Just As I Am

daybook {entry #1}

Outside my window...I hear the ting ting ting of rain dripping on the awnings of my happy little home.
I am thinking...about my dad--- sitting, neatly dressed, early mornings on the family room couch gazing out the sliding door glass wall  ready for what the day would  bring ; I always wondered what his thoughts were.
I am thankful for...the opportunity to grow back into the person God created me to be.
From the kitchen...I hear the stream of running water my husband is plunging his razor into as he shaves to get ready to go to church.
I am wearing...my pj's--coral plaid Capri pants and a t shirt top.
I am creating...a grocery list for shopping at Whole Foods.
I am going...to church to worship I Am, Who has given me life...both physically and spiritually.
I am reading...blogs with healthy recipes I want to try.
I am hoping...to try some of those new recipes this week.
I am hearing...the click click click of my keyboard keys as I type this blog post.
Around the house...are Sunday morning newspapers, my Bible,  and Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest on the coffee table.
One of my favorite things...is big bouquets of Queen Anne's Lace & Gebra Daisies
A few plans for the rest of the week:  Preparing big big pots for planting cherry tomatoes, peppers, and beans.

 Join me, Peggy, and others in this Simple Woman's Daybook venture.    

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listening for truth

Sometimes I wake, and, lo! I have forgot,
And drifted out upon an ebbing sea!
My soul that was at rest now resteth not,
For I am with myself and not with thee;
Truth seems a blind moon in a glaring morn,
Where nothing is but sick-heart vanity:
Oh, thou who knowest! save thy child forlorn.

                                                                    ~George MacDonald~ A Book of Strife from the Diary of an Old Soul

Running to climb up into my Father's arms and listen to Truth whispered in my ear today..... longing to speak to myself and others only what I hear my Father say.

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trust

"You can't trust God generally; you must trust Him specifically."  
_{Darrin Patrick}

How is it that we [I] want a personal, one-of-a-kind relationship with a non-generic God, but keep trying to trust Him in a general, generic way.

Every need, every circumstance, every challenge, every battle He has orchestrated or allowed and set before us [me] is strategically designed with this very thought in mind:

This is an opportunity to experience the great

I AM

Hearing those words in the quote I shared above as  I listened to This Sermon about Worry, reminded me that, as long as I don't identify my specific need and find out Who God IS in regard to that need and purpose to trust Him to be specifically Who He says HE IS in regard to that need, I will continue to stumble in the wilderness trying to know and serve a nebulous shadow of who the true, almighty God is.

I will ever know about Him, but I will never know Him.

It would seem that when we trust Him generally, we will have the capacity to praise Him only generally, too.

 

Trusting God and praising Him, specifically, in private and family prayer and worship reminds of us His faithfulness and teaches us and our children that with every specific test, there is a testimony.

God help us....help me....to trust You specifically!

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just between friends

Have you young moms and grandmothers heard about JBF?

When I called Jenna this afternoon to check to see how she was feeling she said she would like to come over so we could work together to get her items ready for the local Just Between Friends sale this weekend.  It took us about  4 hours to wash, iron and tag the clothes she will submit to the sale.

I put the first load of clothes in while she printed her tags on cardstock. She ironed.  Then I ironed while she went to buy a tagging gun to make our job easier.

What is Just Between Friends?

Just Between Friends is a Shopper's Dream!
These are not retail stores but rather savings extravaganzas--shopping events that happen usually twice a year per location. At these events, consignors bring their new and gently-used children's and maternity merchandise to sell. Shoppers can then browse and purchase these items at great savings, usually far below retail prices.

I am really impressed with the way this works.  As a vendor, your clothes must be in excellent condition....no stains, no buttons or snaps missing...must have working zippers, etc.   When you register to sell you are given a bar code that will appear on the tag you print yourself.  You enter your own description, price, and size of each item and when you print your tag it will look like this:

Because everything is bar coded and entered into the computer.  The consigner receives her check written in the amount of her profit within 14 days of the sale.

I really wish I would have taken time to photograph some of the items she is going to sell.  Ever the savvy shopper, she had adorable top name brand items she has picked up at rock bottom prices on sale at local stores or at Goodwill, purchased with the thought of selling them this weekend.

If you're a mom or grandmom who's looking for "like new" clothes for your children/grandchildren check to see if there is an upcoming Just Between Friends Event coming your way.

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a little child will lead them....

I can't lie; it's been a very difficult year [couple of..well maybe few years] for me.  My spiritual life has been dry.  I've found myself going, many times, to the well of His Word and walking away thirsty.  I've been lonely, battling depression, lying old hurts at Jesus feet, but not seeming to get total healing.

But I've gotten help, because I've shared my needs.  People are praying for me. And I am seeing results in tangible ways. 

God sometimes has to completely strip us to get us to a place where we are willing to hear Him in even the "smallest" of places.

As I've cried out to know Him more... to sense His love for me...He has been revealing, not Only Who He is,  but His great love for me as well...for God is love.

He recently brought a book to my attention, and somehow, I just knew I needed to buy it.....to read to my grandsons.  Little did I know He wanted to use it to minister to me.

So what am I loving to read in my middle year days to remind me of just how much God loves me?

 

My new favorite book is...no kidding....The Jesus Storybook Bible. I am sure that many of you with young children have this book in your home library.  Personally, I think everyone should own, or at least read, this wonderful book.  ALOUD.  Sally Lloyd-Jones has managed to communicate the Gospel story in a way that everyone can understand.  I agree with Dr. Tim Keller who says that he "would urge not just families with young children to get this book, but every Christian."

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

"Now some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do.  The Bible certainly does have some rules in it.  They show you how life works best.  But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing.  It's about God and what he has done."

and

"There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story.  The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them."

and

" So the three Wise Men... followed the star through the streets of Bethlehem, out of the nice part of town, through the not-so-nice part of town, into the really-not-so-nice part of town, down a little dirt track, until it stopped right over ...a little house.  But wait.  It wasn't a palace.  And there weren't any guards. Or servants. Or flags. Or red carpets. Or trumpets. Or anything. Did they get it wrong?  Or was this what God meant? Sure enough, in that little house ---there, sitting on his mother's knee ---they found him.  The baby King."

It's true that Lloyd-Jones uses her own words and adds a dose of her sense of humor to the mix;  this is a storybook Bible not a study Bible.  It's the spirit of her words and the way she shows how "every story whispers His name" that captures the serendipity of the Gospel message.

And it ends as every great TRUE story should:

"TO BE CONTINUED..."

I can hardly wait to find out what happens next :)

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changes

I guess you've noticed, by now, that my little blog has undergone some changes:  I changed its clothes again; I've removed the sidebar items and added most of them as links to the top; but most importantly, I've changed its name [don't worry about trying to find it...the web address will remain the same, for now].

When I started blogging FIVE...yes five...I can hardly believe it....years ago.... I was younger, my nest was well feathered, I was homeschooling, and I could still get up off the floor without a second thought :)

But things change.

I've changed.

~a just for fun picture of my grandson~

I am seeing life from a different perspective as I navigate my way through the middle years. Since I wrote my first post almost 5 years ago, I've become a mother-in-law, a grandmother, and I have lost my earthly father.  My nest is empty. My home is quiet.  My days are not planned for me; I have choices I've never had before. I've been forced to re-think who I am and how I need to be spending my time and energy.

As much as having children in the home offers a mirror to reflect who we truly are, days of solitude with "self" as sole companion adds a whole new dimension that can be even more telling.

I have a better view of who I really am, what my true priorities are, who I'm really living for....not just who I want to be or pretend to be or think I need be.

And so, the stories....the pictures here may be a little different.

Thus,  I introduce to you "Middle Passages"....my new blog space...a place where I hope to capture and share my middle year days. 

I've always loved having  younger blogging friends, and I hope you will still visit here, for not only do I want to share where I am now, but also where I've been.

Afterall, the heart knows no age...spirit is eternal.

I've found that some of you are shy about leaving comments...that you feel more comfortable communicating through email.  If that's you, please know that your emails are always welcome; I try to answer them all.

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America is too young to die....

I rarely speak of political issues on this blog, but every American needs to watch this:

fun address label tutorial

I found a fun idea  at Before and After Magazine with a new twist on making address labels that includes both the main address and the return address, as well.  I just had to make one to try it out, so I thought I would share the fun with you.

The tutorial is a little "rough around the edges" if you know what I mean....but I think you'll get the idea ;)

Here's the label I designed [and no, that's not my real address].

Here it is applied to my envelope.  [not the best pics...sorry...I really do need to make a lightbox, so I can give you better photos for my tutorials......someday :)  Trust me, it's much cuter in real life.

Front

Back

You'll need Photoshop or Corel or some other graphic design program or you could do the whole thing free handed too!

1. In Photoshop go to FILE>NEW
2. When the Dialogue Box appears type in the dimensions you want your label to be.  I used a 5x7 envelope, so I made my label 6.75" x 1.5".  Check the size of your own envelope and adjust accordingly.
3. Once you have your new document on your screen, type your address on the far left of the label....like this....

4.  Next, in your layers pallet, add a blank layer and make sure it's highlighted by clicking on it.

 

5.  Now, grab your Marquee tool by clicking on the little icon I have the arrow by.....make sure the box I've circled in red labeled Feather has a 0 in it.  Unless of course you want the little box we're going to put around the return address to have rounded corners.  If you want rounded corners put a higher number in.  I kept mine square.

6. Once you have your marquee too, draw a box around your return address.  You will see a dotted line that's moving....it's called marching ants....don't ask....I don't know.

7. Now go to EDIT>STROKE and the  dialogue box [pictured below] will appear.  In the box labeled width put 1 if you want your border to look like mine....a higher number if you want it thicker.  

Color:  If you like the color shown proceed, but if you want another color, double click on the color shown and you can pick another one.  I chose green to go with my theme.

Location: Outside

Blending: Normal

Opacity: 100%  .....just like the box above shows.

8.  Now you should have a border around your return address.....just like mine :) 

9.  Go over to the right and type in the address you are sending your letter/card to. You may want to make type this in a bigger font than the return address so the post office doesn't get confused.  Mine is bigger, but could be even a little bigger, I think.

10. Now make another blank layer and grab your paint brush and a color[s] you like  or some nice scrapbooking elements you have on hand....any kind of graphics will do....and make it pretty...

11.  If you want a border around the whole design, like mine, you can add one more blank layer on top of all your other layers and repeat steps 5-7.....just make the border thicker by typing in a larger number in the "Width" box.

12.  Print it out....place it on your envelope to get the fold right....get the glue out and voila..... 

12.  HAVE FUN!

 

a new year

Priority #1 Watch the Lamb

Priority #2 Watch the Lamb

Priority #3 Watch the Lamb

purposefully restored

This Christmas season I am pondering the "little house" . . .

I remember the day my sister showed me the little house, thinking my husband and I might like to purchase it from her and her husband.  I was appalled.  It was dingy, dirty, stinky. The rooms were tiny.  Needless to say, I had no vision for what it might become.  The situation looked hopeless to me; you couldn't get me out of there fast enough.

I was surprised when she called a few months later and said they were going to keep the house and renovate. 

Really? 

The whole house would have to be gutted. It would be all time consuming.  It would be costly.  How would they ever get rid of the overpowering smell? Besides, they already had a beautiful home.  Why would they want another? 

Undaunted, they started the restoration process.  It was costly, it was time consuming, it was hard and sometimes tedious work, but they thought it was worth it; they would use it to minister to out-of-town travelers or to those who had moved into the area who needed shelter until they found a place of their own. 

They had vision, not only for what the little house would become, but how it would be used. 

I am happy to say that the happy little house  has been completely restored.  It is simply delightful; the dream of using it to minister to others has finally come true! 

I wonder what Jesus was thinking the day I accepted the offer He presented for the purchase of the home of my heart....

I am grateful that Christ is never concerned about the time or cost or work it will take to restore it. He has a purpose in mind for my life.  And although the condition of  parts of my heart is much like the "little house" was:  unclean, disheveled, tiny, and unsavory, He is committed to restoring it, because  He has vision, not only for what I will become, but how He will use me.

 

Little house's story offers hope and a reminder to me that, as God's tools are silently at work in the home of my own heart tearing out walls and hammering and drilling to repair and rid it of the whiffs of stench it emits from time to time, He is confident that it is being restored to a condition of beauty and usefulness.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.