Another Quilt

Whew! It's Monday again.

I had a lovely Sunday - hope y'all did as well. The sermons at church were excellent, and I could really feel the Lord working among His people. In Sunday School, Pastor spoke about how we must sow our seeds in life, and remember that we won't always see the results right away. If you read my Saturday post of this week, you'll know why I smiled when I heard Pastor say that.

I sure needed a good Lord's Day to get me ready for this week! This Monday has not been very....um, profitable, I guess I should say. I haven't done everything that I had on my mental "To Do" list. I did do the dishes and two loads of laundry, however! Here's another quilt picture from the quilt show:

Isn't that pattern something?

This quilt was made from a commercial pattern, by a very accomplished quilter. She had two quilts at the show - the other one was designed from scratch. I like the play on color in this quilt. I can't remember for sure, but I think this quilt was made entirely by machine.

Don't all these quilt pictures inspire you? I have so many projects I want to start! I must learn self-control!

Seeds and Humans

" She considereth a field and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard." Prov. 31:16

Do you remember this?

The rain continued to fall, thank the Lord, and the beet seedlings became this:

Today I went out, under the overcast skies, and took this picture:

What wonder there is in a garden!

Some things grow so fast you can almost see them moving before your eyes.

Other seeds lie under the ground so long, silent and still, that you think they've died.

Then, one day, a tiny sliver of green stretches above ground into the air, and you know it's going to be a beautiful plant someday.

Isn't that sort'av like people? When we go out into the white harvest, some folks are just waiting for the good news. They receive the gospel gladly, and quickly bear fruit.

Other folks listen for years, and never show signs of being changed. But in some of their hearts, God is working in His quiet way a change that will someday be revealed, like a little sliver of green.

Doesn't this give you hope, when you think of those you are praying for, that they would be saved? How good God is to give us this picture! Everybody should have a garden, don't ya think?

P.S. Here's one of those seeds I thought would never start growing; our potatoes have come up!!!! We planted them even before the beets, and they've taken so long to show, yet here they are, bigger than any of the beet seedlings!

Happy Birthday!

"She looketh well to the ways of her household..." Prov.31:27

What better way to observe "Family Friday" than to announce a Happy Birthday message?

Some of you may have noticed that I skipped "Sister Day" this past Monday. Instead, today I'd like to wish "Happy Birthday" to the best older sister a gal could have.

May you have a wonderful day, Heather! I love you!!!!

Don't y'all think it's sad when family members would rather party off with other folks instead of their family? We don't have that problem. We always pick some activity to do together on birthdays. ....And Heather always picks great ones!

We've already packed quite a bit into this day. Early this morning, two of my siblings sneaked out to the living room to decorate the place with streamers. We started the day with a sumptuous breakfast, and a reading of a chapter in Proverbs. Later in the morning, our whole family went biking together on a lovely trail. Then we came home to a lovely lunch, with cake and ice cream. (The cake was all milk chocolate - yum! ...And, of course, I've never met an ice cream I didn't like!)

I don't know what all the afternoon may hold - probably just relaxing, letting the beautiful breeze flow through the open windows....and we'll finish the evening off with our traditional Friday night pizza.

But, anyway, I want y'all to know that I have the absolutely BEST older sister in the world. I have the best sisters, period. And I'm not biased. :) No, sir.

Well-known facts about older sisters:

~ They know what you want to hear, but they will tell you what they think you need to hear

~ They can seem bossy at times, but when you look at their lives, you'll see that they are just expecting you to be as hard-working as they are.

~ They come alive at about 10:00 every night, and they're great for late-night chats.

~ Mine is dangerous with coffee inside her. :) (Love ya, Sis!)

~ What a comfort it is, to know that you can pour out words to them, knowing that they will take them, sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away!

~ They always have a better memory than you do.

~...There's so much more! ...But who has time to sit and read (or write!) about great sisters, when you can go off and be with them? I've got to go. Bye!

To Be or Not to Be...

Some time ago, I was sitting in church, listening to our pastor tell about a fellow missionary he knew. This man was very different from the average American.

He worked with our Pastor as a missionary in a European country. Whenever he bought something from the natives, he purposely paid extra. He didn't try to get the best deal.

Whenever he sold something, he took less than the thing was worth. He didn't try to get the best deal.

Why?

He didn't want anyone to be able to say that he was trying to cheat, look out "for number one," or pushing and shoving to promote his own interests. He was there to be a witness to these people. He would do whatever it took to keep his testimony clean. Going the extra mile.

How different this is from the greedy average American! Sadly, even Christians seem to be afflicted with this disease.

I was thinking about frugality today. I like being frugal. It makes me feel like I'm being a good steward. There's certainly plenty of Christians who act like their money belongs to them, instead of God. I don't want to join that crowd.

But neither do I want to swing to the other extreme. I'd rather pay $10 extra, and have a good witness, than save $1o and lose my chance to be a good testimony.

How 'bout you?

Another Quilt

Look at the quilt I have to show today!

For those of you who missed my first "Quilt Show" post, if you scroll down just a bit, to a few posts ago, you will see that I've recently had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a quilt show. I took lots of pictures, and I'm sharing them with y'all, one quilt at a time.

This quilt, called "The Virginia Album Quilt" was my second favorite quilt at the show. (Of course, being a Virginian doesn't influence me in the least :))

All that applique! The lady who quilted it took me under her wing and gave me all sorts of quilting tips. She said this quilt was a "blue ribbon quilt" - she won a blue ribbon for it at some fair. I can believe it! Beautiful!The quilting was all done by machine, and I think the applique was done by hand, and the piecing by machine.

The quilter seemed to like adding pretty touches like these to her work. Those are little pearl beads in the center of each flower!

These swags are 3-D; really pleated and draped like that!

Ahh, what inspiration! Who wants to join me in making an applique quilt?

Bread Recipe!

Okay, here's the promised Oatmeal Bread recipe! Just for the record, it's adapted (I can almost NEVER follow a recipe exactly!) from "The Quaker Oats Treasury of Best Recipes."

Adapted, it reads like this:

Oatmeal Bread

~ 3/4 TBS active dry yeast
~ 1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar
~ 1 tsp salt
~ 6 cups whole-wheat flour (works best with a 'lighter' whole wheat. Nothing really heavy.)
~ 2 1/2 cups quick or old fashioned oats, uncooked
~ 2 1/4 cups warm water
~ 1 1/4 cups milk (this really isn't all milk, since we dilute our milk with water - makes it go twice as far!)
~ 1/4 cup butter

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar, salt, 3 cups flour, and oats. Mix well. Heat water and milk until warm, and add to flour mixture. Stir to combine, then melt butter, let it cool to "warm," and add it into the bowl, too. (You may want to melt it earlier, and let it be cooling while you mix the yeast, flour, oats, etc.)
This next step is very important for nicely-textured bread: beat - with a mixer preferably, but by hand works too if you're strong! - for 5-8 minutes on low speed. Then, by hand, gradually stir in rest of flour.
Now you're ready to knead. This dough works best in a machine, because it starts out looking and feeling like....well, oatmeal. As the oatmeal slowly absorbs the water, the dough gets to looking more like dough, but it will still be sticky. Anyway, if you're like me and must divide your dough to fit it in the machine, divide it in half, and knead each half for 8-10 minutes. (15 minutes, or 300 strokes, if you're kneading by hand.) If you've made bread before, and you know the consistency you're looking for, add water or flour as needed. Just bear in mind this dough might be slightly wetter than you're used to.
Let dough rise in a draft-free - but not necessarily 'warm' - place for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled. Punch down, shape into three loaves, place in three greased bread pans, and let rise 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and let the dough keep rising a little longer while the oven gets ready. Then put your bread in to bake, and let bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown on all sides, and bread sounds hollow when tapped on top. Remove from pans to cool.

10 minutes before going in the oven

Cooling

Eating!!!!

Quilts!!!

I've been to a quilting show!

Yesterday afternoon was so fun! Armed with a camera, I spent almost 2 hours snapping pictures, and talking with the quilters at this show.

The quilt show took place at our library. (Well, one of our libraries. We go to ...let me count...five or six...) We visit quite often, and we've been to one of their quilt shows before. When I saw the signs advertising their next show, I asked about entering a quilt, and....I entered a quilt!

This was a new experience for me, and it was tons of fun. I was a little nervous about letting my quilt out of my hands for a whole month (the length of the show), but felt better when I heard the other quilters tell the librarians "Take good care of our babies! These quilts are like our children; we like to know where they are, and we never feel quite right until they're home again."

So I had company.

Oh yes, the other quilters! Yesterday was the opening day of the show, and all the ladies who had made the quilts were suppose to be there. I, incidentally, was by far the youngest quilter there, but I didn't mind. It was actually very flattering and fun - all of these ladies coming up to me, taking me under their wing, giving me all sorts of quilting hints, and telling me how impressed they were that someone of my "vintage years" knew how to quilt!

One of the quilters had helped hang all the quilts, and she told me mine was right up front because of how young I was. Smile.

And these ladies were so gracious. Almost all of them were veteran quilters, with quilts far surpassing my own, but, as they stood around in circles discussing the virtues of each piece, and techniques they used, they welcomed me into their circles and made me feel quite at home. No wonder I had a good time!

Now, as I said, I spent 2 hours taking pictures, and I just can't load them all onto one post, so here's what I've decided to do:

For the next few weeks (or months :) ) I'll be featuring one quilt every day or so. I'll share the pictures I took, and what I learned about the quilt and quilter. Bear in mind that these aren't my quilts, so they're sort'av copyrighted. I did take the pictures, but all the credit goes to the ladies who did the work. I wish I could remember all their names!

I didn't get a picture of every quilt - there were just too many! You might notice my quilt style preferences as you look at each one; I seem to have taken pictures mostly of the full-sized patchwork and applique, and ignored the wall-hanging and picture quilts. There's nothing wrong with wall-hangings and picture quilts, but my own preference leans toward being practical (you can't really use a tiny quilt that hangs on the wall, can you?), and traditional (patchwork vs. modern colors and design, for instance)


The first quilt I've chosen to feature was my favorite, I think (it's so hard to decide!).

Isn't it beautiful? Some of the ladies called this "Virginia Reel," but the little white tag called it something different...I can't remember for sure, but "Jamestown" something. I REALLY like the fabrics used, but the photo doesn't do them justice. I believe this was a "quilt of the month" type of quilt. It is all machine-made. One lady pieced it, then sent it to another local lady to quilt it. The quilter wasn't at the show.

Here's a closer picture, where you can see the lovely color combinations, and the fine quilting.

And I couldn't resist taking a closer picture of this fabric. All fabrics used in this quilt - 36 kinds, all told - were reproduction fabrics. Maybe that's why I like it so much.

So that's our first quilt.

Oh - one more thing. The quilt that I showed....well, I forgot to take a picture of it! Good thing we'll be visiting the library again soon. :) If you look to the right of this quilt I've shown here, (in the full-sized picture of it), you can see the green border of my quilt, with the cream-colored fabric next to it.

NOTE:

Note from a very busy, side-tracked Amber:

To all of you who like new recipes and quilts, Lord willing I will have some stuff to share with you in the next few days! I have just tried a wonderful Oatmeal Bread recipe (pictures coming!) AND, this afternoon I am going to a QUILT SHOW! Can't wait to post pictures. Hope to talk to y'all soon!

Refreshed

Ahh, what a difference a day of rest makes!

Was it a coincidence that one of the messages I heard yesterday was on the topic of "attitudes"? Certainly convicting.

I was glad that I had been rebuked by my conscience and the Spirit on Saturday, and gotten things right before the sun went down. But hearing on Sunday that "you choose your attitude - it's not like you can't help it," and "God lets those trying things come into your life to let you see what's inside yourself - those things bring out the sinfulness inside you so you can see just how bad you are," was certainly a good reminder. ...And a timely one.

Another message I heard yesterday was about the "generation gap" in our churches today.

Titus 2 talks about the older people in the church building relationships with the younger ones, and passing on what they've learned. Listening, I was suddenly deeply impressed with a sense of thankfulness. How kind God is, to design things this way - how much trouble and heartache it will save us younger folks, if the older believers in our lives will teach us what they've learned through rough experience!

I was a bit surprised to have another idea enter my thoughts - "I am older than someone." I mean, I can't just shrug off Titus chapter 2 as being for only "those folks over 40." Paul didn't put an age limit.

I do think that the older woman are to be the primary teachers. ....But the fact remains that I am older than someone. There are always girls younger than me. My younger sisters. Their friends. The little ones, toddling around our church. What am I teaching them? Do I build relationships?

I can remember being one of "the younger girls" quite clearly. I can remember lots of teenagers, or girls in their early twenties, who turned their backs or stopped talking when I came around. Worse, I remember those who spoke down to me, patronizingly.

Those few older girls who took the time to greet me, and speak to me girl-to-girl, I remember with a surge of thankfulness. By just smiling at me and treating me as if they wanted to be friends, they became overwhelming beautiful in my eyes. I admired them extremely. Everything they said to me I treasured.

Now, if I watch for it, I can see that same sparkle come into a younger girl's eyes when I talk with her girl-to-girl. I have lots of girlfriends who are younger than me. From the five-year-old who tells me what she helped mommy with that week, to the 12 and 13-year-olds, who just want to hang out together, I am blessed with lots of friends! It is so rewarding when one of them wants to confide in me, or asks my advice. I pray that I am being the "older woman" God wants me to be.

Fruit Inside

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23

I say down at the computer, and out of the corner of my eye I looked out the window next to me.

The heavy covering of clouds in the sky looked like the faint but intricate pattern of stitching on the back of a quilt. The bright green of all the grass and the moss on the trees hinted at the rain we've had all week.

Though the plants have grown considerably, and I was able to get out and plant 2 packages of carrot seeds between rain showers, there really isn't enough change in our garden this week to justify a "Growin Garden" post.

Or maybe I'm just not chipper enough to be enthusiastic.

Have you ever had a day when everything makes you either groan, cry, or scream?

"I wanted to do a post about our garden - and look at the weather." I slumped in the chair and grumbled to Mom. I had already made other post suggestions that she had shook her head at. "WELL, what am I gonna post about?"

"Why don't you post about the fruit of the Spirit?"

A brilliant suggestion, I thought, though I wasn't about to open my pouting mouth and say so. I fetched my Bible, and opened to Galatians. I typed the verses on the screen of the computer, than started thinking.

Nice fruit I've shown today.

First, I planned to get a big day of sewing done - well, actually, I planned to cut out the pieces for a dress. For this I need our big table in the kitchen. But today Dad and my brother Curtis are installing a water filter under our kitchen sink, so tools, rust, water pipes, bottles, and general dirt dominate our kitchen today. Of course they didn't know that I'd planned to use the kitchen table...so why did I stand there glaring and tapping my foot?

Then, Mom gave me an unexpected job to do right after breakfast, which made me miss doing something I wanted to do, and it took longer than Mom thought it was going to take me, so she kept urging me to finish, and I snapped at her, and practically made the whole house miserable because I was miserable.

I have a huge To Do list of letters to write, books to finish reading, bread to make, and music to practice - all before tomorrow - but I just felt mopey and didn't get much of anything done this morning. I don't think I've smiled once yet today.

Right now, thinking back over the morning, I realize I have good reason to cry, not smile. I've been terrible!

Love? Joy? Peace? Longsuffering?

Yeah right. Not me. Not this morning.

Who cares about a garden if I'm not producing the right fruit? What kind of witness have I been?

Oh, dear sisters in Christ, let's pray for one another! I sure need it. Skills like gardening, sewing, and cooking are beautiful and helpful, but they don't compare to the beauty and helpfulness of a meek and quiet spirit.

Instead of running a hoe through the dirt today, I need to cultivate that meek and quiet spirit. I know where the only place to get meekness and peace from is. I know Who gives the peace that passes all understanding. I need to follow through with what I know in my head, and get my heart in the right place.

And......because Mom and Dad have taught me that life goes on, and the world can't stop just 'cause I want it to....
...I think I'll do my praying while I mix up some bread dough and practice my music.

A 7-Letter "L" Word

"She looketh well to the ways of her household..." Prov.31:27

What does your family do to bring its members closer together? What do you do? Do you make an effort to reach out and let your family members know that you love them?What does your family do for good wholesome fun?

Welcome to Family Fridays!

If I give you some hints, could you tell me what I'm thinking of?

~This is a seven-letter word, and begins with "L."

~ It's a place.
~ Our family visits this place an average of once every 2 weeks.
~ When Mom announces that we're going, I go ecstatic.

~ Everyone in our family loves this place.
~ Before we leave, we spend about 8-10 minutes at the front counter, keeping several workers busy getting us ready to go.

~ You have to have strong arms.

~This place ought to have shopping carts, but it doesn't.

~ On the return trip, the van is almost silent. No one talks.
~ On the return trip, the van is about 50lbs. + heavier.
~ For about three hours after we get home, the house is silent. No one talks.
~ Everyone is reading.

We love the library! Free, fun, and fantastic. The benefits are enormous. So many different kinds of books! Such knowledge at our fingertips! ...Or just plain fun, if we're in the mood for a relaxing book.

I would vote a nice big library as one of the best places to go for family fun. Everyone can participate, and it's educational. ...And, after you've read all your books, you get to trade with your siblings and see what they got!

Writing

Today I am thinking about writing.

Can writing be considered a work of our hands? It can certainly be used to bring honor to our Lord.

I am almost in love with writing. I spend a lot of my time writing. Do you who read this blog think that adding it to our discussions would be profitable? Are there other ladies out there who want to learn how to best use this skill for the glory of God?

Plants...

We had a frost on Sunday, and I keep thinking that perhaps our beautiful fruit trees have lost their chance to bear fruit this year. It's too soon to tell for sure, but when I was outside this afternoon, I saw that most of the blossoms have fallen off. Were they about to fall off anyway, or were they killed? The sharp spikes left behind offer such a contrast to the soft round petals that were there before.

The Lord made them, and He sure has the right to kill them - like Jonah and the gourd. ...But it still seems sad. I don't always understand His ways.

On a happier note - I've planted carrots today and yesterday, and they should be coming up in 7-21 days. Can't wait! We've never had carrots do very well in our garden, but there's always a first for everything, right?

Sun and a Recipe

Sun, beautiful sun, is shining on our green grass this morning. It came out from behind the clouds shortly after I asked y'all yesterday to let up on the prayers for rain. :) I'm so thankful for both the sun and the rain - we need both so very much!

Anyway, today I'd like to share a recipe with you. Last night was one of the easiest suppers I've ever made. Slow cookers are wonderful inventions! Please forgive the very....um...."little of this, little of that" recipe.



Chili

In a large slow cooker, mix together:

1 large can of dark red kidney beans

2 small cans of chili&beans
(You can also add any cans of baked beans, black beans...any thing you'd like. Just don't overflow the cooking pot!)

To your combo of beans, add:
1 "dollop" of mild salsa (...hmm...about 3/4 cup)
1 can (about 26oz.) of meat sauce, or pizza sauce

About 15 oz. water
A few cups' worth of ground beef. We never measure this - Mom just cooks up a frying-pan-full of ground beef, with onions, and divides it up to use in several recipes throughout the week. I used....oh, maybe 1 cup. We're not huge meat eaters. (Well, my brothers would love to do something about that....:) )

Now, stir that all up, and you're ready to add spices and flavorings:
Several good squirts of mustard
A few tablespoons of onion powder

Six or seven good shakes of garlic powder
A sprinkling of chili powder
A good dose of paprika

Stir to combine, put on the lid, plug the slow cooker in and turn it on, (very important!) and let cook on Low from lunch time to supper time. (Around 5 hours) Serve with crackers and sour cream. Combine with a loaf of already-made-home-cooked bread for the easiest meal ever!

Rain! God is good!

For those of you who saw my request in my Saturday post, and prayed for rain....

Thank you! On Sunday morning we woke up to drizzles and mud, and we have not seen the sun since. :) All the plants are so bright green! Today looks like another cloudy day.

Isn't God good? I'm so glad He answers prayer. Thank you for praying.

Seeing how God answered this prayer made me realize what a blessing it is to have a blog - I get to come in contact with more sisters in Christ!! And you are willing to send up prayers for me - a person who you've never met. That's special. I'd appreciate it if you would also pray for a certain family that our family is trying to win to Christ. My heart is so burdened for them.

...Oh - and just in case this isn't obvious, you can stop praying for rain. We like sun once in awhile, too! (Good thing God knows what's best for our plants!)

Oh - and happy April!

Random Thoughts About Schedules

I hope y'all had an encouraging Lord's Day, and have already had a quiet time with your Lord this morning, to get you ready for the day.

Today I was going to do a post about defeating clutter, but I took a look at my sewing area and decided I'd better...um...get the beam out of my own eye first.

So here's some random thoughts about scheduling, that occurred to me as I was walking our dog on Saturday. (The fact that I was walking our dog really has nothing to do with it, except for the fact that it's a good time to think.) :)

~ Schedules that divide all tasks up in 30-minute time slots and leave no room to breathe have a 99.99% failure rate - at least with me.

~ It works much better to have only 3 divisions: morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon. Then I can flexibly flip-flop things within their third of the day.

I already know what time of day I am most likely to do certain things. For example, I know that when I postpone my devotion time to "some time later today," it never gets done. So that is always in my morning (first thing). And I know that washing the lunch dishes must be done in the early afternoon...but if I need to make a phone call or fold a load of laundry, I don't feel like a criminal for not getting the dishes done by 12:31pm. As long as I get them done in the early afternoon I'm okay.

I found that when I was trying to stick with an impossible schedule, I got discouraged and quit - and followed no schedule. I hardly got anything done. Though the "thirds of my day" schedule seems much looser, I actually get more done when I follow it.

What about you? As a young lady who is preparing to run a home of her own someday, I know I must learn to run on an efficient schedule - one that gets things done, not the one of my dreams, performed by Super Woman.

What have you discovered that helps you accomplish many things in one day? A curse of my generation is young people who waste their time. You older women who read this can attest to that, I know. We fritter away at this and that, and at the end of the day we wonder "what did I really get done?" Perhaps we have things too easy. Perhaps we don't think it matters if we take our time.

But it does matter, young ladies! As women of God, we know that our time is His time. Think of the frailty of life! It's a vapor. We only have so long to get things done. And there is SO MUCH to be done. Let's get busy and make every second count.

Spring!!!!

" She considereth a field and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard." Prov. 31:16

Spring!

Spring!

Spring!

Welcome to today's edition of "Growin' Gardens," by The fruit of Her Hands.

Aren't all these plants beautiful? Our yard is a fountain of color in the springtime. Dad has added so many fruit trees and fruit bushes in the time we've lived here. We hope that three more of these trees will be old enough to give us fruit this year.

Now for a garden update:

First, here's one of my marigolds. Haven't they grown? Beautiful!

Okay, this is our garden at the beginning of the year. (Believe or not, we actually had done a little pick-up before this picture was taken!) Can you see where the layer of leaves begins? Those trash bags in the back contain more leaves. The wooded raised beds were all made last year.

And here's what it looks like as of yesterday! The concrete-block beds were all built this year, by Dad, my brother, and myself. They are much cheaper than wood, hold heat much better, and come with pre-drilled holes for our "hoops" (which saves a lot of work!)

...If you're wondering what the trash bag-wrapped-around-wire-and-post is doing in that front bed....Well, that is a tomato plant my Dad just couldn't wait to set out. It's an Early Girl variety, and the plastic around it will hold enough heat to protect it from being set out so early. (There's your garden tip for the day!)

One more thing...please pray that we get some rain. Thanks!

Altering...

Spring, spring, spring!

The grass is growing, the birds are singing, the sun is shining.....and I am having trouble finding lighter clothing to wear. Sound familiar?

Does anyone else out there find that their summer and spring clothes always seem to disappear over the winter and fall? Or else they just don't seem appealing when you unpack them? ("I wore that?")

My spring wardrobe is sadly in need of some more shirts and skirts, so I am having fun coming up with a few new outfits...while trying to be a wise steward at the same time.

It's good I like to alter stuff. Here's a shirt I "made," two days ago, in just a few hours:

The original shirt. Long sleeves, and a collar that never fit me right. I didn't care about cutting this shirt up in the least! I liked the fabric, but not the fit.
(Take a look at the peachy fabric in the background - another shirt I'm making, this time from scratch!)

After cutting off the sleeves and neckline. If I were to do it over again, I'd make the neck just a little wider.

Finished! A very simple project.
Cost? $0,000.00! (the shirt was given to me a long time ago)

The only reason I'm showing this picture is because I think the shirt looks better on someone. Photography complements of my little sister. Thanks, Tiffany! (That's her rabbit I'm holding. Isn't Honey cute?)

Anyway, hooray for frugal sewing!

Spend!!!

The woman of Proverbs 31 had a head on her shoulders. Last night, before I fell asleep, the radom thought wandered through my mind "did she have a budget?" Did she plan how she spent her money?

I'm a firm believer in being a good steward of what God has given me. He's given me much more than just money, but for the sake of brevity, let's take a look just at money.

At this stage in my life, I don't handle a whole lot of mammon. I also don't have a big need for it. What would I do with millions of dollars? I live with my family; Dad supplies a roof over my head, food on the table, and other needs of life. But I know that the older I get, the more I'll have to deal with money - or the lack thereof.

Does seeing how the world centers around money ever frustrate you? I have several jobs that bring money into my hands. I am able to make purchases and give gifts. But why does everything have to cost money? Why does everything have to cost so much money?

I don't know. The fact is; money is an almost nessecity to life. So how should I handle mine? It's not really mine - it's God's. It's also my parents', in a-round-about-way. If they are over me in authority, certainly they are over everything I own. But if I use it badly, I'm the one who is respondsible to God for that.

There are four basic places to spend my money:

#1 - Things that last a few hours (food, pleasures, etc.)
#2 - Things that last a few years (clothes, machines, etc.)
#3- Things that last a lifetime (education...)
#4 - Things that last forever (missions, helping someone, etc.)

I have God's command to store up treasures in Heaven. I really believe God means what He says when He talks about treasures being up there for me if I will store them up. Just think - these little green pieces of paper will mean less than nothing in Heaven, but I can use them to buy treasure worthy for Heaven! That's something I can touch. I can give money to buy Bibles for believers in Peru, and have absolutely certainty that I just invested money in my Heavenly account. If I wanted to, I could even keep account of every penny I invest in eternity, and know how much is in my account. ...Of course, who knows what the exchange rate is there?

There's also the wide subject of saving, ...but, really, what are you saving money for, if not to spend it? I have several savings accounts, and I plan what I'm going to do with the money once it reaches a certain amount. I plan to spend it. Who holds on to money just to get inky prints on their fingers? We're all going to spend all of it eventually...or leave it for someone else to spend.

So let's spend it where it counts!

And let's spend deliberatly, with purpose. Out with impulse buying! Let's pray, plan, then spend!

Because I'm still getting back in the swing of things...

...I don't have any pictures of what I've been doing lately. (Not that pictures of unpacking suitcases and hanging laundry and washing dishes are really thrilling anyway.)

So I thought y'all might enjoy getting a peek into my hopechest. A while back I shared pictures of a quilt that is destined for my hopechest, and now you'll see something that is already packed away there.

...The faint scent of cedar hangs in the air whenever I open the lid of my chest and lift something out.

...My bedside lamp lights up the interior of the chest, making the glossy wood shine.

...I run my hands tenderly over each object in the chest - each one holds a memory or a hope.

...If I take everything out of the chest, I know I will see the letters burned in one bottom corner; "To Amber...." a message to me from my Dad, and the date he finished building this chest.

...But enough. I must take out and unfold my afghan to get good pictures of it. I can't help gasping as I shake it open and lay it over my bed. It's so big! Because it's tucked away all the time, I always forget just how large this project was. ...And how much work went into it.

Even though I made this thing, I always shake my head in amazement and awe when I look at it. That's not pride, really! The pattern was a lovely one, and who doesn't like to handle soft squares made out of yarn, that are pleasantly thick and in all sorts of patterns? ...no matter who made them? I just love yarn! ...though fabric is the most fun!

This afghan contains 63 squares, all made with different stitches. Before I started this project, I knew only 3 0r 4 stitches. I love the variety! It used....uh....a TON of yarn, and took me many months to complete. The colors I chose are the colors I'd like to use in my own home some day.

Here you can see a little more detail, though the lighting really isn't good enough to show what this looks like in life. This is a heavy blanket, and very warm!

One more thing.

A thought for the day....

This morning I discovered that my little sisters are going to do a study on Proverbs 31 for school, and I overheard Mom telling them that many things in that chapter can apply to them right now, even though they are just young girls.

Even though I'm not a little girl anymore, many times I think that parts of this chapter don't apply to me yet. I'm not a mother. I'm not a wife. How can my husband be known in the gates? How can my children rise up and call me blessed?

I believe God has called me to be a wife and mother someday. I know that He doesn't want me to mope around waiting for Prince Charming, though. He wants me to serve the family I have right now.

When I look at verses in the Bible that pertain to wives or mothers, I am tempted to shrug them off. And yes, some of the direct commands really can't be applied in my life. ...But I can look at the spirit of the commands and apply them.

So a virtuous woman's husband should be known in the gates? ...My conduct should be honoring to my father, and give him a good name in the places he goes.

So her children will rise up and call her blessed? ...I should show such kindness to my siblings and help them so much that when they look back on their growing up years in this home, they will say "Amber influenced me for the good! I'm so glad I had a sister like her!"

Wow. I sure have a job to do.