Thankful on Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful this day, first and foremost, for our Savior Jesus, who gave His life so that we might have new life in Him. We are also thankful for our family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. We are thankful for the men and women who have served and are serving in the defense of our country. We are thankful for our ancestors, who bravely came to what was then a new country...

Time doesn't permit me to list every reason I have to be thankful today. But most of all, I am thankful to the Giver of all Good Gifts. Our Fighter Verse for Scripture memory for next week is James 1:17: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Thank you, Lord, for Thanksgiving!

Sacrifice in marriage? Absolutely!

Even if you could have it all, you couldn’t have it all at the same time.

A blogger I read off and on asked recently if she should “compromise” and “sacrifice” her personal goals in life in order to have the long-lasting relationship that she also desires. That left me thinking about my own life and the choices I have made.

Have I “sacrificed” or “compromised” as a married woman? Absolutely! Do I have any regrets about this? None whatsoever! There would be no joy in our life together if we weren’t both willing to sacrifice and compromise at times. If you are truly one flesh in marriage, you must be willing to submit to each other as the Bible teaches in Ephesians 5:21. This means you both make choices based on the good of the marriage.

But just because you say goodbye to some personal dreams and goals doesn’t mean you must live without dreams or goals altogether. Instead, you find that by being willing to say goodbye to a personal dream, you are now free to embrace another dream together, especially if that dream glorifies and honors your Creator.

And personal sacrifice is not only good for our marriage; it’s also good for our relationship with Jesus. He set the ultimate example of personal sacrifice for us, and He teaches us to be willing to die to ourselves daily.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Ephesians 12:1-2)

Beer Bread with Cheese

It's been a while since I've posted a new recipe. So today seems like a good day to do that. I've made this beer bread before, but this is the first time I've made it with cheese. We're going to have it tonight for dinner with broiled salmon, steamed corn, and a mixed green salad...It feels really good to be well enough to enjoy cooking again. And since my husband has had chicken pox (he had it when he was a kid), I don't have to worry about exposing him to my germs as I prepare our meal. This recipe came from a blog I've enjoyed reading over the past several weeks, but the addition of the shredded cheese is my experiment tonight. It looks really good!

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
12 oz. beer
3 Tbsp. melted butter

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add shredded cheese, mixing by hand to make sure that the cheese is well distributed and not clumped together. Add beer and mix well. Pour dough into greased and floured 9x5 loaf pan. Pour melted butter over top, taking care to make sure the butter doesn't all flow down the sides of the pan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Chicken pox!

Well, this has been an odd fall season already for my husband and me.

First, we've both had a persistent cold that has held on for several weeks. It's no longer debilitating, but it is annoying to have to cough so much during the day, and it also makes it challenging to fall asleep at night.

Then, my husband was bit by a spider (probably a common sac spider), most likely when he was putting the cover on the air conditioner for the winter. He didn't even know it had happened until the area around the five bite marks started becoming red and inflamed. So he went to see the doctor, who immediately prescribed a heavy duty antibiotic, which not only knocked out the infection but also upset my husband's stomach. Thankfully, that was over before the next wave of illness came along...

On my birthday, my 41st birthday, November 4, I came down with chicken pox! Can you believe it? I had asked about the vaccine for chicken pox a few years ago, but I tested positive for antibodies, which was supposed to mean that I had already had a case of chicken pox, even though neither my mother nor I ever knew that I had it.

Well, that test must have been wrong, because I started getting a few red bumps on my face, and I had a terrible headache that wouldn't go away, even with massive amounts of ibuprofen. When I went to the doctor about it on November 5 he found that I also had a fever. But because I supposedly already had chicken pox, he thought that the bumps must be related to the fever, so he told me to go home and rest because I might be getting the flu.

By the morning of November 6, my husband was ready to call the doctor again, because the bumps had spread. They were all over my face, on my chest and stomach, and also on my scalp. In fact, before I saw the doctor that afternoon, I had chicken pox all over my body. They were the worst on my head, neck, and torso. They didn't itch at first, but they did hurt, especially the ones on my scalp. So the doctor prescribed an anti-viral drug and took a culture from one of the bumps, and by Monday his nurse called me to confirm that it is chicken pox. She told me to stay home until every one of those bumps either disappears or crusts over.

So that's where I've been ever since...home with various degrees of miserable-ness. The fever lasted six days. The headache lasted a week and a half, and I'm still dealing with some itching and pain. But thankfully, it's much better than it was all last week. I was able to work from home today, and that really did feel good. But I can't go back to the office until all of those bumps are either gone or crusted over. And there are still a lot of bumps that aren't at that stage yet.

On the bright side, I have many reasons to be thankful. God has provided so well for me during this trial. First of all, my family and my husband's family have all been so good to me, as have my friends at the ministry. I've had phone calls, cards, flowers, and wonderful meals, and there have been countless prayers prayed for me. Also, in the midst of all this, I've changed to a new doctor, and that's a reason to be thankful, too.

I had a great doctor before, a Christian physician, but it was really hard to get appointments with her, and I was tired of being assigned to a nurse practioner whenever I needed to see a doctor between annual exams. My new doctor is also my husband's doctor and an old classmate of his from college days. He's also a committed Christian, and he also cares for one of my best friends at the ministry. So I know that I will be in very good hands.

Nesting again...

It seems to happen every autumn. As soon as we move our lawn furniture in for the winter and dump all of our outdoor pots and planters, I start to feel the nesting urge again---the desire for a more comfortable and orderly home.

Over the last two weeks, despite having a bad cold, I've been clearing out space in my cupboards so that the glassware I love and use the most has more "breathing" room. I gave away our everyday stoneware to make room for a new set. And I gave away several older dishes and pieces of glassware that were mismatched and I've never really used.

I even gave away our entire Christmas set. That wasn't an easy decision for me, since it had all been given to me as gifts from friends and family over a number of years. But we live in a 1,200-square foot house, and it became hard for me to justify having a set that I only use one time a year at the most. I decided that my nice white wedding china would be just as nice as Christmas as it is at every other special meal during the year, and my table will still look festive if I use pretty holiday linens and other decorations.

As a result, I've been finding that I have been using more of my nicer dishes more often recently, just because it's easier to get them out and put them back. No longer do I need to take things out to get what I need, or carefully reach around tall stacks of my nice china, praying as I do that I won't break anything in the process.

I guess it all boils down to coming to the conclusion that we don't need more room for stuff around here. We just need less stuff. And I also believe that God is working on my heart through all of this to help me learn to let go of material things.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

I'm still here...sorry for the silence.

It's been a very busy past few months. I kept thinking of what to post, but then finding other things that needed to be done instead. Hence, the three-month gap since my post in late July. I am sorry about that. But real life does keep moving, even when virtual life seems to stand still. And I've been learning more and more these days that real life is often more important than the virtual.

As a brief summary of what we've done, the highlights, but by no means an exhaustive list...

• We enjoyed our new deck after finishing it sometime in July. While the weather and the sunlight lasted for me, I was blessed to be able to spend many morning devotion times on the deck swing that my Sweetheart bought for us to use. We also enjoyed a movie night outside one night on that swing, as incredible as that sounded when we told some of our friends about it. We moved our small screen and DVD player outdoors one lovely evening in July and watched an animated version of the biblical story of Joseph--just me, my husband, and our little dog.

• We put in a paving block border around all of our backyard garden beds, except the one along the back fence, which really needs the higher fence that it has as a support for my flowers and for the bird netting that shields our raspberry bushes. We also put in paving blocks to form a path through the yard to the garden gate, which will eventually connect our backyard space to what we hope (Lord willing) will become someday our Asian-inspired garden space...I'll have to post photos of this sometime next spring or summer since there are leaves now covering that new garden path.

• And I baked a lot, and cooked a lot, and we showed hospitality to family and friends and enjoyed the Jewish holidays with people from my husband's Messianic (Jews for Jesus-type) church. We really enjoyed having meals outside on the new deck with family and friends. It was so pretty back there. Lord willing, we hope to do much more of this next year.

But now the winter is returning again, and I've been home these past three days with a rotten head cold. I'm feeling better again this afternoon, but I felt better yesterday afternoon, too. I was planning on being at work today--had my lunch packed and my clothes laid out to wear this morning--but I was up for a while last night with a hacking cough again. I finally took some generic Nyquil at around 4, and then slept again until 11 this morning. I think I probably got 12 hours of sleep in total, though now in one shot. But I'm still feeling groggy today, and my head is really stuffed up. I'm just thankful that this isn't turning into a flu.

That said, I'll try to post again soon, with a photo or two hopefully. If you're still visiting here occasionally, I want to thank you for remembering my blog. I hope that you and your loved ones are staying well.

One of my little onsies on the baby!

My coworker and friend, who had a baby boy last month, just sent me this sweet photo of the little guy wearing one of the onsies that I appliqued for him. Most of the time, when I make baby things, I never have the chance to see the baby wearing what I made. So this is a real treat for me! Isn't he sweet?...May the Lord bless this one with a deep and abiding love for our Savior Jesus Christ!

He Gives to His Beloved...Sleep

I love the Fighter Verse for this week. It's such a good reminder that without God, everything we do is truly in vain. Unless the Lord is at the center of my life, and I am willing to submit all that I do and all that I am to Him, my very life is, in fact, lived in vain.

And yet, I think right now, at this juncture in my life, I appreciate the second verse of Psalm 127 just as much as verse 1. The second verse is, as follows:

²It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

This has been a VERY busy summer so far. We nearly forgot, until this morning, that we had purchased concert tickets to hear the Minnesota Orchestra for Friday night. We don't go out very much, and we only see a live concert a handful of times a year, and yet because of the packed schedule we've been following recently, we nearly forgot about this concert on Friday.

The main piece, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue is one of our shared favorites. and yet we didn't remember it until I (thankfully) opened my day planner this morning before leaving for work and saw that the date was nearly here. I commented to my sweet husband that I don't especially like the speed of our lives right now. He readily agreed, and suggested that we try to slow things down a bit...And that made me think again of Psalm 127:2.

I need that gift of sleep that our Lord promises to His beloved. We might not be able to rest as much as we'd like right now, but we are going to slow down on Friday night and just breathe deeply and enjoy the concert. God is so good to provide rest for his beloved...Lord, whatever the world is like around me, help me to always remember to find my rest in YOU.

Progress on our new back deck

My husband is working hard again this afternoon on our new backyard deck. A few weekends ago, he tore up everything but the joists in the old deck. This first photo shows the pile of old boards in our backyard, which our neighbor is slowly cutting up and using for fires in his backyard firepit.

We were so thankful that despite the wear and tear on the deck boards, railings, and a few of the joist boards, we were able to keep most of the joist boards and build up from there.

Then, another weekend he dug three 42-inch, 12-inch diameter holes for footings. My job, at that time, was to haul away the wheelbarrows full of dirt so that we could use it to build up an area in another part of our yard.

Yet another weekend (when you're doing everything yourself and also work full time, you become a weekend "warrior" for everything related to home improvement), he mixed 23, 60-pound bags of concrete to fill those holes with concrete to support the new deck posts...My job then was to fill in around the big cardboard tubes he used as concrete molds with dirt and then tamp it down to make sure that the concrete posts are really firm and secure.

And now, this weekend, he is finally able to start screwing new deck boards onto the joists. Oh, and I also helped with cleaning and repainting the siding that was behind the original deck (probably built when the house was new more than 30 years ago)...I'll have to post a photo on this project again when enough deck boards are in place to make it look like something again. I'm so thankful for a husband who is such a helpful and handy man!

No, these are the good guys!

My husband and I took a little mini vacation up north recently to enjoy the Duluth and Lake Superior. We were disappointed to see that the shipping traffic there is dramatically down from year's past because of the poor economy...When car companies aren't manufacturing as many new cars, they don't need as much steel, and they don't need as many ships to transport steel on the Great Lakes.

But we were blessed to see a U.S. Coast Guard cutter come into port. We watched it when it was far out on the lake, and were so happy to be able to see it up close. As always, along the port in Duluth, a crowd gathered along the dock to watch it come in. A little boy and his mother were close to us, and the little boy kept saying "Mom, look it's a pirate ship!" The third time he said this, his mother told him that it wasn't a pirate ship, but he insisted that it was, and that he could see pirates along the deck. Both my husband and I come from families with war veterans from the various branches of service, including the U.S. Coast Guard. So I finally interjected, saying "No, that's not a pirate ship. It's the good guys. They're ours, and we should all be proud of them!"

Thank you to all of you who have family members serving in our U.S. military. We are forever indebted for your sacrifice.

My first shirring project

I really enjoy sewing, as you might have gathered if you've been looking at this blog for any length of time, but I had never tried the technique of shirring to create gathers in fabric with elastic thread. I had been wanting a new pink tank top for summer to wear with my embroidered denim floral shirt, so instead of buying something from the thrift store (we rarely buy "new" clothes from regular stores), I decided to make a shirred top using some cute summery fabric that my mother-in-law gave to me earlier this year.

This was actually a remnant from a lampshade cover that she made some time ago, and she suggested that there might be enough for a summer top if I made up my own pattern. I just shirred the top several rows to bring it in close around my top and bust area, then shirred the straps to help them to stay up, and sewed it all together (just a seam up the side and then to attach the straps at the front and back).

It fits really well, and it actually quite flattering, but since I didn't have a helper to take my photo today, i just snapped a picture of it sitting on my little portable ironing board in the sewing room. I'm thinking of making two more little summer tops from small remnants soon. It's so fun to have new clothes!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Last weekend, I made strawberry freezer jam, something I've thought of and have been missing since my mother died in 2003. She used to make wonderful freezer jam every summer, and I know that we're going to enjoy having this on toast, muffins, and pancakes in the months to come.

It was a very easy recipe using 1 packet of Certo liquid pectin, 4 cups sugar, and 2 cups crushed strawberries. Just follow the package instructions and enjoy!

A New Wrap Dress for Me

This isn't a great photo, but it does show a bit of my latest sewing project, a new wrap dress made from some vintage brown floral fabric from what my sister and I divided from my mother's stash.

Thanks to my sweet husband, who graciously agrees to help with marking my hemline, I was able to finish it just in time for a wedding a couple of weekends ago. It was really fun to wear, especially when a couple of my friends there gave me compliments on it.

It was Butterick pattern 5030, and the only changes I made to it were to add more closures (for modesty's sake). It only called for hooks and eyes in two places at the waist line, but I added three snaps to the bodice area to pull it closer at the top and avoid gaps when I bend over, and two to the skirt to keep it wrapped when I climb in and out of the car.

Honey Whole Wheat Rolls

I've done quite a bit of baking in recent weeks, but haven't had (or taken) the time to post about it. Lately, we've really been enjoying my homemade honey whole wheat bread dough made into rolls instead of loaves.

Since there are generally just two of us for meals here, except on weekends when we often have dinner guests, I've been finding that making individual serving sizes for bread instead of large loaves work better for us. These rolls freeze well, and we can just pull a few out of the freezer when we need want them with a meal...whereas the large sandwich-sized loaves tend to get dry after they've been sliced.

I posted the recipe for this dough here, and just adjusted the baking time to about 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Quick Update

I'm sorry that it's been so long again since my last post. It's been a busy summer so far, and I'm not sure when it's going to slow down.

In short, we've torn off our old back deck, which was rotting in places due to poor initial construction (long before our time). So, since our house is nearly 30 years old now (I've been here for about 9 of those years), it was well past time to replace the back deck. My husband has done all of the really hard physical labor, but I've helped out as much as I can. So that's part of our busy schedule these days, whenever we're not working our regular jobs.

I've also had free-lance editing work to do in addition to my full-time job at the ministry. I'm editing a doctoral dissertation for a worship pastor who is going for his doctoral degree in musicology. And I just started working with a retired dentist who wants help with his personal testimony in written form so that he can share it with his children and grandchildren, and give the Lord all the glory for how He has worked in this man's life...Both are really fun projects, and the extra income is a huge blessing to us, but they're very time consuming, as expected.

Also, we've had company and time up north at my father's house, and then with the warmer months around here, there are always garden and yard-related tasks. Because we only have a few short months here when it's not cold, we really take advantage of the time we do have to plant and get all we can out of our gardens.

And finally, I've been desperately trying to make time for my sewing projects. I finished a dress, which I hope to blog about soon, and I've started a sleeveless summer top...which I'd better finish quick or it will need to wait in my closet for next year's warm summer weather.

Thanks for visiting, despite my tardiness in posting an update again. I hope that you're all having a lovely summer season, with many opportunities to enjoy God's creation outdoors.

A new, tiny purse for me!

I keep forgetting to post about my new affection with little purses. Traditionally, I have been drawn to large purses and tote bags, roomy enough for not just the necessities, but also a knitting, crochet, or other craft project. But in April, our ministry had a big national conference, and I knew that I would want a tiny purse to carry so that I wouldn’t have to worry about finding a safe place to store a big purse.

So I dug through my patterns and found a nice little purse, one that I probably wouldn’t have ever made if it hadn’t been for the upcoming conference. Then, I immediately thought of an old black canvas bag that I had been saving, thinking that the fabric might be useful for something. The bag used to have vinyl handles, but they didn’t last long at all. So I cut off the handles and cut up the bag, and it made a very sweet, practical, tiny purse, and two tiny little accessory pouches (to replace the larger ones that I use in almost every other purse that I own currently).

The project was quick and fun, and I’ve been enjoying my little purse ever since then. So now I’m contemplating other tiny purses. It’s so nice to have something light and small when I’m shopping and when I head out the door to the office…I still bring my crafts along with me to work on over lunch hours, but my sock projects, at least, are small enough to fit into the bag with my laptop.

Turning old jeans into fun sewing projects

I found a great bag sale at a local church the first weekend of May—everything I could fit into a grocery bag for only $3. I came away with some lovely tablecloths and fabric, some pretty glassware, seashells, a basket, and a big pile of old jeans....just what I needed for my next sewing project.

My clever sister has been making cute tote bags and pillows for graduation gifts using denim from old jeans for a few years now. Since her kids are 18 and 22, she’s had quite a few graduation parties to attend. I haven’t had that many, but I did need a good idea for a graduation gift this year for the son of my supervisor at the ministry. So my sister thoughtfully took time to email me the dimensions and instructions for her patchwork denim pillows. I made a slight adjustment by adding a pocket to one side of the pillow, using a saved pocket from the back of one of the pairs of jeans.

It went together quickly, and I think it will be a useful and fun present. But then I had a bunch of jean scraps left over, because I had purchased several pairs at the church sale. So I’ve been cutting more squares with the thought that I would like to make them into a queen-sized quilt for our bedroom. It will take a while to cut and assemble enough of these two blocks to cover a queen-sized bed, but I know that it will be fun to make and use, and it will probably be the most durable quilt in our home. I plan to back it with a light-blue 100-percent cotton flannel sheet, and I’ll probably tie it to finish it.

A Spring Hike

My Sweetie and I took a hike through a local park reserve recently. I love days like this. We walked and talked, and we even sang a little bit...

This is my Father's world

And to my listening ears

All nature sings, and around me rings

The music of the spheres

This is my Father's world

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world

the birds their carols raise

The morning light, the lily white

Declare their Maker's praise

This is my Father's world

he shines in all that's fair

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass

He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world

O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems off so strong

God is the Ruler yet

This is my Father's world

the battle is not done

Jesus who died shall be satisfied

and earth and heaven be one.

Forced Bulbs Blooming

I'm a little slow in posting this picture, but it's still worth putting up on this site, I think. These bloomed over the week coming up to Mother's Day weekend, and I was thrilled to see them because I've never tried forcing bulbs before.

Late last fall, when bulbs were on deep discount at Wal-Mart, I bought three packages of bulbs for this little experiment. Two were daffodils, and one was a large variety of hyacinth. The daffodils didn't bloom, but every one of the hyacinth did.

I planted them in shallow pots with soil, covering them only as much as they would be covered if planted in the soil outside. Then I watered them and enclosed the entire pot in a zippered plastic bag and put them in the bag of the refrigerator for several months. When the shoots are 1-2 inches in height, take the pot out of the fridge and put them in a sunny place. They'll continue to grow and eventually bloom.

What a treat to my winter-starved eyes earlier this month! And I still enjoy this photo, even though my spring tulips have come and gone. Now I wait for the irises and lilies to bloom...Thank you, Lord, for the spring!

Appliqued One-sies

Another baby gift I made recently was a set of five appliqued One-sies. They were so fun to make and to give!

I found all of the applique patterns free on various sites on the web. If you just google "free applique patterns," you'll find a treasure trove of ideas.

I used Heat and Bond to create each applique, and zigzag stitches on my sewing machine to secure them.