Hearts in Service

Dan and I were chatting the other day and I mentioned to him that I feel like I'm stuck in quicksand and can't get out.  For the past few years I feel like I'm floundering as far as my productivity and energy level. I know some of that has been due to injuries my knees have sustained.  But the more that I sit, the lazier I start to feel and the easier it is not to move. So in an effort to re-energize and get myself back up and moving again, I'm working on staying on top of Christmas preparations.  Tomorrow is November 1st and that means there are only 55 more days until Christmas.  It'll be here before you know it! One of the things I plan to do this year is have a Christmas open house/party and the more I prep ahead of time the better!  So this morning I sat down and came up with my annual list of Christmas cookies.  I can start making them now and put them in the freezer so that it's not so overwhelming when the time comes. Here is the list for

I awoke this morning to pouring rain and high winds.  I am thankful that it's not 10 degrees colder or this would be quite the snowstorm!  Today is going to be a day to hunker down and get some sewing done.  I'm filling an order for 40 teapot cozies, 25 coffee cup cozies and 25 jars of jelly so I have plenty of things to do to fill up my day and week.  This is the type of day when I wish we had a fireplace! My heart is full this morning.  We spent Friday traveling to visit Dan's parents.  The leaves were at peak and the drive was beautiful.  These pictures do nothing to capture the beauty of the drying stalks in the cornfields and the orange and yellows of the leaves. It was nice to catch up with my in-laws, as well as getting to see Dan's younger brother, his wife and our nephew. Saturday we stopped by Emily's college on the way home and took her to lunch.  It was only a couple of hours but it was a nice visit.  It's such a weird feeling to h

I was sitting and sewing the other day when I had a bit of an epiphany.  Since moving here 4 years ago, I really feel as if I've been all over the map with what I should do or shouldn't do with my life.  What is the path that God wants me to walk down?  What direction should I go with my ministry?  I've been floundering big time and it's depressing.  Some of that floundering has happened because I am entering a brand new stage in my life. For years my activities were centered around my children and now that they are out of the house I'm not sure what to do.  Our last community was so very different than this one and it's been difficult to try and figure out what works here and what doesn't. I do know that God has wired me to be around people and sitting alone by myself in the house for days on end is NOT good for me or my spirits.  I start to feel as if I'm going to dry up and blow away. I'm alone with my thoughts all day long and I get

I find it so difficult to be patient at times.  I want things to move quickly and when they don't, I get discouraged and want to give up.  Or I want to force things to go the way I want.  Yet, God's timing is not always my timing.  And there are lessons to be learned in the waiting. But it's hard. Waiting seems unbearable. I want instant answers to my prayers.  Instant solutions to my problems.  Instant church growth.  Instant EVERYTHING!  Yet, God seems ploddingly slow at times.  However, I know that just as patience is needed for bread to go through a couple of risings to have that light and airy texture, I too need to have patience as I wait. Because the Lord knows just what I need.  He works on me as I wait.  I am being shaped and molded into His desire for my life and that comes through these waiting periods.  So even though I don't like them, I choose to be thankful for the wait. This week I'm thankful for blessings, 3111 - 3120. 3111.  Sewing and

We were watching television last night when a commercial came on for some website where you bid on great deals.  Different people were giving testimonials about how much money they saved, and one of the women said she won 104 auctions in the last month.  I turned to Dan and said, "This is marketing to people who are shopaholics who think they are saving money because they are getting wonderful prices, but the reality is they are still purchasing items they really don't need!" It's so easy to think we are saving money because we got a great deal on something, but if we are purchasing items that really aren't necessary then we aren't saving at all.  The key is to plug up the spending holes.  If you don't need it, don't buy it!  Easier said than done sometimes, but I generally follow this principle. Here are some ways I've saved this week: $ I got my hair cut and colored and again, my hairdresser and I barter.  I do any sewing she has

I've been sewing and crafting a bit each day to get ready for my craft fair on Saturday.  It has felt so good to get behind the sewing machine again and create!  I've been determined to not spend any money so I'm using up what I have.  There have been a couple of times when I thought, "I really need to go pick up this color fabric to contrast with that one." but have been fighting down the urge.  Good thing the closest fabric shop is about 35 minutes away!  Here is what I've done over the past two days. Note cards (blank on the inside). This is where my quirkiness/artistic side kicks in.  I hate the cards made with Cricuits because to me there is nothing original about them.  I like taking my time and matching different scrapbooking papers, ribbons and doodads together to come up with a beautiful card. Table runners Another apron Today's plan is another apron or two, as well as some pocket tissue cozies.  I

There are so many things I hope for, long for and pray for in my life. Some days I feel such overwhelming desire to stop what I'm doing and pray for these things.  Often, they bring me sadness, and yet, there is nothing I can do except keep praying.   Break my heart, Lord, for what breaks yours. ❤ Praying that people in my life who don't know Jesus would see how much they need Him.  Yet, I can't make them see that and they don't need me preaching at them because they've heard it before.  Only the Holy Spirit can begin the work of drawing them to Him. ❤ Praying that the insanity, pain and suffering in this world would come to an end.  But until sin is eradicated from this world, that will not happen.  But I can make sure that I'm not adding to it with my words and my actions. ❤ Praying that my children would follow God and make wise choices.  That they would be safe, and that they would continually follow God's will for their lives. Because

It's been extremely warm and humid the past few weeks and feels more like July rather than October.  And to be honest, it makes me think that this is the lull before a very crazy winter!  However, even with the warm weather, I've been in the autumn mood.  The house is decorated for fall. Soups and stew are on my mind.  My pantry shelves are decorated with the fruit of my labor. My sewing machine is humming again. And I've been sitting down in the evening to work on some crafty creations. Now that things have settled down with retreat planning and the next few months are quiet, there are a couple of upcoming craft fairs that I decided to participate in.  I still have inventory left over as well as fabric, and we can always use the money, so I'll be doing some sewing and crafting over the next few months.   This Saturday is an all day fair at a local park.  I don't necessarily like sitting in one spot all day, but thought I'd give it a

I recognize that no matter how many times Monday rolls around and I begin the process of looking back over the week and counting my blessings, there is absolutely no way to do that properly. Because the number of times God's hand is on my life is count- LESS.  There are c ountless times when God has intervened.  Countless miracles.  Countless blessings in my life. Each breath I take of every second is a miracle.  The fact that my muscles and tendons and ligaments all work simultaneously together to move me forward is a miracle.  The fact that I opened my eyes and woke up this morning is a miracle. The very life in my body is an act of God.  Have you ever thought about that?  Have you ever stopped and just said thank you to God for allowing you to wake up this morning? That is a miracle.  Let's be thankful for all of them. This week I'm thankful for blessings, 3101 - 3110. 3101. Long walks in the woods. 3102.  Stephen made it home for the long week

I recently found a great way to cut grocery costs - have two of your children move out and go to college! lol Seriously though, our expenses have been down with just three of us at home and the hardest thing I find is learning to make less of whatever meal we are having each night.  After years of making a big batch of whatever I'm having for dinner, it's a trial and error process.  I'm also trying to lose some weight and have been eating differently, so it makes it even more interesting. As I work to cut expenses and make our dollars stretch, it does carry over into other areas of my life as well.  It doesn't necessarily benefit us financially, but it helps those ministries I'm involved in.  As I put together door prize gifts and speaker gifts for my retreat this past weekend, I was able to pull from my supply of leftovers from my shop, as well as use the pretty gift bags I had leftover.  So 10 door prizes and 6 speaker gifts cost the organization zero d

I must apologize.  I had such a busy end of the week and weekend that I didn't even think about the blog drawing until last night.  I realize I was supposed to announce the winner of my drawing yesterday.  This morning I took all the names of people who commented here, as well as on Facebook, and added them to this online name drawing generator and the name that popped up was... Janice Armstrong Congratulations, Janice!  I'll be in touch with you so I can get this package in the mail to you. My weekend was wonderful!  I, along with my leadership team, have spent the past few months planning a district woman's retreat and it was a great time of fellowship, hearing from God and getting encouraged.  One of the purposes of these retreats is to hear from our International Workers who are on home assignment and see how we can better pray and support them.  It was wonderful hearing of their different ministries. I spent an extra day there at a friends house to hav