be thinking "what?! This girl who can't find time to keep up with one blog is starting another? Well, truth be told, this is my tenth blog. {I don't make all my blogs public.} And I truly am starting to get back into the swing of blogging, I think. I also think that the very nature of this blog will make up-keeping easier. You'll see what I mean.)

Now, for more info:

As most of you know, I'm a writer. This new blog, "Doing it Write" is all about encouraging fellow writers to do their best, for the glory of God. I'm looking forward to developing a community of writing friends, and learning from their input.

Doing it Write is still in its beginning stages, and I would love for you to pop over and make it really feel alive, by reading and commenting. If you are a writer, and have a writing blog, please leave me a link to your blog, and maybe I'll add you to my blog roll!

Even if you don't write....stop over anyway. You're such nice readers that I love to have your company anywhere I am in the blog world.

I wish you all a warm, cozy evening, and lots of joy tomorrow!

I have a new sewing project...sorta

2010-11-09T20:00:00.002-05:00

You know that "basic black dress" that every woman is supposed to own?

I've never had one.

It never really truly bothered me, but I always thought it would be a nice addition to my wardrobe. Someday. When I got around to it. After all, I hadn't seen that many black dresses that I fell in love with. They all seemed to stiff. Too full. Too tight. Too formal. Too ...not formal. Too not-me.

Until now.

I really like this dress from Shabby Apple.

Of course, being me, I'm not considering buying it. For one thing, little ol' humble me thinks she can improve the design. I want to add a really cowl neck (I have a new black sweater like that, and just love it! I could practically hide my whole head inside the collar, if I lifted it straight up). And I'd also lengthen the hem line, because I don't spend my whole day nicely perched on a rock like that.

But I love the nearly-invisible empire waist. And I love the comfortable-looking fabric. And I love, love, love, the three-quarters length sleeves.

Of course, I really didn't need another sewing project. I still have to finish my quilt.

And fix my skirt (which I made last winter).

And make that other dress (which I didn't plan on making, but I saw the fabric at WalMart - 5 yds for $5 - and who could resist?).

And that shirt. (Another project complements of WalMart inspiration.)

....And that navy blue formal that I just picked up the fabric for this week. (Somebody should warn WalMart to stop having these 1yd/$1 sales.)

That's not to mention the aprons I'm suppose to sew for our website, and the 10 costumes I've been hired to sew before Easter. Plus the Christmas gifts that I decided to make.

No, I really shouldn't make this black dress. Not yet, anyway.

For once I'm gonna listen to my advice, because I have to; I don't have any proper black fabric. And no money in the budget to go out and buy some.

So I'll do what I normally do in such situations;

"God, You see this project. Do you want me to make it? You know I want to make it. But do I need it? I'm no good at decisions, Lord. I want my wardrobe to please You. Dress Your daughter the way You think best. Knowing that I don't need it, but saying that I think it would be a good basic accessory, a wise investment, and perfectly suitable thing for Your daughter to wear...I ask You to give me the fabric to make it. In Your own timing. Whenever You please. Whenever You want me to take the time to make it. Thanks, Lord. You're so wonderful!"

It's so much more fun than going to WalMart.

A New Recipe

2010-11-08T11:43:00.004-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a very bad blogger. I can't seem to find the time to blog.

Of course, the fact that Blogger hasn't been cooperating with me when I try to log in might have something to do with my aversion to blogging lately. Just maybe.

But I'm here right now, so let's jump right into things.

Guess what's been on my mind lately? Well, a lot of things, but I mean in the realm of "fruit of the hands."

Cooking.

Ah, it's such the time of year for things like that! I can't believe it's November already. Every morning, I want to dress in short sleeves. (I'm in denial, you see.) But by 9:30 or 10:00 I end up pulling on a sweater or changing to long sleeves. I love fall clothes - love, love, love them! But, living in southern Virginia, I don't even think about cold weather until, oh...January or so. It doesn't seem right to get cold before then.

And I've been cold, let me tell you. We had out first frost Sunday morning, and my flowers and sweet basil died. The temperatures are in the upper 30s at night, or even the 20s, occasionally. (Yes, all you northerners are allow to snort and laugh. Just once. I'm telling you - that's COLD!)

But it's a great time of year for being in the kitchen. I love to bake, but lately I've been inspired to do cooking. I want to mix food without a recipe, stir something on the stove top, toss exotic spices together....

Ah, yes.

But baking is fun, too. I want to make pies. I made apple pie on Saturday. I love to make pie crusts! And do artwork on the top layer of my pie crust. This time it was an apple cut-out in the middle.

Oh, and pumpkin cookies! That's really the only food that exists this month; pumpkin. Bake it, mash it, "cookie" it, "pie" it, "cake" it, mix it with cream cheese frosting, mix it with chocolate chips, mix it with raisins.....yum. Have you ever made pumpkin stuff from scratch, with a real pumpkin? It's so easy. If you haven't, you must try it. You'll wonder why you thought it was complicated.

I'm sure you could figure this out yourself, but I'll tell you just because I want to.

Making pumpkin bake-ready:
1 - Slice pumpkin open, remove seeds and that stringy orange stuff. Get as much of it as you can, because it doesn't mash very well at all. Slice into quarters, then eighths, ...keep going until your slices are about 2 inches thick.
2 - Place sliced pumpkin in a glass casserole dish, and add an inch or so of water. Don't cover it. Just add enough so the pumpkin won't get crispy.
3 - Bake at 350 degrees for...oh, I don't know. 20-40 minutes. Somewhere in there. Just until pumpkin is very soft - skin included. But don't let the flesh part start browning.
4 - Let pumpkin cool enough to handle, and then scrap out as much flesh off the skins as you can. Discard skin. Put flesh into a bowl and mash with a potato masher until smooth.

You're done! I told you it was easy. Use as regular canned pumpkin. (Not pumpkin pie mix - you have to add spices for that.) Stay tuned for a really yummy pumpkin recipe.

But cooking has been my interest lately. Aside from pumpkin and pies, that is. I stayed up late one night this week (really late), and the last thing I was doing on my computer was researching how to make the "perfect gravy."

Forgive me, but most homemade gravy isn't so good. It's lumpy, it's bland, it's watery. It's...nothing. I've never made anything good in that realm. But my brothers adore good gravy, so I want to learn to make it for them.

Wanna see what I found? Of course you do.
This site was very inspiring. Great photos. And descriptions.
And this video made me ask Mom if I can make our next Sunday dinner.

I found some other stuff, too, but those two sites were my favorites.

Oh yes - I promised you a pumpkin recipe. This is another "Amber Creation." I've been considering putting a little cookbook together, of dishes I've invented. Would that be a good idea, or not? I trust you guys; give me some feedback; would you want to read such a book? If you read it, would it be to laugh at the tales of how each recipe was birthed, or would you actually use it to cook?

This pumpkin dish isn't totally my own. I got the idea from The Pioneer Woman Cooks, when I was browsing the site, looking for gravy help. But, I promise, I didn't steal anything. I just used it as a starting point. Mine is pumpkin, hers is sweet 'taters. Mine uses less sugar and it's cheaper to make. But hers looks good too, so maybe you'll want to pay her a visit!

Anyway. On to the pumpkin.

Amber's Non-Dessert Pumpkin (so named because my siblings couldn't believe it was actually for the main meal)

Ingredients:
2 cups mashed pumpkin
2 eggs
4 TBS butter (because that's what you have. More might have been good.)
1/4 cup milk (was it that much? Maybe only 3 TBS. Not sure. You try it.)
Cinnamon. Lots of Cinnamon.
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 cup brown sugar, divided

Yeah, I think that was it.
No - wait - add a dash of allspice.

Directions: Mix pumpkin, eggs, milk, 2 TBS sugar, a heaping shake of cinnamon, and that dash of allspice in a mixing bowl until smooth. (If you want to save dishes, use the same bowl you mashed the pumpkin in.) Pour into a 9x9 glass baking dish, and set aside. In another bowl, put the oats, rest of the brown sugar, more cinnamon, and the butter, chopped into smaller pieces. Cut butter into other ingredients until crumbly and yummy. (Taste to be sure!) It will want to clump a bit, 'specially if your butter is getting warm, but do your best to crumble the stuff on top of the pumpkin batter. Now bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

If you're expecting sweet potatoes, ...don't. If you're expecting pumpkin pie...don't. Expect something totally new and different, and slightly healthy. It's a squash. But yummy. Oh, very yummy. Be sure to mash the pumpkin very smooth, as the texture plays an important part in this dish.

We liked it. Let me know what you think! Happy baking and cooking to you!

A Quiet Home

2010-10-30T17:10:00.007-04:00

I was thinking today of how much I like the quietness of our home. At the time, I was sitting at my sewing machine, the needle humming away, and although all 6 of my family members (minus my married sister) were there in the house, a stranger would never have known it.

Now, we're not always that quiet. No, indeed! But there is generally an air of quiet in the house that is surprising enough to cause several friends of ours to comment on it.

A quiet home is not necessarily a home where nothing happens. Ours is a very active household; my sewing students come and go, my Dad and brother are departing and returning from their workplace, and Mom or I are frequently running errands. (Our driveway ought to have a revolving door thingy, so we don't have to play rush hour with the cars.)

My younger siblings are studying, going in and out the back door to the great outdoors (often trying to sneak rabbits or chickens inside), playing games (NOT board games) in the basement, using B.B. or air-soft guns in the house (yes, really), raising sawdust and wood chips in the work area as they create a new project...

Mom and I are often tinkering in the kitchen, using noisy appliances, or banging pots and pans. All five of my siblings and I play more than one instrument, and rare is the hour when at least one of us is not practicing, or playing musical CDs.

Like every household, we operate. We move. We talk. We bang stuff around. But still, we have lots of quiet. I want to list a few things I think contribute to a quiet house, but first: why desire a quiet house?

I think the blessing of a quiet home is something we all understand. It's peaceful, and soothing to tired nerves. It's conductive to study, to keeping your mind focused on the task at hand, and creating a welcoming environment. When the household is constantly full of screams and shouting, chatter and loud laughter, little legs running to and fro, objects hitting the floor, etc., it affects your mind, don't you think? It's a lot easier to pray, too, when you can hear yourself think.

So how to have a quiet home? Well, I think it's all based on habits. And, of course, quiet is all relative to the season of life you're in. "Quiet" sounds mighty different when you have 3 toddlers in the house than when you have five young adults in the house. :)

Some habits that have helped us:

~ Cultivate "Quiet" Hobbies
No, I'm not suggesting we all take up embroidery and painting, and never touch a hammer or guitar. But we spend a lot of time doing quiet activities in our house; reading, writing, computer, sewing (in my case), ...And many chores are relatively quiet; sweeping, cleaning the toilet, organizing clutter, dusting, etc. But you can't be quiet forever, and that leads me to my next point:

~ Schedule Your Noise
We have certain hours of the day that are set aside for school. Even though I'm not in school any more, I know my younger siblings are supposed to be studying during those hours. So, I don't practice my fiddle. And I don't play a CD while I'm washing dishes. And I don't carry on long, energetic, enthusiastic conversations with Mom while I'm in the room where they're working. I save my talking for later.

Quiet times are a major practice in developing this habit. When Mom was expecting my younger siblings, all the siblings who were already here had lots of practice with learning to be quiet, because she would frequently need to take naps throughout the day. While she was lying down, she'd turn off the lights in the house (so long as the day was sunny), to remind us to be quiet, and we learned to talk in low voices, play or work quietly, not to start tickling each other, and not to play with dice on hardwood floors.

This is the biggest "tip" I can offer on this subject. It's proven to be very valuable for us. Schedule times for just "quiet." The habits will carry over into other times of day.

~ Do loud stuff outside
Let's face it - we were made to make noise! Especially when you've got young folks around, noise is a great thing! It releases mental energy, or something. :) So go outside, and laugh, and be loud. Just do it at a decent time, so the neighbors won't mind. :)

*(As a side note, I want to mention that I've noticed something about my siblings; they play fairly quietly, even when outdoors. Ever watched "screamers" play? They shriek at everything, setting the dog two houses down to wailing. The whole neighborhood knows when they're out. But for some reason, my little sisters never caught that habit - which is nice! I'm afraid I'm more of a shrieker than they are; just play tag with me sometime!)

~ Cultivate Quiet Voices and Bodies
Some people just don't know they're making noise. It's worth trying to cultivate the discipline of self control in the area of your volume level. I remember trying to help my brother understand the difference between just whispering, and truly being quiet. Whispering doesn't help if you're tromping down the hallway at 5:30 in the morning! But the gentle reminders paid off - he's now pretty quiet when he wants to be. :) Now if we could just get a certain sibling to shut the bathroom door without rattling the doorknob so loudly at 11:30pm. :)

And, when the inevitable sounds happen....

~ Contain the Noise
Ours is not a large house, and it's easy to hear what's going on in other rooms. Sometimes that's fine, but other times, you just don't want to hear that piano lesson played one more time. Shutting doors, plugging in earphones, and turning down the volume helps to keep tempers more cheerful. And, when "sharing noise" can't be helped, well...you learn to either enjoy or ignore! :)

~ One Room, One Floor
As a general rule, only one person in a room talks at a time. Even when you're not sharing in a particular conversation, you respect that person's right to the floor. In general, we don't usually have more than one conversation going on in a room at the same time. If somebody wants to start another discourse, they move to another location. (Example: two little people want to play together, they move to a bedroom. A phone call for you; you move to another room to talk.) The major exception for this is when we have guests; then, nearly all the rooms in our house are filled with happy chatter, from multiple mouths - and we love it! Other exceptions would be at the dinner table (yes, I know, it's not "proper") or when we're playing games. When competition is going on, everybody is talking. :)

I think I've talked enough for now. I just wanted to share a few thoughts with you. Really, though, in the realm of "quietness," the most valuable thing you can cultivate is a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great worth. Why don't you share some habits that have helped you form that kind of quietness in your life?

God is Good ALL the Time

2010-10-23T21:25:00.004-04:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking, the past couple days.

Great, you say. Good for the head.

No - really. I've been doing more than the usual share of wondering, asking, and pondering. Don't make jokes. This is serious thinking that I've been doing.

There's so much hurt in the world. Death. Persecution. Broken relationships. Greedy dictators. Depression. Anger. Murder. Loss.

So many innocents wounded. Babies killed. Children scarred in their hearts. Wives grieving. Men broken inside. Families starving to death.

Why, God? Why do you let it be this way? Why must they hurt? My heart aches for them.

Why is my life so....pristinely perfect? It almost scares me. Why was I born in the most wonderful country in the world? Why have I never had to hide under a table, clutching my Bible in my hands, while secret police arrest my parents?

Why do I have an entire family that loves God and loves me? Why do I have parents who love each other? Why do I have enough to eat and clothes to wear? Why do I have a wonderful church, where the gospel is preached? Why do I have my grandparents still with me on this earth? Why have I never dealt with any sort of great physical pain at all?

Why have I been blessed with the opportunities to go so many places, meet so many wonderful - and sometimes famous - people? Why was I put in a family that is so popular? Why have I grown up in this lovely location - so close to the city, yet with a big enough yard to get filthy in, and plant seeds and run around with dogs? Why did I love school? Why did I have all the opportunity for the best education?

Why does everything always work out so well for me? Why has God blessed me this way, and not them?

If I think about it long and hard, I can find hardships in my life. I grew up feeling like an "odd ball," the "conservative homeschooler." I had a hard time making close friends as a youngster. I've never met my grandfather on my Dad's side. I've struggled with depression. I have asthma. I have a sister I dearly love who struggles with a lot of physical problems. There are loads of places I long to visit that I've never set foot in. I miss having my older sister living at home. Overabundance of money has never been a disease I caught.

But those things don't come to mind when I'm analyzing my life. When I'm struggling with them, in the moment, they seem overwhelming... but in the big picture, they disappear. When I'm summing it all up, I forget to add them to the total. I count my life a blessed thing.

And it doesn't seem fair. Not when all those other people are suffering beyond my comprehension.

But, ...then, do I really know these people? I haven't met them, or talked to them.

Maybe....maybe they're just like me.

Maybe the drama and misery and agony isn't like movies and novels and such would have me believe. Maybe the trials rise and fall, and their life goes on, just like mine. Maybe God is as close - closer - to them in their big troubles as He is to me in my little ones. Maybe they wouldn't trade their trials any more than I would trade mine and the lessons I've learned from them. Maybe God really does chasten those He loves.

Maybe.

Of course.

But what about the babies? What about the men and women and children who actually die?

O God, where are my eyes? What am I asking? I see things from such an earthy point of view. Help me remember that this world is not all there is. It exists for Your glory. All of history - and every life in it - is here for Your glory. You write each story. You know each soul. And when they leave this earth, why am I thinking that they are over, that they are gone? They have only moved.

How could I have forgotten that You love them more than I do? That You know them intimately? That You planned each second of their life before they came into existence?

The answer to my worries and fears lies in the character of God. I can trust His goodness and love.

Psalm 73
1Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men...

...16 When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me;
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.
18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
28 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.

Apple Recipes

2010-09-30T10:54:00.004-04:00

It's apple season! And that means lots of apples.

Around here, we usually don't get our bulk purchase of apples until a little later in the season, sometime in October, but this year we were blessed with the opportunity to buy a large amount of apples at a great price just last week. The apples were second-class - meaning they weren't "perfect" enough to be sent to the store, but they were great for preserving! We did have a few bad spots to cut around, but all-in-all it was a great deal! Thank You, Lord, for Your gifts!

We got 3.5 bushels of some sort of yellowish apple - we didn't pick the type, and we're not sure what they were, but they looked and tasted like golden delicious apples. They were nice and sweet, but not too soft.

3.5 bushels may not sound like a lot to some of you, but we've never put up that many apples before, so it seemed like a lot to us. For those of you who need a picture in your minds; imagine a box the size of one of those toilet-paper packages that holds 12 rolls (hey, I'm creative, okay?). Now imagine that box filled to the brim and heaped up to overflowing with luscious apples. That's 1/2 a bushel. We got 7 of those.

We made lots and lots of applesauce (SO easy!), some pie filling, and some apple dumplings the first day. We spent just about all of Tuesday in the kitchen. On Wednesday, it only took the morning to finish the remaining apples; we shredded or sliced them, and froze them for use in recipes later on.

When you're dealing with that many apples, even the piles of skin and cores can look huge:
My younger sisters, Tiffany and Lezely worked hard alongside Mom and I. Tiffany was really good at running the apple peeler/corer (we have the kind that you crank, and it does it all at once.) I think Tiffany peeled and cored almost 3 bushels by herself! Mom worked on the pie filling, and I did the apple dumplings. Lezley was here and there, doing whatever we asked her to do, whether it was washing the apples, loading pans with sliced apples, or helping Tiffany peel apples.

I thought you might like some apple recipes, since it's apple season in many places right now. :)

(I don't have the time to share the pie filling recipe right now, but it's definitely worth making. Store apple pie filling tastes like cinnamon-flavored Vaseline, in my humble opinion.)

Have you ever had homemade applesauce? If you haven't, you're missing out. It puts the store stuff to shame. It's so sweet. So chunky. So warm and hearty, if you eat it out of the pan. :)

It's also the easiest thing in the world to make. I'll give you the recipe. Ready?

#1: Peel, core, and slice a bunch of apples.
#2: Sprinkle them with lemon juice - just a tad, to keep them from going brown.
#3: Place apples in a slow cooker. Fill it up!
#4: Add a few cups of water - 2-4, depending on the size of your cooker.
#5: Cover, and cook on high for a few hours, until the apples are soft.
#6: Mash the apples right in the slow cooker, with the water. Leave some chunks if you like it that way! Add some sugar if you want - I think it's just right without it.
#7: Eat warm if at all possible!

See? I told you it was easy! I like to add cinnamon and peanut butter to my bowl of warm apple sauce. It's all up to you. But do add the cinnamon. It's just the perfect touch!

Speaking of perfect, let me share a scrumptious dessert with you; Apple Dumplings. So yummy! Everybody's heard of apple dumplings, but surprisingly few have ever made them. That's sad, considering how easy they are to make. We had never even eaten apple dumplings until last year, but once we got our first bite, we knew we had to make them again!

Here's how you can make your own:

Apple Dumplings

~ First, make up some pie crust. Use your favorite, tried-and-true recipe. For me, that's Tammy's Foul-proof Pie Crust. It always works. She uses all butter in her recipe, which I love, but for a big batch of dough like this, I substitute shortening for about 1/3 of the butter, just to cut down on the cost. I doubled the recipe, which is about the amount for 6 pie crusts. That gave me 3 dozen dumplings, so your ratio is pretty much 6 dumplings for every one pie you could have made...but I roll my dough pretty thin, so you'll have to see what your exact ratio is for your kitchen.

~ Peel, core, and slice your apples. (It takes about 12 to fill up a 9"X13" pan.) If you have an apple peeler like ours, that's easy. If you do it by hand, don't bother to slice your apple. You want it to stay intact. Our apple peeler slices the apple very thinly as it peels, and it will all stay nicely stacked up for us.

~ Grab a chunk of dough that's slightly larger than a golf ball, and roll it out to be about the size of a saucer - smaller or larger, depending on your apple sizes. I use lots of flour and roll my crust fairly thin. I don't have much trouble with holes or crust sticking to the table....but, then again, I've had lots of practice with crusts. If you make fewer dumplings, with thicker crust, it will be positively yummy that way, too! In fact, I like thicker crust - I'm just too cheap to make it that way. :)

Is this recipe getting too wordy for you?

~ Set your peeled and cored apple right in the middle of the dough. Bring the dough up and around it, wrapping the apple completely in dough. Give it some good pats to seal it in there, check that there are no holes in the bottom of the dough, and set the dumpling in an un-greased glass baking dish.

~ At this point, you can refrigerate or freeze the dumplings (more info on that in a second) or bake them. Before baking, however, you want to make up a sauce to pour over the dumplings. That goes like this: (The amount is for a 9"x13" pan, or 12 dumplings)

1 1/2 cups water
1 cup brown sugar
2-4 TBS of butter
A HEAPING TBS of cinnamon

Combine everything except for the butter and bring to a boil. Let boil for about 5 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in butter. Once the butter has melted and been stirred in, pour the sauce over the dumplings.

~ Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees, or until apples are soft and smell wonderful.

~ Eat as-is, or with whipped cream on top. Or, if you are like the family who introduced us to apple dumplings, put one in a bowl, drown with milk, and eat with a spoon!

Although we could easily eat 3 dozen dumplings in a week, we decided to save 2 dozen in the freezer for later use. To do that, simply wrap the dumplings individually in handy wrap, and set in the freezer until solid. Then put them in freezer bags, (still wrapped) and - wala! - you're done!

Here's part of what we made on the first day. The apple dumplings are in the bags. Apple sauce and pie filling are in the jars and plastic containers. This all went in the freezer.
I must run for now, but I wish you all a very happy apple season!

Fall!

2010-09-22T08:49:00.003-04:00

Happy fall everyone!

I'm going to celebrate the occasion by spending the morning baking with my sisters.

I dreamed last night that I was making pumpkin pie. Hmm.

The leaves around here aren't really starting to color very much yet.

My grandparents are coming into town today, for their fall tradition of celebrating my Grandpa's birthday here with us. :) :)

I can't wait for the yearly apple festivals that take place here. The mountian foothills just 30-40 minutes from us, are filled with apple orchards. This year our music group, The King's Strings, has been asked to play at my favorite festival! :)

....Aaaand I'm late on what I'm supposed to be doing this morning. Lots to keep me busy. Gotta run!

Thoughts...

2010-09-18T19:30:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting here, frustrated by my slow internet speed.

The only two pages working are my blog and "google reader."

Maybe that's a good thing - when 50% of my internet choices are "blog," the chances that I'll pick "blog" rise that much more.

I'm sitting here, wondering why I've been so snappy today. My younger sisters deserve better than that.

This internet is still bugging me. How long can those "loading" circles go 'round and 'round like that?

I'm sitting here craving cinnamon rolls. I've been in the mood for cinnamon rolls for about a week now. I think of them almost every night, wishing we could have them for breakfast tomorrow. But I never think of it when I could make them. (I suppose I could start them at 8:00 at night, or even 10:00 at night....but...)

I'm sitting here thinking about puppies, and bunnies, and cute little things. My two younger sisters just got baby bunnies. My older sister just got a puppy. I want a puppy someday! ...Or maybe a house rabbit. A nice, friendly, big one.

Why are these two pages the only things loading? Is my computer insane?

I'm sitting here wondering about people. What does your favorite food say about you? If your favorite foods are soda, chips, pop tarts, and pizza, what does that mean? If your favorite foods are cheese, pie, fries, and ham, what's that mean? If you love tacos, ice tea, and chicken, what does that mean? What does it mean if I love granola, nuts, raisins, peaches, and chocolate?

What about your dislikes? Am I weird if I can't stand hard candy, soda, and pop tarts? Am I strange if I don't get excited about soups and goulash? What if I LOOOOVE sweet potatoes, broccoli, and eggs? (Separately, of course.)

Enough food talk. You'd think I hadn't had supper yet, but I did. I had a very good supper of shepherd's pie and green beans, with ice cream for dessert. I also had a very nice lunch...which was too short...because we were rushed...but I won't go into that.

Those pages better load soon, before I start typing too much crazy stuff on here.

I'm sitting here sorta-kinda working on a sewing order. THIRTEEN pairs of mens' dress pants, to be altered. Buttons sewn on. Clasps moved. Hems done. All that stuff. I have 4 completely done, 4 ready for machine work, 4 still needing hand-work done, and one in-progress. I don't like this job - I keep putting it off. I'm proud of myself, for working on it today.

Why can't Daddy fix this? Can't daddies fix everything?

I'm sitting here wondering if I should share my latest recipe -

Wait. I wasn't going to talk about food, right?

Right.

I'm not hungry - really. I promise. I'm not the slightest bit hungry. Why am I thinking about food so much?

Must be stress. I think of food when I'm stressed. If you see a picture of me, someday, where I look like a small blimp (or even a big blimp), you can assume I got into a very stressful situation and didn't get out of it for several months.

Even minor stress - like computers mal-functioning - is stress.

Wait. Whoever said computers misbehaving is minor stress never met my computer. My laptop is infamous in my house (and I mean infamous) for its strange and slow behavior. It's gotten to the point where everyone cheers when I tell them my computer logged on in under five minutes. I've been known to shout at my computer, cry at it, scream at it, and literally pull my hair because it won't load things fast enough. And, no, we don't have dial-up. And, yes, I consider myself pretty patient...to a point.

What do you do when you're stressed? I'm very familiar with stress - we've had many chats. My body reacts very violently to even slight stress; my face breaks out, my eyes get blood-shot, I can't sleep, my muscles won't relax, and I get tension head-aches. I also notice myself eating even when I'm not hungry, refusing to go to bed even when I'm tired, and withdrawing from reality by doing things like reading a book or watching a movie.

Does suffering from stress mean I'm a bad Christian? I've often wondered that. It seems that someone who knows the secret of "casting all their care upon Him," would never be stressed for a moment.

...Of course, if you're in the middle of being stressed, the thought that you're a bad Christian doesn't help much. If anything, it adds to the downward spiral.

But does it mean you're a bad Christian? I've really wanted to know.

I think I know a little bit of the answer, now. It's come from going through a lot of stress, listening to a lot of godly people, and doing a lot of reading in God's Word.

I know almost everybody accepts stress, and we say "everyone has it!" but I'm going to be different and say that I don't think God intended Christians to live a stressful life, any more than He intended us to live a sinful life. Do we have stress? Yes. Do we sin? Yes. But we don't have to live a stressful life any more than we have to life a sinful life.

So, what causes stress?

Sin.

Gasp! She said it! She called stress a sin! You're not supposed to blame stressed people - you're supposed to have pity on them!

I know. But listen - what causes stress? Impatience. Anger. Worry.

Like right now - I'm sitting here, impatient at my computer. I'm angry that it won't work, and I'm worried it won't work before it's time for bed, and I won't get any of the things I wanted to do done.

If I'm stressed about the mountain of things on my "To Do" list, I'm worried about what will happen if I don't finish it in time. I'm angry at people or circumstances who keep me from getting things done.

Worry. Anger. Aren't those things sins?

Now, I do think we should have pity on stressed people. (Oh boy, do I believe that, when it's me who's stressed!) Lots of stress is caused by worry, and worried people often don't even realize that worry is wrong. But it is.

We have a Father who loves us. He's promised to take care of us. What am I saying? He's ALREADY taken care of us! We know that everything He puts into our lives is for our good and His glory. ...But do we act like we believe that, in the nitty-gritty details of life?

Oh boy.

I am soooooo convicting myself. Why do I have to be blogging this conversation with my conscience?

Long lines at the store are in His plan.
Traffic jams didn't catch Him by surprise.
Unexpected chores were put into our schedules by His hand.
He knows about those responsibilities we said we'd do because we believe God wants us to do them.
Younger sisters asking us for help are often His voice, telling us to serve freely.
Computers that run slow are His hand directing our time.

Yikes. This is hard.

You know why it's hard?

I'm forgetting how much He loves me. Why am I worried about the future when I know Who holds the future? Why am I worried about failing when I know Who will love me anyway? Why am I worried about the time when I know Who plans my schedule?

This is a hard blog post to write. ....Because I know it's true, but I'm not sure I can live it out. I'm still working on this spot in my life. I need to surrender it, but it sure is hard to let go. It's hard not to want my own way.

But His wondrous love keeps coming back to mind. His faithfulness. He's always been worthy of my trust. The thought that He cherishes me just about breaks my heart.

I don't know why I want so much to hold on to stress - such an ugly, painful thing. I don't know why I want to be stressed. To let go and trust sounds so nice and relaxing, but it's so ....so awful hard to do! So unnatural. It's mine, this stress I feel. I want to hold onto it with childish hands and say "no! mine!" I want to scream at my computer. I want to be angry that I can't do what I planned to do with my evening.

But He picked this.

I know He controls the winds and waves - computers are a small thing in His sight. And He could easily make mine behave.

But, for some unexplained reason, my blog page is working, and my "fun" pages aren't.

He picked this.

And He loves me.

He loves me.

He loves.

How can I stress?

A look at reality

2010-09-13T10:57:00.005-04:00

You asked for pictures of my new room, and discussions on my latest sewing projects.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my new room loaded on my computer, and my sewing projects are either awaiting completion, or have been finished and given to clients.

Of course, I could take pictures of my room right now....only I don't feel like doing that today. I woke up with a fever and just don't feel I could give a tour worthy of my lovely little paradise.

I could tell you about my sewing projects, but that's always pretty boring without pictures.

So here's something to look at - maybe laugh at, too. It's a picture my sister, Tiffany, snapped of me a few weeks ago. I saved it because it shows exactly how I work on a lot of my sewing projects. I love to do two things at once.

In fact, this is exactly where I am right now - minus the sewing project. In the above picture, I'm sitting on my bed in my new room. See the quilt? And the pillow? I made those....so I guess I'm showing off some projects after all. :) :)

This is how I usually sit when I'm on the computer; my back to the wall, laptop propped on my lap, and quite often some sort of busy work in my hands. This works great when I'm reading something, or watching something, or listening to something. It doesn't work so well for writing something. I'm still working on figuring out a way to type and sew at the same time. Maybe if I used my mouth.....?

Nah.

Um, hello there....I'm Amber

2010-09-09T11:05:00.003-04:00

I just want to let you know that I am still alive.

Blogging has not been a priority for me, lately. When I get on the computer, there's just so much I'd rather be doing. And - believe it or not - writing has not been flowing easily for me lately.

I wrote 901 words in my manuscript today, so maybe a turn-around is around the corner for me. I hope so, because theoretically I have lots to blog and write about.

But I thought that maybe you could help me get back into blogging. What do you want to hear about? Sewing - my latest projects? Cooking - new recipes? Fashion - the basics of assembling a new wardrobe for fall? Relationships - what I've been learning lately? Interior design - pictures of the new bedroom I've helped my younger sisters put together? If you let me know, it will help me focus on what to write.

This isn't the greatest post I've ever written. I feel very out of practice.

But it's a start.

So there's hope. :)

Joy

2010-08-12T12:42:00.002-04:00

You know something I thought about yesterday, that hadn't dawned on me before?

Jesus must have been really joyful.

Think about it. It came to me when I was listening to a message on John 15. There, Jesus tells his disciples that if they abide in Him, their "joy will be full." Then He says that He wants them to abide in Him the same way He abides in the Father. He also mentions that it's HIS joy that will be in us.

All put together, it made me realize that this joy I get whenever I'm close to Jesus is His joy - not just in the sense that He gives it, but that He is the author of it, and it is part of His very essence. Hence, how joyful He must be!

I never really thought about it before. I know Jesus wept on earth. I know He felt pain. But the Bible never says He laughed, or smiled. So I just assumed...Oh, I don't know. I didn't think He was a kill-joy or anything. I certainly thought He smiled and laughed, and was pleasant, and fun to be around...but I didn't think of "joyful" as one of His major characteristics.

But it must have been. It must be, for I can still feel that joy today, thousands of years after He walked the earth. It must be a continuing part of Him - a wonderful part of Him.

That joy I get during close communion with Christ, that spontaneous laughter that bubbles up when I see Him answer a prayer, that excitement I can hardly contain when my eyes are opened to a new truth from His Word...all that joy is His joy,...He feels it too. He started it all.

Can you picture it? Can you picture the joy His disciples felt coming from Him? Can you feel His smile? Can you imagine His laugh? Can you hear the encouragement He would speak, when the disciples were tired?

This is a wonderful thought. It's a wonderful truth. It means that all of the sudden, everything is totally ...wonderful.

I've got an announcement: Somebody's In Love With Me!!!!

2010-08-09T21:47:00.003-04:00

I'll bet you're reading really fast, now! Did that post title make you catch your breath?

I intended it to. I want you to capture that feeling that hit your stomach when you heard that somebody is in love with somebody else (if you're anything like me). I want you to hold onto that feeling and remember it while you read this post.

Why did you feel that way? (And, by the way, that statement in the title is true, but I'll get to that in a minute.) Why does love capture our minds and emotions so violently?

I don't know, but, for the moment, just accept that it does. The reason I want you to hold on to that "excited gulp" feeling is because I'm about to tell you of a relationship that I'm in which may not meet your "ideals" of a romantic relationship, and I don't want you to get a disappointed feeling in your chest. Why not? Because I don't have that feeling! I love him immensely, and feel dizzy with emotions, and am supported by the underlying knowledge that this is real, and isn't dependent on my emotions, and isn't going away. When I tell you about this relationship in the next paragraphs, I don't want you to sigh and say "Oh; is that all?" Yes, yes, yes, it IS all!! Oh, I'm so happy! And so in love. So don't sigh. I forbid it! :) :) :)

Okay. Deep breath. (On my part, that is.) ...Where to begin?

Let me start by telling you about how I first starting learning what real love is. I suppose it all began the instant I entered the world; I learned that my parents loved me. I learned a lot about parental love quite rapidly, in fact; they protected me, fed me, clothed me, hugged me, and provided for everything a little baby needs. As I got older, they continued to take care of my physical and mental needs; that ranged from buying me a bunk bed to giving me an education.

Of course, being very young, I couldn't really analyze all this - I just accepted it, and loved them back, ...in a rather selfish, childish way. But I did love them. How could I help loving two people who were so good to me? As I got older, I learned that they did things for my good, and even when they deigned me certain pleasures, I loved them for it. I knew they were doing it because they cared.

But physical and mental needs are only half the needs a human being has. I also have spiritual and emotional needs.

Daddy and Mom knew they couldn't supply my spiritual needs, but they knew the One who could, so they pointed me to Him.

Emotional needs were - and are - partially met by my parents, but they are also met by dozens of people in my life; siblings, friends, teachers, other adults, grandparents, babies I cuddled...the list goes on.

When I entered my mid-teen years, I started to sense another emotional need that I hadn't had before; the longing for a different kind of love. Not parental love. Not sibling love. Not friendship. No, I was longing for the love of...a Lover.

I don't really need to explain that. You know what I mean. Someone who treasures me and protects and provides for me - not as one of many loved daughters, but as his one, his only, his precious, his beloved. Someone who longs to be intimate with me. A soul mate. Someone who thinks I'm beautiful and perfect.

But even then I didn't realize the huge difference between "kinds" of love. How could I? I knew the affections of a father, not a lover. In a vague way, I knew what I longed for, but I didn't know how different it was. I was too young. Too inexperienced.

But let me go back to my "spiritual needs."

I was nine years old, I believe, when God saved me. I remember the time of conviction before salvation; how miserable I was, realizing how dirty I was in His sight! It was awful. And when He saved me, I was so relieved. So thankful. So grateful. I wanted to kiss His feet. I wanted to wash them with my tears, and dry them with my hair.

My Christian life has been, and is, a wonderful time. Not that it has been filled with joy constantly, but it has been wonderful nonetheless, because it's been full of learning. I'm constantly learning new things. And I'm constantly being shown how good God is.

Much of the "joyless" times came from realizing what a sinner I am, and how deeply sin had already rooted in my heart before Christ saved me. It's amazing what nine years of abandonment to sin can do, even in a little girl. I've been blessed to be under the preaching of many godly men, who know it is their duty to preach the truth, not tickle men's ears. I knew from early on in my Christian walk that there is nothing good in me. God did not save me because of my own righteousness. I do not have the strength to do good. He is as different from me as He could possibly be. He's unlike anything I know. He's unique. And I am vile. It's only because He's good that He loved me enough to save me. It's only because of His mercy that I live and breathe and have eternal life secured. Everything I have stems not from anything I earned, but from His grace.

Wow, that's heavy stuff. It's true stuff, but heavy, nonetheless. Did you know that if you hear nothing but this, it can get burdensome? At the time, it was all I listened to. For years. There were other things to be heard, but I ignored them. I think part of it was my own make-up. I am prone to pride, and hence to self-punishment, for not being good enough. I went from being a proud sinner to being a proud saved person. I beat myself up mentally all the time for being so offensive to God. I wanted to be pleasing to Him...because I was proud. (But I didn't admit that last part.)

Now, don't think that I felt like God was a stern judge. I didn't! I was awed that He had forgiven me. I was astounded that He loved me, and answered my prayers, and took care of me. But I wanted to thank Him for all that; I wanted to be the best Christian I could be. I knew I couldn't do it in my own strength. I asked Him all the time to help me, to live through me. I loved Him.

But it wasn't enough. I wanted to love Him more - to fall in love with Him. I heard people talk about that; about "falling in love" with God. I wanted that. It seemed to be the height of spiritual perfection. I knew I loved Him. ....But I also knew I wasn't as close as I could be. I couldn't figure out why. Didn't I know what He was like? Hadn't I seen, over and over again, His goodness and mercy and grace? I had every reason to fall in love with Him! So why hadn't I? I had long, personal talks with Him. I didn't feel like there was a wall of sin between us. I was walking in obedience, as far as I knew. He was personal, real - right there with me. So why didn't I feel "in love"?

About the time I turned 12, I started encountering depression. That time in my life is too detailed and too personal to share here, but it has lasted a long time - followed me, as it were. I've seen more depression that I'd ever wish on anybody. I've known suicidal thoughts, and I've known mental pain worse than any physical pain could ever be.

It all centered around my inadequacies. My failures. I said I hated myself, but the truth was I loved myself. I was in agony because the real me couldn't be the way the mental me wanted to be. I wanted to be good. I wanted the fruit of the spirit to be evident in my life in a more powerful way. I wanted to be able to pray for hours without being distracted. I wanted to have more of a burden for lost souls. I wanted to love God more than I did. I wanted to live a holier life.

Three weeks ago, a woman whom I admire and look up to, sat me down and had a talk with me. We don't know each other well enough for her to have known that I handle direct approaches better than vague ones, but God must have told her, because that's the approach she took.

She told me flat out that she thought God brought her and my life together because she needed to tell me how much God loves me.

Immediately those long-practiced barriers and excuses popped up. "Yes, I know He loves me, but be careful what you say about it! Never forget that you don't deserve it! Be very careful to remind yourself and others that you have nothing good in you, or anything worth loving." I was very near to blocking out the rest of the conversation already. I'd heard too much man-centered gospel, and I shied away from anything that sounded like it was going to lift up man and make him seem like he was doing God any favors by letting himself be saved.

I was quick to assure this lady that I know God loves me. She responded by saying that I didn't know the kind of love He has for me. She said He treasures me, as the apple of His eye. He valued me. He thought I was beautiful, without spot. He saw me as clean in His sight. He loved me the way a husband loves his wife. He is ravished with love for me.

Now, all that got my attention.

Kind of love? Somewhere in the back of my mind, memories were stirring. Those things I learned when I was very little, about different kinds of love. Those longings I started to have when I was younger - and still had - for someone to treasure me as his one.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. It couldn't be true. It was too wonderful....too good for me. It couldn't be for me. It seemed so....so blasphemous to say He loved me that way.

You see, I understood the love of a father. I have a wonderful father. And I can comprehend God the Father as just that - a father. A provider. Protector. Someone who loves you even when you're unlovely. Someone who sees you fall, shakes his head over your mistakes, but gives you a helping hand back up. Someone who teaches you, leads you. I understood all that.

But someone who thinks I'm beautiful, and clean? Someone who longs to be intimate with me? A lover?

A lover.

I didn't get that. Not one bit. And I was scared to pieces. This lady and I talked for over an hour, and I was trembling inside the entire time. I wanted to bury my head, pretend I hadn't heard. It seemed so wrong...I wanted to think that someone loved me like that, but I was scared. Scared to say "I believe," and then be humiliated by seeing that it was false. I wanted to run away, deny it. I wanted someone to tell me she was wrong.

But I also wanted someone to tell me she was right.

I practically sped home, and pounced on my parents. "Mom, what do you think?" "Daddy, is she right?" "Is it true?" They both gave me good answers. But I wasn't satisfied. I can't even really remember very clearly what they told me. I wasn't coherent. I was dizzy with wonder.

The next two days were unlike anything I've ever experienced. You must understand that I'm not a single-minded person. I have a very short attention span.

VERY short.

I'm constantly starting new projects, and my thought-life is continually jumping around. I don't stay serious for long, and I don't stay goofy for long. I don't stay sad for long, or happy for long. I'm constantly changing.

But for two days I thought of nothing else. That alone was terrifying and strange to me. I couldn't get my mind off this new thought! "Can it be true? Can it possibly be true?" I could think of nothing else.

For one day, I just walked around wondering, rather vague and almost in shock. The second day, I came to life. Every spare minute I had, I was in the Word of God. I read through Philippians, Colossians, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 John, and the 17th chapter of John - not just once, but over and over again. I searched the Psalms. I searched the prophets. I searched everywhere I could think of. I grabbed a red colored pencil, and highlighted every scrap of hope I could find - anything that hinted of this marvelous love I had begun to hope for.

I was scared. Scared to assume too much. Scared of being wrong. Scared of being proud.

But verses started turning red all over the place. My hand trembled as I colored as fast as I could read.

And finally, as I read John 17 for the ump-tienth time, I got it.

"He loves me."

No, really - He loves me. I'm clean! He died on purpose. He loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it...Christ hath loved us, and given Himself for us...what more could He have given? ...My beloved is mine, and I am His... We are members of His flesh...like a husband and wife are one...He asked the Father to make us one, like He and the Father are one... God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him...there is no fear in love...there is now no condemnation...a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle...that ye may be rooted in love, and be able to comprehend with all saints, the height, and depth, and breadth, and width...

Oh, Glory - He loves me!

All of the sudden, tears were flowing, and all I could think of was the verse "we love Him because He first loved us."

I loved Him. I loved Him for this boundless love He has for me - a love that supersedes all my sins, and that washes me white as snow, and makes me a fit bride for the King of kings; He considers me fit to be by His side, as a part of the church! Oh, how He loves His church!

And all of the sudden, I knew what it was to be in love.

All this time, I've been asking Him to make me fall in love with Him, when all it took was seeing that He is in love with me.

And I couldn't keep quiet any longer. I had to tell you about it. Because maybe you don't know about it, either.

Now I see love everywhere. Everything I hear makes me think about His love. Everything proves it over and over again. Everything I read, see, or hear seems to be talking about His love.

Want proof? Guess what random forward I got in my inbox just before I began writing this post?

"Believers love Jesus with a deeper affection than they dare to give to any other being. They would sooner lose father and mother than part with Christ. They hold all earthly comforts with a loose hand, but they carry him fast locked in their bosoms. They voluntarily deny themselves for his sake, but they are not to be driven to deny him. It is scant love which the fire of persecution can dry up; the true believer's love is a deeper stream than this. Men have laboured to divide the faithful from their Master, but their attempts have been fruitless in every age. Neither crowns of honour, now frowns of anger, have untied this love-bound knot. This is no every-day attachment which the world's power may at length dissolve. Neither man nor devil have found a key which opens this lock. Never has the craft of Satan been more at fault than when he has exercised it in seeking to rend in sunder this union of two divinely welded hearts. It is written, and nothing can blot out the sentence, "The upright love thee."

The intensity of the love of the upright, however, is not so much to be judged by what it appears as by what the upright long for. It is our daily lament that we cannot love enough. Would that our hearts were capable of holding more, and reaching further. Like Samuel Rutherford, we sigh and cry, "Oh, for as much love as would go round about the earth, and over heaven - yea, the heaven of heavens, and ten thousand worlds that I might let all out upon fair, fair, only fair Christ." Alas! our longest reach is but a span of love, and our affection is but as a drop of a bucket compared with his deserts. Measure our love by our intentions, and it is high indeed; 'tis thus, we trust, our Lord doth judge of it. Oh, that we could give all the love in all hearts in one great mass, a gathering together of all loves to him who is altogether lovely!

- C. H. Spurgeon

Love

2010-08-04T20:57:00.004-04:00

I spent today writing and sewing. Life is good.

My sewing project went well - it was a dress for my older sister. My writing moved forward a little slower than the sewing, but steadily and better than it has the past few weeks. Have I told you yet what I'm working on? I don't remember if I have. It's a story along the lines of this story bit, but slightly different and much longer - I hope it will become a full-fledged novel! (A good novel.) Maybe I'll share some pieces as I work on it.

As I write, I'm listening to thunder roll. (Yes, I know you're suppose to shut off electrical stuff during a storm. I'm a little nervous...) We're in the middle of a splendid display of God-made fireworks. Tonight it made me think of Mt. Sinai. I wonder what it was like to stand a short distance from the foot of that mountain (not right at the foot - remember why?) and watch the cloud, or lightening, or whatever was going on up there. I wish I could have felt the trembling in the air and among the people when God actually spoke to the nation from atop the mountain. That's one thing that makes the ten commandments special, you know that? God gave all the Levitical instructions, the priestly laws, the temple descriptions, etc., to Moses, up on top of the mountain, and Moses relayed the instructions to the people, but the ten commandments - those God gave right to the people Himself. What an experience!

Do you make use of the law? It's such a valuable tool when you're soul-winning.

But then, I wonder... when was the last time you went soul-winning? I don't mean to sound like I'm shaking my finger at you. God knows (and I'm saying that respectfully) that I am not active enough in that myself. But the fact is, we are commanded to go out and preach the gospel; we're promised blessings if we do, we're told the Lord will be with us, we're assured that the harvest field is white and that the Lord does have His people waiting for us to bring them in, ....all this, and yet we don't DO it! Why not? What hasn't He provided for the job?

But tonight I was thinking about how the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Do you use it that way? Do you use it to show people what a high standard "perfection" is? Do you walk them through the law, and let them see their sin, before you show them their Savior? Do you show them Mt. Sinai before you show them Calvary?

It's important that a person understands his own sinfulness when you're trying to tell him about Jesus. A Savior won't make sense until there is something he needs to be saved from. He needs to see he's a sinner. And not just in a general "all have sinned" sort of way - he needs to know "I am in big trouble, because I lied yesterday, and I have had adulterous thoughts, and I have disobeyed my parents many times, and I have taken God's name in vain, and I am incapable of keeping these ten commandments." You don't have to sound like you're accusing or judging a person to get them to realize their true state before God; just show them the law and explain it to them! They'll do their own convicting - if God's working on their heart.

I can't tell you how many times I have spoken with a person who claims to be saved, but then when I start explaining the law to them, they see themselves as a sinner for the first time, and they shake their head and say "I never saw it that way before!"

Yet they claim to "be saved." They say they "go to church." Why in the world hasn't someone told them all this vital stuff before now? It makes me so sad!

But it makes me excited, too, because now they have heard - and I had the privilege of being the one to tell them!

(Ooo - that was a BIG boom!)

I'll tell you a secret; I have yet to share the gospel without crying. I get so excited, so moved by the dear, old story. Ache so much to have them understand its beauty.

If you've never had the experience of sharing the gospel with someone, you don't know what you're missing. Find out. Tell somebody. If you're shy, find a stranger - somebody you'll never see again....unless they accept Christ. :)

The first few times I tried to witness, I didn't enjoy it the way I do now. I liked it, yes, but I was more miserable than happy after the conversation was over. Had I said everything the right way? What was she thinking of me? Did I forget anything? Was my heart right? Had I prayed enough beforehand? I dreaded and feared the next time I talked with someone about Christ, and yet I wanted to do it again, too, so I would have another chance to "do better."

Things began to change with practice. And as I listened to older believers talk about how they share the gospel. But what really helped was when I stopped thinking of soul-winning as a play. I wasn't an actor, reciting lines. I couldn't say the magic words, and have every person respond the same way each time. And I wasn't talking at anyone, either. I was having a conversation. I was trying to be a teacher, not a lecture. I was trying to show them something, in a gentle, leading way.

It wasn't a routine. It was a purposeful conversation - I knew where I was heading, and I knew what I wanted to say, but I could say it however I wanted to. It needed to sound like me. It needed to be tailored to my listener. It needed to be genuine, spontaneous, and filled with love.

Then I thought I had the hang of this "soul-winning business." I started to enjoy talking with people. I stopped having so much guilt at the end of each conversation.

I didn't know I was missing the most wonderful part.

Love from God.

No, I'm not talking about love from God for other people, although that's important. I'm talking about the love of God for me.

I've really started to discover - in a small but wonderful way - how much He loves me. ME! It's been so recent, and so wonderful, and so amazing......It thrills my heart, and knowing that He can love somebody else that way spurs me on to tell them about it, in a way I can't describe.

Think about it - if you lived in a different culture, and you had the job of going to a young, blushing, girl and telling her that a handsome, wonderful young man was in love with her and was asking her to marry him, through you, wouldn't you have the most wonderful time telling her about it? I mean, wouldn't you just get a kick out of it? Me too!

And knowing that He loves me, in a way that's not dependent upon my performance, that He delights in me, even when I'm not perfect (who are we fooling? I'm never perfect!), that He is there, and is never going away....it makes me feel so safe. I can talk to someone about Him without feeling like I'm "out front," out of my comfort zone, in harm's way, pushed to the front, vulnerable, etc. I'm just wrapped in His loving arms, talking to somebody because He wants me to and I want to. It's so...safe.

I love it.

You will, too.

Something's wrong.

2010-08-02T13:43:00.002-04:00

No - really. Something is wrong.

Let me explain.

You see, I am a sewing teacher. (No, that isn't the problem! Just wait a sec, and don't jump to conclusions.) I have..hmmm....three students right now, and two about to start in a month or so. They are a joy to teach.

I also have my own sewing business. No, that's not necessarily a problem, either. I like sewing for other people, most of the time. I like the variety, the flexibility, ect. I like meeting new people.

I'm also working on starting my own clothing line. (Surprise, surprise!)

But that's not the problem, either.

The problem is that my last two sewing projects have been flops.

That is not good! Not when I "make my living" sewing. Not when I sew for others, teach others to sew, and sell things I've sewn. Now, granted, these flops are both things I was making for me, but, still...

I would like them to turn out! It's discouraging to have two dresses in a row turn out bad.

At least I have the comfort of knowing my techniques were correct. It's just my measurements that were off. My measurements always seem to be off when I'm making something for myself.

Why? Is it because I'm vain and measure too small to begin with? Or is it because I'm always trying to save fabric, twisting and turning and skimping pattern pieces until they fit on the cloth? Or is it because I can never make a garment from a pattern without changing it in the middle of construction?

I'm so discouraged with my projects that I don't even feel like fixing them. Or buying a new zipper (I melted the one that I was supposed to be using. I always seem to do that.) I don't even feel like working on my latest sewing order, or the shirts that I'm suppose to already have on a website.

I broke down today; I went shopping with Mom and she bought a dress for me - a very pretty one, too. It reminds me of the blue, floaty dress Fraulein Maria wears in The Sound of Music's gazebo scene.

I also bought a shirt that needs repair. I always seem to do that; buy something really cute that needs to be mended. "Just a small tear here!" Or "it only needs to have the hem fixed." Or "I'll just take it in three inches on the side, add four inches to the bottom, and it'll be perfect." Why can't my seamstress mind rest even when I'm buying clothes?

You can't argue with a good deal, though. My new dress was originally $80.00. We bought it at Good Will - with the tag still on it - for $4.00! I couldn't sew a dress for that price.

That excites me enough to actually not mind repairing my new shirt. In fact, I already have ideas for future projects...

Those long-promised pictures

2010-07-28T15:23:00.005-04:00

(Note: I wrote this post on Wednesday, but it took me until Thursday night to load the pictures and publish it...just so there's no confusion. :)

Oh, there's so much I could catch you up on today! For starters, I just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and have a few cookie-making tips to share:

~ If you replace half your butter with shortening in an all-butter cookie recipe, you get softer cookies. (yeah, I know - health goes out the window!) Ditto for replacing white sugar with brown. Reverse the process to get crispier cookies.

~ Don't leave out the salt. It's important to the finished taste and texture. And sea salt is way better than regular table salt.

~ ALWAYS sample your dough! :) :)

Not to switch topics too randomly, but we're having missions conference at my church this week, and it's been wonderful. I'm both sad and happy that it's Wednesday, meaning the week is half over. Every night has been so good! I can't wait for each night, yet I wish I could relive the one before. The preaching has been great, the missionary presentations wonderful, and the fellowship before and after services absolutely uplifting.

That's been my favorite part this year - the fellowship. I love being a part of a church this size, where I can talk directly to the speakers and missionaries and get more stories from them after the service. I love asking fellow members how they are enjoying the week. I love eating supper together before the service, and discussing how the Lord has been working in our lives this week. I love inviting friends to come to church and having them show up!

Also, guess what the 24th of this month was? It was the 3-month anniversary of Heather and Eugene's (my sister and brother-in-law's) wedding! (Incidentally, the day also marked the 1 year anniversary of the time they started courting.)

In memory of that special day, I thought I'd post some of those pictures I keep promising. (These were all taken with our camera, not the professional photographer's.)

Just after their first kiss

Sisters!

Heather with the marriage certificate. :)

My family. We number 9 now!

The wedding party.

That's all for now. Maybe more later. :)

Just a reminder...

2010-07-19T21:34:00.002-04:00

...Have you thanked God for your mother today?

I had two separate, yet related, thoughts going through my head a lot today. One was, "I can't wait to be a mother!" and the other was, "what a mother I have!"

I am very different from my mom, and we "butt heads," as she puts it, quite often, but little by little - I hope - I am learning to submit and open my eyes to what this woman does in my life. God didn't make her my mother by accident. She's wonderful. And no matter how many times I tell her that, I can't make up for the times she's told me I'm wonderful, or that she loves me, or that I'm talented, or that I'm a blessing to her. My mom makes me feel so needed and abundant that I can't help wanting to really be those things, and wanting to help her to the utmost of my strength.

My mom excels in encouragement. And I sure appreciate that about her! It's kept me afloat in many a trial. I'm the sort of person who thrives on encouragement, and aches to be told "well done," and...

...what am I saying? We all like that sort of thing! I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm prone to get discouraged easily, and Mom has always been there to encourage me. But because of that I'm prone to take her for granted.

I'm prone to forget that she needs encouragement too. I'm prone to forget that I'm here to help her, and to be her right hand girl. Mothers give, give, give all the time. Someday it will be my turn to do that, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be starting to give a lot now. I shouldn't be taking all the time!

So here's a little reminder, younger ladies; give to your mother. Stop and thank God for her - and thank her, too. She's worth it!

A New Website!

2010-07-14T14:13:00.004-04:00

Whoever would have thunk it? ...As certain friends of mine would say. :)

I am pleased to announce that I've got a new website!

All of you know that I love to write, and most of you know that I've published a book. Ask Thy Father was published in 2008, and has been well received by those who have read it. It was this book that led to my speaking at the Celebrate the Glory Conference in October, as some of you may remember.

Though it's gone over quite well locally, in the two years it's been around I've never been very good at marketing it anywhere else; I should say that's rather a weak point in my personality. But I've always wanted to sell it on a larger scale, and finally that has stopped being a dream and started looking like a reality!

I also plan to sell other books on my site, as fast as I can get them written and published....and maybe someday branch out into selling books for others. (Did that make any of you writers perk your ears? :) :)

Oh yes - one of those books I hope to publish in the near future is being written because I finally decided to take your advice. Remember all those stories I've written here at The Fruit of Her Hands, based on Bible characters? And remember how you told me I ought to try writing a book along those lines? Well....I'm trying it!

I've gotten stiff shoulders from hunching over my laptop for two days, but it's been great fun. I love designing things! I can't believe I own a website.

But it's more than that. Yes, it's cool to think that I've got a book with my name on the cover being sold on a real, live website....but it's not truly a huge deal. It doesn't matter that much to me - it's only a passing novelty. What really excites me is the thought that maybe, through this avenue, I'll be able to share my heart with more readers. You know that is what my writing is, don't you? It's my heart.

So this day is more than "exciting" and "cool." It's precious to my heart. It means I'm holding my breath, waiting to see if I'll contact any new friends through this venture. It means I'm praying for God to use ink and pieces of paper. Will you pray for that, too?

Oh yes - just in case you want to see the site .... (I told you I'm bad at advertising!):

Visit Better Books!

And just in case you like it and want to help me out:

Copy this code to your website to display this banner!

Blessings to all of you, ladies!