Sure & Steadfast

Hear Me

Not My Will

Luke 22:42

Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

How many times do we not do something simply because we do not want to do it? if it is something small, we may figure it is not a big deal and just do it, but if it is life changing, we will make our decision on the matter with how it will affect us.

We may not take a new job because it would require moving and we don't want to leave family. We may not give money to a benefit because we will have to give up our daily latte for a few weeks. We may decide to stop having children because we don't want to be "tied down". The list can go on and on.

However, we are called to follow Christ's example. Christ knew what was in store for Him and He didn't want to do it, but He still submitted to His Father's will in the matter. He knew God was calling him to die on the cross when He didn't deserve it. This was the biggest life changing decision one could make--to give up one's life to the point of death.

Many times we don't even want to make changes that may only affect our comfort level for a short time or that may just make us work a little harder than we have int he past.

Is that how we are supposed to be?

Every time I read this scripture, I am humbled. I realize my selfishness and lack of sacrifice. My prayer is that I would not only say, "[N]ot my will, but thine be done," but that my life would show it as well.

Guide Thee

Relax

Path of Thy Commandments

Water to Wine

A sermon on Christ's first miracle.

Happy Birthday!

My oldest is celebrating her birthday today! She has grown into a wonderful young lady.

Usually I make (sometimes buy) a new church outfit for each of my children for their birthdays. This year, Dara was given a new shirt by a new friend and she had asked me to make a skirt to match it for her "birthday outfit". Before I had a chance to start on a skirt, another friend gave her a skirt that matched nicely with the top so I didn't need to make a skirt anymore. Instead, she asked me to make her a skirt out of some material she had picked out over a year ago but we never made into anything. Before I even started on the skirt, I found a top that matched it perfectly at the local consignment shop. A bonus was the top was 1/2 off and it only cost $1.75!

She chose the pattern/length for the skirt. She plans on using this for an everyday outfit.

My youngest celebrated his birthday just a week and a half ago! I still have a ways to go when sewing clothes for boys, but I wanted to make him something. Last year I made him a bow tie so the girls thought I should make him a tie this year and I wanted to try making suspenders. I found tutorials on Pinterest for both the tie and suspenders. I found the shirt and hat at the local consignment shop and the pants we already had.

Encouraging Creativity

Our family is sometimes criticized because of how we live. We do not have a television that is hooked up (we have one that we only use to watch DVD's), we do not have lots of electronic games (and those we do have are used sparingly), we do not have lots of toys/games, etc. We have chosen this lifestyle for a few reasons. 1. We do not like the influence that some of those things have on our children. 2. We live a modest lifestyle and honestly can not afford many of those things. 3. We encourage our children to be creative.

 Encouraging our children to be creative is what I want to discuss today. We believe it is important to allow children to have the time to pursue what interests them. We also believe in allowing them opportunities to be problem solvers. It is amazing what they come up with when given the chance!

Many of my girls like to sew. We currently have four sewing machines in the house so there is usually a machine available to them at all times. They have free range of anything in the scrap bins and many times I will allow them to use other material as well, but they do have to ask first to make sure I don't have plans for it already. One of my girls was digging through the scrap bin one day and found a part of a women's skirt that we had cut up to use for something else because of a tear it had that wasn't fixable. She took it and made it into skirt for her youngest sister (who loves it by the way!).

A few weeks ago, my husband was busy building me a summer kitchen and there were lots of wood scraps laying around. My girls had so much fun making things with those! Give them a few nails and a hammer and they got creative!

They made a table and benches for their dolls.

They each have forts in the woods on our property and this was a shelf
they made to hold their "kitchen supplies".

Here was a bench for one of their forts.

They made lots of crosses! One will be hanging in (or on) the summer
kitchen at some point, they have some for their forts, and of course they
have some they can give away (or try to sell).

One of my girls had seen a star made out of twigs at a friend's house so she made her own.

All of these creations were accomplished with very little help from me and some were done without my knowledge (until they were completed and they showed them off!).  My children have used problem solving skills to make sure they had the right height for their benches and the right angles to put things together. They were creative in deciding what to make and how to go about getting it done.

By "playing" they are learning skills that will benefit them greatly in years to come. I love when they would rather be creating instead of plugged into some electronic device.

I would love to hear about what your children have created!

Becoming New