I'm still here...and a few projects

No, I have not fallen off the bandwagon...well not totally anyway. The past few months have been very busy around here, which doesn't leave much time to sit and blog. I'm hoping to get a few different posts up this week. One updating on what's happening with life in general and one to share what I'm studying in God's Word.

I did want to share some of the crafting that I've been doing. We have 21 kids (including ours) that will be receiving gifts from us this Christmas. Six of those kids also have birthdays within a month of Christmas so things can get very expensive very fast. I have a pretty good stash of yarn so I decided to see how many gifts I could make.

I decided to try my hand at making some dolls. Each one will be a bit different. So far I have made two. One for a Christmas gift and the other is actually for Keira's birthday present. She kept trying to take the other one so I decided to just make her her own. I'm also working on some slippers as gifts for a few of the other kids. So far I have 1 1/2 pairs made. They work up very quickly but it's just finding the time to sit down and work on them. Here are the two dolls I've made so far. For the first one I followed the pattern as written. For the second one I made a few changes so that I could change the look of the dress and also gave her some "bloomers" under her dress.

Reflections on Romans 12:18

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

This week has been a bit tough here. Keira has been sick, not sleeping well and very demanding when she is awake which can cause me to be impatient and frustrated. God has brought this verse to the front of my mind at various times and as I meditated on it there were several thoughts I had. It was encouraging to me so I thought I would share.

I'll go thru each phrase in this verse but I want to start at the end and work backwards.

"with all men" - this doesn't just mean our neighbors, friends or strangers. It means our children and spouses also; often times there are days when it is hardest to follow God's commands concerning those closest to us. Our children get angry, are demanding, clingy, they can be irritable but they are part of the "all men".

"live peaceably" - one definition I saw of the word "peaceably" is "promoting calm" we are to create a peaceful atmosphere with all those around us thru our attitudes and responses. In relation to my children; my attitudes and whether or not I follow God's commands should not be decided by how my children act. In fact, later in the New Testament we are told to not provoke our children (Ephesians 6:4, Colossians 3:21) I am responsible to promote calm in my relationships with my children, my husband and everyone else I encounter.

"As much as lieth in you" - I've also seen this translated "as much as it depends on you" I like both renderings because to me it brings two different thoughts to mind. In 1 John 4:4 we are told "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." We have the Holy Spirit in us! When I am weak he has promised to strengthen (Phil. 4:13, 2 Corin. 12:9). I am only responsible for my attitudes, reactions and emotions. Which brings the next phrase.

"If it be possible" - Peace may not be possible all the time (and probably won't be) or with every person you meet or have dealings with but we are to make sure we are doing our part to make it as likely as possible.

I know this is rambling a bit and not an exhaustive study of this command but as I said at the beginning it has been a great reminder and encouragement to me so I thought I'd share.

A word about Refinement.

I know I haven't posted much on what I'm studying but I did want to share some food for thought. I've been going thru the minor prophets and have really been encouraged by many verses. Today I was reading in Zechariah and came to this verse...

And I will bring the third part through the fire,
and will refine them as silver is refined, and
will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name,
and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people:
and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God.
Zechariah 13:9

I remembered reading about silver being refined in one of the recent books I've read (I admit I don't remember which one it was) but the author shared this beautiful illustration of how silver is refined. I was able to find the illustration online:

Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. "This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

To further study out this idea of refinement I looked up what exactly the definition is. My dictionary defines a refiner as "one who makes free from impurities, vulgarity, commonness". I was intrigued to see the word commonness in the definition. We usually think of refinement being used to draw out and purge from impurities but the refinement that God desires in our lives is more than being free from impurities..it is to be free from commonness too!

In 1 Peter 2:9 Peter says "But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" We are to be a peculiar people, not common! In Christ we are royal, holy, standing in Christ's "marvellous light". Why would we ever settle for commonness when we already have all these things simply by our position in Christ?!

What a challenge! Am I common? Do I desire God's refinement; to be free from commonness? Does He see His image in me?

The last part of Zechariah 13:9 is also such an encouragement. Yes, God refines us thru fire, he tries us as gold but in all of that he hears us. When we are going thru those fires and trials God hears when we call. He makes it known that we are His people, he has not forsaken us...and we can be confident that "the Lord is my God". He is the same God no matter what we face and that His ultimate goal is to see His image reflected in our lives.

Some simple spiritual analogies

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house,
and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down,
and when thou risest up.
Deuteronomy 6:7

Recently, I have been challenged by this verse. Specifically to incorporate spiritual lessons and truths into everyday activities and conversations. While I still have far to grow in this area; I wanted to share a couple of recent analogies that have come up in talking with my kids. I hope these will help you (as they have helped me) to see how truths about God are all around us.

The first analogy is one that I've heard several times before but was recently able to discuss with the kids. While we were baking brownies one day they asked to taste some of the individual ingredients; one being the vanilla and the other being the cocoa powder. After tasting these (and realizing they don't taste nearly as good as they smell) I explained how that sin is like that. Often sin looks and "smells" enticing but once we have taken a taste we recognize that it isn't nearly as fun/enjoyable as we thought. I asked the kids if they wanted another taste, they both said no :) and so I explained how that we should have the same feeling toward sin and not forget the true taste of it when we encounter it in our lives again.

The second analogy happened earlier today and is one that I'm going to share with the kids but hadn't thought about until Hailey left the room. Hailey pulled a glow in the dark eraser (which happened to be cross shaped) out of the cabinet. She asked why it wasn't glowing anymore. I explained that glow in the dark things need to be set in the light so they can absorb the light which, when placed in a dark cabinet, etc, will cause it to glow and that if it is left in the dark the light will fade and it will not glow anymore. After Hailey left the room I was thinking how this illustrates the importance of being in the Light (thru spending time with God) so that we can absorb His Light and have it shine thru us in this dark world. The more time we spend in the dark (without "recharging") the more our light fades and we become like the dark world around us.

I hope these two simple analogies will encourage you to look around and listen for those teachable moments that help to teach God's Truths diligently.

A busy, fun summer.

When the school year ended I sat down with the kids and asked them what were some things they would like to do this summer. We wrote them down and have slowly been checking them off. So far we've had a busy but fun summer.

On June 19th we went to Battleship Cove with my parents. The kids had a wonderful time running around the ships and learning about life in the Navy. It was also great to have my dad there since he served on two of the types of ships they had (a destroyer and also a submarine). We also toured a Russian built ship and a battleship. As a side note: I found out about this thru the website Family days Out USA. They have listings of fun things to do in each state; you can filter the results by indoor/outdoor activities and by age ranges.

The following week the kids went to VBS (Vacation Bible School) at the church associated with the school they are attending. It was a fun, busy week. They are looking forward to VBS at our church next month. It is always a lot of fun but both churches do their VBS in the evenings so it makes for some late nights.

The weekend of July 4th was also busy. Although we didn't make it to any fireworks we did have a fun weekend. On Saturday the 3rd we went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo. We all had a great time. We had never been to this zoo before but had heard great things about it, we certainly were not disappointed. They had a great variety of animals and I really enjoyed the fact that the paths are mostly shaded so despite the weather being in the 90's we were comfortable (even with me having Titus in the carrier).

The 4th was spent at church. We had a great dinner after the morning service and then an afternoon service of singing and sharing testimonies. It was a fun and uplifting day.

This past week has been pretty quiet since we've been staying inside a lot due to the heat. We're hoping to get out this next week for some more fun adventures. Here are a couple pictures from our zoo trip and a recent picture of Titus (since you can't really see him in the zoo picture :) ).

Keira taking a rest by the bald eagles

Ethan & Hailey very excited to see the elephants.

Titus napping thru the excitement :)

Titus - two months old

A new book, new lessons, challenges and encouragement

Since finishing "The Power of a Woman's Words" I have been reading thru a book titled "Sandpaper People: Dealing with the ones who rub you the wrong way" by Mary Southerland. This is proving to be another challenging yet encouraging study.

I chose "Sandpaper People" to learn how to better deal with the difficult people in my life; however, God has also used this book to show me the "beam" in my own eyes and how some of my tendencies can be like sandpaper to others. It's been a very humbling experience but also encouraging to see that God does not give up on us...He continues to show us areas we need to change.

While there is a lot I could share about this book (and many lines I have underlined) I want to give you a glimpse by sharing some of the things in one chapter. The chapter is titled "Be Strong: Develop Endurance" while this book is dealing specifically with difficult relationships there is so much wisdom for any difficulty we face. This chapter focuses on the life of Esther and how she endured in dealing with Haman and despite her fears stepped forth in faith allowing God to use her mightily.

"In dealing with people who rub us the wrong way, we need to
embrace the truth that while our strength is inadequate, God's
strength is more than enough"

She lists four choices we can make that "invite Him to permeate every part of a relationship with His persistent love and regenerating power." These choices are based on Peter's words regarding suffering in I Peter 5:6-10

Choice 1: Choose Humility over Pride:

- "Humility is painful at times but is powerful at all times. Humility chooses total abandonment, a complete submission to God."
- "When we choose humility over pride, we acknowledge the power of God and give Him permission to transform every difficult relationship into a showcase for His transforming love."

Choice 2: Choose Peace over Worry:

- "We need to daily, minute by minute, take those difficult people to God and leave them there, in the palm of His hand."
- "When we live in peace, we are paving the way for difficult people to encounter Peace Himself. Choose peace over worry."

Choice 3: Choose Knowledge over Ignorance:

- "We often assign sandpaper people the role of "enemy", when they are not our adversary but rather, our mission field."
- "Faith is our shield of protection in every part of our spiritual walk; it is the covering for every healthy relationship."
- "misplaced faith is powerless. When it comes to dealing with sandpaper people, we must be careful not to place faith in our own human ability to handle that relationship."

Choice 4: Choose Character over Comfort:

- "all through life, the greatest strength is forged in the broken places."
- "Suffering comes in many ways, but always with the purpose of making us strong enough to endure pain and weak enough to rely upon God."
- "We can insist on comfort and forfeit character, or we can embrace the brokenness, knowing that God will use it to make us strong."

I pray that you have enjoyed this glimpse into what God is teaching me in my life right now thru this book and also that it is an encouragement to you to endure...moment by moment...whatever difficulties you are facing knowing that God is very near and that His Word is "true and righteous all together"

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:37-39

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The Power of a Woman's Words conclusion.

Well, I finished the study "The Power of a Woman's Words" several weeks back but have not had a chance to blog on my final thoughts. This book was such a blessing and a challenge. I find myself thinking over so many things that were mentioned. It has also been a help to me to really think about the words that I'm saying; and help me to recognize when words are better left unsaid. I want to share a portion from the last chapter (it's actually the last page), it's a bit longer but really sums up the book well and brings home just how important the everyday decisions we make of how to use our words, will have lasting affects. I pray that it is a blessing to you also.

"You are going to meet an old lady someday. Down the road 10, 20, 30 years --
she's waiting for you. You will catch up to her. What kind of old lady are you going
to meet? She may be a seasoned, soft and gracious lady. A lady who has grown old
gracefully, surrounded by a host of friends -- friends who call her blessed
because of what her life has meant to them. Or she may be a bitter, disillusioned
dried-up, cynical old buzzard without a good word for anyone or anything --
soured, friendless, and alone. The kind of old lady you will meet will depend
entirely upon you. She will be exactly what you make of her, nothing more, nothing
less. It's up to you. You will have no one else to credit or blame. Every day,
in every way, you are becoming more and more like that old lady. You are getting to look
more like her, think more like her, and talk more like her. You are becoming her. If
you live only in terms of what you are getting out of life, the old lady gets
smaller, drier, harder, crabbier, more self-centered. Open your life to others.
Think in terms of what you can give and your contribution to life, and the old
lady grows larger, softer, kinder, greater. These little things, seemingly so
unimportant now -- attitudes, goals, ambitions, desires -- are adding up
inside where you cannot see them, crystallizing in your heart and mind. The
point is, these things don't always show up immediately. But they will --
sooner than you think. Someday they will harden into that old lady; nothing will be
able to soften or change them then. The time to take care of that old lady is
right now. Today. Examine your motives, attitudes, goals. Check up on her. Work
her over now while she is still pliable, still in a formative condition. Then you
will be much more likely to meet a lovely, gracious old lady at the proper time."
~ Author Unknown