OH, THE PLACES WE'VE GONE AND THE THINGS WE HAVE DONE!

My goodness!  Where has time gone?  It has been forever since I last posted.  As you can imagine, our lives have been full of everything in the world since June 2016.  Medical problems, trips here and there, fun times, sad times, and all other kinds of craziness.  I really do not want to go through the list, but I will say that just since June of this year, we have been to Washington, D.C. where we met up with Angela, Becky Brandon, and the kids.  Had such a lovely time there. Then, in September we met Dick and Cherry Shaw in NYC for a few days, and then we all boarded a ship there for a New England/Canada cruise.  Needless to say, that was such a wonderful trip. In October, we went to South Fork to see the Dick and Cherry, and went to soak in the hot springs for a lovely day in Pagoosa Springs.  The next week, we drove to Tulsa to see our kids.  Angela and I attended the Vintage Market Days and then we just spent time for her family.  Had a great time!

David and Jennie and the boys have gone over to Spring Creek ISD.  They seem to love it and we are thrilled for them.  The boys are growing like weeds and we enjoy them so much!

In January, I left real estate, and am now officially retired. It has been a tricky adjustment for me, but hopefully, I am mostly finished with "tricky" and am almost fully recovered at this point. I won't go in to all the adjustments of "what is my purpose?", "where is my mad money?", and "why am I so discontent on some days?"  That being said, I have become an artist!  LOL!  I am using the term very loosely, but am trying to gain at least some self-respect (others do not see my art for the most part) in the way of art.  I am not a natural with drawing, coloring, or painting, but try to make a little headway from day to day.  Some days, I am not even interested in it, but others I am.  I will say, that at least I have made gains this past year.  Even if I am not that great, I do enjoy looking at the works of others, and have learned that many are not "naturals", but that we can all create at some level and with some type of medium.

It is time for me to wind this up and close down.  Hoping to post a picture or two to go with this.  These are pictures of the DIY postcards that I made and have mailed out to addresses of others who are participating in the project.

WHATEVER YOU DO TO THE LEAST OF THESE, YOU DO TO ME

Many of us live a life of luxury even though we still think we need more.  When we look around and compare ourselves to our friends and neighbors it often seems that we have the short end of the stick. We work harder for more money for more "stuff".  Yet, the Bible tells us to leave all this "stuff" behind and help others.  I often think about the poor and want to help others, but in the life I have made for myself, it is often hard to see people who are in need.  Maybe I have my blinders on.  I know they are out there.  I just do not know how to access them, so I wait in awkward silence and inactivity not doing a thing.

Jesus says in the Bible that when we do something for someone in need, even the least of those in need, that we do it to Him. See Matthew 25:35-40.   I have the sweetest story to relay to you concerning this.  My sister, who loves the Lord and proclaims His praises to anyone who will listen, has a dear friend who openly states that she is not religious.  They are both sweet ladies in their 80's.  Anyway, my sister's friend moved away but writes my sister regularly.

 The latest letter tells that the friend had just had a wonderful experience.  It seems that she and her husband saw a homeless man sitting in front of a restaurant that they were going into.  They had been seated and the man came in asking a waitress for a glass of water which he took outside with him.  The friend's husband said that they must try to feed this man, so he went outside and explained that he wanted to buy the man a meal, which they did.  Strangely enough, the wife  was the one who served the man his food since it came to their table and he sat elsewhere.  She told my sister, that this vision did not last very long, but that just for a few seconds as she handed him his meal, she could actually see that she was serving Jesus!  Isn't that the most amazing thing!  This lady who says she isn't religious, saw the face of Jesus while serving a homeless person.  She told my sister that it was the most remarkable thing that had ever happened to her.

 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, please pray that this woman's experience of serving the homeless man will continually go through her mind and that she will become a child of God because of it.  Also, may this sweet story spur all of us on to minister to Christ through those in need.  Pray with me that our blinders will fall off and we will be able to see who is in need, and that we will minister to them as our Heavenly Father has commanded.  May the Lord strengthen us and make us bold to present His gospel in our short time here on earth.

Blessings to all of you.

NO ONE LIKES TO THINK ABOUT DEATH!

If you died tonight are you positive you would go to heaven? IF NOT, it is joyfully simple to have that assurance. There are several places in the Bible that tell about salvation. Romans 10:13 says, "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Acts 16:31 states, "...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." So, just confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. You will have salvation and you will want to praise His name forever. Then, you will also want to be baptized to show the world that you are a follower of Christ.  Joyfully simple!

https://youtu.be/XtwIT8JjddM

MOTHER'S DAY 2015 - ROSA MILDRED THOMAS ROYE

Today is Mother's Day and I feel that if Facebook has done anything at all for us, it has helped us honor our mothers and others in our lives.  I love looking through the posts at the pictures and reading what different friends have said about their mothers. It is very sobering to me and causes me to feel really weepy.  The Lord took my mother home in 1995. She was almost entirely blind from glaucoma and macular degeneration.  Also, she was just not in good health. Thankfully, she did not suffer from the pain of cancer or some other dreaded disease, yet her last years were very hard.  Even so, she remained cheerful and tried to keep her eyes on the Lord to the end.  One of the hardest crosses to bear was having to go to a Catholic nursing home.  She had been brought up as a dyed-in-the-wool Southern Baptist.  She even insisted that Baptist are not Protestants but existed before the Catholic church started.  So you can see where this nursing home placement was a rub to her.  Even so, the rest of us were happy with the placement as far as nursing homes go.  Plus, she didn't whine about it, but just occasionally mentioned it. I called my mother every day once. we lived close enough for it not be a long distance call.  Even when she was in St. Ann's, she had a phone and we talked.  I guess that phone habit was one of my biggest griefs once she was gone.  I cannot tell you how many times I went home from school and would go to the phone to call her.

Today our pastor spoke about four types of mothers recorded in the Bible. Courageous Mother-Moses' mom, Jochebed. because she hid Moses to keep him from death. Kind Mother- Naomi  because she was kind to her daughter-in-laws. Prayerful Mother-Hannah because she prayed earnestly for a son. Purposeful Mother, Eunice, and Grandmother, Lois, because they purposefully and faithfully lived a life that led Timothy to the Lord.  I can't verify the courageous part, but my mother  was absolutely a mother of kindness, prayer, and faithfulness!  She loved the Lord and taught me to love the Lord too!

Try as I might, I cannot explain it, but my mother never felt comfortable smiling for the camera. Nevertheless, in true life she smiled often and she was the dearest thing ever to me. I was a big surprise to her as a very late in life child but both my parents cherished and welcomed me. I thank the Lord for being born into a simple, but Godly home. Mother Dear, your love will always remain in my heart!

Pulled Along and Jerked Around?

This post is positive proof and evidence that I have a hard time with committments that are not attached to my family, church, or work.  I havent even given my blogs a thought in forever.  Needless to say, I have had plenty to blog about in the past year, but notta minute to put those events into the written word.

Today, I am simply writing as a way to "check-in".  I could fill the page with life's events, but prefer to keep it simple  by sharing a theme that we are using at church.   "LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS, MAKE DISCIPLES". What more can we do as Christians!  Love God with all your heart, soul, and might.  Love others as yourself. Go into the world, locally and otherwise, to bring others to Jesus through your lifestle.

S-I-M-P-L-E!

Blankies and Other Stuff

Just when you think you will have time to sew, sew, sew, stuff happens! Actually,that is a good thing. Otherwise, we would be all alone and have no purpose for sewing. But between jury duty, working, family, and friends it seems like my project timelines aren't what I had imagined. I really love my family and friends so please don't be offended. I know all of you know what I am trying to say here. It is just that you imagine being queen of the sewing world with several completed projects every week, but then reality hits! Actually, when you read some of these blogs, you wonder how in the world these bloggers manage their lives and still turn out project after project AND have time to write about it AND produce tutorials on how to make them. Oh, well...

I am including a few pictures of my latest projects. The quilt is called "Hush-a-Bye Baby"' and the fleece blanket is just a quick little project that turned out to be something I loved once it was finished. The baby blanket is part of an ensemble that will include burp cloths and bibs. It is a gift for a friend's grandbaby that is to be born in April. I am also working on bedding made with OU fabrics, but that isn't ready for photography at this point. The OU projects will be for our grandsons, Mason and Carter.



Hush-A-Bye Baby
I made this for our grandson, Aiden.

Baby Blanket Gift. I will show the link
on this later for tutorial.

Super Easy Fleece Blanket
made for our grandson, Isaac.

Ode to Sewing Joy!

I've been trying to remember some of the first creative type things that I was exposed to and that I made. My parents were older when I was born, and my brother and sisters were grown and gone before I was six or so. Mother always sewed and crocheted. She made almost all of my clothes for many years, even when I was in college. I have several pictures of me as a child in my beautifully sewn outfits. I do not remember that my mother ever tried to teach me to sew. I did take homemaking in 9th grade where my teacher,Mrs. Sharp, taught the class to sew a few simple things. I think we started with an apron. Later that year I remember making a two piece swimming suit from burlap that I lined. After that, I honestly do not remember making anything during my school years. I must have learned some good basics at some time because when I did begin to sew after college, I seemed to know the basics of cutting, seam allowances, bias, etc. When my husband was drafted into the Army, I wanted to buy a sewing machine to fill the lonely hours. I used it frequently and especially remember a cute voile blouse and a pink knit jumper that I made. Later, I made all of my maternity clothes when I was pregnant with Angela. From then on, it seems like I had one project or another at the machine. One of my sister-in-laws, Becky, also loved to sew. I think she truly inspired me to try to create beautiful things including clothing for Angela, myself, and decorator items! Thank you, Becky. One fine day about ten years ago, I no longer felt an urge to sew. I even had a beautiful new machine and a new serger, but I was done with sewing for awhile. Millions of other things took the place of sewing. A whirlwind in my life had picked me up, twirled me around and around, and finally sat me back down wanting to create again! This time it has appeared in quilting and sewing things other than garments. My heart goes out to women who live and have lived in times and places void of all the incredible fabrics, threads, gadgets, etc that are so easily at my fingertips. To fill my eyes with the colors and to feel the touch of a myriad of fabrics is such joy! Now, to begin again...