Celebrating 57th Years

Yesterday I mentioned today is my birthday. I made my appearance at 8:12am on Saturday,  December 31st 1960.
Life wasn't easy for our family growing up but we had many good memories.

Listening to music was a big of our lives. I grew up listening to Motown, Beatles and many more due to my parents membership in the Columbia  House Music  Club. It was 12 records for $1.00 back then.  So as a result we had exposure to all kinds music. And of course there were the music shows we watched which were Lawrence Welk, American Bandstand, Soul Train, The Real Don Steele Show, and Ed Sullivan. And who can forget Sing Along With Mitch Miller!

Sunday morning radio was gospel music played live from various churches in Los Angeles on station KGFJ. Though we didn't go to church Mama wanted us to learn about the Lord.

Anyway my taste in music has changed though I love listening to classic Motown and seeing old clips from old music shows on YouTube.

There was a time when I didn't want to discuss my age. And I definitely dated myself with the programs I mentioned. But as I grew in the Lord ( and still growing) I realized I was being vain. Ladies we need to get over ourselves and be happy to tell our age. Our age tells us how many years the Lord has blessed us with. It gives us a chance to look back at all we have accomplished in the past year and look forward to the next, Lord willing,  birthday!

Yes we may have wrinkles, flabby arms, use bifocals and all the other things that go along with aging but we are ALIVE to have these "blessings"!

So dear friends a new year will be here in a few hours. Let's make an effort to not be ashamed of the years God has blessed us with and gladly tell people our age when they ask.

Have a very blessed New Year!

2017

First of all ladies I want to apologize for not taking the time to reply to your comments. I thank you and appreciate each and everyone of you. You are all dear to me! And yikes! I just read my last post and I realized I had made it sound melancholy. I'm sorry about that. I forgot to mention we actually did have a joyous Christmas.  We had an older lady over who couldn't be with her son and grandchildren for Christmas. I don't think anyone should be alone at Christmas and I had been praying about sharing  our Christmas with someone.

It's hard to believe 2017 is coming to an end already and as I reflect on this year I look forward, Lord willing to the coming year.
So a few highlights from this year but not each month is included:

January- We adopted two kittens Kirstie and Dodie. Little did we know that we would lose Dodie a few months later to FIP.
Tim had a heart attack on January 26th. That was one of the scariest moments of my life.  I was so afraid I would become a widow that day.


February- February 13th Tim and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary.


April- Little Bertha came into our lives in the form of a pressure canner. It isn't quite as menacing as it was when I first bought it.


August- We bid a sad goodbye to our kitten Dodie as we made the decision to put her down.

We also celebrated the one year anniversary of crossing the Colorado river from California into Arizona to start a new season of our life. I still can't believe we moved here without a home to call our own.
We spent two weeks at Comfort Suites before our real estate agent and his wife  turned friend invited us to stay in their motorhome until we found a house.
Shannon started college and has a homeschooled student it was her first time in an actual classroom. She is loving it.


September- At the end of Sepember we celebrated one year of moving into our new home by eating at Subway which is we ate the day we moved in. Somehow ramen noodles and homemade cheesecake ( made by our real estate agent) was not going to make a nutritious dinner.


November - We released Miranda my oldest daughter to a long term overseas mission trip with YWAM. It was difficult for our family but we know the Lord has good things planned for her.
We drove down to Phoenix to take our girls to a concert. I was very nervous about that because the Las Vegas shooting was still on my mind.

December- This was a busy month and we were delighted to have friends over who used to live in CA. We've known them since our children were little and they moved to AZ eight years ago. We couldn't believe how much our children had grown.
Of course there was Christmas and oh what a lovely Christmas it was.
Lord willing, tomorrow I celebrate my 57th birthday. More about that tomorrow.

Have a blessed day my friends!
P.S. Please forgive any typos that may be present.  I typed this in a hurry.

Christmas 2017

Christmas has come and gone. I always get a little sad when Christmas is over.  All the pretty lights and decorations go away and people go back to being mean to each other. As if Christ is only important to them only one day of the year. Sigh.

So we didn't have a white Christmas so my snowman teapot was our snowman.

We had a failed attempt at making gingerbread houses from a kit

The remnants of Christmas crackers. We had fun!

I should have taken pictures of us with our crowns from the Christmas crackers but I forgot.
Hope your weekend is awesome.

Merry Christmas!

To my blogger friends!
Have a joyous Christmas day! Remember if you have difficult family members escape somewhere to pray!

Photo by Walter Sanchez courtesy of freelyphoto.com

Simple Woman's Daybook-December 22

For Today

Looking out my window ...it's 16° as of this wrting at 8 AM. I took this picture in the comforts of my nice almost warm house. I wasn't about to go outside!

I'm thinking ...it sure would be fun to have a white Christmas like we did last year which was our first winter in AZ.

I'm thankful for... warm cups of coffee on chilly mornings

I am wearing my flannel red plaid nightgown and slippers.

I am creating... well actually nothing at the moment 

I am reading Fragrant Whiffs of Joy by Dorcas Smucker

I am hoping... that it will miraculously snow on Christmas but as it stands there is 0% chance of snow.

I am learning...how to be a godly wife which I think is something I'm always learning.

In the kitchem... will be, if I get my act together Christmas cookies being made and the crockpot will be filled with a pot roast.

Shared  quote... sorry ladies I don't have any quote to share this morning.

A moment from my day...Kirstie is waiting for me to give her some more cat treats.

Post script... If you enjoyed reading(and even if you didn't) my daybook and want to do your own click The Simple Woman's Daybook blog on your right. There you will find Peggy Hostetler's guidelines and complete set of prompts for creating your own day book. There's even a link up and you can read other daybooks.

Church Denominations- Are They Really Necessary?

During my years as a born again believer, I've been exposed to many different denominations. Some just as a one time visitor, others were visits several visits, when in the area and others I stayed longer.

When I first got saved I attended my mothers church. It was a African-American
Pentecostal/Holiness  congregation and oh was the worship lively! The pastor was Bishop Robert W. McMurray and you knew you had been to "chuch" after one of his sermons and wow could he sing.

I eventually left that church because I wasn't sure what I believed being a new Christian. I was getting confused by the "dancing" that some of the members were doing when they were "hit by the spirit". They believed you have to speak in  tongues to be saved considered saved. I can remember staying after church Sunday after Sunday  waiting to be "filled with the Spirit with evidence of  speaking in tongues".  Well nothing ever happened and I was getting rather bored with the church so I left.

So the next several years I found myself at differing denominations not really paying that close attention to what each one believed because I was never taught to check my Bible against what the churches believed. There was the Foursquare Church I attended before moving out of the L.A. area.
Then there was the Baptist church, a Calvary Chapel type church and back to Foursquare church after I married my husband.
When we moved to Santa Barbara started attending a Vineyard church and witnessed that whole "Toronto Blessing" thing and people claiming to have miraculously received gold fillings which to this day, I don't know what to make of it. Actually I was suspicious about it but I kept it to myself.

It was around 2005 I started to get curious about the women's headcovering. I had been following a CaringBridge page by a woman and her daughters who wore headcoverings. I remembered there was a woman and her daughters who attended the Above Rubies family camp who wore veils. I thought it was a cultural thing because she was from the Phillipines. I had no idea it was Biblical.  After much study, I became convicted and started to cover. I will share more about that in a future post.

We eventually left Vineyard and went to a Baptist Church where we stayed for a few years before leaving to go to a former Baptist church that became a Community Church.
During our time at these various churches we had the opportunity to make the long drive to visit our friends at a Mennonite church.( More about that in a minute)
So here we are in AZ at a Baptist church.

 So I find myself wondering why are there so many denominations? Did Christians get mad at each other and said "You're not my friend and I'm not playing with you anymore"?
I feel like somewhere along the line the Christian church has become focused on "denominationism" (is that even a word?) and claiming theirs is the better one instead of focusing on Jesus and His teachings.  Listen up, the New Testament teachings still apply today and it doesn't matter if you are part of a Baptist church, Lutheran, Catholic or Mennonite.

And speaking of Mennonite, I love visiting the Mennonite church. I really feel comfortable amongst the ladies with their headcoverings, the singing of hymns without any instruments and the clear Biblical teachings.
Also love our Baptist church. I love all the people there, our pastor is a wonderful speaker and a sweetheart of a pastor.

So honestly, I don't know if denominations are necessary because when we get to heaven, we going to all be together.  That Methodist church down the street you use at frown at on your way to your nondenominational church will be there in heaven too.


I would say though regardless of what you label yourself, make sure you always check your Bible to make sure what is being taught is Biblical.

Oh and I apologize for the many posts. I'm in a talkative mood right now, probably from too much tea and cookies. And cookies. And more cookies. Did I say I ate too many cookies?

Christmas Tea

I wish you all could come join me for a cup of tea and Christmas cookies so I will just make believe you are here. I'm sharing at Bernideen's Friends Sharing Tea

Sweet Surprise From Earlier This Month

Last month I shared how I had been feeling fearful after the Las Vegas and Texas church shootings. I confess I still struggle but it isn't nearly as bad as it was. So anyway Jojo over at Through My Hands made this lovely pillow with the verse  from John 14:27. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. It matches perfectly with our quilt. Thank you again dear JoJo!

Just Because They Are Cute

I forgot to post these. Kaitlyn decided Kirstie needed a Santa hat. Not sure she is feeling it.

Who needs cat toys when you have a box?Not to mention paper to jump on?

Christmas in Prescott

Last week we went to Prescott to see the Enchanted Christmas Tour of Lights at the mall. The tour takes places indoors in what used to be Borders bookstore.(Oh how I miss Borders)

Miniature town with train set but it wasn't running that night.

I love teapots and teacups!

Proving my daughters I mention are not a figment of my imagination😊

Someone else is penguin's mama!

A Few More Christmas Photos

This is our cute homemade ice skaking scene.  Tim used old styrofoam and glued it to a mirror. I had a Cabbage Patch figure from some fast food restaurant kid meal. The reindeer are Hallmark stores Rodney Reindeer. The snowman and Christmas tree are cupcake toppers.

Tim made the stable for our nativity scene out of items laying around. The walls are window blind slats the previous owners of our house left. We have seem to have missing pieces of various nativity sets so we decided to use this one.

This is our wall nativity

Coping With Grief During the Holidays

Photo by Jad Limcaco courtesy of Unsplash

Yesterday was the second annivesary of my father-in-law's passing. We knew he was going to leave since he was on hospice care. He suffered from dementia and COPD.
Our grief  started before Dad passed because when a loved one is on hospice there is that anticipating grief. The grief that comes knowing that Dad was dying but we just didn't know when he would pass. He passed away one week after he came home from the nursing home.

So Christmas that year (2015) was very hard for us.  We tried to make Christmas as normal but at the end of the day we were crying because we missed Dad(Papa to his granddaughters)

So how do you cope with loss and sadness during the holidays? I'll just share what helped and is still helping us.

First of all give yourself permission to grieve. Missing someone who has passed away is definitely normal.

Second. Pray. There is no greater Comforter than the Lord himself.
Third talk to a trusted friend who has gone through loss or maybe a friend who can offer a listening ear. Don't forget your pastor as another trusted person to talk to. I'm sure he will find time for you.

Fourth. Get out of the house. Don't isolate yourself from others. In my opinon that is the worst thing you can do because I think it could lead to severe depression. Again that's just my opinion. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or at church.

I'm sure there are other things but those are things that I remember from that year. If you are suffering from grief please follow the suggestions above and please don't be alone.

Our Christmas Tree

I apologize for the poor picture quality. Anyway, this is our homemade Christmas tree. Tim built with it and we got garland with the lights on it already. We usually have more ornaments but Kirstie is a very curious cat so we decided not to put as many as we usually do.

I tried taking a picture with the lights on but it was too much glare. As you can see.

California Wildfires

We have been monitoring the wildfire situation here from AZ in our old area of Santa Barbara County. All the schools in Goleta Union, Santa Barbara Unified School districts and more  districts are closed. I read this morning there is no Amtrak service in Ventura County.
The pictures  I've seen coming out of Santa Barbara have been incredible.

http://www.keyt.com/news/wildfire/thomas-fire-grows-to-115000-acres/667653802

It's definitely a scary situation over there. There are fires burning in other parts of California as well. Prayers would be appreciated.

Fun Questions and Answers

Hello ladies. I was tagged by TR at My Life 0utside the Box so here goes.


1.What is your middle name?   Sherimell

2. What was your favorite subject at school?  Home Ec-cooking

3. What is your favorite drink?  Hot tea in a pretty teacup

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?  O Come, O Come Emmanuel

5. What is your favorite food?  Chicken  and chocolate but not mixed together. lol

6. What is the last thing you bought?  Two books from Amazon by Dorcas Smucker

7. Favorite book of all time?  Vera's Journey by Judy Yoder

8. Favorite Color?  Blue

9. Do you have any pets?  Kirstie our adopted kitty

10. Favorite Perfume?  None but I love the smell of lavender or lemon essential oil

11. Favorite Holiday?  Easter

12. Are you married? Yes to Tim for 24 years

13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?  I believe twice. To Mexico and Baja California

 14. Do you speak any other language? No. I tried to learn Japanese in high school but couldn't get it

15. How many siblings do you have? four sisters and one brother

16. What is your favorite shop?  Etsy Shop- Rose Petal Blessings.  Offline I love Dollar Tree

17. Favorite restaurant? Cracker Barrel

18. When was the last time you cried?  On Thanksgiving

19. Favorite Blog?: Oh I don't have a fave

20. Favorite Movie? Harvey(the original with James Stewart)

21. Favorite TV shows?  We don't have cable  TV but I like to watch When Calls the Heart on Netflix

22. PC or Mac?    PC

23. What phone do you have? LG of some sort

24. How tall are you?  5 feet One inch(I'm glad they didn't ask how much I weigh!)

25. Can you cook?  Yes and I love it!

26. Do you have children? Yes three daughters

And the Winner Is....

Cheryl from Homespun Devotions! Congratulations! Cheryl I will be contacting you via email to get mailing information.
Thanks to everyone who entered. I'm thinking of doing another giveaway but we will see.
Have a wonderful day my friends!

Fun Christmas Present Shopping Idea and Giveaway Deadline

When my girls were little they got to go Christmas shopping from my friend's car. She had lots of items that she was going to take to the thrift store but she would stop by our house first. She would have the girls go to her car, supply them with gift bags and they got to "shop" for my husband and I and for each other. It was such a fun activity for them and they didn't care if they weren't brand new. I still have all the gifts the girls gave me such as aprons and a tea set.

Perhaps you know a family who could benefit from such a fun activity?  

I will be annoucing the winner of the bookmark  and coloring pencils tomorrow morning so if you want to enter the drawing please let me know. See my post from Monday for details about the bookmark.

Have a great day my friends!

Avoiding Being Ripped Off Part 2

Shopping online is convenient and and it definitely better than spending hours in a store but we need to be careful.
1. Always make make sure you sure you shop at familiar sites.
2. Always check for the padlock and make sure you see https in the I guess you call it an address window.
3. Use a strong password for setting up your account. I recommend using one that uses a combination of caps and lowerecase letters, numbers and symbols in ramdom order.

Shopping in stores
1. Never, ever leave your purse or handbag unattended while shopping. I can't tell you the number of women I've seen walking away from their carts to get something a few feet from their carts. Thieves are counting on us not paying attention to our carts. I usually snap my purse to the cart but its better to just keep your purse on your shoulder.

2. Most stores now have chip machines which I really don't like. They are supposed to be more secure.  The problem is when you insert your card part of your number is still showing. What I do is I hold my wallet over my card. Not to where it's touching just sort of hovering so you don't accidently cancel your transaction by bumping your card.
Immediately after the machine tells you to remove your card, put it away! Don't have a conversation with the checker while still holding your card. I'm actually guilty of this.

3. Don't leave your purchases in plain sight in your car. At my old church in CA a car was broken into and gifts were stolen.


 Again I know I'm forgetting something but I hope I my ideas will help us all not become  victims. Some of my ideas are probably no brainers but it's so easy to get distracted and forget.
Enjoy your shopping and stay safe!

Avoiding Scams and Rip Offs Part 1

Photo by Hanny Naibiho courtesy Unspash.com

The holidays are here which means thieves are lurking about ready to steal from unsuspecting victims. I will try to offer some tips that I hope will keep you from becoming a victim.

Phone Scams:

1. Your computer is sending error messages. Ladies your computer is not sending error messages. Windows techs do not call people telling them their computer is sending error messages. The caller wants to take control of your computer and steal your information. Just hang up if they call.

2.Sherrif Scam/IRS

I've read about this recently. The scammer will call posing as a sheriff. The caller will tell you there is a warrant out for your arrest  because you owe money and you can avoid jail time by paying x amount of money.  Law enforcement officers will never alert someone over the phone if there is a warrant. If they did this real criminals would skip town.

3. Charity Solicitors 

These are hardest to discern real ones from fake ones. It's better to just donate to a charity you are familiar with or note the name of the charity and look it up online.

I'm sure there are phone scams I'm forgetting but these are the ones that come to mind.

So ladies please be careful!

Next I will  discuss shopping online and in stores.

Agreeing to Disagree

There are some things as Christians we will never agree with each other about.
Some ladies like myself wear dresses or skirts only.  Some ladies wear pants.  There's no need to argue one way or the other but we all can agree that we need to be modest in whatever we wear and that our clothing honors the Lord.

There are some Christians who only listens and sing hymns. There are others who like the more contemporary Christian music. I personally don't like Christian music that is so loud my ears are ringing and I can't hear the pastor's sermon. Whatever music you choose make sure it is God honoring and that the songs are doctrinally correct.

There are Christians who celebrate Christmas and will have a Christmas tree. There are some who celebrate Christmas but don't put up a tree. There are Christians who don't don't celebrate the holiday at all. I believe whatever you do remember Jesus is the reason for the season. There are people who are church CEOs( they attend church Christmas, Easter Only). Some of these people have come to the Lord (or came back) after attending a Christmas service or Resurrection Sunday service and heard the gospel. I have family members who have done this and oh how that warms my heart!

So now Jesus probably wasn't born on December 25th but I find it encouraging that a day is set aside to remember the One who came as a baby, grew up and was crucified and rose again for us.

That being said, I think we can agree to disagree. When we get to heaven it won't really matter because will be too busy worshipping the Lord to argue amongst each other.😊


Ana, if you are reading this, I'm sorry you were offended. If you would like to comment, please respond without all caps and in English.
Thank you!

A note about the bookmark giveaway, I'm going to enclose some coloring pencils for you to use to color your bookmark. Remember Friday is the deadline and I will announce the winner on Saturday morning. Just leave a comment on my original post about the giveaway.
Have a blessed rest of your day!

Giveaway! Bookmark

Good morning ladies so as promised, I'm posting details about the giveaway. As I said it is really nothing much so here goes.

Okay I got these bookmarks from Charles Stanley's In Touch Ministries and they sent me two. So I would like to give away one.
It measures about 8" x 3" and it's for coloring. Most of you know I love coloring books ever since coloring books for adults became a "thing".
So in order to be in the drawing just leave a comment below. I'll put everyone's name in a bowl and pick one ramdomly. The winner will be announced this Saturday December 2nd. Have fun!

Note:11/2817 I will enclose coloring pencils with the book mark to get your creative juices going!

Giveaway Coming Up!

I have a small something I would like to giveaway. It's nothing much though. Details coming up on Monday.

Oops!

My previous post my typo for Prov 25:11 should have said "An encouraging word is like apples of gold in places of silver" not "pictures of silver".
Sorry about that!

Another Thanksgiving Has Come and Gone

Yesterday was a sweet Thanksgiving but it was also hard because my oldest daughter is overseas on a missions trip. She messaged my husband to let us know they had gone through the Panama Canal. She misses us and we miss her terribly but we know God has some good things planned for her and the team.

Our meal was great and I want to pass along some tips for meal prep that helped me not dread preparing the Thanksgiving meal. You can use these for Christmas or any special occassion.

1. If you are going to roast your turkey, use oven bags. The only company I know of that makes them is Reynolds though I'm sure there must be more.
The turkey is juicier, reduces roasting time and clean up is easier which leads to numbet two.

2. Use a disposable roasting pan. I got my at Dollar Tree for, you guessed it a dollar. I hate cleaning roasting pans so with the roasting bag and disposable pan, I'm able to just gather them both and toss. Note: Always, I repeat always support pan with a cookie sheet, otherwise you run the risk of a severe burn. Believe me, there is no fun in spending the holiday at the ER!

3. Clean up as you cook. If you have a dishwasher load each utensil, dish or pan in the dishwasher so you don't have a huge mess to clean after your meal.
If you don't have a dishwasher then have a sink ready with soapy water to wash your dishes.

4. When it comes to buying  for your holiday meal check your local dollar type store.
I bought my disposable pan, stuffing and broth all at Dollar Tree. Some of you might live near the 99 Cent Only store. That was our favorite store when we lived in CA.
You can also find Ziplock type containers there too and " doggie bag containers".

I hope these ideas will help you have a little less stress when planning your next holiday gathering, whatever that holiday may be.


Switching topics, yesterday for the first time ever since I blogging, I had to reject a comment.
It seems that this woman who wanted to argue with me over at a blog I follow, wanted to continue over on my blog. I had let her know on the other blog that I didn't want to get into a comment war with her. I ended with the scripture Proverbs 25:11 "An encouraging word is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." I guess that made her angry so that's why she tried at my blog.

She always writes in all caps and in Spanish. My Spanish is very limited but I can tell that that she was very angry with me and others who don't agree with her. She claims to be a Christian but she seems very rude and judgemental.

She doesn't have a blog so I have no idea how to block her or if I even can. Any ideas will  be helpful.
What did she want to argue about you may be wondering? It was over Christmas and whether it was Biblical or not.

The thing is, I never even argued with her over that. I asked her and someone else asked her to please not write in all caps. Someone else asked her to post in English since she apparently spoke English.

I'm guessing she targeted me  because most people will comment anonymously but I like to use my name.
I do hope I seen the last of her on my blog and hopefully over at the over blog. Maybe she will give up and find someone else to argue with. She reminded me of the odious woman in Proverbs that Debi Pearl in Created to Be His Helpmeet warns us not to become.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. If things get rough today, it's okay to escape to a quiet place to pray.

Photo by Jessica Bristow courtesy of Unsplash.com

Blessed Thanksgiving!

Just in case I don't get on this week I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! I will  be very busy with preparing for Thanksgiving
so I will be limited with posting and reading your blogs.
Let's all take time this week to be thankful for the big things and the little things in our lives.
(Photo by Pro Church Media courtesy of Upslash.com)

Feminine Friday

I'm late to the game today so I will just saying one of the things that a godly woman will do is to dress the way she would other women to dress around her husband, son, brother or father.

The original quote : "Dress the way the way you would want other women to dress around your husband" - Kim Doebler

Feminine Friday

Ladies today instead of posting a picture I want to talk about being a godly feminine woman/ young lady.

Being feminine is not just about what you wear but it also includes have a meek and quiet spirit(1 Peter 3:3-4)

Being feminine doesn't mean participating in women's marches wearing(yes I'm going there!) vagina hats demanding your rights to kill your unborn baby.

Being feminine means having a thankful and submissive attitude.

A feminine woman gladly accepts her role as a woman and rejects the notion of wanting to do jobs reserved for men.

A feminine woman will reverence her husband and submit except when it violates scripture.(1Peter 3:1-6, Ephesians 5:22)


Being feminine is not flaunting our bodies by dressing in clothing that makes us look like harlots or posting pictures online of ourselves in harlot attire for all to see.

Being feminine loves her husband, children and being a keeper at home(Titus 2 :1-5)

These are a few things I wanted to share. Scripture is full of teaching aimed at us women. Now I'm not perfect by no means. I've definitely come short of being the wife God wants me to be.

Resources  I recommend
The Bible of course
The Excellent Wife- Martha Peace
Daughters of Sarah-Genevieve  M. White
The Transformed Wife- Lori Alexander
Any books by Nancy Campbell of Above Rubies
Created to Be His Helpmeet- Debi Pearl

I'm still in the middle of Created to Be His Helpmeet but so far it's been very encouraging.

Better Picture of Tea Cup

Here's a better picture of the teacup and saucer I recieved and there is a handmade doily. I want to examine the pattern to figure out how to crochet one.  I've never made a doily in my life So I hope to be able to do this pattern.

Completed Shirt Apron

Here's a picture of me in the completed apron after I disguised the shirt pocket I forgot to remove before I started sewing.

A Lighter Post-Tea Cup Exchange Reveal

I've posted in the past about the wonderful teacup and mug exchange that Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose hosts at least twice a year.  I participated for the first time in the spring of this year and was blessed to do it again for the fall.
So for the fall exchange I sent a package to JoJo over at Through My Hands. She is a very talented craft lady. I didn't snap a picture of her goodies because I wanted to get her package out.

I recieved a lovely package from Kim and I just love it! I love having tea time and this just makes it all the more lovelier!

If you would love to see more pictures of tea loveliness check  Stephanies post tomorrow at The Enchanting Rose reveal and information for the next exchange.

Being Fearful

This was in my inbox today and it is just what I needed today. I realize that not many agree with the things Lori writes but this post is important for all of us who may be experiecing fear .
The Transformed Wife
If the link doesn't click or copy and paste.
https://thetransformedwife.com/the-fear-of-being-shot-in-church/

One More Confession

I really don't like confessing this but sometimes I get fearful due to the recent shootings. When I heard about the shooting at a church in TX yesterday , that made things much worse. Twenty- six people(including a 18month old baby) as of the time of this writing died for no reason.

Here in AZ people are allowed to carry weapons.  I get nervous someone is going to go on a shooting rampage. I get fearful at church or Bible study that someone who has a beef with God or Christians in general and come in shooting.
I know this is not how God wants His children to live but yet the fear is there.

Confession Time- Last Night I Whined to God

First of all I want to thank you all for your kind comments regarding my oldest daughter Miranda leaving on a long missons trip. They are very comforting to me. She and the team from YWAM Bishop, who are friends of our since all our kids were little, will fly out on the 16th.

So now I will explain why I whined to God last night. Yesterday we drove Miranda to Las Vegas to meet up with our friend from Bishop who was housesitting so they can drive back to Bishop together. That was fine.
So we drove back to AZ and we stopped in a small town outside of Kingman,AZ for gas and potty break. That was fine. It was fine until we were leaving the parking lot and Tim says "Really?" I'm thinking perhaps the driver in front of us did something silly because we saw alot of that during the drive. Tim says "Why isn't the alternator alternating?" I'm thinking this is not good and so I'm praying that the car would continue to work but the car wasn't having it. The headlights were starting to dim and the car was starting to die. I kept praying that we would get to Kingman where it was well lit but nope that didn't happen.
We ended up pulling over to the side of the road in the middle of no where it was dark and all we could see were the lights of Kingman which was an hour away. That's when the whining started. (Cue the violin music) "God why didn't You honor my prayer?" "How can I trust You to keep my daughter safe while on her mission trip  when you won't honor a simple request to keep our car running?"  I was very much pitiful.

After we pulled over Tim called our friend(praise God for cell signals despite being in Nowhere Land)  who are three hours away. So making a long story short, we got around rescued 11:30 last night. Our friend had a trailer to load our car on and off we went. We got home around 3 this morning,.
So these are the things I was thankful for last night:
We were kept safe from cars because our hazard lights quit working
Thankful there were signals on our cell phones because usually in remote areas like that there is no cell service
This one might be tmi but were girls were grateful for empty drink cups, napkins and hand sanitizer because there wasn't a potty around
Thankful for the bright moon which shown on our car after the hazard light dimmed out
Thankful for our friend who we think is an angel in disguise who came to get us
Thankful God got us home safely even though, it wasn't the way I had planned.

Ladies, I confess I'm still a little troubled that God didn't answer my prayer to keep our car running our whole trip. And yes I'm worried that God won't keep Miranda safe as she won't be in  very safe places.
This is a hard thing for me to admit because I always thought my faith was strong. If last night was a test, I failed miserably.

Questions

If you have any questions about the shirt apron, please let me know. I did rush through the apron and tutorial.
Also I will be mostly absent this week as we will be spending time with our oldest daughter. She will be gone a whole year and this mama's heart is breaking but I know that the Lord will be using her in a mighty way. I just need to put my complete trust in Him and no that He will be watching out for her and keeping her safe.

Shirt Apron Tutorial (Finally!)

As promised I'm going to show you how to make a apron out of a man's shirt. You can either ask your husband if you can have one of his shirts that he doesn't want anymore or you can get one from a yard sale or thrift store.

Supplies you will need are shirt, chalk or fabric marker,needle and thread, scissors and a sewing machine.
Step 1. Remove cat from shirt and cutting mat

Step 2. Draw an angled line from shoulder seam to the underarm seam. I used a blue fabric marker that I hope you can see. Do this for both shoulder seams.

Step 3.Remove cat again and starting at bottom of shirt and cut at seam all the way up to where you drew the line and keep cutting on the drawn line.

Step 4. Flip up the collar and cut along seam to remove the back of the shirt. Here what it should look like.

Step 5. At the shoulder fold over raw  1/4 in and press. Then fold over 1/4 in again and press.  I used pins to help keep the folds down

Step  6. Sew along pressed edge and then press again.

Step 7. Sew the shirt up the button line but not too far up. Leave about two buttons open so you can get shirt over your head.

Step 8. For the ties I wanted something different so I found two scraps of fabric that were 19 x 4 inches long.

Steps 9. Fold over 1/4  and press all edges of strips. Do this twice.

Step 10. Sew along all four edges and press.

 Step 11. Attach ties to the "v"  sides of your apron and sew across.

Step 12.

Remove cat

Step 13. Your finished apron!

Notes: I forgot to take the pocket off so I'm going to cover it up with something. Also I'm going to attach a pocket on the lower right side of apron.

Many thanks to Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose  for her original tutorial on making a shirt apron.

 Thank you to my  daughter Shannon for helping with the photos and lending me her sewing machine.

And a special thanks to Kirstie the cat for her "help" in making this tutorial.

Slight Delay in Tutorial

Good Morning Ladies,
There will be a slight delay in getting the tutorial up. First of all my daughter from CA is visiting before she has to leave next week for a extended missions trip on a ship with YWAM. It ill be a long time before we see her again so we want to spend as much time with her as possible but that is for another post. Second, I'm having trouble with my tablet where all the pictures to use for the tutorial are stored. I hope to get it up later today or tomorrow.

Taking a One Week Break and a Tutorial Coming Up

Greeting Sisters! I'm needed to take a week off from my blog. I'm a little overwhelmed with too many things but when I return I'm going to give a tutorial on how to turn a man's shirt into a functional apron.
Below is the shirt I will be working with and the other picture was my first attempt at making one.

See you in a week!