He Shepherds Me

Life’s a little bit of a roller coaster these days for me as a wife and mom.  My circumstances are not unique, nor are they a “problem” to be fixed, but certainly I feel the daily battle of choosing to serve myself, or my God, and to either obey my desires or the desires and calling He has set before me.  I explained to someone recently that it truly is like living in battle….one day I’m feeling the victory! - the kids and I are dancing around the house, (it might be dirty, but we’re dancing), another day I’m shooting myself in the foot and wounding innocent bystanders, and other days I’m crawling to the goal….crawling…but moving!  But I’m never retreating.  By God’s grace I’m in , and that’s not changing.  I’m choosing everyday to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and am seeking to keep my hands open to what God has. 

I’ve been praying for God to give me perspective and I believe He is. It’s difficult when you’re in the trenches to look up and see out.  I realize I too easily have blinders on, only seeing the immediate needs of my little ones, or the imminent need of the day or even the emotional longings and frustrations of my own heart.  I realize that my heart wants to dwell on the difficulties of the day, instead of the hope and goal of the future.  I’m realizing that difficulty, challenge, heart-ache, pain, and struggle do not indicate something is going incredibly wrong, but that life is happening (and for this we have Jesus!).  For the longest time I have felt that I needed to be enjoying every single moment of motherhood (as many well-meaning seasoned moms spur us on to do), and I have felt guilty that a good majority of the time raising little ones just doesn’t “feel good”.  But I am realizing I’m not supposed to be feeling good all of the time.  At least, not the kind of “feeling good” that is self-serving, self-gratifying, convenient and comfortable.  This calling is not supposed to serve me and give me what I want or feel I need in every moment.  I’m confident that there’s a Spirit-fed well of joy that runs deeper than the surface feel-goodness I so wrongly seek after.  And afterall there’s something so much bigger, grander, more magnificent going on that has nothing to do with me anyway. Praise Jesus!

As I pray for wisdom, knowledge and understanding to mother well, God is showing me more of the sin in my heart, and more of His grace and love for me.  He is showing me more of Himself, and my need for him.  He is showing me the truth of my idols and the things I cling to, to validate myself. Ouch, ouch and ouch. Oh that He would, (gently please!) tear down my asheroths and idols so that I would be ruined by His love…..ruined so that nothing but Him would even threaten to satisfy me!  It would be such a lofty plea if not for the promise that He will complete the good work that He began in me some 25 years ago. 

So in the middle of this journey I’ve been in the process of reading Shepherding a Child’s Heart, by Ted Tripp.  I was hesitant to read another “parenting” book, because let’s face it.  I started this mothering journey reading every book I could get my hands on, attempting to apply every method under the sun, and getting frazzled and frustrated beyond belief when my circumstances didn’t fit the nice and tidy contents of the books I was reading.  I believe God has brought me a ways from that point.  I’ve realized a lot about about myself, about being a mom, and about my kids and my husband, and certainly have seen more glimpses of my heavenly Father.  After some encouragement from close friends and family however, and little prodding of the Holy Spirit, I ordered the book and delved right in. 

It has been one tall refreshing glass of water I tell you.  The book is about speaking to your child’s heart and pointing them toward their need for Jesus - bottom line.  In one chapter on examining typical parenting goals, Tripp quotes the first question of the Shorter Chatechism, which answers this question: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”.  Tripp goes on to say,

              “Is there any other goal that is worthy?  Are you willing to start here with your children?  You must equip your children to function in a culture that has abandoned the knowledge of God.  If you teach them to use their abilities, aptitudes, talents, and intellegince to make ther lives better, without reference to God, you turn them away from God.  If your objectives are anything other than ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever’, you teach your children to function in the culture on its terms….....Your child must grow to see that real living is experienced when he stands before God and says, ‘Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you’ (Psalm 73:25).  If this is what you want for your children, then you must ensure that the content of everyday life fits this objective.”

And certainly what I’m experiencing is that this starts as He Shepherds my heart.  Will everything I do flow from an enternal purpose of bringing Him glory?  Will my life be a conduit of His grace so that in making beds, having dance parties, creating projects, staging puppet shows, memorizing Scripture, discipling in love, baking muffins, brushing teeth, and riding in the car, God may be glorified and enjoyed forever.  “Lord give us perspective and wisdom to teach our children with the end goal in mind!” 

Mysteriously, yet thankfully, while I’m in process, somehow God will still use me to impact my children and point them to Him.  My goodness…I don’t have this all figured out or know how He does it, but He’s working.  I can’t stop believing that He’s working because it depends on Him and not on me anyway.  That is hope that is worth resting in!

So I guess that’s all for my evening ramblings.  A heart is a beautiful, but complicated thing!

I pretend to quilt

Hi!

Okay, so the other night I posted a status on Facebook about how I was finishing up a rag quilt for Truman’s bed.  It’s been a longer process for me that has taken some extra patience, perserverance, and time…..all of which do not usually sum up my typical crafting/sewing character. 

You should know a few things about me in regards to this project: 1) I am NOT a quilter (they who are, however, are amazingly precise people) - I like quick projects that are finished at the end of the day, and to be quite honest, between the time napping kid #1 goes down and #3 gets up is getting shorter everyday 2) This is a rag quilt. As in….raw edges out….as in…no quilting really required because I used flannel as the “batting”, and as in the “messy” look is really what you’re going for, and 3) I was really initially motivated by the fact that I love designing color and fabric combinations…that was by far the most fun part!

I was initially utterly and completely inspired, (all the while drooling) over Melanie’s beautiful rag quilts found in her Etsy shop Southern Charm Quilts.  Before seeing her shop I had completely underestimated rag-quilts.  I think before I thought they were maybe a little too country for my liking, or that it would look too feminine on a boy’s bed.  But her shop shattered those thoughts - every ounce of her work is gorgeously done and yet is so fresh!

So while I’m not a quilter, I am kind of the queen of fabric-hoarding. (I mean seriously people…it took one Hoarders episode viewing at my mom’s to realize that I need to be careful folks).  I pick things up at thrift stores…garagle sales…and re-puprose things around the house as well.  For those of you who are creeped out by this, well, I get that.  It is kind of odd to think that someone’s once-worn corduroys are now lying in pieces on my son’s bed.  I certainly LOVE new, modern fabrics and have many drool sessions there too, but fabric prices are just plain steep these days, and are usually out of my budget.  Using mostly fabric scraps and second-hand (good quality!), materials, I was able to make this quilt for under $50.  That’s quite a deal considering the plan is for this to be used at least for the next several years.  I’m no expert…especially since this is the first time I’ve even ever done a rag quilt, and this is not a tutorial.  This is just me sharing some pics and some thoughts.  Feel free to comment with your own experiences and additions! 

A few shots of the finished quilt:

1) Before you get started, check out this Rag Quilt Calculator.  Uhmm ... YES!  I love other people’s smarts and organization.  See H.S. algebra teacher?  I didn’t need to ace that class after all.  This will help you get organized with your fabric and know how many yards you would need to buy if necessary.  It will also just help you get all those crazy numbers and squares out of your head and onto paper.  That’s how I work. 

2)As mentioned above - think outside the box on fabric.  Obviously, if you want to buy new - awesome!  There are some crazy beautiful prints out there! I actually did end up ordering a 1/2 yard of guitar fabric just to make it extra special for Truman, but other than that I used stuff I had or things bought second-hand.  When thrifting I often look in the tablecloth and bed-sheet section - lots of good finds there.  Also, I’ve picked up corduroys & denim shirts and pants (good quality only!), that I then cut up into quilt squares.  I also always look in the “bargain bin” at Joann’s.  They often have end-of-bolt items an extra 50% off.

3)It’s fun to use different textures….I used a combination of minky dot, corduroy, denim, flannel, cotton, and linen. 

4)The middle layer is flannel and the back layer is mostly a heavy linen.  Traditionally, (and I’m NO expert, but from what I understand this is true), quilters use quilt batting for the inner layer.  However I was going for easy and inexpensive.  I purchased the flannel with a 40% off coupon, and then because I didn’t use batting, I didn’t actually have to “quilt” on top (though I could have for the look of it - I think it’s preference). 

5) I won’t lie….my blanket got slightly off and a little wonky on one side.  But I think that adds character (and maybe that statement just makes me feel better about my lack of precision:)  Really though, I just trimmed one side a little before stitching around the entire blanket.  You really wouldn’t know except now I just told you.

6) Spring-loaded scissors are where it’s at.  I bought a pair on sale ($12!), back at Thanksgiving and they helped a lot.  With rag-quilting you do a lot of snipping and traditional scissors will have your hand aching.  These little snippers worked like a charm.

7) After washing and drying the blanket I had to do a little “maintenance” on it.  There were tons of stray strings (that I didn’t want), and lots of lint all over the blanket. I just did a little snipping and took a lint brush and we were good to go. 

I cannot explain how fun it was to finish this project!  I’m already dreaming up Tava’s quilt!  Are you ready to start one?  Do you have any other helpful tips before I dive into my next one?  Would love to hear from a pro or two!

Winter

Winter is upon us and it’s not uncommon now for Sam to be scheduled at some point each weekend on the ski-hill. He keeps his hand steadily in the maintenace side of things but it’s really great for him to have the kind of interaction with campers that the ski-hill provides too.

This particular evening he had just come off the hill from teaching lessons.  The kids and I went out to join him for supper at camp and snagged a picture.
I’m thankful to be able to take opportunities like this to come out to camp, see the ministry that’s going on, and have the kids see daddy in the midst of a busy day!

Lucy Love

Well, what do you know.  The new year is here and it’s been over a month since I’ve posted!  I’m okay with that.  I’m just going to pick up with life as it is and try to blog about a few things here and there to fill in the gaps. 

Lucy love is 6 months old.

I was just saying to Sam this morning that something crazy happens around this age.  We really do not have a little (okay…maybe she was never very “little”), babe on our hands, but this lively, chatty, squealing, interactice butter-ball of a big girl.  Really. She’s like a little person all of a sudden and is doing such big-baby things.  I am so thankful for a content baby and she has added so much joy to our family!  God is showing me things being a mother of three…..and I am slowly learning….but HE is good and is faithful and patient with me for that I am grateful.  I’m seeking to abide in His faithfulness and trust that the good He began will be completed.

I am also finally am getting Lucy’s room the way I’ve wanted it, which is so fun.  With the other two I never really was able to do exactly what I’d hoped for (which is fine….really…all a baby needs is little drawer to sleep in a warm blanket, right?).  So I feel like it’s an extra treat to be able to put some sweet touches to re-vamp the “nursery” that all three kiddos have had now. 

The wall color has remained the same, but the curtains got a facelift.  Much to my excitement, the hubs got the curtain rod back up and anchored, (after our oldest had pulled it down about two years ago…ugh.)  I was given some beautiful vintage bed sheets (thanks Mikaela, that were just as bright and crisp as could be, and knew exactly they would be used for Lucy’s room.  I simply cut the flat sheet in half, hemmed the un-finished edge, and created the casing for the rod at top.  I kept the brown curtains up as well - they bring out the earthy brown in the sheets and give a little balance to the airy-ness of the room, I think:)


That little orange mirror was a thrift store find.  I just sprayed it orange and nailed that baby up.  It might be my favorite thing in her room (besides the little munchkin herself:))

I know you see this all over pinterest these days, but honestly, I just love this look.  I have been collecting, (and have been given) some embroidery hoops for awhile now. I used some of the curtain fabric, and then just pieced together other colors from some scraps I had.  I even used some brown and orange vintage tuille that I re-purposed from some old kitchen valances that I found while thrifting.

I’m not quite done with her room - I’d like to put up some enlarged prints and do something different on some hanging shelves, but it’s so fun to work on this space for my littlest one!  For all the “leftovers” and “hand-me-downs” she’ll get, it was great to be able to make a room special just for her. I’m thankful for the little blessings God has given us to make it possible. 

Showing off her big-girl eating skills!  She’s chowing the baby cereal these days.

Loving her time with daddy too!

Working on those “sitting-up muscles”.  My kids are all so chunky around this age that it takes awhile for them to master the art of sitting-up, crawling, etc….but I’m okay with that!  She doesn’t seem to mind yet.

This post was a little Lucy heavy I guess!  More to come!  Thanks for checking in and reading, (family, closest friends, and those who just love to blog stalk…JK!) 

For the love of pinecones

The love of pinecones runs deep.  I remember one time when I was young we were moving and a family friend was carrying a box labeled “Pinecones”, to which the friend stated, “Really?!....I’m carrying, and you’re moving a box of pinecones?”.  He clearly didn’t understand.  I’m sure the kinds of things you’d find boxed up at my house would be of the same sort.  Seriously, the possibilities are endless with what you can do with these little babies. 

Here’s just a couple things the kids and I have done lately with our little backyard treasures.

I stumbled upon the blog Shindig Parties To-Go where I found these FREE printable Thanksgiving table decorations (scroll down on the left side of the site), and just tweaked the craft a little (since the original is a crayon holder….a very clever idea for the Thanksgiving table setting….just not the craft idea I had in mind).  So we had fun creating “feathers”  with bent pipe cleaners and shoving them into the pinecone.  This was something that both my 2 and 4 yr old could do and actually enjoyed doing.  I guess it should be noted that I did the cutting and glueing (since it needed hot-glue), but the feather part was entertaining enough that it held their interest.

I googled and searched Pinterest for a cute (but not too fussy or frilly:) pinecone ornament idea.  I couldn’t find anything I liked and realized that what I really just wanted to do was this.

And so the kids and I worked a little on this today.

It’s really so simple, I know…I’m not kidding myself on that one!  You just take some ribbon, lace, strips of fabric..whatever your little heart desires, and tie them around the tip of a pinecone.  Then tie a double knot at the top and you’ve got yourself a little homemade ornament with rustic elegance, (...yeah…don’t bother trying to explain rustic elegance to your husband.  It will go no where.)

Here’s our little pile so far. 

I like the hodge-podge look, but clearly you could keep a theme or color coordinate to your liking. Now that you’re hankering to do a pinecone project, I invite you all to come gather them from our backyard!