Growing and Gleaning

Christmas Creations

2011-12-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Made a couple things that I can share pre-Christmas!

First an ornament for my Book Club's ornament exchange

And then this beauty I can't take all the credit for because if it wasn't for my ever talented neighbor I would have totally given up! I had made the bow at "Momspace" a few weeks back and decided I would use it with our tree scraps to make some fabulous thing to hang in our house. Well as I was sitting out front with said tree scraps {watching Bennett hit trees with swords} I had pretty much given up when she pulled up and gave me pointers on adding different greens and then all of a sudden I had this beauty to hang above our window in the living room! Pretty fabulous huh?!

Gender Neutral

2011-12-06T13:42:00.000-08:00

So as one of the few mothers left in the US who does not found out the sex of my unborn child, I am always in need of some cute baby stuff that isn't all boring
{and usually erring on the side of being boy'ish}

So in wanting to blessing a dear friend of mine who also isn't finding out the sex of her unborn child ... I made the following set ... TWICE!

One set for me and one set for her!

I'm kind of obsessed with them!

"Recent" Creations

2011-10-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

I really haven't been up to much in the creative world lately (except for at Momspace, which I am very thankful for) but than I remembered last month that I did a ton of stuff! I think I just forgot to blog about it because I was so busy! ha ha! Good problem I guess!

Here's what I was up to:

Three hoodie towels

Two turtle with green stripes for Adam's cousin's newly adopted twin boys!

Sweet pink with yellow stripes for the precious little Emma Faith!

Two nursing covers:

This one was for Adam's sister who was doing a nautical theme for her sweet new boy

This beauty was for my mom's pastor's wife who just gave birth to a sweet boy also!

A cute little Black Apple doll:

for Emma Faith

Four diaper caddy's:

Natuical themed for Adam's sister

This beautiful fabric was very popular and since it doesn't require much fabric I was able to make 3!

Sweet little girl shoes:

The most beautiful burp cloth on the planet:

And then at Momspace (MOPS at Lamb's Murrieta), the last two meetings have been craft days and let's be honest, they are the only crafts/creating I've done all month!

The first craft was these "toilet paper pumpkins". You use a roll of TP and some news paper and a fat quarter and with a stick and a couple fun add-on's you all of a sudden have some pretty cute pumpkins! These are my first and only fall decorations (no joke! Decorations are not something we can afford AT ALL) and I have snuck them in and around our entertainment center, they're pretty cute!

Then this last week's craft, well to be honest, I was a little skeptical at first, but I LOVE it now! We made these wreath's out of coffee filters and hot glue! I picked the "brown" filters (you could do pink or white also) and with out realizing it I made a cream and green wreath that matched our wall and co-sleeper perfectly! So I guess you could say this is the baby's first accessory for their corner of our room!

Gwenie!

2011-06-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I recently got to be involved in celebrating my sweet friend and her soon to be daughter with a fabulous little shower of love and hugs and yummy food and of course presents!

Of course, seeing as how I have no self control or boundaries made way to much stuff but it was way super fun to make stuff for a baby girl!

I made her two nursing covers.

Gwen's husband is in the military so she got me one of his patches and I made the coolest nursing cover for her! I think it is just the greatest! (And no one will steal it!)

A soft flannel crinkle toy

A tea wallet filled with nursing tea made from the scraps of the nursing cover.

The cutest diaper caddy ever! (complete with water proof changing pad)

Eight burp clothes

A pair of shoes with the scraps from the burp clothes

Super cute and fun and giant Swaddle Blanket

And of course, a hooded towel for bath time!

I did not however make her the most beautiful quilt on the face of the planet!

That was made by the lovely and talented Ms Jen Jackson! She is incredible!

I am so sad I didn't think to take a picture with Gwen! But I love you girl and am so looking forward to meeting your daughter!

The Royal Wedding

2011-05-04T11:10:00.000-07:00

So, I know I'm a bit late but I was just finally able to watch it and OH MY GOSH!!! I loved it! I loved everything about it! I loved Kate's dress, it was perfect!

I loved the trees in the church, they were amazing!

(I mean bringing trees in is a great idea!)

I know it may seem silly, but well.... I promise there is a little more substance coming, bare with me while I get my wedding giggles out!

I've always loved the royals, I mean let's just be honest here, I keep my stud earrings and rings in this little plate on my dresser.

Seriously, it's true, I just had to dump them all out to take that pictures!

And if life could be just as I want it, this would be one of my many hats.

But alas, it is not, I don't even own it, I just tried it on in Sea Port Village last weekend

So I'm sure you're thinking, "Oh gosh, Sarah has lost her marbles, I bet she ordered a William and Kate plate too!" Well, in fact, I did not. (not that I would mind if someone bought me one ... my 30th birthday is less than 2 months away!) I only started to follow the royal wedding about a week before it occurred and that only because my best friend asked me about it and I had nothing to say. I had to tell her that I hadn't been following it at all. She was surprised and then I realized I was too! (I mean come on, I own the man's parent's commemorative plate for crying out loud!)

But here's the deal, as I sat and watched it this morning, I was totally captivated, the whole thing was absolutely stunning! But really the thing that captured me the most was the service. Really, I'm not kidding. Did you actually watch and listen to the service? It was amazing! Okay, so of course I know for some the service was nothing more than a bunch of memorized lines that they repeat back every week when they go to mass... but that is just sad, because the words were rich and full of depth and beauty! (By the way, did you notice they had a song commissioned just for their wedding ?! That is also pretty rad! But not the most important thing of course!)

Aside from the prayers and reading and vows (not that I am down playing those at all, like I just said, I thought it was amazing) the Bishop of London kind of blew me away with what he had to say! Now of course, I have no insite into the personal nature of Kate and William's relationship with God but seriously, the Bishops words were so powerful! What an amazing charge to the couple as the start their married lives together! Now I know that marriage has been on my mind a lot lately as Adam and I just celebrated our anniversary but even still, I was challenged by the royal wedding and I was not expecting that at all! I expected the whimsy and beauty but conviction from the Holy Spirit through the words of the Bishop of London was not on my list of things to be expected! (I actually started jotting notes as I sat infront of my computer!!!)

(The message starts at 31:40 and go to 38:55, if you want to see it)

Here's some of the gems the Lord got me with as I watched this morning:

* Marriage is intended to help man and woman to become what God ment each one to be, their deepest and their truest selves.
* Spiritual life grows as love finds its center beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of the spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self the richer we become in soul. The more we go beyond ourselves in love the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully reviled. In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life.
*Marriage should transform as husband and wife make one another their work of art.
*There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow.

I was reminded just what a mystery marriage really is and how amazing it is that God lets us be involved in his picture of how Christ relates to the Church.

Christ is loving and wooing us on a daily basis and it is through those things that we really are becoming our truest and deepest selves. Christ is always ready and willing to bring us into a more fuller life. He is transforming us into His work of art so that the Holy Spirit can flow freely in our lives!

It really is so beautiful and so shocking and so humbling.
And I am so glad the whole world got to hear it!

Blessing be upon the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they step into a mystery far beyond themselves!

Elisha

2011-04-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet Elisha friend is having a baby some time on or around the beginning of July and we got to shower her with presents and love this past week while she was down from Seattle for Spring Break!

I really am not trying to look nuts in this picture... but it sure did come across that way!

I kind of went a little overboard while making her gifts ... but I couldn't stop!
Gifts is my love language and I love her a lot!

Diaper Catty with changing pad

Shoes

Bath Towel

Nursing Cover

Burp Clothes

Crinkle toy with Ribbons

Tea Wallet

Swaddle Sheets

I also got to hang out with Gwen and Danielle during the shower which was an added bonus!

Oh and I also won a $10 gift card to Target for making this baby out of a piece of "Bubble Yum" - that was rad!

Happy Baby Shower Elisha!

Happy Spring!

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

This doll was hand-made by me for my favorite little one-year-old girl, who's birthday happens to be on the first day of spring, which just so happens to be TODAY!

(Make your own, here)

Passion

2011-03-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

I was up late, like really late, last saturday. I couldn't sleep. I had A LOT on my mind.
So, I decided to get it out of my head.
I wrote this:

-------------------------
Passion can be so good sometimes, but other times it just keeps me awake at night thinking about all the things I can't change. Things that I know don't please the Lord, things I know that need to be stopped and yet to stand up and say something would be seen as "intolerant" or me being a "crazy hippy" or me "pushing my ideas on people". So many times I just want to scream from the roof tops, "You are believing a Lie!!!!" But I can't because someone might think it was rude. That I was being too "in your face" with my personal opinions.

I hate that I'm seen as way, way, way too liberal by some and then way, way, way too conservative by others. Ya know what? I'm actually trying to live my life according to the Lord's leading and it's changing me, changing me from the inside! But what do I get for it?! I get passion. Passion to stand up for what is the truth. Not the truth according to So-n-so, but the truth, the real, honest to God (because he created it) truth. But what do I do with that truth?

It's so hard to actually follow Jesus. It's actually rather lonely. Sometimes I feel like I would have more friends if I was willing to compromise a little bit more. Other times I feel like I identify so much with John the Baptist because he was seen as a nut case! But really he was a prophet. He saw Jesus and he spoke the truth, a really inconvenient truth.

I feel like Satan has the United States so blinded to the truth that people are calling things that are bad and wrong and down-right evil, good. You would think that as Christians we could see through Satan's lies but often it seems like Christians are just as blinded by them as everyone else. Sometimes even more blinded than the world because Christians say things like, "well, it's in the Bible" or "this is the Lord's will" and they just take the injustice. The Lord's will is never injustice!

I don't have a clue in the world what to do about all this that is brewing inside of me.

For now, I'm just going to try and get some sleep.

But I'm going to seek the Lord, I'm going to seek him hard. I need to know if this is a passion that is of my own strength or if it is a brew that the Lord put there because He has something for me to do beyond stay up to late thinking about what I would say if I got the chance. Maybe He's starting to prepare the way to give me the chance to speak some of this out (or maybe not).

I want so much to please the Lord. I want so much to do His will. But it is so hard when what you are doing, seems so wrong because our world is so screwed up!
---------------------------

Then, the next morning, I hear Buzzy say this at church.

"God wants to take your passion and wrap it in a holy boundary"

I was kind of in shock when I heard that come out of his mouth. I stayed for second service and he said it again! And he said it in the context of a message that was centered around a VERY UNPOPULAR topic, "human trafficking/ slavery".

I was kind of inspired! Maybe the Lord really does have something coming...

Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Chirstmas in March?

2011-03-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

I never shared any of the presents I made for Christmas this last year. What was I thinking?!
I'm sure my dozens and dozens of readers have been anxiously awaiting this post for months

Well, let me begin with the Tea Wallets I made for my girl friends

The first person to correctly name all the teas in the picture gets a free tea wallet!

This tea wallet is "fussy cut" which means I cut the fabric so the pattern lined up exactly. I didn't do this to all the tea wallets I made but I felt the "twall" (or Toile) needed/deserved the "fussy cut."

Here's the Christmas ornament for my book club's ornament exchange

Super cute aprons (I wanted to keep) that I made for my Mom and Mother-in-Law

I made this for the family

but really just for me because Adam and Bennett don't care that much

I made really, really cute aprons for my nieces but I only took pictures of the embroidery on the ties, opps!

This sweet little girl got an ice cream cone for Christmas

My Brother and Sister-in-Law got some (dare i say, awesome) coasters I decoupaged (well only 4 are decoupaged, the other 4 are actually really pretty and normal)

And then actually there were two "paying gigs" that came just after Christmas that I want to share too, bare with me!

The first was for a nursing cover (not pictured) but I did use the scraps from said nursing cover to make an crinkle toy that matched.

The camping fabric she picked out was really cute and cheerful!

The second was a project Adam and I worked on together.

Isn't it amazing?! I love it!

What's Cook'n Good Look'n?!

2011-03-01T23:36:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share this awesome project i made for a 3 year old girls Birthday party

Soooo fun to make! And so easy too!

Birthday Shirt

2011-02-24T23:17:00.000-08:00

So, we are poor, dirt poor right now, but I wanted my boy to have a new shirt for his birthday so this is what I came up with.

First, I went to Bennett's closet to find a shirt that had no designs on it. It was pretty easy since there was only one.

Next, I went to my desk to look at what color felt I had. Green left over for Christmas projects and white left over from his birthday last year.

I had in my mind what I wanted the stitching to look like but I didn't know how to do it or what it was called to look up a tutorial online. So my lovely husband had me draw for him what the stitch looked like and he found it for me online, it's called a Blanket Stitch!

So, using left over embroidery thread, I stitched the "two" onto the circle and then pinned the circle onto the shirt and stitched that on and then "TA-DAH", one stinking cute two-shirt just hours before his second birthday!

He looked pretty handsome I must say!

Bennett's Birth Story

2011-02-22T00:27:00.000-08:00

I never posted this anywhere and only shared it with a few people, but I re-read it just now as I was up and sleepless and thought that in honor of my son's second birthday today I would share it.

CAUTION: this is a real birth story written by my dula, if you don't want the yucky details click here and just look at the cute pictures of Bennett's first two years of life.

The Birth of Bennett Michael Elwer February 22, 2009

Bennett was born to Adam and Sarah Elwer early on a Sunday morning - so early they could have made it to church service, had they not been otherwise diverted. Bennettʼs birth and life in the womb represent a segment of time fairly bursting forth with the Fruit of the Spirit.

The Elwers discovered they were pregnant in late spring of 2008 (thatʼs just a portion of the love and joy), and Sarah was given the due date of February 6, 2009. This was a date she held to loosely as she nurtured her unborn baby. In the beginning she did not know how loosely she would indeed need to hold it - ah, patience.

As Adam and Sarah waited for the arrival of Baby Elwer they chose to take Bradley classes so that they could be educated about making great birth choices. During these classes the teacher inquired if the Elwers knew the position of their baby - they did not. At Sarahʼs next appointment she asked her doctor and discovered that her baby was in a transverse position.

At this point there was plenty of time for the baby to move - but move the baby must to be delivered naturally. Through the next few weeks Sarah asked for prayer for the babyʼs position. She had peace that God would do what was best for her baby. With her due date approaching and the knowledge that a transverse baby must be delivered by c-section, Sarah waited and trusted and did all that was in her power to help baby Elwer turn.

The time had come for the doctor to make a decision - she decided to schedule Sarah for a version with the possibility of a c-section. But God had a better plan, the baby turned! There was cause for much rejoicing. While Sarah reveled in the goodness of God to move on her behalf she kept patiently waiting for labor to come. And there was much waiting to be endured.

In the course of the waiting there came another turning of the baby- to breech. Back to the c-section schedule and back to prayer! Sarah and Adam were utterly dependent upon the hand of God and His perfect timing. It was during an appointment to check the position of the baby that the synchronicity of Godʼs timing was made evident. Walking into the ultrasound room Sarah was not confident of the babyʼs position, walking out she rejoiced that once again God had helped to shift the baby just in time to satisfy the doctor. Yet another cancellation on the c-section schedule, but now came the knowledge that the doctor felt it best to induce labor.

As they contemplated induction Adam and Sarah prayed and sought wisdom and counsel. They were granted their request to wait as long as the doctor felt allowable while hoping that Sarah would begin labor on her own if given enough time. Thepatience to wait at 40 weeks, 41 weeks, 42 weeks is not in many women today, but it is in Sarah.

At last the doctor felt that she could safely wait no longer for Sarah to spontaneously go into labor. An induction date was set. It passed by - there was no bed at the hospital for her. Finally, on Saturday morning (February 21), while out on a walk, Sarah received word that there was a bed for her. Off to the hospital they went at about 11:00.

The lovely nurses helped Sarah to get comfortable and communicated the doctorʼs induction plans. These plans required some willing compromise for Adam and Sarah, but seemed necessary. At 11:50 am, the nurseʼs exam revealed that Sarahʼs cervix was 1 cm dilated and soft. She was then monitored for an hour, during which time we could see evidence of early labor with 3-4 contractions in that hour.

At 12:45 pm, Sarah bravely had her IV placed. 1:00 pm brought the insertion of cytotec to hopefully bring on labor. This intervention required Sarah to remain in bed for a time, but it worked! Contractions began in earnest and by 4:23 pm she had dilated to 3 cm. The doctor was pleased and ordered the pitotcin to produce more productive contractions. Sarah watched Emma, enjoyed a lollypop, and applied some chapstick.

During the next few hours life became a vast deal more serious. Emma was abandoned, half eaten suckers cast aside, and all that Adam and Sarah learned in class was employed. Relaxation was encouraged, massage and counter pressure applied, soothing words spoken. Sarahʼs labor progressed steadily: by 8:50 pm the nurse reported that her cervix was 6 cm (though she could stretch it to 8 cm), the babyʼs head was at -1 station and there was bloody show. Hooray for progress.

In the next few hours the gentleness of Adam and Sarahʼs love for each other was evident. Adam breathed with Sarah, stroked her, encouraged her. Sarah faithfully pressed on performing the biggest work of her life. At 10:50 pm Sarah was 9 cm, 0 station with the babyʼs head engaged. The joy of progress was acknowledged alongside the toil of what lay ahead. Sarah never wavered in her desire to avoid pain medication, she only asked us to help her and to pray for her.

(On an “only Adam” note there was a point at which I recognized the smell of impending childbirth. I donʼt know how to describe it, but I have experienced it at other births and merely made a mental note of progress. A few minutes later, Adam sniffed and communicated a questioning look to me. Mr. Super-Sense-of-Smell knew that there was a change in the state of his wifeʼs body with just a little sniff.)

Nurse Angie came in quietly and often to assess labor all the while praising Sarahʼs natural management of the pitocin intensified contractions. By 12:10 am, Sarah was complete. After a couple of pushes Angie asked if Sarah would consider having the doctor break her membranes so that she wasnʼt pushing against a pocket of water. Sarah agreed, but before the doctor could arrive to complete the task it broke spontaneously with the next push. Some meconium was present in the water.

It took a few contractions for Sarah to coordinate her pushing efforts, but she finally found success. At 12:45 am she delivered and the baby was placed on her chest. The attendants had been reminded that Adam desired to discover and communicate the babyʼs gender to Sarah. He lovingly announced to Sarah, “We have a son.”

After a few moments the baby was weighed, measured and suctioned to clear his lungs of any residual meconium. Bennett Michael Elwer weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and his length was 20 and 3/4 inches. His APGAR scores were 9 and 9, and he was ready to nurse right away. During this time Dr. Lineback assessed the repair work that Sarah would need and determined that it could wait as she needed to deliver a baby in the next room.

Sarah, Adam, and Bennett enjoyed a golden 90 minutes together. There was skin to skin contact all around! Bennett nursed well, Sarah drank her juice, and Adam made a few phone calls. When Dr. Lineback returned to begin suturing she communicated to Sarah the intensity of the damage as Bennett had been born with a compound presentation (hands up by his face) which caused serious tearing within. The doctor offered her the option to be repaired in the OR under anesthesia, as the pain was incredibly intense.

With a little encouragement Sarah chose this option. At about 2:30 am she was moved to the OR, and Bennett and his daddy headed to the nursery. While waiting for Sarah, Nurse Angie commented that all of the nurses were impressed by Sarahʼs control. She said many women say they want natural childbirth even with pitocin, but the few who make it through without an epidural are mean and nasty. Angie and all the nurses were so impressed that Sarah maintained her control all the way through.

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

Projects in January

2011-02-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

I made a Super Hero Cape for a second birthday!

It was the cutest thing!

I am totally making more!

I also made my first set of cloth napkins!

I kind of love them!

Like I love them so much I don't know if I want to give them to the person I made them for!

The Lord is for me!

2011-01-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

If you had asked me last week if the Lord was for me, I woud have said, "Yes, of course."

But yesterday I was doing my study in Beth Moore's "Stepping up" and I read this in week 2, day 5:

I'd like to suggest that in our humanity we tend to determine whether God is against us, for us, or tolerating us based on how He appears to act in our circumstances.

Oh gosh... so when my husband has gout and my bank account has $29 in it I'm supposed to believe that God is FOR me?!

I'm not gonna lie, that's not where my thought process goes first!

I mean if God was really FOR me wouldn't my life be great and my car be brand new and my body look fantastic and my husband be in perfect health and my son NEVER throw a fit anywhere, ever! Right? Right!

But that's not the way it is, and it's probably not the way it's ever going to be.

But why?! (Why can't I just name it and claim it?!)

Well, here's what Beth had to say about that:

He knows when something glorious in the future necessitates something difficult in the present because He knows the glory will be worth it, God will risk being misunderstood. Yes, God wants us to have joyful, satisfying lives, but He also wants us to have crowns to cast. Rewards to receive. Character to develop. Compassion to give.

Okay, well there you have it.

I can't argue with that, at all.

So, I can still pray for my husbands health and I can use the money we have to the best I know how and I can also choose to believe that the Lord really is for me!

Even when things don't look so good and I have no clue what is coming, I can stand in knowing that the Lord is growing me.

Circumstances can be deceiving.

I am so thankful for such a clear and basic truth to be at the forefront of my mind now - GOD REALLY IS FOR ME, no matter what my circumstances look like!

New

2011-01-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

Honesty is not inconsistent with worship

I don't know where I'm headed in all this newness of the new year but I heard a very wise woman say this:

In God's economy the way up is down

Am I really a blogger?

2010-06-08T00:22:00.000-07:00

So, it's the middle of the night, there are seemingly 50 dogs outside my bedroom window barking back and fourth at each other and I have two legs that are aching like crazy and keeping me awake. My sweet son and husband are knocked out cold, I wish I was too, but instead I am left with my thoughts.

My thoughts turned to blogging. I love blogging. I think it's fun. I like reading about people who don't live close anymore (or people who live right down the street - you know how it is). But I'm just not sure I have anything to write about that is worth reading. I mean really, how many pictures of B can I post? So all that to say, I'm not sure if I am actually a blogger. Maybe I'm just a narcissist with a website.

I was told once that i don't update enough. I can't argue with that. But that comment left me to wonder how is it that the "real" bloggers have the time to update every day or so? Do they have dirty dishes ever? Laundry to fold? Kids who get sick? Husbands who need food? Do bloggers sleep? (Notice how the only time I've blogged in the last 3 weeks is on the night I can't sleep... coincidence? ) Do bloggers have their friends over or spend an afternoon outside in the pool?

I think about blogging all the time. I think about it as I slip those bright yellow gloves on to tackle a pile of dishes from the night before. I think about it as I'm hanging diapers on the line or switching clothes from the washer to the drier. I think of cute little witty blogs as I am vacuuming the living room and scraping steel cut oats off the floor under my son's high chair. But then I think, "Should I be blogging while my house sits in filth? Is blogging being a good steward of my time and energy?"

I still don't know the answers to those questions. If you have any thoughts on them I would love to hear them. I need a little help on figuring out this whole "spending my time wisely" thing. There is ALWAYS something else I could be doing (sewing projects from before my son was born, a scrap book that is 2 years behind, dishes, laundry, etc. ...) but I enjoy blogging. What is to be said for that? The fact that I enjoy it should give it some sort of merit, right? I don't know. Sometimes sin can be enjoyable, right? Sin seems fun for a season but then it always ends up getting you in the end. (Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way saying blogging is sinful... I'm just sharing my thoughts and I always am harder on myself than I am on anyone else, always.)

My legs still hurt, but the dogs are quiet now and my mind has released all the blog thinking it was doing. I think I'll try to sleep.

And maybe I'll post a blog tomorrow. Maybe.

I Just Have To Do It....

2010-03-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

... I just have to write a blog devoted to my husband!

He has been blessing me so much lately, I just have to share some of the great things he's been up to!

Starting off, we were at Winter Camp over Valentine's Day, so one week after Valentine's he took me for a surprise breakfast at Flour Fusion! First off, I love going to breakfast! And i love a good surprise (and yes, there is such thing as a bad surprise) but I am very sneaky, so rarely am I actually completely surprised! But he pulled it off, and I was totally surprised! Anyways, back to Flour Fusion, if you don't know this place you MUST go there soon! It is the absolute best bakery (and lunch location) ever!

So, a little background story ... for a few months now I have been longing for a "Triple Cream Basket" after reading about them on my friend's blog and hearing about them from some other friends. The thing is, they only make a few every day and thus they are usually gone very quickly. (I contemplated moving back to Elsinore to be closer to the bakery so I could get one of these babies!) So, knowing all this, my sweet husband calls and reserves us each a Triple Cream Basket and they had them hot and ready waiting for us when we got there!

Look at the goodness! It's basically Creme Brule`e wrapped in yummy pasty! It is amazing!

Here we each are enjoying our lovely morning!

Next sweet thing my husband did .... he built me this:

Isn't it amazing?! I love it and need it so much! As you can see I have not fully "moved in" to it yet, but I am working on it and look forward to the day when my desk is 100% organized and I can start my own etsy store or something... yeah right, like that's going to happen any time soon!

Lastly, I just need to add how much he blessed me on International Woman's Day! For those of you who don't know, Woman's Day is a real holiday and it is celebrated all over the world on March 8th (I discovered this while living in Russia, I literally had complete strangers hanging me flowers and congratulating me on being a woman! It was awesome!) Well, this year (I believe it is the first ever) he celebrated it and got me the sweetest gift! He got me a Big gardening hat, organic chemical free soil and a tomato plant! He said that he wanted to nurture the part of me that wants to bring life to people and things (How sweet is that?! Don't you just love him!)

So, here's few pictures from that whole thing, I went out to plant it right away! (I started out calling my plant Bob - you know, for Bob the tomato from Veggie Tales, but I think "Planty" has actually become it's name)

Okay, so that's all, I just wanted to share how blessed I have been by my husband recently.

(Stop by his blog and share some blog love with him too!)

If you are anything like me...

2010-03-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

... you have been going to a ton of baby showers lately!

And if you are anything like me... the family budget doesn't have any extra "shower" money in it right now! So, I thought I would share some of my solutions with you!

In the past I blogged about the bath towels I make. Those are always a big hit at any baby shower (especially if you include a little rubber duck or something small like that with them) but since I just linked you to them there is no need to re-blog those babies! Moving on...

The Pacifier Pouch!

I seriously made this out of two scraps I got from the scrap bin at the Quilters Coop in Temecula (along with a little iron on vinyl to make the inside waterproof)! It was so easy and so so so cute! You don't have to include the clip, but I decided to because it just kind of completed the gift (the new mom doesn't need to go out looking for one now!)

The Travel Wipe Cover!

This is just a necessity so why not make it beautiful! I used about half of a "fat quarter", some spray adhesive, and ribbon and a hot glue gun - that simple! (and oh so cute!)

The Nursing Cover (aka: The Snack Shack)
So this one... well I'm not sure if it's cheating or just being really smart but I borrowed my friends "real" one and just measured it and copied it exactly! I went and got boning and "D" rings at JoAnn's and bought a white wash cloth in a big multi-pack on sale at Target (I figured I would me making more or these at some point). I lined both sides so that it was nice and pretty as well as just a little bit thinker to avoid sun light shinning through.

This is a gift best for first time mom's, as a second time mom probably already has one of these (unless they didn't nurse with previous babies and then by all means - bless them with one of these for their awesome choice to nurse their newest bundle!)

The Baby Wrap!

I toyed with making a sling, but after asking the mother I was going to give this to what she would prefer, I decided to brave the wrap - and man am I glad I tried! I loved it! This gift "streached" me the furthest in my sewing skills (which is great)! I had to get special needles and string and learn a few new stitches on my machine, but I was so happy with the result because I basically made a "Moby Wrap" which is amazing! It really is just a giant piece of material with a little bit of stretch in it. I just hemmed the edges and reinforced the middle seem right where the baby is going to be. (This young lady was very happy in the wrap I made for her new cousin)

Burp Clothes!

I found a 6 pack of good old fashioned cloth diapers at Babies-R-Us and bought some super cute flannel and then - TaDa - some the cutest and most absorbent burp clothes you will ever find! (and six of them is just about enough to get you through one day!)

Happy Baby Showering!

My First First Birthday Party!

2010-03-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

After attending a shower for my bestest friend Katie that was thrown by a master party planner I was totally inspired! (Take a look at this amazing shower here - Seriously, can you believe how cute that was?!) Anyways, like I was saying, I got inspired! I wanted to actually pull something together for Bennett that was both homemade (read: inexpensive) and beautiful (not girly of course) but not over the top (read: I was not getting a jolly jump or petting zoo!) .

So I set out on a quest... a first birthday quest... my mind instantly jumped to one of my favorite bloggers Katrina and her son's recent 1st birthday party! Not wanting to completely copy her entire party of course, I wrote her and asked her if I had permission to copy just one aspect of her party - the adorable shirt she made for her son! Well, she wrote me back (almost instantly, I was rather impressed actually) and let me in on her secret: Etsy! She said she had just gone onto etsy.com and looked at what people were selling for 1st birthday party items and them just made them herself! HELLO?! Such A Good Idea!

So, needless to say, I was on etsy in like 5 seconds (good thing the web address is short) and had so much fun looking at all the ideas! I couldn't even believe some of the stuff I found! Like this, and this and this! Oh man I love that website!

After my cuteness overload - I had to refocus - I knew what colors I wanted to stick with since they were on the invitation: Bright Green, Navy Blue and White.

So, I was off to JoAnn's that night (husband in tow of course) and came home with some great stuff for about $20 (AWESOME!)

I only remembered to take pictures of one project - can you say rushing to get them all done in like a week?! YEAH - well, no one's perfect!

Project #1, the flags: This project took a lot of pinning (two pins per flag) and a lot of sewing. But I wouldn't change it for anything! I loved the way the finished product looked!

I used simple household twine for the "rope"
The little flags turned out pretty awesome and even thought they weren't hanging from the big pepper tree like I had imagined, they still looked great in the Prior's family room and kitchen!
Next project: Birthday Banner - should have been hanging off the side of the barn all attached to the same piece of string - but still, very cute! (thanks to my husband's great idea of how to hang these!)

Again, because it was planned as an outside party, I had this great idea to decorate with Bennett's favorite toys so when it came to a "drink bucket" I thought his little red wagon would be perfect! It did look very cute full of juice boxes and water bottles - but word to the wise: don't use your son's favorite toy and tell him he can't touch it! He spent much of the party trying to empty out the wagon and get in! (Oh well, you live and learn)

The desserts were not my doing! I mean I thought up how I wanted it to look and such, but I must give credit where credit is due - my mom and soon to be sister in law made all the cupcakes (both kinds) - thank you both so much!

We went with carrot cake as a good middle of the road, not too much sugar and still yummy option for the day. The "adults" got my mom's fabulous carrot cake recipe turned into cupcakes and the kids got a recipe I found online that actually wasn't that bad at all (I would use it again for sure!) and it contained no white sugar or flour! Oh and then sort of last minute I made a huge batch of ginger cookies because they are my husband's favorite and they are always hugely popular and well, I was worried we wouldn't have enough dessert. Funny thing is, all the cookies were gone and we had left over cupcakes!

One of my favorite things I saw on etsy was the circle garland with the little boys pictures on them. Well, as those of you who scrap book know, that garland would not be cheep with the amount of paper and ribbon you needed to buy for it - so here's what I did! I bought white poster board and used left over paint from Bennett's walls and painted poster board circles. Once dry I (actually Adam did this part for me) used spray adhesive to attach Bennett heads to the circles and we staggered them, green circle, white circle, green circle ... Now of course, these were supposed to be hanging from the big pepper tree in the back yard, but still, they looked super cute and people really enjoyed looking at the whole year of Bennett as the pictures spun around through out the afternoon.

I didn't end up making Bennett's birthday shirt - which is funny because it was the only project I set out on really doing! Thanks to Kohl's and the always fabulous "Carter" brand for choosing my exact color scheme for the party, we went with this:

As for the high chair decorations, I went with what would help me be the most relaxed! I knew that if I spent the time to make some sort of decoration like I saw on etsy and then Bennett reached over and pulled it off with his messy frosting hands I would be less than lovely to my son ("No, NO, No!!!" I can just hear me now on the video!) and I didn't want that. So, I only decorated with a balloon - I still think it looks cute!

The only "game" we had was a craft table where we asked people to make Bennett a birthday card and write a blessing for him on a future birthday. It was a big hit and we got cards up into his 20's as well as a card for his 40th and 41st birthdays!

Lastly, the party favors! I had them all in a basket (actually, it was the basket Adam and I had at our wedding on the present table for cards) and as the party drew to a close I tied a balloon on to each one and sent them on their way (less clean up and what kid doesn't love taking home a balloon?!)
(My sweet neighbor holding all the balloons with the basket in the background on the end table)
Each bag had a Kazoo and a Harmonica (blue and bright green of course - we cleaned party city in Temecula out of their green favors - sorry!) because they were the right color and Bennett's recent love of the Kazoo!

I think that is about it, other than the food. The food was simple, I'm sure you saw it in some of the pictures anyways, just snacks, we didn't serve a meal, we just made sure that it was all stuff that we would be okay with Bennett eating if he went to a birthday party (you know, do unto others as you would have them do unto you)

I had a super lot of fun with this party and I am defiantly looking forward to throwing some great one's in the future! Thanks again Alli and Katrina for getting me thinking in the right direction!

Martha Does Hanukkah!

2009-12-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I hosted a table at my churches annual Ladies Dessert Night. Seeing as how we have no extra money right now and my china is blue, I went with what I had and made a Hanukkah themed table!

Well, my good neighbor (and creative mastermind behind most things crafty that I do) gets Martha Stewart Living and she knew I was doing a Hanukkah table and showed me just what Miss Martha had going on her Hanukkah table! Thus with the help of Crystal-Lee and my mom, two projects were born out of the cuteness found in the December 2009 issue of Martha Stewart Living!

First Project: Chocolate Dreidels

These were so easy and cute!

Melt some chocolate, dip the bottom of the kiss in the melted chocolate and stick it to the marshmallow. Wait about 2 min for that to harden and then stick a pretzel stick in the other end.

After that you can start dipping the little beauties into the melted chocolate and laying them on wax paper to harden.
Then you make some frosting that will get hard (we used royal icing) put it in a piping bag, put the symbols on and you have the cutest little dreidel / place card that there ever was!

Second Project: Star of David Candle Wraps
(FYI: My fingers were kind of bruised the next morning after doing these all in one sitting. I would recommend spacing this project out over a few days)

Martha, the generous woman that she is, put the templates for these little beauties on her website, so I just printed them out, used some navy blue paper my mother-in-law so graciously picked up for me, cut the paper to the height of the candle and started punching little baby holes with the sewing pins

800 hours and one badly bruised finger later, I had the most beautiful candles ever! (Even with the hurt finger, I would totally do it again - I LOVE them!)

Dinner? What? You want me to make dinner?

2009-10-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

Okay, so lets just say I'm a bit spoiled with having a husband who likes to cook!

However, said husband has been rather ill lately and all of a sudden I'm trying to think up dinner ideas at 5pm when I realize that he is not going to be able to get up and make something! (I know, like I said, I'm rather spoiled in this area)

Well, here's what I found:

SUPERCOOK.COM

This website is a miracle! I have used it this past week and so far I have found two fabulous recipes by just typing in the things I have in my house. But my favorite part of the site is the section below there you type in the food you have. This section, titled "Do you have..." show suggestions and you just click on things to add them to your list of ingredients. Stuff like butter and garlic and olive oil, things that I have but that I would forget to put on a list of ingredients.

So all that being said, I love this website and here's the links to the two fabulous recipes I found.

Baked Chicken with potatoes and rosemary (I added onions and carrots and it was great!)

Curry Chicken (I made brown rice and zucchini to go with it and it was awesome!)

I hope you enjoy the website as much as I have! Happy cooking!

Flourishing?

2009-09-02T19:56:00.000-07:00

Flourish:

1) to be in a vigorous state; thrive

2) to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.

3) to be successful; prosper.

4) to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.

5) to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.

So I've been thinking about this word.

A lot.

I think, "Am I flourishing?" Do I want to be flourishing? I'm defiantly not flourishing financially right now. Is that okay? What about spiritually? Am I flourishing spiritually? Do I even want to flourish spiritually? What will that look like? Will I look like a freaky church person with lame t-shirts?

Flourishing requires health and a lot of it. Health that sometimes I don't know that I possess on my own.

The picture above is of a plant I received as a house warming gift when Adam and I moved last summer. I took this picture a week ago. These are the first two flowers (of many more to come as you can see) to bloom after literally coming back from the dead! This plant was dead - I mean dead, dead! I truthfully thought a weed was starting to grow in the pot. But nope it was the plant coming back. At the end of July I left the plant for 5 days with no water, I thought I had killed it for sure that time - apparently not. The plant kept growing and these sweet little blooms opened up!

Things that are dead don't produce. Things that aren't healthy don't produce. Malnourished plants might be green, but they will never produce a thing. It's only things that are thriving (or flourishing) that are healthy enough to produce fruit or flowers.

So of course as I think of the word "flourish" i think about what I'm producing. What I'm doing with my life. What I'm doing for God. And then it hit me, plants don't will themselves healthy. Plants don't decided to produce, it just happens. As a natural outpouring of health. And sometimes that health doesn't even come from a person caring for the plant, sometimes health is truly an unexpected miracle from God that we can take no credit for. None whatsoever.

I'm reading a book right now that is dealing with how you respond when you are offended. I'm realizing I have no choice in how I respond. It's a natural outpouring just like those two little blossoms. I can not will myself to respond differently just as that plant could not will itself to produce flowers.

How I respond to offence is a picture of my health.

Any health I have is not because I willed myself healthy. Any health I have is a miracle from God.

_______________

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord

shall flourish in the courts of our God.

Psalms 92:13

Simplicity

2009-07-23T14:06:00.001-07:00

In the hustle of today this caught my eye... there is something strangely beautiful about it.

I might complain sometimes, but I do love my life.

Experiments in Sewing!

2009-06-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

At my baby shower I was given a hand made "Hoodie" towel that I thought was the cutest thing ever! Well, this past weekend I had two baby showers to go to and not a whole lot of money so I thought - Why not try to make these fabulous hoodie towels myself?!

So, I went to Ross, got bath towels and wash clothes and ... TaDa!

Look what I made:

The first one was for my friend Maggie (she's having a girl) and the second one is for my friend Erica (she has decided to not find out the sex of her baby until after it is born).

I didn't take step by step pictures (maybe I will next time) but it was really, really easy! As you can see, you don't have to have a matching wash cloth and towel because it can be super cute to mix and match. I got these towels at Ross (I was so surprised at the selection and quality that was there - I will defiantly go back!) and the ribbon and buttons at Jo Ann's.

So, anyways, nothing very deep or insightful here, but I was just very proud of what I made and wanted to share.

Saved by the Bell Reunion?

2009-06-09T15:19:00.000-07:00

Be still my teenage heart, it's Zach Morris!

Is it lame that I actually got excited about this?!

Crafty Mamma!

2009-05-18T12:19:00.000-07:00

So, first off, this was not an original idea! I stole it from my friend - but she doesn't blog and this would not be a big deal for her because this is common place to her because she is Martha Stewart (minus the jail thing). That said, look what I made today!

I know, the priorities of a stay at home mom... but still I am very proud!

In an attempt to be more "green" and wise with my money (for mentioned friend is the "greenest" person I know - she inspires me to be more crafty and more green!) I decided to not buy more fancy soap from Bath and Body Works and just buy a big refill thing. Well, I bought just plain old Dial and it didn't match the B&B container with it's pretty picture on the front (I know, lame, but it was actually bothering me) and it kind of felt like lying to put plain old Dial in a soap dispenser with some fancy scent name on the front of it - you know? So, inspired by my friend "Martha" I decided to use left over birth announcement paper and left over ribbon from sewing Bennett's crib bedding and make a cover for my soap dispenser that could be used over and over again!

I'm trying to think what I can cover my other two soap dispensers with - I'm thinking Christmas paper and some other fun print to be used during certain times of the year! (Again, "Martha"'s idea, she has a Christmas covered soap dispenser too)

Double Tagged!

2009-05-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

So I got tagged by Katrina and Alison so I figure I should do it! :)

8 things I did yesterday:
*Shave my legs while the baby was sleeping
*Have Shayne, Cassie and Gunner over to have lunch and play!
*Hang diapers out on my brand new clothes line and be amazed at the bleaching power of the sun!
*Put my son in his new sunglasses for the first time - too cute!
*Run errands with my husband
*Watch the Office
*Made a big yummy salad that I had for both lunch and dinner
*Watched the season finale of Private Practice online and was so sick to my stomach by the ending I can't ever watch that horrible show again - thus I will not list it below :)

8 Shows I watch: (all because of Hulu.com and ABC.com - We don't even have TV!)
*House
*Dancing with the Stars
*The Colbert Report
*The Office
*The Biggest Loser
*Kings
*Samantha Who?
*Grey's Anatomy (Not proud of that one - I should have stopped a long time ago!)

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
*My mom coming over so that I can get some transcription done
*Meeting all my friends baby's - it seems like everyone is pregnant right now!
*Paying of the Subaru
*Losing all my baby weight and being able to put on all my old clothes!
*Going to God Chicks in June
*Being a Mother on Mother's Day (I wasn't even pregnant last year on Mother's day!)
*Having more kids - not any time soon, but I am looking forward to it someday.
*Adam being off from teaching for the summer!

8 Things I wish I could do:
*Sew like Shayne
*Find the time to scrapbook (I know it's lame but I really do enjoy it)
*Read more classics (I feel it would make me a more well rounded person for some reason)
*Understand politics
*Take pictures professionally (you know, for my art show "Up and Over")
*Be able to live close to Rachel while she is pregnant (and well, I would like to live close to her all the time for that matter - but especially right now)
* Run. I know it would be so good for me - but i just hate it!
*Have people over for tea once a week (sometimes you just need to drink out of a tea cup!)

8 more people to tag:
*not
*tagging,
*but
*feel
*free
*to
*do
*it! :)

RIght now...

2009-05-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

Right now it's 11:30.

Right now I just got a shower and sat down to post a blog about Bennett.

Right now I remembered that I was tagged in a friend's blog to take a picture of myself... right now.

So, here's me, right now:

So, I realize I sort of cheated, the rules are to take a picture right then and there when you see that you've been tagged, but in all fairness I don't have a camera on my computer thus I could not. But trust me, I didn't prep for the picture, unless you count taking a shower and putting on a clean set of PJ's. It's routine now, Bennett's asleep and the first thing I do is shower, then go online. I have found myself shower-less if I do those two things in reverse.

So, this is me right now, about to go down stairs and get the clothes out of the drier that I left in there last night and start a new load of jeans and hopefully I might even be able to make myself a sandwich before the little man wakes up - what about you?

Cassie, Shayne, Alison, Alicia, and Erica, take a picture of yourself right now, just as you are in all your "Mommy" glory and tell us all what you are doing right now.

Oh my goodness...

2008-12-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

I have 10 weeks left in my pregnancy and I was thinking, "I wonder how much bigger I will get in 10 weeks?"

So I looked at my picture from 10 weeks earlier (I don't really even look pregnant):
And then here I am 10 weeks later - defiantly pregnant!
A lot can change in 10 weeks - I can't even imagine how much bigger i will get!

2008-11-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

Just an update on how I'm feeling:

Me... a morning person???!!!

2008-10-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

It just might be the case! The last two mornings I have taken walks from 7 to 7:30 and I think I am kind of in love with this little "tradition". It gets me going and I don't have the "lazy morning" issues that I always seem to struggle with, like wasting time online or just not getting out of bed. I have even put make-up on, me the person who claims to not have time for make-up is now putting in on because she is getting so much done after her walk! It's fabulous! Apart from those benefits, these walks are also just beautiful. I took the above picture this morning at the top of the hill by my house - Murrieta looks so nice from up there. I have also been trying to make an effort to be praying during these walks. The first morning I was just overwhelmed with the goodness of God and how he really does have everything in his hands. Today I just came home calm, like real peace. It's great and seems good and healthy to start one's day with a morning constitutional.

Tagged by Andy

2008-10-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

So, I got tagged by my friend Andy and I supposed to write 6 random things about myself and then tag 6 more people to do the same... here it goes:

1. I have serious issues with injustice! When a movie is centered around some sort of unjust situation concerning the main character I sort of have this uncontrollable rage that wells up in me, usually resulting in tears or telling my husband I want to turn the movie off. Examples of such movies include but are not limited to: The Terminal, Meet the Parents, Enemy of the State and Anger Management.

2. When I have down time or I'm sick in bed all I want to do is read US Magazine or read books by a Christian Chic-lit author, Kristin Billerbeck . I thought I had more substance than that.

3. I have watched all 10 seasons of Stargate and all 3 movies. I love them all and can tell you in detail what happened during all of them. However, I stand firmly by the fact that I do not like Sci-fi - go figure. (I also have NEVER seen an episode of Stargate Atlantis)

4. I really, really love Church History. Seriously, if I got the chance to write a church history text book I would be a happy woman! Just think of the amount of time I would have to spend in order to study for such a task - it's sounds wonderful!

5. I miss film. Don't get me wrong, my digital camera is wonderful, but I just miss film. Mostly because I miss the need for people to actually have photography skills and talent to take a good picture instead of needing Photoshop skills to make their average picture worth looking at.

6. More and more everyday I'm becoming okay with the thought of "turning into my mom". Most people say the the phrase "I'm turing into my mother" in a negative way, but I'm actually starting to respect the things I used to think made her "uncool" when I was younger.

So, that's about as random as I get, at least it's what I can think up as of right now.

Now to tag 6 people to keep this going... How about: Danielle, Erica, Shayne, Allison, Hillary and Becky.

Miracles

2008-10-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

So I was reading a friends blog this morning and she was talking about miracles - and one in particular, the miracle of children. And I suddenly felt so selfish...

You see, this friend of mine she has one son and she has been trying for a second child for some time now, but still nothing. And she wrote - "I didn't realize that I already had gotten one miracle. And that that may be it for my reproductive system in this life." it hit me... this could be it for me too! I mean not in a dooms day kind of way and I'm not trying to be pessimistic but it actually was just kind of a wake up call from the Lord to my heart. It was as if he was saying, "Sarah! Wake up! You are a walking, breathing miracle right now! You are giving life - 24 hours a day - you and me, girl, we're making a miracle!" GOD IS WORKING A MIRACLE IN ME, in my actual body and I spend my days thinking about when I will be able to fit back in my old clothes and how I hate the fact that I'm getting a double chin - yikes! Not okay!

So, I'm changing my perspective, I have to. What baby, what creation from heaven, deserves to come into the world, into a house and family who already sees them as the cause of weight gain and the cause of this and that.... NO! This little man or woman is a miracle and it is welcome to move and stretch and hic-up it's way along because the Lord has seen fit to entrust this little miracle to Adam and I and we can do nothing but praise him for the work that he is doing!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you." - Psalm 139: 13-18

Hot Chicks?

2008-09-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I was lucky enough not to attend anything called "Hot Chicks" - that was just the nick-name we gave it! The conference I attended was actually called "God Chicks" and it far exceeded my expectations of going to the "Hannah Montana Women's Conference" that I thought I was going to.

At first I was worried when I walked in and saw the lights and then watched a song from High School Musical 2 be preformed (as can be seen below)

Knowing my attitude at that point and I knowing I could have just sat there and judged the whole thing instead of listening, I told the Lord - "If you want me to learn something this weekend, I'm open..." But I was still thinking "How can the Lord teach me something through all this fluff?!" Ha ha ha - boy was I wrong! I think I just couldn't see the amazingness of it because I had been involved in so much boring and un - carnational ministry that this fun and truly in-carnational ministry seemed wrong to me. I realized I had an impression of women's ministry as having to be very serious to have any good, Godly and intellectually challenging content at all! And Praise the Lord he showed me otherwise! I ended up having a really, really fun time AND learning and soaking in some amazing teaching and wisdom! I even bought a book written by one of the speakers, Lisa Bevere, and I am super excited to get started on it:

So, what did I learn this weekend? Two things - The importance of generational ministry and the importance of unity in the Church. Which is interesting, because they are so closely related - interesting how God does that - huh?! These points were both spoken about as well as lived out through the time I spent with the girls from church. We had a really great afternoon of lunch and window shopping and free coffee and great conversation! It's one thing to hear a woman talk about unity from the stage but then to go see the need for it played out through the lives of women you know, but don't really "know" due to a lack of unity!

And here's the part that will make my mother cry at just the thought of what I'm about to write - I have always said that I would never get a tattoo because I have never found anything that I would want written on me forever! But then this weekend I did! I DID NOT GET A TATTOO, but I did just officially find something that I would be fine with having on my until the day I die. It's a portion of Isaiah 6:8 as pictured below:

So, while I would not get a tattoo that looks just like that one there (it's too big) I really would consider getting it but written in it's original Hebrew (which just so happens to be 5 letters and could totally be covered by a chunky bracelet or a watch, when necessary).

Here's my thought behind getting it - I have always loved that story and always felt really personally connected to it for some reason. Then when I was thinking about the permanence of it I was actually rather convicted with the thought that if there was ever a point I wanted it removed, it would be a bigger problem then just having ink on my skin, it would represent a change in my willingness to serve the Lord and be used by him for his work - that being a point I would never want to get to.

No final decision has been made on the getting or not getting of said tattoo and I would for sure wait until after the baby was born - but all this is just to say, I have finally found something that has the meaning and depth that could be attached to me for the rest of my life - so we shall see if it happens...

Travel Lust...

2008-07-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's funny how it can set in in only a matter of minutes... take the time to watch all three, they are actually really inspiring (or at least they were to me)!

That's what you get for praying...

2008-04-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't think that there would be more than one Goliath, and to be honest the only prayer I can pray right now is,
"Are you serious God?! Can't I just have a day off from all this?!"

Funny thing is I went back to read my journal from last week and I asked God to show me why my spirit was so enraged over a certain area of my life - I had to laugh... He's answering my prayer with this "second Goliath".

David, Goliath and Sarah

2008-03-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

This last week has hurt, a lot.

In a moment of pure frustration and venting, the Lord broke through with a moment of clarity and I found myself saying, “I feel like I’m being asked to go against a giant with a few stupid rocks!”

I paused.

And the tears started.

Quickly a flood of hope and sadness washed over me and I realized how true those words were. I knew how much He wanted to take this pain from me but He knew that taking it now, wouldn’t cause me to grow. My muscles would stay under developed and the great story that I will be able to tell of his wonder and power would be cut short.

So, I went to the source, 1 Samuel 17.

Reading the story I was struck by what was said to him before he went out, vs. 28 “…Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptions and the evil of your heart…” and then, vs.33, “…You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him, for you are but a youth…”

Questioning his duties, reminding him that there was nothing good in him and that he was too young. These words are still so raw to my heart.

But the story goes on… with King Saul’s armor and Goliath taunting David and then David speaks. (vs. 45-47) “I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands…that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

He lets the rock fly, and bang, the giant is dead. The Lord has brought a mighty victory for himself through a young boy who had left his sheep and was accused of having evil in his heart.

This same boy became a man after God’s own heart.

--

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite songwriters, Ginny Owens, and I heard her say in her song “I AM”,

Now Lord are you sure, he’s just a shepherd boy? Too small for battle gear with a giant to destroy. What on earth can he do with five stones and a sling? “It’s not your problem” God replied, “ ‘Cause I can do anything! There’s a bigger picture you can’t see, you don’t have to change the world just trust in me, ‘cause I am your creator, I am working out my plan and through you I will show them, I am the first I am the last, I am the present and the past, I am tomorrow and today, I am the only way.

Psalm 61:5, “For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.”

God is good and faithful and true and right and strong. He can do no wrong.

Sacrifice and Tithing

2008-01-11T13:59:00.000-08:00

So, I started going to this ladies Bible study at my church last night. I’m still not sold on it, but I am sold on being involved in the health of my church body – thus I went. I am also sold on the title of the book; it’s a Beth Moore study called Breaking Free!
I have a natural propensity towards this title due to the fact that I love freedom (I mean I can’t even handle being hugged for too long before I start saying “Help, Help, I’m being oppressed”) and I love people to live life to the fullest – like Jesus says in John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” YAY!!! That verse makes me so happy! So, all that to say, I’m going to Bible Study because I like the Title of the book and I feel like I should be involved by being a healthy part of the ladies in the church.

All that said, I was listening to Beth Moore give her introductory message about the study last night and she was explaining that most of our study would be from Isaiah (which is great!) but when she was reading from chapter 9 it makes mention to the time of the Midianites and Gideon so she took us back to that story for context (which I love). So, she’s reading the story of Gideon and talks about how oppressed they were and how the Midianites camped on their crops to kill everything and how there were too many to count and just how awful life was. Then she comes to the part where the angel of the Lord comes to him and calls him “Mighty Warrior” and then there was this part that I hadn’t remembered from my times reading it before:

Judges 6:18 - 21
18 Please don't go away until I come back. I'll bring my offering and set it down in front of you." The Lord said, "I will wait until you return."
19 Gideon went and prepared a young goat. From more than half a bushel of flour he made bread without using yeast. He put the meat in a basket. In a pot he put soup that was made from the meat. Then he brought all of it and offered it to the Lord under the oak tree.
20 The angel of God spoke to Gideon. He said, "Take the meat and the bread. Place them on this rock. Then pour out the soup." So Gideon did it.
21 The angel of the Lord had a wooden staff in his hand. With the tip of his staff he touched the meat and the bread. Fire blazed out of the rock. It burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel of the Lord disappeared.

WHAT THE HECK????? Didn’t we just read that the land and the people were so oppressed?! Who is this angel of the Lord to just burn all that food up? Shouldn’t he have said thank you and recognized Gideon’s heart to bless the Lord and then returned the food to Gideon to go bless some starving family with it? That seems like the proper social justice thing to do – right?!

But then I calmed down…

Who are we to tell God how He should use our tithe? I’m very sure that he knew there were people starving while he burned that goat and bread, but he still choose to do as he did. I’m sure Gideon was one of those people who could have used that food too – but God still did it. Now, I’m way more okay with this story because it’s the Angel of the Lord doing this and not some guy who says he “knows what the Lord wants him to do with it”. Because, let’s be honest here, I would totally be upset with a church or a ministry who burned up an offering and didn’t help the people that were right there with them – but in this case, it’s what the Lord wanted to do!!! So, let’s look at this, what looks wrong here is right. So, how are we to know when something feels wrong is really right?! Ahhh – there it is – Gideon was with the Lord! He was talking with him – but the interesting thing is that he Lord did not require this sacrifice of Gideon, saying something straight out like “Sacrifice something to me!” but Gideon wanted to. While I do believe that the Lord does call us to tithe, it is still an area where many people have lots of questions and often don’t start doing it until they have spent time with the Lord and they feel the call.

So, again, as I’m supposed to be listening to Beth Moore speak, I’m lost in this whole train of thought and really what it leads me back to it this: TRUST GOD WITH IT ALL!! I know that every penny I have is his because he provided it for me and yet I want to question what he does with it once I give it to him?! Hmmm, maybe, I do just need to know that God is God and he is trustworthy and he is wise and he works all things together for good for those who love him….

Aslan just came to mind, “He’s good, but he’s not tame”.

God is good , but he may not do what we want or expect him to do, but he is still good.

Let it Out!

2007-11-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

Everytime I watch this it brings me to tears! "Why?" you may ask, well let me explain.

The people in this commercial (real or actors, doesn't really matter) are willing to open up to a random man on the street because he is willing to listen! It seems true, I think this could really happen. People need to "let it out" and it makes my heart break to think that the Kleenex corporation understand this when I'm not sure that Christians understand this. I know I am guilty of it, I think to myself "Why do I always have to listen to them talk?" And then my heart breaks a little more and I think of the words of Jesus, "Love God and love people."

Dang it! More often then not, loving someone means listening to their story. Loving someone means serving them. Loving people means walking thru life with them, speaking blessings over them, listening to what their broken/ bruised/ depressed spirit is saying and then speaking life into them!

Lord, let your church be a place where people can let it out and find healing in that release!