Grace Lesson

Saturday morning I received another lesson about grace, an example of gracious trust in your master, another life lesson from my sweet 13 year old lab-mix Hobo. As you may have guessed from his name we found each other quite by chance, he an almost grown puppy surviving the streets by his wits and charm, me just a girl looking for love. A match made in heaven without a doubt.

Back to Saturday morning, Hobo in desperate need of a pedicure, we head off to Petsmart. The groomer determined a nail grind would be the best remedy. A new experience for Hobo, not as spry and sure footed as a younger version of himself, I was awed by his God given instincts and smarts that kept him calmly perched on the groomers table despite the fears his quivering betrayed. A gracious reminder to me that when my footing ( or circumstances) are uncertain and I feel like taking a leap off into panic I just need to stay calm and trust God’s faithful hand in my life, He’s just polishing me up and getting me ready for brighter days ahead J .

Such a glorious spring day I didn't want to come in and fix supper...

Pioneer Woman Inspires

Thanks for the inspiration PW! Saw the show, had the ingredients on hand...It was as awesome!

My Beautiful Pekoe



My Beautiful Pekoe is gone home to her Creator.

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A God-fashioned Life

Any mention of the word "fashion" and my ears perk up! I am quite the girly girl at heart and have an avid interest in clothing,shoes,ect...no surprise. I've had some seasons of being obsessed with "what I put on" and my jewerly collection shows evidence of trying to be miss "got rocks", however thankfully I'm starting to feel comfortable with my own casual style so I don't spend alot of time obsessing on my look any more. It's my goal to "display my womanly beauty" without too much time investment, stuffing my closets and drawers or breaking the bank. I have much contemplated finding the balance between having enough to wear (and be presentable) without indulging my vanity or trying to keep up with the jones'. I've come to the conclusion that less really is more, less stuff to keep clean and organized and less time spent shopping equals more time and more money to divert elsewhere! 

Pansy from the French word "pensee" which means "thoughts"

Last spring I attended a womens retreat and the speakers theme was "the treasure of a woman"...at the end of the last session she brought out her treasure chest that she keeps filled with bible verses and invited everyone to come and take a verse.  My treasure verse was Ephesians 4:23-24 NLT which says " Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness -- righteous, holy, and true". I did a little studying on this treasure and found this description in Warren Wiersbe's Bible Expositions Commentary "in the physical life you are what you eat, but in your spiritual life you are what you THINK!". Absolutly perfect, as God has been dealing with me alot about my "unrenewed" thoughts and attitudes; worrying (sometimes about how I look or what I'm gonna wear!), listening to my fears, keeping score of wrongs and slights, trying to out manipulate manipulators just to name a few, but really I should be thinking about all God has promised to me in His word and all the blessings I experience every day. I decided this treasure verse would be a great one for me to memorize so I started perusing it in different bible translations, when I found this translation from The Message that took my breath away "take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.".  A God-fashioned life!!! yes that's it!, exactly the fashion statement I want my life to make! far beyond what this girly-girl could imagine or hope for!





I guess the Christmas Carols got to me!

More Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Many blessings to be thankful for!  I had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family, just tinged with concern for my little 14 year old Daisy who has been extremely healthy up until Wed nite when she developed some problems using her hind feet, I was able to get her to the vet before they closed at 8pm, they kept her Wed nite and Thursday, on Friday they referred us to VT and she is doing OK with some slight improvement! They believe it is a neurological/spinal issue of some kind, and are taking really good care of her until she can see a neurologist tomorrow, I miss her!!!

I hear you!

Crowns, robes of righteousness,
love, hate, faith and fear,
victorious,  defeated,
All sit here...at the foot of the cross
Your body broken, mine spilling tears....
You speak forgiveness...I Hear.



this is written as an entry for a scholarship to the She Speaks Conference which is a conference for women to connect with each other and our God to serve one another as He leads..which is my desire here.  
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/03/how-christians-create-art-she-speaks-scholarship/

Spring? are we there yet?

Comback Kid!

she's still kicking along, excited to be able to get outside again!

Happy St Patricks Day

Today I made peace with my sewing machine! It's been a long journey, I wanted to sew on this LO and I had some other projects to sew.  I went through 2 partially filled bobbins and then filled two, I threaded the machine several times and had to draw the bobbin thread up several times, I sewed and sewed all afternoon without any major snafus,go figure!

Blue Moon Scrapbooking sketch challenge ends January 31

http://bluemoonscrapbooking.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-sketch-challenge.html

Card i made for my Sis!

I'm having fun with my Cricut. This card is from the MEOW lite cartridge, K&Co patterned paper, Bazzill dotted swiss cardstock, heidi grace and markings bling, souffle pen, sharpie paint marker. I hope her birthday is as much fun as I had making the card!

I've discovered Kindle!

I'm hooked on another thing I thought I would never have a use for...while browsing on Amazon the other day I found out you can download a  Kindle reader to your PC for FREE...this was to good to pass up, I downloaded the app then downloaded a book (cheaper than the real book, no shipping time, no book to store or dispose of when I'm done)...what fun, you can highlight and add notes...there are lots of free books you can download, woo hoo! The immediate gratification is unbelieveable!

Women, Christianity, and Feminism

Women, Christianity, and Feminism

Blessed 2B an AMERICAN!

July 4th 1994 fell during the time I was in Croatia on a short-term missions trip. I’d planned ahead and brought something red, white and blue to wear. I’d always enjoyed celebrating July 4th, the fireworks and food, I understood the historical significance but it wasn’t really personal.

Myself and my “fellow Americans“ planned a picnic and headed to the river to eat and swim. We had burgers and chips and I bought a watermelon at a street market, it was warm and not quite ripe but a sweet reminder of home. While we were eating we started singing the Star Spangle Banner, America the Beautiful and other patriotic songs. We laughed at a friend’s dramatic interpretation of a firecracker J. It was obvious our Croatian and Bosnian friends felt a little awkward and left out but we couldn’t help ourselves, we were caught up in the moment.
I started thinking about how different it must be to live in such a war-ravaged and troubled place as the Balkans and what a blessing it is to live in the USA, wow! That hit home and it was personal! Some of my “fellow Americans” must have been having similar thoughts…I remember a sort of group moment of intense homesickness.
Every July 4th I think about that day, and I truly celebrate how blessed I am to be an American… and I say a prayer for anyone who finds them self far from home….

FUN!

my first layout on canvas! very easy and fun...

I have just been on facebook chatting and photo posting for hours!  My neighbors probably think I should have been mowing instead of sitting out here chatting, blogging and enjoying the sunset and lightening bugs, but I am afraid of becoming a lawn mower addict like them!  AND I mowed last week anyway!