Meditating on the word

An old forgotten Bible, affixed with not much praise, the cover torn and ripped,
The colors fading rays, With much time gone by, this Bible laid,
with many a dull, and bored long, gaze.
Few will take a peek at the lovely, wondrous words.



Which held inside a golden message, that no one can pass by. The words of hope and love, from one that gives all blessings. Many search for joy, but do not find it near. They turn their eyes away from Him. With happiness ripped from their face. The one above with power and majesty
which holds the key to pure and laughing delight.



So that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. The God of
peace be with you all. Amen.
Romans 15:32-33


But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we
are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2:5-6



Today I read through Romans 15 and Peter 3:1-22.
Great verses to meditate on.
I hope you all had a wonderful Sunday! Happy Lord's day! ~Much rest~

Things I've Been Enjoying Lately...

I have been enjoying many things today and through the past weeks.
I thought I'd share a couple of them with you. :-)

The bible being one for sure, ....


One of my new projects, which will hopefully be a blanket. I am knitting strips instead of squares for this blanket.....



Roses on the table. Pretty!...



Coffee on a windy day, aah... (Sigh)



The sunshine. Very cheery... (Smile)


...And lastly a lovely book recommendation. This book was given to me for Christmas and I loved reading it! I finished in just a couple of days and I am reading for the second time.

The book is called Mother. Vision forum is having a 50% sale on this book so I thought it was a good time to recommend it. :) If you click on the link it will lead you to vision forum where it has a description of the book.


Have a lovely evening!

A Poem

The Depressions Triumph Revealed


When times seemed so weary,dreary, and old.
With meals stretched tight and clothing darned right.
Much was gone and much was longed.
Not a cent was poorly used.

As times seemed to linger, something was not gone.

That family rarely seen today,
No it never did decay.
Friendships strong and families were fond.
We see the people, and their solid bond.
They glued their faith and troubles to the ones that they held dear.
We always need a person near, to hear our troubles and our fears.
But there is someone stronger than family, friend or foe.
That faith so much used, is founded on our hope and defender,
the Lord Almighty, Jesus Christ.



Here is a poem I made for a school assignment. We had to write a poem about a something in history.

Blog changes

Sorry for the mess of things! I am searching for a more elegant and simple back round and it might take me a while to decide on the right one. This is how it'll look for a while!

So bear with me as I decide on a final back round.

In the mean time, what do you think? Do you like the old one better, this one, or maybe something completely different?

Many blessings!

A Simple Scrunchie Tutorial

I started out making a headband but ended up with a scrunchie. How this happened, long story short, I messed up on this idea and my idea changed by simply snipping my elastic and making it a scrunchie. This can be used as a ponytail holder or a colorful splash of cheer on your wrist. ( Also known as a bracelet.) I know most likely everybody usually buys a 10 pack of these at the store, but if you have a bit of time and you feel like doing something with your hands this will be a sufficient project. You also have the advantage of what fabric to use.

Here is what you need to begin:

Pins, sewing needle, thread, scissors, elastic, safety pins, fabric, and a sewing machine. (You can hand sew or use a sewing machine on this project.)


Start out by folding over the edge of your fabric to be about a 1/2 an inch wider than your elastic and about twice the length of your scrunchie elastic.
Cut out your fabric strip and fold it over inside out. Pin.
Sew the strip and back stitch on both ends.
Turn right side out with your fingers or a small wooden dowel.
I got a "free" dowel in the package of stuffing that we bought.
( Very handy.) :)
With your fabric strip sewn and ready, use your safety pin on the tip of your elastic.
With the safety pin in first start moving the elastic in, being sure to keep the opposite side from moving all the way into the strip.
Finally your safety pin should move it's way to the very end.
Now sew both sides of your elastic together.
Fold the fabric on each end slightly for a neat edge and sew both sides together and....
Your done!!! You can add finishing touches to each scrunchie if you want, such as cute felt flowers and colorful buttons.
Enjoy!

Dating versus Courtship (and other thoughts about relationships)

Last updated March 2015

How can you define both of these to relationship related, words?

They both are defined by a relationship with a person. When I define them I think of relationships and of purity. I will lay out a few thoughts and observations now.

Dating seems to be a less serious type of relationship with affection being a key point of the dating process. When you date you are looking for person which gives you special attention, more deep then just a friend. When I see some one date, I see many broken relationships.

When I see courting I see a more serious relationship usually leading to marriage.

In a biblical life style marriage should be part of the big picture as the young lady is going through out her growth as a Christian. She is striving for purity for her future husband. Ultimately though she is striving for purity to glorify God, with God's redeeming and fully cleansing salvation as the starting point. (And God's help along the way!)

The biggest issue seems to be: what is the main reason for the relationship? Are you looking for affection or marriage?

Now you can use both courtship and dating as a tool for the goal of marriage, and there are many ways to "Date" or "Court". The word that defines the relationship is not the biggest issue. It's the process and procedure used.

Courting can involve your parents counsel helping you make decisions. Dating seems to generally be for people who want to have more of their decisions left to them with less guidance and advice from others.You can court with the relationship involving just you and the man or your parent's wisdom helping you along. You can also plan on the amount of affection involved in the relationship. By holding hands or not, by hugging or not. There is also the decision of the degree physical purity before marriage.

My personal preference is a relationship under the context of courtship (or whatever word you choose to define a relationship with marriage as goal). Dating can lead to many broken relationships before  getting married. When parents' and mentor's wisdom is added to a relationship, more clear headed and sensible decisions can be made.
When associating with the opposite gender we should talk to them in a calm, normal and brotherly or sisterly way. Not flirtatious or impure. 

Much of dating and courting can be similar. But depending upon where your stand in your beliefs, much is not the same.

There are so many ways to define a relationship. There are so many ways that culture defines a "relationship". Courtship or Dating are just two words to define a relationship. Maybe a better "this versus that" would be Christ centered relationship versus Man centered relationship (?).

The word commitment is so important in a relationship if we are trying to glorify God.
If we do not have commitment in the relationship it can lead to misunderstanding and broken relationships. Knowing the purpose of a relationship, having standards, boundaries and an understanding of the other person is so important.

When we look at marriage we always need to remember how the bible defines it. God's word should be our standard. The bible should be the lens we use to guide our life. The relationship between and man and woman can be a beautiful picture of the Christ and the church.

Even if we never do get married we need to understand our position on all relationships. We should treat men (young and old) and women (young and old) respectively, with a pure Christ filled heart.

Every relationship that is aiming to be God honoring with marriage as goal will be different. God has a different story for every couple. It's exciting to see how God writes each husband and wife's story! 

I thought I'd share a few resources that have helped be learn about relationships and be able to apply practical advice on relating to people-guys in particular.

Before You Meet Prince Charming
by Sarah Mally

It's (Not That) Complicated
by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

What Our Father Taught Us About Boys
by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin

I am still learning and God is still showing me how to think about this topic.


Do you have any thoughts on this subject?

Thanks for reading!

New year's resolution

This year I have a couple goals that I want to accomplish. Here they are:

Learn how to cook. Yes, I know how to cook, but not very well. ( I know how to cook scrambled eggs and pancakes, but that's about all.)I rarely cook so I don't get my chance to learn very often. My mom has already told us that we have to cook ten meals for the whole year. So we know more about cooking. My hope is to, at the least, cook two meals each month. I don't particularly have a desire to cook but, I need to learn if I want to be a mother and wife. :) I am sure I'll like it more when I know how to. :)


Learn to Crochet. I don't know how to crochet but I really want to learn. I've tried to, by reading books but not much has come from it. Miss Rachel has given me some helpful links and book ideas.

I also want to get better at knitting. The only way is to knit. So, I've been working on a blanket. It's nothing fancy. Just a blanket. I do not know when it will be finished it will probably take quite a while. :)


Learn to speed read. I am a very slow reader. I really need to take the time to read but it always takes me so long that I get frustrated. Hopefully I'll be able to read a lot faster soon.


Increase my knowledge and skill in Piano and Violin.The only way I can do this is practice, practice, practice!!! :-)


Increase my skill in writing. I have been working on a story. It is 16 pages long and I am only half way done. I am making it for my sister Abby for Christmas. I gave her the first half on Christmas and I hope to finish it soon. We have a great writing program which we use in our school work so this will also help me. :)


Read the scriptures more often. I love reading the bible but I need to do it more often, by myself and with my family.


Less time blogging. I spend too much time blogging and looking at others blogs. This will be hard but I must stop spending so much time on the computer.


That's about it for now!

I am also thinking of changing the template of my blog. Something elegant, simple and something that matches with a lot.

Have any ideas on where I could get a free one or have someone make me one?
Thanks! :-)



Do you have any resolutions?


Blessings throughout your day and year!

A New Year

The balloon tree and the banner. (The twins helped a bit on that.)
The sparklers

I hope you had a wonderful New Year's Eve and have a great first day of 2010!

The Lord has blessed my family so much and I can't wait for a whole new year and see what God has in store for my life and many around us.

I am so happy, being alive for another year! 2o10! A new year and a new decade!

We enjoyed sort of two new years. First with our brothers by celebrating early with them. We put balloons on our tree and at midnight we pop all of them. This time we did it early with Sam and Joe joining in the fun. They loved their New year! All the big noises were fun for them and they knew it was an exciting time. I am not sure they really understand it's a New year. :)

Then on midnight we watched the peach drop and then went outside. Our neighbors down the street do fire works each year. So we always look forward to watching them. :-) Our neighbors really have some great fire works. After all of that excitement, we enjoyed our sparklers. New year's is a very exciting time for our family. I hope yours was just as special as mine. :-)



Many blessings to you all this year and I hope God will bless in many ways!

My Birthday....

Yesterday was my birthday! I had a great day and a very relaxing birthday.

I love birthdays and I think having mine so close to the holidays really controls how prideful I am about my special day. It humbles me to know that mine is so close to Christ's. Jesus' birth is so much more important and so much more special than my own. My father and I talked about this and I really think that this is why He made mine the 26th.

Anyway, my birthday was great! Sometimes my birthday is remembered more easily by people and other times people are still celebrating Christmas that day. I got some sweet phone calls from my family and friends, including my violin teacher. She's so sweet! :-) (Thank you Mrs. Anderson!)

One of my favorite hobbies is doll making. Which most of you may not know. I get craft books from the library all the time and I love this one woman's technique for doll making. She has made four doll making related books. I got two of them for my birthday!! Yeah! I have been working on a doll yesterday and today. I am going really slowly with it, because I made some home made Christmas presents this year that took up a lot of time and had to be done quickly. I want this project to be very laid back and stress free.( Maybe I'll post some pictures of my new doll after she is done.)

Hmm.. what else did I do. Well I played apples to apples. Which is a really fun card game! We got it for Christmas. I've been wanting it for a while, and we got it!

At the end of the day we went to the Golden Corral and then watched the Emma movie. (One of Jane Austen's books turned into a movie.) This is the second time I've watched this version. I understood it more this time because I have been reading the book as well. It's a really great movie. We watched the one with Gwynth Paltrow playing Emma. It only had one kiss in the whole movie!


I am so happy to be alive and 15 years old! God has blessed me so much this year and I am looking forward to another year to be a daughter of my Heavenly father and Earthly Father.

I am waiting to get my driver's license and soon I will be.......( Did I get ya? :D) Retake! I am waiting to get my learner's permit and hopefully be learning to and trying to drive a bit.I am a little nervous but excited at the same time. :)


This turned out to be a longer post than I thought of writing! Well, I told you. I love birthdays!
Others' and my own.

How do you like to celebrate your birthday? Any let down's on your birthday? What about exciting birthday's from the past?


Blessings from a new and maybe not too improved 15 year old, me!

Christmas Greetings...

I hope you had a very joyous, peaceful, and lovely Christmas!!

I know I had having a very blissful one!

Praise God for the wonderful gift of Christ and a time to celebrate our awesome God..

May your days be merry and your new year be a wonderful, blessed one~!!!!

Happy Birthday To Maggie....

Maggie: My wonderful younger sister. She is now 12 years old and a very sweet young lady. I am very happy to have a Maggie in our family. Life in our home would not be half as joyous with out her! Here are twelve things I love about my sister that I would like to share:

1. Her calm, sweet, temper. She can control her temper in most every situation.

2. She is a very personable girl. She has different ways of putting things that I would not even be able to describe as she says it.

3. She is a wonderful artist. I learn a lot from how she draws and paints things.

4. She is eager to learn and loves to show people new things that she has learned.

5. Her cheerfulness is contagious.

6. When we get sick she usually gets it the worst of us all, but doesn't complain.

7. She is very creative and has an idea for almost every project we tackle.

8. She is good at describing details that happen if we go on vacation or a if she remembers a childhood moment.

9. She is good at accomplishing tasks thoroughly and quickly.

10. She cares about people's feelings and gets very upset if she makes some one sad.

11. She is a Christian and loves the Lord.

12. She is the best Maggie I have ever known, and I know quite a few!


I am so thankful for 12 wonderful years of Maggie!

Have a wonderful, blessed, cheerful, happy, exciting, enthralling, joyous, birthday Maggie!!!
May God bless you and keep you on His perfect plan for your life!




And may you all have a blessed day!

Bed and Breakfast

My mother, baby brother, and I spent Friday evening through Saturday morning at a cozy bed and breakfast, and a quaint town square where Lumpkin court house was built. We had a very enjoyable Lady's night out, shopping and relaxing with only one baby to take care instead of three little ones. :) We were able to tour the whole house. I took some pictures of the other bedrooms, too.

We shopped around the square and ate dinner in the Smith house restaurant, which is an all you can eat place where you sit at a huge table with strangers. I didn't think I would enjoy it at all but, it was a very unique experience. We learned a thing or two about the people at our table and I'd like to go again some time. You never know who you'll sit by!

I took 168 photos the whole trip! I'll pick out a several of my favorites. ( Oh! This is going to be hard!) 

 The Parlor...

Eating area...



Our room...
Outside...



Beautiful bedrooms...



The Square









My mother and brother waiting for me to stop taking pictures. ;)



                                     

The Smith house

 



What a fun trip!