Simplicity, Clothes and Aprons

I just made a new denim skirt for myself because my current one is getting very faded and worn-looking.  This has gotten me thinking about my fall & winter season, at-home wardrobe, which I love because it is so simple!

For several years now, I’ve had a rule that I only buy what will go with black shoes and nylons.  So almost every day (remember, I stay at home), I wear a dark skirt, a turtleneck (I have lots of colors—although white is my favorite), and a full-length (full-body) apron—the old-fashioned kind.  Even my hair clips and headbands are black, since I’m always wearing black shoes!

It is so simple, AND I get to pretend I’m old-fashioned!  I’m sure everyone who comes to my door thinks I’m crazy, but I don’t care!  My next project needs to be another apron, because I go through them pretty quickly, and my November/Thanksgiving apron is beginning to fall apart!

Here’s an apron pattern I used a few years ago, and I loved it so much, I wore it out!

And below is the pattern I’d like to use to make aprons for my two daughters…

Adoption – Hard (Maybe), But Not Joyless

Our sermon on Sunday (and my subsequent post about it) made me think about adoption, and I’d like to encourage any of you who might be thinking about it to take the first step.  It’s a great way to “tend to things temporary with a mind on things eternal.”

For those of you who didn’t know, we adopted two of our seven children.  (And I bet you can’t tell which two from the picture…it’s the girl holding the boy–and the boy.)

Here’s a link to an article about adoption; I got it from a friend’s blog, Abilgail’s Leftovers.  Here’s an excerpt…

If you want your “dream baby,” do not adopt or foster a child: buy a cat and make-believe. Adopting an orphan isn’t ordering a consumer item or buying a pet. Such a mindset hurts the child, and countless other children and families. Adoption is about taking on risk as cross-bearing love…

Children are alive. Children are persons, with individuality that can’t ultimately be suppressed. Children, of all sorts, are, by definition, unpredictable. Children shatter your life-plan. Adoption certainly does.

It’s worth it…

If what you like is the idea of a baby who fulfills your needs and meets your expectations, just buy a cat. Decorate the nursery, if you’d like. Dress it up in pink or blue, and take pictures. And be sure to have it declawed.

BUT…if you want a challenge that also helps another soul in need, spreads the gospel, shows the love of Jesus, makes you trust God more, teaches you about yourself, AND GIVES YOU JOY, then adopt!  God will not give you more than you can handle.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

The Results of Our Family Recording Session – John 14:2-3

Our family loves to sing together, and last week we recorded a Fighter Verse Song  we’ve been working on.  (I am SO HAPPY we now have a tenor in our family; we have a choir!)

It’s going to be tweaked a little more (mostly to hear the kids more than me), but it had to go online today because it’s our church’s verse this week.  Scott joins us the second time through.  THANK YOU to everyone who helped us with this!

Here is John 14:2-3…

“Hard Does Not Equal Joyless” and other inspiring quotes

“Hard Does Not Equal Joyless.”  

This is a quote from our sermon this morning, which I thought was very inspiring!

John Piper said that “nothing hard is done in vain” and that every “hard” thing found in John 12:20-26 also has a corresponding “glory.”

See if this doesn’t inspire you:

The seed DIES (it’s hard to die)… The seed BEARS MUCH FRUIT

We are to HATE our lives in this world…we get to KEEP our lives for eternity (not a bad deal)

We are to FOLLOW Jesus to Calvary/death… We are WITH HIM wherever He is (very comforting)

We are to become SERVANTS… Servants are HONORED by the FATHER.

In Pastor John’s opening prayer, he said something like, “Awaken in us a profound willingness to be dead.”  He also said, “There’s no such thing as ultimate self-denial in the Bible.”  Denying ourselves in this world means we love ourselves, because we’re thinking about eternity.

Doesn’t this inspire you to do something hard?  Something that the world would call crazy?

(This reminds me that when I was pregnant with our fourth child, a mother of four said to me, “Having four is REALLY HARD.”  Little did she know, I find joy in a God-given challenge, so now I have seven!)

“Children Thrive on Joy”

Here’s something I need to remind myself of A LOT!  I read the following in a book a long time ago, and copied it into my Prayer Notebook:

“Children thrive on JOY.  They will do anything for someone WHO ENJOYS THEM…Let your child look into your FACE and see someone DELIGHTING IN THEIR PRESENCE…SMILE your child into obedience…You won’t have to drive them if you give them SOMETHING WORTH FOLLOWING.”   (Emphasis mine)

Wow!  Wouldn’t it be nice if I could be like this all the time?  This scenario sounds SO NICE, but it is SO HARD to achieve!  In fact, I can only achieve it by putting things in the proper perspective:  MY agenda is not as important as GOD’S agenda.  In other words, I can only enjoy my children if I don’t see them as stumbling blocks to finishing my To Do List!  (And my To Do List is filled with mostly child-related items!  How’s that for irony?)

Do you feel like a leaky bucket?

Do you ever feel like a bucket with holes?  –Like you just learn an important life lesson, only to forget it the next week?  So did the writer of this prayer:

“My mind is a bucket without a bottom,
with no spiritual understanding…
always at the gospel-well but never holding water…
My heart is without affection, and full of leaks.
My memory has no retention,
so I forget easily the lessons learned,
and thy truths seep away.
Give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.”
(From The Valley of Vision)

I pray that my leaky bucket will hold enough gospel grace to pass on to my children–and that when they’re discouraged about their leaks, they’ll know where to go!  I don’t feel adequate for the task, but “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift [of grace]!”  (2 Co. 9:15)

Caramel Popcorn Recipe with Maple Syrup and Sucanat

We often have popcorn on Sunday evenings, and sometimes, we even make caramel popcorn!  For several years now, we’ve been using real maple syrup for part of the sweetner, but today I tried sucanat (unrefined cane sugar) with it (instead of regular brown sugar), and it turned out fine!

We popped about a cup of popcorn kernals, and then mixed it with the following caramel recipe:

Melt together and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally…
½ cup butter
1/4 cup rapadura or sucanat
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
½ tsp sea salt

Remove from heat and stir in…
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp vanilla

Pour over popped corn and stir. Bake in a large pan (ours was larger than 9×13) at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until the popcorn is no longer sticky.  (I baked ours for 15 minutes while the oven was still heating.)

Makes about 6-8 servings.

Interestingly enough, Sunday evenings are often the evening of the weekend that we might start a family movie.  Then we can look forward to finishing the movie on Monday evening!

Really Simple Outdoor BBQ (and homemade ketchup)

This might seem like no-brainer, but our family never thought of it until last year…

One way to enjoy the outdoors in the Fall without a lot of prep or clean up is to just have roasted hot dogs and buns (that’s it!) for supper.  Our family did this on Saturday; it was such a nice day, we did a last minute outdoor fire and hot dog roast, even though it wasn’t on the menu.

• Scott ran to the store for hot dogs and buns with a kid (quality time).
• While I made homemade ketchup with Barrett, Scott started a fire with the rest of the kids (quality time).
• We brought outside hot dogs, buns and hot dog forks (that’s it!)  (And the bowl of ketchup)
• Everyone ate their hot dog(s) as they sat around the fire.
• Everyone brought something inside and then got a drink of water.
• Scott and I even snuck back outside after the kids went to bed and restarted the fire!
• Would I invite company?  Probably not; they might feel very unhealthy.

Ketchup recipe:

1/4 c. tomato paste
1/4. water
2 T. sugar
1 T. vinegar

Mix and serve!

How “substitution” is freeing me today

In today’s sermon, John Piper said, “Substitution” is at the heart of the Christian faith.”  Essentially, God killed Jesus so that He wouldn’t have to kill me, a sinner.

So I got to wondering, How often do I condemn myself for little things as if Jesus was NOT my substitute for EVERYTHING?  It’s as if I believe, Sure, Jesus paid the price for my sins and saved me from eternal death, but it’s MY RESPONSIBILITY to have a clean kitchen at all times!  It’s MY responsibility to make sure my kids learn their spelling words, etc.  I admit, I have a problem with beating myself up over little things (little things compared to eternity, anyway.)

So as I’ve been walking around my house today, I’ve been doing this:  See a mess that I normally blame myself for instantly (because I didn’t plan my day wisely enough or did not train my kids well enough), and instead say, “Substitution!”  As in, “Jesus’ death paid for this, too!  I’m free from the guilt of this AND I can trust God even with this mess (or whatever failure I happen to be viewing)!” ( Now, if I were actually were being completely lazy, that would be a slightly different story. :))

Note:  I’m not saying I’m perfectly free of laziness.:)

Annual Fall Day Trip

Every Fall we go on our annual Fall Day Trip, which includes apple-picking, hiking, picnicking and pizza.  It’s a highlight for the kids, mostly because we do it EVERY year.  We bring a picnic lunch, our own apple cider (it’s cheaper) and cups, trail mix (for hiking), and maybe a Fall treat like apple pie or molasses cookies.  Then we end the day at a pizza place (something we hardly EVER do!)  It’s interesting how traditions become loved, simply because they’re traditions.  Here are some pictures…

I think that a family could do just about anything once a year at a special time, and the kids would think it the greatest thing ever!  (Adults, too!)