Hearts in Service

My favorite season of the year is here! I wanted to make a new table runner with some autumn fabric I had. I was able to whip it up surprisingly quickly. I plopped it on the floor to take the picture which is why you see rugs on either side of it. Here is a close-up of it. What have you been crafting?

Got Milk?

There are so many things to be thankful for every day if you just take the time to look around. God's hand is on so many little things in my life and yet, I can miss it if I'm not careful. I've been working hard at slowing down enough to take careful notice. Today I'm thankful for Blessings #641-655 ♫ Staying within a budget. ♫ Ducks happy in their new location. ♫ A peaceful weekend away with ladies from my church. ♫ Speaking to a group of teenagers at a retreat about having a passion for God's fragrance. ♫ Warm days. ♫ Cooking with little girls. ♫ An uplifting worship service. ♫ Beautiful flowers in autumn colors. ♫ A lively small group discussion. ♫ Helping someone work through spiritual questions they have. ♫ Completing projects. ♫ Roosters that are very aggravating, yet make me laugh every day. (This picture cracks me up because the rooster looks like it can barely tolerate Emily holding it!) ♫ Women at church who help with various projects. ♫ Teen boys who ar...

I had a pretty productive week and was able to get two projects done that I had started working on months ago. Then we moved and they just sat there waiting. I decided I needed to get them finished. Emily has a poncho I made her a few years ago and it's too small for her. She has been asking and asking for a new one. This is the finished result. I also started a table runner and had the top all finished. This week I applied the batting and backing and then quilted it and added the binding. I love the fall colors. Close-up. It feels good to get those out of the way. Now, I'm on to my next projects!

We acquired 5 ducks about a month ago and they've been in the pen that surrounds the chicken coop. They stay in the coop at night with the roosters. I've been filling small tub with water for them a few times a day, but it was becoming increasingly clear that we needed to relocate them to the pond behind the church. We finally decided to do it yesterday afternoon. Emily, of course, was sad to let them go. She is afraid that they are going to fly away and we won't see them again. We had toyed with getting their wings clipped, but to be honest, I felt that they would be happier if they could live like they would if we didn't have them. So we are taking our chances. They headed straight to the water. I've never seen such happy ducks! The best part was at the end of the day they came waddling back across the yard and right into the coop! That was what I was hoping they would do because I know they will be safe there at night.

Galatians 5:22-23 ~ "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, PATIENCE, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Patience is not my strong point. I probably blow it 2-3 times a day if not more. However, in looking at patience we need to go back to the beginning. Why should we practice patience? If we could only understand how much the Lord has saved us from and how much patience He has with us, we would probably have an infinite amount of patience ourselves. I love the verses in I Timothy 1. I Timothy 1:15-17 ~ "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, ...

I've been working hard at making our budget stretch. It's becoming a fun challenge to see how I can make ends meet on one income. I do have to do without some things and it's been made especially difficult this month because of some items the kids need for school that were unexpected. However, I've been doing okay with it. For the past 7 weeks, I've kept our grocery budget which includes household paper and cleaning supplies as well as personal care items to under $100 per week. I'm a little disappointed that my garden didn't do well at all this year. However, I'm putting those 5 roosters as well as the 5 ducks to work by composting their droppings along with the vegetable scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds. So maybe by next year, I'll actually produce more than 2 piddly eggplant! I'm so enjoying being back at home. This week we are hosting a missionary as it's our church's missions conference. So I've been spending ...

One of the kinds of bagels I make quite regularly is onion bagels. I thought I'd share the recipe here. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. onion powder 4 Tbsp. brown sugar 4 tsp. dried onions (pre-soaked)** 1 cup whole wheat flour 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 egg (to brush on bagels before baking) ** presoak dried onions in 1/3 cup warm water for 10 minutes. Drain and press water from onions. Use 2 tsp. in recipe and save the rest for the top of the bagels 1. Put yeast in large mixing bowl and add water and stir until dissolved. 2. Add salt, sugar, onion powder and 2 tsp. dried onions and mix well. 3. Add flours until soft dough is formed. 4. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. 5. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until double in size. 6. Divide dough into 12 parts. Form balls, gently press thumb through the center of ball and slowly stretch into bagel shape. Cover and let rise. 7. While bagels ri...

This is the third day that everyone has been in school or at work and after getting past how quiet the house has been, I'm getting into a routine. I actually have gotten more accomplished in the past few days than I have the entire month of August. I've been canning. Baking cookies for lunches and snacks. Cleaning and wiping down areas that have been neglected. Writing notes to people. Today I'll be baking bread for the local community market. I'd say it was a pretty productive few days.

Yesterday was Nathan, Stephen & Emily's first day of school. It was a very weird, tense morning because they were very nervous about going to a new school. I had tried to relieve some of their stress as much as possible by taking them to their schools and letting them walk through their schedule two or three times. The boys especially are going into a huge school compared to the one they left. They are coming from a high school with a few hundred and going into one with 3,500 students. This is a huge adjustment for them! However, they all got off the bus with smiling faces. The one I was most concerned about was Nathan but he seemed to have the best day. Whew!!! On Friday we met with the head of the special education department, his guidance counselor and school psychologist and I was so pleased at how accommodating they were. They understood that the cafeteria was his biggest anxiety and he is allowed to eat in his 5th period classroom. He has a great schedule this ye...

There is a little deck off my sewing room where I will sit in the morning and have my quiet time. I was sitting there reading the other day and I kept hearing this gnawing sound. I finally looked over at the tree near the house and this little guy was sitting there working at getting the hickory nut open. He made sure that he was keeping one eye on me too in case I made any sudden moves. I wonder if he is the rascal that somehow has made its way up and under the siding of the house. I hear it every now and then as it scampers in the ceiling of my living room. If so, I feel sorry for him as he is soon to meet an untimely end. He is cute when he stays where he belongs - OUTSIDE!

I wanted to share some thoughts on joy because it is something I struggle with frequently. I don't like to think I am, but sometimes I can be a glass half full type of person. I focus so much on the negative with my husband, my children, our church family that I really can miss blessings that are right under my nose. 3 John 1:3-4 ~ "It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." Yesterday morning at church, three children, including Emily shared about their experience at camp this past July. Then Stephen shared his as well as giving the sermon. So often I focus on his lack of motivation, his inability to focus, his poor grades, etc. Yesterday morning he BLEW MY SOCKS OFF!!!! He has never done anything like this before. He stood up and for 35 minutes shared about his camp experience...

The kitchen has been in chaos the past month and the rest of the house is not far behind. I keep thinking that I should be able to do my canning and cooking and clean but it's obvious that I can't. Dust sits on my furniture. Clutter is here or there. The bare minimum seems to get done in the housecleaning department. The reason is that I've been spending all my time in the kitchen. Over the past month... ►I've put up countless jars of jam, sauerkraut, tomato sauce, pickles, applesauce, and pears. ►I've made a grand total of 60 loaves of bread for the local community market (that's over three different times). ►I've cooked 3 meals a day. ►I've made numerous desserts for home and church. I think I'm going to have to put the canning and kitchen work on hold for a day or two so I can get my house back in order.