Sewing Project

Yes, I've learned how to sew and have discovered that I absolutely love it. Here is one of my sewing projects.
My Mom and I were in Hobby Lobby looking for fabric to make a skirt for Easter Sunday. We found this and thought it would work. Then we found some other purple fabric that we both thought would be even prettier Easter skirts. In the end this fabric was pushed back to a spring skirt instead of an Easter skirt. :-)

The completed product! Of course, I am the person on the left and my Mom is on the right. :-)

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I have to give a big 'thank you' to my wonderful Mom who has spent her time teaching me how to sew. So, thank you so very absolutely much Mom! ;-)

The pattern was Simplicity 4138. If you haven't ever tried sewing, I recommend that you do. It is a lot of fun and you feel so good when you have completed a project.
Until next time...

Choir

Yes, this is our director in case you were wondering.

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The pictures above are of my homeschool choir group. These aren't pictures from our concert but of a ministry day that we do twice a year. On ministry day we go to a nursing home and a state school. I really enjoy ministry day for two reasons 1) We are proclaiming to all in the room that God is good 2) I love to see the smile on the people's faces when we walk up to them and talk to them! :-) In these pictures we are singing the following songs;

Proclaim the Goodness of the Lord
Know my Heart
Praise His Name
For All that Is

My Life This Past Week

I know I haven' posted much in the last few months. (Hopefully that will change soon!) In this post I'm going to let you see a little bit of my life at present. Maybe, just maybe it will explain why I haven't been posting much. I'm going to show you my schedule from Arpil 4-10. Let's begin.

Sunday April 4-
As you probably well know April 4 was Easter Sunday. My Mom and I had been working on some skirts that we had one week to sew. Thankfully they were both done by Sunday! :-) I woke up and pulled myself out of bed, did my morning responsibilities, got dressed for church, did some last minute refinements in my room, and left for church. After church we had a family over for fried shrimp. :-) (That's why I did a few refinements in my room!) We had lots of fun and the food was great.

Monday April 5-
Monday is always a hard day for us especially in the Spring. On Monday morning my brother and I go to piano class just a few minutes from our house. So, yet again I yanked myself out of bed, got ready for the day, did my morning responsibilities, and practiced my piano before class. Then my brother and I loaded into the car and drove to class. (My brother has his driver's license now. So cool!) After an hour of piano we came home, ate lunch, and did schoolwork. That's pretty much our average Monday.

Tuesday April 6-
Tuesday was a normal day. Wake up, get your school work done, do your chores, eat three meals when you find the time too :-), hang out with the family in the evening, and go to bed. As I said, it was a normal day.

Wednesday April 7-
Wednesday was a race against time. (Guess who won...if you guessed time you're correct!) I woke up and it seemed like it was going to be our normal Wednesday. The only thing different from most of our Wednesday's was the fact that we had a WoG (Woman Of Grace) meeting at our church that evening. About thirty minutes to an hour after I woke my Mom received an e-mail from a friend asking if I could baby-sit her 22 month old why she went to run some errands. After a ten minute discussion my Mom replied saying that I would love too. To make a long story short I baby-sat at somebody else's house, by myself for the first time! :-) Once I got home a did some school and got ready for our ladies meeting. It was an eventful Wednesday.

Thursday April 8-
Thursday was like Tuesday. If you want to read about what I did on Thursday re-read what I did on Tuesday! :-)

Friday April 9-
As I have mentioned in previous posts I am in a homeschool choir. This choir is held approx. an hour away from our house. My mom scheduled family pictures to be taken of us in the late morning and our choir meeting is in early afternoon. We went to the picture place, :-), and were done in time to gulp down some lunch and head for choir. It was a fun and exhausting day.

Saturday April 10-
Saturday's are our "work on the house day". When we woke up in the morning we were all exhausted from our hectic week. So, we took the day off! It was a much needed rest day. Ahhhhh!

I'm proud to report that I will be baby-sitting the same 22 month old every other week! :-) I'm so excited! If you couldn't already tell! :-) I will post the pictures of the skirts my mom and I wore Easter Sunday as soon as possible.

Books

I know I've been posting about books quite a lot lately. I promise I'll post about something else soon. :-)

In my last book post I was reading Simple Secrets to a Beautiful Home by Emilie Barnes, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Before You Meet Prince Charming by Sarah Mally, Sir Kendrick by Chuck Black, Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke, A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George, and Ida Scudder by Janet and Geoff Benge.

Since then I have read The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott. Now I'm reading;

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. I've read all but two of The Chronicles of Narnia books. I hope to finish the Chronicles soon. :-)

I finished Before You Meet Prince Charming and will be starting So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin. I've heard that So Much More is really good. I can't wait to start it!

I also finished Ida Scudder and have started Rowland Bingham by Janet and Geoff Benge. I really like biographies and this one sounds very promising! :-)

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have been reading The Lord of the Rings for a curriculum called Literary Lessons from The Lord of the Rings. It's by far my favorite subject! I am almost done with The Fellowship of the Ring.

A Young Woman's Call to Prayer by Elizabeth George. I read A Young Woman's Walk with God and enjoyed it very much so I could resist reading A Young Woman's Call to Prayer.

Sir Bentley by Chuck Black. My Mom and I finished Sir Kendrick and have started Sir Bentley. We have really enjoyed reading these books together!

Raising Maidens of Virtue by Stacy McDonald. My Mom and I have also been reading this book together. It is very good! :-)

Love Comes Softly

As the title and the picture to the left may hint this post is about the book Love Comes Softly written by Janette Oke. As I have mentioned in previous posts I was reading Love Comes Softly under close speculation. Reason being I didn't want to be reading romance novels that would awaken love in me before its time. I am pleased to announce that Love Comes Softly is a winner on my book list. I didn't really find it to be much of a romance story. Instead it was more like a biography.
My criteria for books:

~Understandable
~Interesting
~Glorify God
~Clean
~Good plot
~And of course, a happy ending! :-)

Understandable- Love Comes Softly was very understandable but I must say that the characters in the book could use a little refining of their speech. Here is an excerpt from the book.

On the way home Marty got up the nerve to voice a thought that had gradually been taking shape. She was a bit hesitant and hardly knew how to express it.
"Do ya s'pose-I mean, would ya mind iffen we had the Grahams come fer Christmas dinner?"
"All of 'em?" Clark's shock was evident.
" 'Course, all of 'em," Marty rejoined stoutly. "I know there be thirteen of 'em an' three of us; thet makes sixteen. The kitchen table, stretched out like, will hold eight. Thet's the four grown-ups an' the four youngest of the Grahams. Missie'll be in her chair. Thet leaves seven Graham young'uns. We'll fix 'em a place in the sittin' room an' Laura an' Sally Anne can look after 'em."
(Chapter 18, Christmas Preparations)

Like I said, they could use a few English lessons. :-) Janette Oke was a genius though, to write the characters speech the way she did. It really adds to the story.

Interesting- How could Love Comes Softly be interesting? It is excessively interesting! There are fires, deaths, close calls, etc. I really enjoy books that keep my attention, this one did!

Glorify God- Often in Love Comes Softly, Clark prays and relies on God to provide for their needs.

Clean- What do I mean by clean? What I mean is no bad language or inappropriate actions. Love Comes Softly meets this criteria as well. Except for the use of the word, at least I think it's a word, dad-blame.

Good Plot- Love Comes Softly has an outstanding plot. Here is a woman from the East that moves to the West with her husband. When they arrive in the West her husband tragically dies, which leaves her in the middle of nowhere on the verge of winter with out a penny to her name. Then a man who attended her husbands funeral proposes for only a few purposes. 1. So that she will have a roof over her head. 2. So that his little girl will have a 'mama' for a little while. 3. So that she can return to her family in the Spring. I won't go any further for I don't want to give the whole book away should you chose to read it.

A Happy Ending- I won't talk much of this criteria or I would have to give the ending of the book away. In fact, I won't talk about it at all. I wouldn't want to spoil the ending should you chose to read the book.

Unfortunately, the movie is significantly different from the book. All in all, it was a fantastic book. I am now reading Love's Enduring Promise which is book two of the Love Comes Softly Series. I will give a book review on Love's Enduring Promise when I complete it.
I pray you'll have a blessed day and happy reading!

Hello

Hello strangers! :-) I know I haven't posted in a long time. I don't have time to do an actual post right now but I will (hopefully) post one soon. One reason why I haven't posted in a while is because I've been busy and I've also been sick. Anyway, I will try to post in the next few days! :-)
Oh by the way, I did a poll and I would love it if y'all would vote! Thanks.

Awakening Love Before Its Time

What does it mean to awaken love before its time? How can I be awakening love? What can I do to stop it? What's so important about it? This post goes along the lines of purity except instead of liking someone you are awakening something. Don't get me wrong, awakening love can eventually lead to liking/loving somebody prematurely. But lets go back to the first question, what does it mean to awaken love before its time? It simply means that you are letting emotions take hold of your heart and life before you should. The world has told us that it's alright to like a guy when you're in kindergarten. Thus, it spirals into a premature love when in your teen years. Okay, on to the next two questions. How can I be awakening love? What can I do to stop it? Awakening love is an easy thing to do. You can awaken love by watching TV, reading a book, talking to friends, listening to music, and so on.
Watching TV can awaken love in the blink of an eye. If you are watching a romance movie or chick flick you can pretty much guarantee that a piece of love will awaken. Reading a book can also awaken love very quickly.
Reading romance novels is very dangerous!! They will build discontentment in your heart over time, and soon you will be asking yourself why you haven't experienced that kind of love, or what's so bad about a little kiss? Be careful! Don't fall into the enemies temptation. Resist discontentment. I am reading Love Comes Softly, but let me assure you that it is under a microscope. :) I have talked with friends and family about Janette Oke books. I have a very good friend that is a few years older than me who has read them. She liked them and said that they didn't bother her in awakening love before its time. BUT, let me warn you as she warned me. Every girl is different, just because they didn't awaken love in her doesn't mean they won't in me, so keep it under close speculation.
Talking to friends and listening to music can also be dangerous. There is a saying that says, choose your friends wisely. That is what you need to do. Don't hang around friends that are always talking about how cute he/she was, or spreading the boy friend/girl friend gossip of the neighborhood around. Music is another powerful tool that Satan can use against us. I really like music, but I need to guard what music I listen to. Love songs can awaken love before you know it. Avoid these types of music! Listen to music that glorifies our Maker! :) Prayer, reading God's word, and reading books that will help you grow spiritually will help you a lot in your fight against awakening love prematurely.
What's so important about it? What this question means is why do I have to keep this love asleep? Well, you are special and precious in God's eyes. He wants you to save yourself for who he has for you! Wouldn't it be awesome to look into your spouses eyes on that special day when you say "I Do" and be able to say with a clear conscious and a clean heart that you saved everything for him/her! :) What an amazing thought!