Monday, October 31, 2011

The Last Day of October!

I don't know about you, but I can not believe that today is the last day of October. Where does the time go?

Today is the 4th day of The Journey.  I will not be posting on Sunday's.

My scripture for today is:

In the same way,  the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words can not express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. ( Romans 8:26-27)

Prayer.
Even in our silence, when we are busy with our day-to-day activities, God knows our love. Even in our silence, we can be assured he is waiting, ready to listen. Even when the words don't flow freely, he knows our hearts.


Confession time:
I have not sewn a stitch. In fact, I am still in the cutting out process. I find hopping (on one foot) around the dining room table,  to cut out the fabric, just wears me out!  Plus, I need to buy some solid color fabric for the pockets.

Just for today, my goal's are:
Cut out the remaining pattern pieces.
Look for coupons for the Fabric store.
Decide which pattern to use for the girls aprons.
Pick up clutter in the house.

Goal for Nov. 1st
Tomorrow, have Hubby drive me to the Fabric store to buy solid color fabric.
Sew, Sew, Sew

Remember , tomorrow starts the Thirty Day's of Thanks Challenge.


Saturday, October 29, 2011

Another Day On the Journey

Today's devotional verse is:

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. (Malachi 3:3)

I will admit, I had to read the explanation several times to understand what I was supposed to learn and still don't know for sure.  The main point is,  just as a refiner watches metal he is pouring into a mold, our Lord will seek to perfect us into a perfect shape.


II.  Quit Procrastinating

Today I am going to quit procrastinating and start my sewing.
This has been wearing on my mind but I haven't done anything about it. For three weeks, I have sat on the couch, at the desk or on the bed contemplating...What??
I have finally realized that the sewing elves are not going to magically appear each night, cut the pattern and sew the aprons while I have dreams of sugar plums dancing in my head!

Yesterday I asked Hubby to move my sewing machine from the office to the bedroom. I like to sew in our bedroom because, believe it or not, there is more room. Also, I can turn on the TV and listen to Animal Planet while sewing. Ye, I am an Animal Planet junkie.

My project is making aprons my families Annual Cookie Day, which we have held for the last umpteen years. Last year, some of the grands were wearing aprons that we made when they were 3 years old and who are now preteens and teens! It was quite comical and very apparent that new aprons are needed.

Several weeks ago, two of the older girls spent the night and we went shopping for our materials. We chose patterns and picked out fabric for the boys.

I had fully intended to start this project when I returned from Chicago. Unfortunately, I have used my teeny accident as an excuse to do nothing.

So, here we go!

This is the boys pattern..very plain..just right for my "little Men"

Their fabric..lovingly picked out by their sisters!
Yes, that is a kitty leg..


Looks like I will have at least one helper today!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Be Still....

The last three weeks I have been nothing but still!

Since I broke my foot (on non- weight bearing orders), I have sat around the house in a fog.  I must admit, at times feeling a tad bit sorry for myself, angry that I caused this mishap and frustrated that I can not do the activities I had planned for after the marathon!

I did not put my life on hold, while training for the marathon, but I did put long training runs as top priority. These long runs usually fell on the weekend when other activities were going on.

"Don't Worry" I would tell myself, after the marathon...I can.......


Here we are,  after the marathon.   I sit in the house, leg elevated and still not able to attend the activities I had planned. Also, I have been procrastinating on the sewing that needs to be done before the first of December.  Broken foot does not equal inability to sew!

Today is the first day of the Journey...to a better 2012


The Pattern, Map, Timeline, List or Plan..what ever word I come up with..yet to be decided..I need to start and start NOW!

I.  The first thing has to be Spiritual Growth
     Devotion- Read my daily devotion book


II.  Second,  Quit procrastinating 
    Cut out my pattern and start sewing


III. Third,  Learn to be Frugal 
       Plan meals,  make grocery list and use coupons. I need to be, for lack of a better word, a good Steward of my money. Hubby always says " If you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." Well, I do not watch pennies, nickels........!  I can go to the grocery for one item and come out with ten.  I need to watch the sales, coupon, and learn to conserve my $$. 


Today my focus is on number one! Yes, God!


 I have not been able to attend my weekly Bible class which always fills the spirit.  The women in my class are amazing;  the studies, although sometimes challenging, really make me think and ponder, not just read;  the fellowship, truly enlightening!  These classes did not allow me to put off...what I need.

Have I studied these last three weeks...NO. Why. Not?
No excuse.
This morning I picked up a book I bought back in September.

Streams In the Desert by L.B. Cowman
366 Devotional Readings
Copyright @1997 by Zondervan  originally published in 1925  Cowman Publications Inc.

I turned to today's date and began reading,
 The scripture;
  Because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions...And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

Reading on, the author tells us to be still and have a quiet spirit, encouraging us to be seated in the"heavenly realms" daily.

For the last three weeks, I have been still but not in the way intended. I've had multiple opportunities to sit quietly, read scripture, spend time in devotion but have missed those opportunities.  Instead, I watched TV, looked at FB, read blogs and played Words with Friends. I have read two books..but not The Book.

My journey will include reading the daily devotions and this morning was the day to start. I have a plan. The goal is to continue reading from this book..every day.


Before I started this post, I visited  Cheryl, (The Prairie Maid),and read the posting for her journey.
I found similarities in her post, to what I was thinking today,  and wondered if we both felt the need  
To Be Still.

I will leave you with a quote from the book:

"Instead of continuing our restless striving, we would "sit down" inwardly before the Lord, allowing the divine forces of His Spirit to silently work out the means to accomplish our goals and aspirations."
L.B. Cowman
Edited by Jim Reiman



Thursday, October 27, 2011

Friday Hop

I am linking up with Java, @ Never Growing Old, for her Friday hop.




Thirty days of Thanks..

On November 1st, I will be starting my Thirty Days of Thanks posts.

Last year, I joined a fellow blogger on her Thirty Days of Thanks challenge. The idea was to set time aside each day to focus on what we were thankful for, then add it to our posts.  I completed her challenge and was a little sad when the thirty days had passed.

Honestly, I had completely forgotten that challenge until I was reading Cheryl's (The Prairie Maid), post yesterday. Cheryl is starting a 65 day Journey, her description says "..to start the year in a better place"!
If you have not met Cheryl, you should hop on over and get to know her.

I will be reading Cheryl's posts for the next 65 days and adding my Thirty Days of Thanks. If you would like to join me, pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and begin an enlightening journey.


  -Shawn-

Oh what a Difference a Day Makes!

For those of you that know me well, you know how I feel about snow!


Unfortunately, that about sums up my feelings for the fluffy white stuff and yesterday we were hit with our first snowstorm of the season!

Normally, on a beautiful fall day, this is what I see out of the living room window at our Condo.

When all the leaves have changed color, this tree is beautiful!

Now this is what I saw yesterday!



....and today


I rest my case.




Friday, October 14, 2011

Friday Hop




Photobucket

I am going to Link Up with Feeling Beachie for the 4 question hop...boy has it been a long time for me.


I will add her directions,

Each week, I plan on listing four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs. If you want to join the fun and come up with four fill in’s of your own, please email them to me at feelingbeachie@gmail.com. If I use them, I will add you as co-host to the hop! This week’s co-host is Sarah from the Mama Pirate. She submitted the last two statements!
I would LOVE it if you could please help me spread the word about this hop…. So, please tweet, FaceBook share, and add the linky to your post…
This week’s statements:
1. ___is my least favorite household chore
2. ___ is my guilty pleasure
3. In the __________, I think ___________.
4. My favorite ___________for _________ is _____________.


My Answers:

1.   My least favorite household chore is cleaning the bathroom! The tub drives me crazy!


2.   Ice Cream is my guilty pleasure. In the summer, I do not mind popsicles but prefer ice cream!
Hand holding melting ice cream photo




3.   In the morning, I think...I wish the dang cats would go back to sleep!!
      They start their morning meow about 4:15 am!!!
My 'lil darlings
4.  My favorite topping for ice cream is carmel!  Geeessh, must have something on my mind!


YUMMY!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!