Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Another Finished Charity Project!




I didn't think I would actually make it this month, but I did it! Even if it is a very plain and simple pattern.

This is a Chemotherapy Hat in Bernat's Bamboo yarn, and the pink color is called "Lotus." If you haven't tried bamboo yet, do! It is so soft you just can't believe that it's really bamboo. But, it is very fuzzy! I hope it doesn't unravel. When I added the second ball, the thread wrapped around the yarn was free and it just turned into FUZZ that kept coming off. I actually tinked a few stitches just to get some firm yarn to weave in.

Win an iPod Nano!



Photo from contest post on It's Write Now

Like I've said before, I'm a sucker for a good contest. And a free iPod Nano qualifies! So go to Win an iPod Nano to see about it on It's Write Now!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Not much happenin' here...

Most everyone in my house feels "blah." Hubby feels drained, kids are tired, and I have to work at the hospital this weekend. I'm just tired,too. But at least the week-long headache finally went away! Just makes you want to close your eyes and sleep...

Not many brainwaves here! But I did manage to finish this Oz vest (newborn size), after some tinking and deep breathing:



May I just say that I hate picking up neckline stitches, and three-needle bind-offs? I do.

May I say that I LOVE finished objects? I do.

May I also say that wandering around SAFF for hours is therapeutic, even if you don't buy that really expensive Tilli Thomas yarn that you drooled over? It is.

Here's hoping you have a relaxing, non-brain-draining weekend! (and if you knit, filled with yummy yarns and finished objects :-))

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Wordless Wednesday

My five-year-old took the third picture.
My three-year-old took the fourth picture! I know it's awful, but kinda funny!




Saturday, October 20, 2007

OK, shameless plug here...

I've gone and done it. I opened an Etsy shop for my knitted things that I don't give away. I'm linking to it in my sidebar, so check it out, and pass it on!

A Heart's Desire Fulfilled

I don't think there is a mom alive who, at least once, thought, "I am the worst mother ever." Can I get an "Amen?"

I have really been struggling lately, in general, but especially with my five year old. I won't go there now. I could write all day! But the whole parenting thing has had me thinking.

My dear friend Linda had two handsome teenage sons when I first met her. I was always struck by how they hugged her, and seemed to WANT to be around her. Even in public. And I remembered thinking to myself, "I hope Michael is like that when he gets older."

What? Teenage boys willing to be seen in PUBLIC with their mom? And showing AFFECTION? Must have been a dream...

Well, I've been thinking about my own teenage son. He was only four when his dad and I divorced, and of course I feel guilty over how that may have affected him. Somehow I always feel like I'm a bad mom to him. I was driving in the car the other day, just thinking random thoughts, and I remembered a book title that I had recently seen that basically said "realizing that you already have what you thought you wanted."

And it hit me. I could see my sweet teen hugging me when he gets home. Hugging me goodnight. Putting his head on my shoulder when we stand in the kitchen.

I HAVE that sweet teenage boy who hugs his mom, and wants to be around her. I was very far from God when I first witnessed this with Linda and her boys. But our faithful God heard me, even then in the midst of my wandering. Now, ten years later, He has blessed me with just what I wanted.



How great is our God who took ten years to fulfill a heart's desire, but who also timed it so that it would encourage a troubled mother's soul...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I didn't have a choice. I just had to do it!

I thought I was past this, but I guess I'm not. Yet.

I don't quite obsess over my reader numbers like I once did, but it's hard for an over-achiever like me to not "see" success. I realized that even if I have thousands of readers, God may be using my blog to reach only one person. And looking at all the numbers in the world just won't tell me that.

With all the writing I have as an editor, and duties as a wife and mother, I just don't have time to waste focusing on junk that doesn't matter. I feel like I was trying to blog just to keep up my numbers (like I have more than 4 readers anyway!)

So, my counters are all deleted. Know why?

God asked me to.

I resisted a little. Maybe I can just promise to only look on the first of the month, or only on Saturday, etc. But then I said, "Nope. God didn't say 'stop looking so much.' He said, 'Get rid of it.'"

So, I did. I pushed that "delete" key. My hope is that maybe one day, God will tell me that it's OK to look. And I want to see the big numbers that God brought because I was obedient when He told me to "get rid of it."

Isn't it silly all the crazy ways Satan can try to trip us up?

Monday, October 15, 2007

A Peaceful Sunday

Yesterday started as a crisp fall morning, with a beautiful sky:


(Must.Look.Straight.Up.For.This.Shot.-Tall-Trees!)

Church was good, the and the temperatures had warmed nicely by the end of the service. We came home for lunch, and decided that it was just too nice to stay indoors. So we took the boys to play putt-putt. It was a very close game. Even my five year old was making par! We all had at least one hole-in-one, but mine got me this:





Funny thing was, we had just used one of those that my husband had earned to get in!

Anyway, afterwards we just weren't ready to go home, so we drove out to the area where my husband is framing a house for someone. I had never been out that way, and boy! had I been missing out on some of God's most impressive creations! Truly breathtaking...open fields, red barns, streams, mountains rising up right in front of your eyes. Mountain coves with stunning views from every angle. And the leaves just barely beginning to turn a pale gold.

One child was sleeping, the other two were quiet. It was very relaxing. Just what I like!

I discovered that my husband and I both are experiencing a longing for wide open spaces. We love our house, and the setting is beautiful. But it's a shady, leafy kind of beautiful. With moss for grass, and very little yard at all. Very serene, though. We are indeed blessed.

But we have three sons. Who like to play football and baseball in the yard, and ride bikes and be little boys. And that is hard where we are now. But property is SOOOOOO outrageous here, we can't afford those wide open spaces. Not without winning the lottery!

So, we will continue to take peaceful Sunday afternoon drives and enjoy riding by those wide open spaces, until God makes a way for us to live on them, if that is His will...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Thank You, Lord



Thank you, Lord, for crisp fall mornings that make you want to stay snuggled beneath the covers.

Thank you, Lord, for the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee that draws me out from under them.

Thank you, Lord, for the warmth and satisfaction that comes taking that first sip.

Thank you, Lord, for a quiet Saturday morning to reflect on Your goodness.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Do you see something in my eye?


I get bent out of frame when my contributors don't submit their newsletter stories on time. The original deadline was the 24th for ministry leaders and the first for writers.

I think I finished my article tonight...

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
Matthew 7:3

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Can You Guess What This Is???



I finally finished my Red Scarf for the Orphan Foundation!! Woo hoo!! What a relief! It goes in the mail tomorrow...

Good. I just found out today that a coworker is expecting her first baby, and she told me to knit to my heart's content! Will I?

Ha! I've already cast on...

Monday, October 8, 2007

The God of All Comfort is Still at Work...



If you had been a visitor at Pinnacle Church yesterday, you might have been a bit confused. We sang our songs in worship. We took up the offering. And then something a little different happened.

The preacher and his wife got on stage, and told us their story. Not a sweet little "how we got be be in ministry" talk, but one about the struggles in their marriage, and the healing that is ongoing in their relationship, even today. They opened themselves up for the first time publicly, sharing their hurts, showing their human flaws. How many preachers do you know who will share their imperfections with their congregation?

Unfortunately, not enough. They realize that we may often put them on a pedestal of righteousness that they may not have earned, and they want to stay on top of it. We give them the benefit of a doubt because of their position. We don't want to see our leaders fail.

Or do we?

Many in ministry think that as spiritual leaders, they can't make mistakes. If they do, they believe they've failed the rest of us. How can they lead others to the straight and narrow when they can't stay on it themselves? They don't want to look like a hypocrite. They'd have to preach, "Do as I say, and not as I do."

They don't realize that we can learn just as much, if not more, from their errors in real life, than we ever will from their sermons.

But our preacher and his wife get it. They have seen so many desperate couples recently, that they knew it was time to share their own journey. God compelled them to do it, and they were obedient. Yesterday, they lived what Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."

Instead of hiding their struggles and failures, our precious leaders shared them. And the comfort God granted them was allowed to spill over to others who needed it. You should have seen all the people that were touched by that message!

That's what our spiritual leaders are for! If only more were brave enough to lead by example...

Prayer Request

Please remember our children's pastor Scott and his family in your prayers. He's just a young, twenty-something pup himself, and his baby brother was tragically killed in a car accident this weekend. Needless to say, the family is devastated. I am proud of our church family, though. Several members of his small group went to South Carolina to love on Scott and his family. That is how we bear each others burdens...

Saturday, October 6, 2007

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month


(Photo courtesy of Casio)


Click here to read about a new giveaway on 5 Minutes for Mom. This one would be very welcome at my house - a newer camera so I can make fabulous pics for my blog! (Oh yeah, and of my family too!)

And the best part? It supports Breast Cancer Awareness, which is being celebrated all of October.

Which coincidentally also goes along with my newest Football-a-Long Project, too...

Thursday, October 4, 2007

A Soak in the Spirit

It rained a bit last night. Not a good soaking, but a light shower. At this point, rain is rain. And I will thank God for whatever we get, whether it is a little or a lot.

The growing season is over, and I have paid my plants no attention. They look quite droopy.

And that is how I feel. Droopy. I have worked at the hospital for seven days in a row. My mother-in-law (who lives with us and spoils me rotten) is out of town, so I've had more responsibilities than usual this week. So I am droopy.

I have MUCH to do. I won't even begin to tell you about all my cleaning, writing deadlines, and whatever else crops up. But I DO know that I have so much to do, I will need to be refreshed before I can be successful at any of it. Like my pitiful plants have needed water all season to revive and feed them, so I have a need also.

So, today, I am indulging. It's OK. On the seventh day, even God rested. And I'm on my eighth! Today, I am taking it easy, and getting rejuvenated.

So excuse me, while I go soak in the Spirit...

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

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