Day 13: Samuel

Tonight we read the promise of a son to faithful Hannah and how she dedicated that son to live at the temple. This son, Samuel, was left with the priest Eli who had 2 wicked sons. Samuel was awakened by the Lord one night and given the message that these 2 sons would not continue rule in Eli's temple. This was the first of many prophetic messages that Samuel would bring God's people who remained faithful and obedient to listen to the Lord.
My husband reflected on how he thought as a kid how great it would be to live like little Samuel at the temple and learn about the things of God all that time, except that he would miss his family.

If you are following along with the Bible in Stories -  pages 224-229
If using the Bible or another Bible reader - 1 Samuel 1-3 

I want to re-make this Samuel ornament (above). It's hard not to make a back view of a person not look awkward.
I made this ornament today for my friend using the Voskamp booklet. It is the town of Bethlehem, prophesied to be the place of Christ's birth in the Old Testament. It's simple but I really like how it turned out. I could work on these all day!

Day 12: Ruth

There are so many fascinating stories to tell from the life of Joshua but for tonight's lesson we fast-forwarded to the story of Ruth. Ruth, whose noble reputation and future children would bear Mary, mother of Jesus. Her story with Boaz reflects an attribute of God who also redeems the destitute in the role of Kinsmen's Redeemer. We're not sure this is a story we will keep in the line-up every year, but in keeping with "Jesse Tree" she is part of the lineage of Jesus as the great-grandmother David, from whose line Jesus was born. There were a few more Legos and 2 ornaments like the wheat Ruth threshed in the box tonight. We ended with "Away in a Manger" again and this time they definitely knew more of the lyrics!

If you are following along with the Bible in Stories -  pages 220-223
If using the Bible or another Bible reader - summarize Ruth 1-4
Song: "Away in a Manger"

As far as adventures in crafts go with boys, I tried a new one this week- plastic cross-stitch shapes. I got a 10 pack of star shapes for $1.50, some gold and silver cord, and large eye needles and let my oldest experiment with them. This actually turned out to be a good boy (or girl, I'm sure) craft because he had plot which direction to go, count the holes, and figure out how to end up on the right side to go to the next part of the star. You could really make a good math and pattern lesson out of this! When he does the next one I'm going to challenge him to use the 2 colors and make up a symmetrical pattern. If I can figure out the best way to cover all our knots and oops on the backside, these will make cute (and economical) ornaments to give on top of our gifts.

More than Baggage

Traveling always makes me want to make a new bag. There's something fresh about picking out fabric and creating something new for a new place. I wanted something flat to pack, lightweight and not too hot, and big enough just to carry a few things as we walk around the camp where we will be working in Germany the next few weeks.

Figuring this one out made my head hurt but I am pretty happy with how it turned out. You can find a link to the pattern in English HERE. I fell in love with its picture on Pinterest. I complicated mine by placing my stripe at the bottom of the bag, using one-directional fabric, and added an inner pocket.

Lining and inside pocket

But my main motivation for sewing this week was that I my son and I have been suffering from eczema for years and his pediatrician suggested going on a dairy-free diet, so I needed to be prepared perhaps to carry my own food wherever we go (and well a new bag makes it a tiny bit more bearable!) He also tested allergic to egg, peanuts, and walnuts (and the cat). I haven't been tested yet myself but decided to cut all of these out in case they affect me too and so I can sympathize and cook for him. Stopping all of these cold-turkey while traveling has been sooo hard! But the surprise more was all of the feelings and fears that rose out of me. And I say rose because that implies that they were always there.

One of the first mornings I cried because we went out to breakfast and I could not find a single thing to eat. I cried at Wal-Mart because they had none of the dairy substitutes I could find at home. I cried when we got to our destination because the week ahead with my tiny bag of groceries seemed so bleak. My stomach began to quiver and feel anxious on the way to the cafeteria. Beneath it all I was resenting God for our issues and growing bitter at how narrow (and tasteless) my world seemed. Irrelevant lies began to fill my thoughts about God's fairness and my ugliness and my job as a mom. And I think I was actually grieving the loss of freedom knowing I was headed to Europe soon and wanted to be able to pick up anything delicious-looking without reading any labels.  I know, so dramatic and self-pitying; evidently the sleeping giants in my heart. I sought a few faithful friends to lift my weary heart before the Father and experienced the reality check of surrendering my relatively small trials to Him in exchange for peace. Light again shone through the gray skies that had smothered me.

I recently read "Waking the Dead" by John Eldridge and have been chewing on his idea of caring for my heart or for the heart of others. If anything from this month I want to walk away with a sensitivity to the heart issues that may cling to anything that we go through.
I could have just paid attention to my hunger or inner pity-party, but the real issues stemmed from my heart, not my stomach. There were lies to reject, confessions to be made, and hope to receive.
Isn't that the way it always is? With anyone around me, what am I doing to check in on and care for their heart? It's not just a "bad day with the kids", but a longing for stillness and peace and a return to thoughts that are eternal and not just attending to immediate needs. It's usually not "just a sickness", but the anxieties and lies that chase after you in your weakness. I have been asking God to give me ears to really hear what is going on at the heart-level when others speak. We are such complicated beings of body, soul, spirit and emotion. Too often we carry on like we are one dimensional beings because it takes too much time to ponder the heart and lay all that lies beneath before the Lord. But through the evident multi-layers exposed through my own problems I ask Him to help me discern them clearly in the stories of others. And care enough to address it.

Apparently a little ice cream withdrawal is food for the spirit.



 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." -Proverbs 4:23 

Sewing for the Soul

One little lady has changed my crafting life- my squishy, sweet little niece. I happen to live in an area with a J.Crew Warehouse which frequently has sales. It is a crazy scene of adults who wait in long lines in the rain, and pillage through huge boxes of random clothes, hauling along trash bags of their spoils. But the best part to me is that most of the kids clothing is less than $6! I have two boys and they love the preppy shirts they think are "cowboy", but the hunt has become a little more fun now that I can dig through the adorable girl's clothes. So the challenge I have given myself has been to find pieces I can add to, making the ubiquitous 4/5 size shirts into 2/3 size dresses for little J. Here are a few of my latest, but I am sorry some are not modeled. Most often I have to ship them off and hope they fit!

I like buying a shirt so I don't have to make sleeves, so I added lace to this to make longer for a dress. I was going to add another layer beneath, but liked the simple beauty of these colors together.

For this sweet shirt I took in the sides a little and added the denim band and a few button accents.

I loved this little ruffled shirt and added fabric beneath it to look like a shirt over a skirt.

But trying to find time to sew or craft each week is a challenge with home-schooling, part-time work, and other responsibilities, but I feel for me it has slid more into the category of NEED (as I wrote about here).
I remember the first time I make a little orange tote bag with a flap and a button and I couldn't believe I MADE something that looks like it might have come from a store. I was so proud and impressed by the silly thing, hanging it up in the dining room. In a funny way it gave me a glimpse into the pride, delight and enjoyment that God must have upon His creation. I looked at that little bag and somehow felt more loved. It's amazing how personal my God must be to bring revelation into that simple moment of honestly, unimpressive handiwork. But He did.
And prayer-crafting became intertwined and an addiction.

I think I have figured out that in my little world of repeatedly washing the same dishes, and clothing, and floors, that creating gives me an opportunity to make something more lasting. Outside the cycle of the monotonous, something I work on just might be worn and kept and loved. And that is very satisfying. It has become an intentional need. Does anyone feel the same way?