i have to say...

a few things about me and cars...

1. I love going to carshows

2. I don't really know anything about the cars, I just like the way they look.

3. Driving a muscle car seems like a fun thing to do, although I would be worried about the poor gas mileage it gets!

4.  My dad loves going to carshows, but when I was a kid I thought they were dumb.

5. Now I wish I lived closer to my dad so we could go together some time.

6. I drive a mini-van and I also drive a Volkswagen Jetta.  The Jetta is my favorite, but I can only drive it when a couple of my kids are staying at home.

7. My hubs drove a car like the one in the picture below when he was a teenager, although by the time I met him he drove a blue Ford Escort.

8. I think he would have looked really great in the Camaro.

9. I wouldn't like it if he drove the Camaro now because of the poor gas mileage.  :(

10. I love all of the cars in the pictures above, but in reality I would have to drive something more like this because I have so many kids:

11. I think my guy and his buddies are quite handsome and funny:

Have a great Tuesday!

***PS--When all of my fabric arrives I will have a grand-opening for my shop complete with give-away's and stuff like that.  I can't wait!

prayer request

I have a wonderful friend, Ruth, who is a mentor to me.  She has 5 homeschooled children who are a little  older than mine, and I look to her quite often for encouragement to keep pressing on.  Her family is amazing.

Ruth's oldest daughter is presently a missionary in Serbia, and if you have been following the news headlines you may know that events are taking place in that country that are of great concern.  She has been in contact with her daughter and all is well at this point, but I would like to ask you to pray for her daughter's safety and that she would be wise in making decisions.  Also, that she would be in tune to what God might be leading her to do.  Prayers for Courtney's team members, as well as Ruth and the rest of the family would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, friends.

the heart of the matter

Today my post at The Heart of the Matter is about renewing the homeschooling vision when things start dragging:

"That unsettling feeling that there is no point to what you do each and every day is all too common simply because we are human. Worksheets, spelling tests, and science projects all have a way of becoming a burden if you lose the vision of why you homeschool your children."

Click here to read more.

This was our view yesterday during school:

Dark and cold, but nice and snowy!

sweetly broken

sewing seeds--no sewing required!

Earlier this summer my daughter traveled to Africa to work at an orphanage.  This was a life-changing experience for her and also a blessing for the kids.  As many of you know, we were able to gather over 125 handmade skirts to send with her as part of project called Sewing Seeds.  The girls who received the skirts were thrilled to have something new and lovely and all their own.  (Please see the photo album in my sidebar to get an idea of who the kids are).

This time I am hoping to do something special for the boys in the orphanage and possibly something for all of the kids.  Another group will be traveling back to the orphanage in either November or January (Danika will not be going with this group) and we are hoping to stuff their bags full of two things:  denim shorts for the boys and shoes for all of the kids.  So many of you have mentioned that you would like to take part in this if we ever did it again, so here I am asking for you help.

With the fall clothes on the racks these days, the summer clothes have been relegated to the clearance shelves, and this works in our favor!  Here is what is needed specifically:

Boys shorts: most of the boys are ages 1-8 and all of them could use a pair of shorts.  Shorts made of denim or another durable fabric would be perfect.  If you are unsure of what size to buy, I suggest you buy for your own children's or grandchildren's size since this worked out perfectly last time.  My hope is to collect 50 pairs of boys shorts.

Kid's shoes:  the weather in Africa allows for summer-type shoes year around.  Sturdy sandals of some sort would probably be ideal so that socks are not needed.  The girls range in age from 1-13, while the boys range in age from 1-8.  I would love to collect 100 pairs of shoes.

If you are interested in contributing please leave me a comment or email me. 

The thing that I love about doing this is watching everyone come together to help the kids.  Together we can bless a large group of kids who have many needs, not only by giving them shorts and shoes, but also by letting them know that someone cares for them.

"Sow the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you."---Hosea 10:12

***I would like to have everything by September 30 if that is possible!

***Gently used shorts or shoes would be great too.

Thanks!

trusting...

I have been studying the life of Rebekah in the book of Genesis and I have gleaned a great deal from her story--both good and bad.  As a woman, wife and mother she displays characteristics worthy of emulation, but also some that were destructive to her family as well as to herself.

In her early years, Rebekah's portrait is that of a woman living her life and waiting on God for what her future would bring.  She appears neither desperate nor hurried to find a man to marry, nor is she striving to find fulfillment in things that have no eternal value.  God is faithful to bring her a loving husband on a day that she is simply going about her own business, doing the things that were common for a woman of her time.

Later in her life, however, Rebekah is painted in such a way that reveals a destructive side to her behavior:  she is manipulative and unwilling to find contentment in the circumstances of her life.  First she assists Jacob in stealing Esau's God-given birthright which results in a bitter division between the brothers (Genesis 27)and then she tells Issac:

"I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"

Next Issac sends Jacob away for his safety and also to find a suitable wife, which leads to Jacob's labor of 14 years in exchange for a wife and possibly being away from his mother for more than 20 years.  I wonder if this is what Rebekah had in mind when she set out to "fix" her circumstances.  Did she look back on her decision and see her error?  Did she regret stepping out in front of God and forcing a situation to happen?  My guess would be "yes" because I tend to regret it when I do it.

Right now my life holds a few sets of circumstances that don't feel quite right--they are like a too-tight pair of jeans.  My nature is to fix things, to make things happen (quietly, of course), and create circumstances that feel better.  But apparently, since I can't seem to get away from the story of Rebekah, God has other plans for me.

My life these days is full of change.  I don't like change.  I don't like the unknown.  I like to know what the next day, next week, next year, will being my way.  I like to be prepared.

I need to be careful that I don't start to manipulate things.  I need to walk in what each new day brings for me, and for my family.  I need to let God do the leading and directing, and keep my own hands out of the mix.  I don't want to be like Rebekah and take matters into my own hands and end up with circumstances worse than those that I am starting with.

Trusting God with my life.

Sometimes it is easier to say the words that it is to live them out.

I am resting in the fact that God will lead me to the place He wants me to be.  He will complete the work that He has started and He will be all that I need.

The hardest things for me to know is that God has my best in mind also.  Even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes.

Trusting in Him...

Hi, everyone! This is Danika. This post is to thank everyone for all the help that they gave to help me get to Africa. I couldn't have done it without everyone's help. I also wanted to thank everyone for helping out my Mom and Emily by making or buying skirts to give to the girls in Kenya and Uganda. I cannot tell you how much the kids needed them.

While in Africa, I learned  how blessed I am. I learned not only to be thankful for the running and clean water, electricity, and availability of food; but also for the way God has blessed me and most Americans materially. It is easy to go to a country like Africa and feel guilty for all we have. We tend to do one of two things. We either try to forget about those who live in poverty, so we don't feel guilty. Or we complain about the complacency and selfishness of Americans. I think a better option is to be thankful and joyful for the ability and responsibility that comes along with the blessings God has given us. He blesses us so that we may bless others. I appreciate everyone using their resources to bless me and orphans in Kenya and Uganda.

I encourage everyone to continue seeking God for ways they may use their material blessings to bless others. It doesn't have to be in a foreign country, but maybe God will lead you in that direction. There are many opportunities with different organizations to sponsor orphans. I have seen firsthand what a need this is. There are so many orphans being fed and clothed, but there are also so many more that the leaders in Africa have no resources to care for. They are forced to give them the food they can and then send them off at night to find places to stay. There are more than 230 orphans at an orphanage in Nambale that one couple attempts to feed, but is unable to give a place to stay at night. Please pray about sponsoring an orphan, going on a trip yourself to love on these kids, offer your God given talents to bless others, and anything else God might lead you to do.  Who knows...maybe you will be led to adopt one. Just don't adopt Osiemo. I reserve him. :)

my girl is back!

My girl returned from Africa with tales of adventure! She had a wonderful time with the kids in the orphanage and she wished she could have brought a few home with her.  One in particular touched her heart, a little boy named Oceamo, and leaving him was difficult.  For now she has to be content with browsing through the 30+ pictures that she took of him.

The skirts for Sewing Seeds were a huge hit!  Girls from 4 different orphanages were blessed by the efforts of the sweet ladies here in the blogosphere.  In the picture above it was hard to get the girls to sit down because they didn't want to get their lovely new skirts dirty.  I will be posting more picture of the skirts as soon as a friend of Danika's emails them to her.  You can check my sidebar and browse the Africa Photo Album to see the photos we have so far.

The conditions of the children are good compared what Danika saw around the village, but the kids in the orphanage are still underfed and lacking in medical care.  Their hair is cut close to the scalp to reduce the incidence of head lice and many of them have skin rashes from parasites.  Their food consists of potatoes, beans and rice with very little fresh produce or meat provided.  If you desire to help further, you may click here to read more about sponsoring an orphan.   I know the people who run this project and they have assured me that all of the money given to the orphanage goes straight to the kids, for their daily needs.  Please pray about being a part of this wonderful ministry.

My gal is back and my heart is at rest. 

It is an amazing thing to watch your child go out into the world and affect it in such a beautiful way.  I could never have imagined that God's leading in her life would take her in this direction.  Raising kids is certainly a "long-haul" venture, but the dividends of watching your kids go out into life and make a lasting difference is the reward that makes it all worth it!

***This little one doesn't look all that excited about her skirt or getting her picture taken, but I think she is simply adorable:

my gal and the skirts

My oldest babe left for a missions trip this week and she will return next week only to rest for one day and then head to Africa.  She will be toting 118 skirts in her luggage for the girls in the orphanage she will be serving at, and  I can only imagine the look on the faces of all those girls twirling and smiling in their new skirts, made with love by many of you!

It is an interesting part of the parenting journey when it comes time to watch your children fly into the adult world.  Part of me wants my gal to stay home, be safe and live a quiet, peaceful life, but there is another part of me that watches with amazement as she uses her time in such a wonderful way.  What a perfect way to start her adult life.  I am proud of her.

I covet your prayers for my daughter's mission--her safety as well as how she might serve there--and I will update you as soon as I can (mid-July, most likely).

Have a wonderful Friday!

"Sow the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you."---Hosea 10:12

melancholy me

I recently read The New Spirit Controlled Woman by Beverly LaHaye.  The book outlines the four basic temperaments (sanguine, choleric, melancholy and phlegmatic), along with their strengths and weaknesses, and also provides advice on relying on God's strength in the weak areas.

As always, when taking a temperament test, I check out as a strong melancholy.  When I say strong, I mean that out of 18 characteristics, I marked "yes" on 17 on them. 

I have always wanted to take one of these tests and find that I am a strong sanguine, in my opinion the most desirable of the temperaments, but, of course, even that desire of mine goes along with my personality as we melancholies tend to be overly introspective and unhappy with ourselves.  So once again, I remain "melancholy me".

The strengths of my temperament are:  Has a sensitive nature, analytical ability, emotionally responsive, reflective thinker, dependable, loyal, self-sacrificing, has deep feelings, strong perfectionist tendencies, likes detail and analytical work, self-disciplined, creative, intellectual, conscientious and knows her own limitations.

The weaknesses of my temperament are:  Moody and gloomy, pessimistic, always looks for the negative side of things, acts like a martyr, introspective to the point of being harmful, critical of others, fearful of what people think of her, suspicious, carries a grudge, dislikes opposition, indecisive, tires easily, analyzes things too much and becomes discouraged easily.

Honestly, I don't know if I have ever had myself so accurately defined on the pages of a book before!

By walking in God's ways and allowing Him to be the strength in my weaknesses, I can expect to:

--develop a mental habit of thanksgiving

--be delivered from self-absorption

--become occupied with loving service for others, thus forgetting self

--walk in the Spirit on a daily basis

The blessing in reading this book has been to see the work that God has already been doing in my life over the last few years.  Being thankful, being comfortable in who I am and avoiding the slippery slope of depression, are all areas that God has led me towards simply by reading His word and by listening to the encouragement of the people around me.  The knowledge that He has been and will continue to lead me only bolsters my resolve to overcome in my weak areas.

The New Spirit Controlled Woman is a book that I highly recommend.  While it is not the answer for all of life's problems, the author offers insight into those areas of ourselves that have a tendency to make us ineffective in the relationships and challenges of life, all while offering the hope that comes only from a life centered in God.

in this skin...

***Morning Glory and Lei have started a new forum called "Woman to Woman". This post is my contribution to their first topic "In This Skin".  Click here to read more about this and to visit other women who have participated as well.

I turned 40 this year.  That sentence alone should be enough to inform you that I have been struggling with the topic of growing older.  My relationship with aging is twofold:  On one side there is my struggle and on the other side there is my pursuit.  While I admit that the struggle slows me down, the pursuit is going to be the victor in the end!

My struggle begins with our youth oriented culture.  We worship youth.  We seek it, we admire it, we are afraid to walk away from it.  Open the pages of magazines such as Vogue or Cosmopolitan and you will find pictures of beautiful and confident business women who appear to be in their 30's, strolling down the streets of New York City, when in reality the model for the picture is a teenage girl who has a driver's permit stuffed into her backpack.  Even when we know that, the image permeates our brain and can lead us into striving for this look.

What about Hollywood?  When was the last time you saw Michelle Pfieffer in a movie?  Her talent certainly has not diminished, but she reached that career-killing age for an actress: 40.  It seems that we like to use up women in their youth and cast them out when they are "old".

My pursuit begins in God's Word.  Scripture is clear on what is important in life, although these principles may not always come naturally to us:

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel--rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God."
1 Peter 3:3-4

The inner woman is where our true and lasting beauty comes from.

Her countenance says it all:  A joyful woman radiates an infectious happiness to those around her.  Her smile attracts people rather than repels them. No matter her age, she smiles at her life and her future because she knows that she lives under the shadow of the Almighty who, no matter what a woman's age, makes her beautiful.

This is the struggle and the pursuit.  As in all things there is a choice to make:  My own path or God's.  Since I am 40 I believe that I have acquired a certain amount of wisdom on this subject.  God's way is always the best.  He knows not only my frame, but my future as well.  He knows your's too.

Living in this skin presents some difficulties, but a woman who knows and trusts God and seeks His leading in all areas will find that a consistent smile is making it's appearance on her face, which, of course, always makes a woman look a little bit younger!

skirts

I am so excited to report that the first of the sewing seeds skirts are done.  Click here to see them and to read Morning Glory's touching post!

thank you!

Thank you so much for the help with sewing seeds!  So far we are expecting approximately 25 skirts to be made for the girls at the orphanage and, for this, I am extremely grateful.  God is so good to provide for the kids like this.

A couple of people have asked if they could purchase skirts since they don't know how to sew and to this I say "of course!".  If you would like to do this, just email me or leave a comment and I will send you my address.  The only thing I would suggest is that you buy a skirt with an elastic waistband since we don't know the specific sizes of the girls.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.  It is good to see so many women coming together to help provide for some needy kids.  I wasn't sure what the response would be on this, but I am blessed to say that it was wonderful!  The blogosphere is a truly awesome place!

Thank you, dear friends!

sewing seeds...

As many of you know, my oldest daughter, Danika, is heading to Africa in June to serve at an orphanage for a couple of weeks.  I am very excited for her as most of her money is raised, she has her passport, and while she is procrastinating on getting all of her shots that she needs, she is very close to seeing her dream come true.  God is so good.

My daughter, Emily, and I have decided to take part in Danika's mission by doing what we love to to:  sewing.  And here is where we will ask for your help.

Our goal is to provide skirts for each of the girls at the orphanage (25 total), and if that happens, we would like to provide skirts for girls living at two affiliated orphanages (50 more--75 total).  The children in the orphanages own almost nothing except for the clothes that they wear (one outfit) and Emily and I thought that sending them skirts would be a wonderful way to let them know that they are loved and cared for, and to add a little bit of beauty to their lives.  A drop in the bucket?  Yes.  But if we all pull together to meet needs, the bucket's contents will rise higher and higher!

So, could we ask you to consider making a skirt (or two) for a little girl?  All sizes are needed and can be used.  I figure that each skirt will cost approximately $10 to $15 to make and 2-3 hours to put together, depending on your sewing abilities.

One idea is to make a skirt in your own daughter's size and let her pick out the fabric.  This makes it a mommy/daughter endeavor!

Here is the link to the pattern that we are using (#4252) and here is a tutorial in a little girl's skirt size and one in a bigger girl's skirt size.  We took care to pick something easy, by the way, so don't worry about these being too difficult to make!

If possible, I would like to have the skirts finished and mailed to me by March 31 so that we can start working on something for the boys at the orphanage.

Please pray about this...

Let us know if you are interested.

Thank you so much!

If anyone would like to link to this post, please feel free to download the picture.  I would appreciate it if you did!

And speaking of the picture, many thanks to Tanya who made it for us.  We just love it!

Blessings to all of you!

"Sow the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you."---Hosea 10:12

***Click here to visit Tanya's Quik-Page!

looking up

Don't know if I have ever seen snowflakes like this before.  Crystal.  Glitter.  Amazing.  They are everywhere...    

    ***Man, it is stinkin' cold out here!

Looks like glitter.   So fitting for Valentine's Day.  A Valentine just for me.  Handmade by Him...    

    ***Why on earth am I even out here?  I think my hands are going numb.

The quiet speaks to me.  Reminding me to slow down and listen.  Hear.  Him...    

    ***The roads are going to be terrible today.  What a pain.

It is amazing what you will see when you take the time to look up...

"...Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."

---Philippians 4:6