some encouragement

I stumbled on this yesterday while I was surfing the web {do people still say that?} Natalie Jost has an awesome little blog with tons of freebies! And in those freebies is where I found "Proverbs 31 Pledge and Prayer". 



1. My husband shall have full confidence in me and lack nothing of value. LORD, show me ways that I can give my husband this confidence in me. In every way that you have made me for him, show
me how I can be his true companion.
2. I will bring him good and not harm, all the days of my life. Help me to think always of how my
actions and my words can be good for my husband and not harmful to him. Stop me before I
insult him and make me aware of how I hurt him when I am unaware.
3. I will select good tools for the home and work with eager hands. Lead me to good things and light a fire in my spirit to give me eagerness to work. Give me discipline and diligence.
4. I will strive to be like the merchant ships, bringing food from afar. Like those merchant ships,
LORD, send me to the far corners to do what needs to be done for my family. Make me a vessel for
sustenance.
5. I will get up while it is still dark and provide for my family. Give me strength to be the morning
person I have never been; remind me of the gifts you can only give in the early hours of the day.
And when I wake later, help me to make the best use of the hours I have.
6. I will consider a profitable thing and do it, and out of my earnings begin another. Wrap me in
wisdom to see what is profitable—to recognize a good “field”—and the diligence to “plant a
vineyard” there.
7. I will set about my work vigorously and work to be strong for my tasks. Push me to go on when I tire and help me to visualize the reward for vigorous work.
8. I will see that my work is profitable, and my lamp will not go out at night. Father, help me to
balance what is good for others with what is good for my family. Keep my “light” on into the night
as long as it takes—and only that long.
9. In my hand I will hold the distaff and grasp the spindle with my fingers. Give me focus even
with tedious work, to stay on task, and work as you have designed work to be done (Colossians
3:23). Make me “a [woman] of great skill” like Huram-Abi (2 Chronicles 2:13-14).
10. I will open my arms to the poor and extend my hands to the needy. Remind me of those who have less than you’ve blessed me with. Bring me to Proverbs 30:7-9 to remind me of my own station,
and give me Isaiah 58 to learn again about true fasting.
11. When it snows, I will not be fearful for my household for they are all well-clothed. Father, give
me great confidence in your promises and keep me strong and focused so that my family will
never lack for necessities.
12. I will make coverings for my bed and clothe myself in fine fabrics. Thank you, Father, that you
give us good things. Allow me to see what good things I can use to bring comfort to my household.
And remind me to allow my own comfort in there too.
13. I will see that my husband is respected among his peers. LORD, hold my tongue when I am
tempted to say something even a little disrespectful about my husband, even in jest. Give me the
words instead that will build him up and praise him in front of others.
14. I will make clothing or other items of value and sell them, and also supply other merchants with their needs. Whatever value I can bring to others, what talents you have for me, show me those
and guide me in service to others for the benefit of my family as well.
15. I will wear strength and dignity daily so that I can laugh at the days to come. Pull me toward you, LORD, so that I may know your virtues in my heart and find the peace that brings laughter.
16. I will speak with wisdom, and carry faithful instruction on my tongue. Speak through me, LORD, and give me wisdom to repent of my impure speech. Let me learn to be silent until my words just must be said.
17. I will watch over the affairs of my household and not eat the bread of idleness. Give me rest as I need it, but keep me on my feet otherwise. Encourage me to do what needs to be done and to stay
busy when there seems to be nothing left to do. And when I feel like I’m the only one “doing the
work”, LORD, press it upon me to do it anyway, with joy and without resentment.
18. My children shall grow up saying I am blessed; my husband too, and he will praise me, saying:  “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Oh, Father, make this true of me. As much as I desire your pride in me, I want to be someone my family can be proud of too. Help me to be a good daughter, mother, and wife in all that I do.

I was going to pick out my favorite ones but I couldn't do it. Every single one of these things applies to me somehow. And God placed these all in Proverbs for each one of us women. Please go to Natalie's site and download these for free! They come in a pdf so you can print them off and keep them with you.

redo

I bought this cabinet back in 2002 at an auction. The price started at $250 and kept coming down since no one bid. I placed a bid on it for $25 and got it! I loved it from the beginning. My husband, on the other hand, hates it.  It had glass doors and glass shelves and was a light pea green color with faux gold leaf inside. Well, I painted the green and gold and Matt broke all but one of the glass doors when we moved to this house. It stayed like this for quite awhile.

After Dad and I made the cubbies for the back porch, I decided that this thing looked worn, dirty, and yellow. So I used the rest of the white paint on it and changed out the fabric. And I have to say I love it. This cabinet is one of my favorites!

Maybe I'll show you pics of the rest of the room later:)

shake what your momma gave ya

Happy Wednesday!

summer suppers

I love summer time. I love the grill. I love the way food tastes off of the grill. These we some chicken kabobs that we had the other night. Charity gave me the recipe for the marinade for the chicken. It's a half of a cup of mayo and a half of a cup of zesty italian dressing.

Happy summer grilling!

my little artist

Slone is really interested in anything art lately, especially if it has anything to do with animals. "Stunks" is the name he calls them, but I think that it's a pretty good name.

He didn't color this at our house, so I had nothing to do with it.

Mother's Day

I guess I should have posted this on Monday. But Monday was a crazy day!

Saturday night was the Mother/Daughter Banquet at Mom's church. We had a good time. The speaker was excellent and the food was good:)

In the back: Lyn, Melissa, Me

Maggie, Mom, Charity

Baby Calliegh and Taylor

I woke up on Mother's day to this little present from Slone:)

 

His class went to Fuego and painted tiles for their moms. It was a big secret and Slone did a great job keeping it from me.....is that good or bad? He just didn't want to ruin the surprise:)

Then I went to download all the pictures and had quite a few extra pictures. Slone and Bo had evidently had some fun with the camera while I was still in bed on Sunday morning.

Must of been a good Max and Ruby.

Spring Concert

Preschoolers are so cute...especially my preschooler. Not really anything super exciting, just the beginning of lots of spring concerts, I think.

Slone is in the back row, third from the left, little plaid shirt and dark jeans:)

Here's a pic of him with his teacher. He loves her. She's been an excellent teacher!

completely inspired!

1. scrappy crazy quilt, 2. Every home should be made of quilt, 3. Hexagons, 4. Heather Ross - Green Gnomes Center Block, 5. ., 6. lunchbag4, 7. Purse no.13 (Olive Green), 8. hexagon pillow 1, 9. ., 10. Plum Posy Cozy, 11. luxe sakura, 12. belle epoque 2, 13. For my little Matthew, 14. DSQ8, 15. I Love Patchwork Preview - Sewing Machine Cover, 16. pinwheel pillow

So I've joined an online quilting bee! Sew Fun 2 starts in June. If you don't know what an online quilting bee is then I'll explain: Every month one member of the group sends out fabric packets to everyone else. Everyone else pieces up a block and sends it back. At the end you have enough blocks for your quilt and you've helped everyone else make up their quilt!

I started looking for inspiration on flickr for the style of quilt I want. I can't decide! But I think I've picked out some fabric. I want it to be able to go with the colors in my house. It's by Michael Miller, The Big E collection. There is also a little hedgehog print that goes with it. I'm thinking maybe they should get thrown into the mix too?

But til I get started on that I really want to try #2 up there in the collage. But Matt's got me running all over the countryside getting truck stuff taken care of. And I need to clean up my sewing room! What a disaster. Hey, it's either clean or play...I don't want to do both.

I am not equipped.

So I got Lysa TerKeurst's book, Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl on Tuesday. Well, I need to definitely step back and reevaluate some things in my life! But the one chapter is a big one for me..."But I want what she has". Lyn and I talked about this on our way to the airplane to see Laura. We came to the conclusion that we not really coveting of what other women have, not to the point that it would ruin a friendship. We just want nice things too. And I will admit to sometimes wishing that I had a nicer, more caring husband, and that I had a bigger house, and a nicer car (well, I like my car now). I'm sure everyone can relate with wanting better behaved children, especially in church.

"Too many of us live with an uncontrolled thought life" Isn't that what I was doing just a paragraph ago? Just letting my thoughts roam over all this petty stuff? Instead of thanking God for what He has given me, I'm worried about who has more and better things than I do. This can wear us out, all the worry. Lysa quotes this verse, Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

That's the song up there, from Aaron Shust, one of my absolute favorites. He has terrific records.

My motto for a while now is:

I am not equipped to handle what they have -- both good and bad.

Yeah, she might seemingly have it better, but I'm right where He wants ME.

Seriously, go get this book!

making a baby quilt

for my friend, Diana, and her grandbaby! I'm loving the fabrics. This is going to be a great quilt. I am planning on following a pattern out of this book.

Who doesn't love Amy Butler?

If you don't like her, don't tell me.

I probably won't like you anymore.

just kidding...

kinda


I'll post some pics when I'm finished with it.    Happy Wednesday! ---I meant Thursday, thanks Kinze, I think all the Mexican food is getting to me:)

happy birthday!

Sorry, Aunt Chelle! We had to wish you a happy birthday:)

I thought this was so sweet of your little chickies. It's yours for your birthday! 

Hope you have a great day! Love, Hez, Matt, Slone & Bo

sisters' vacation

Well, I tried to find a quote about sisters but they are either all dumb or mean. I happen to really love and enjoy being around my sisters. Yeah, there are times when we drive each other nuts. But for the most part, we all get along really well. We did this weekend anyway. Lyn, Charity, and I all flew down to Laura's in South Carolina for the weekend and had a fabulous time. We went to the Ewomens conference in Greenville. We also walked around Greenville's downtown. They have an awesome downtown! Reed Falls Park is the coolest park set in the middle of the city. That's where we did our little photoshoot.

 Laura is the oldest, err...eldest, in the middle with the brown shirt on. Lyn's the second in the stripes. Then our brother Jake...but no boys were allowed on our trip:) Then me, the oddball out with the blond hair. Charity is the youngest. There are a lot of years (19 from oldest to youngest) that span between us, but i wouldn't have it any other way.

It's nice to have a family. 

It's nice to have a family that cares. 

It's nice to have a family that loves.