Patty Jo's 1st GiveAway!!!!!

A friend is having her first giveaway. It ends at noon today, so go check it out and don't forget to mention that I sent you her way. :o)

Patty Jo: Patty Jo's 1st GiveAway!!!!! LillyAnnaKids: We have our first GiveAway to annouce !!! I am so unbelievably excited. I love to Give things away!!! It feels so good. :) I am proud ...

A Tisket, A Tasket

I wanted some handwork recently and didn't feel like working on my hexagon table runner.  I started the 2009 BOM by Bunny Hill Designs.  Add this to my many works in progress.  haha!  But, I'm enjoying learning embroidery and like the red work.  Here are the first two blocks.



Book Review -- One Call Away by Brenda Warner

One Call Away by Brenda Warner is touted as an inspiring, faith-encouraging memoir. Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s review on the back cover calls Brenda a “soldier fighting for faith.” Yet, as a Christian, I found little encouragement for faith or godly living through reading about Brenda’s life.  Even she declares that her original goal in writing this book was to provide a way for her children to know her, contrary to the many media stories about her.  Though she does express a desire for others to find hope and strength through her life, she does not express any yearning that through her, others would come to know Christ.  To me, this reinforces the opinion I held while reading, that her memoir is very focused on self and reveals a faith that is strong when it is convenient for her. I found her to be a soldier fighting for self, fighting for her own reputation.

I can appreciate Brenda Warner’s brutal honesty about events in her life, yet she still seems to sugar coat those with an attitude that she was still a good Christian, trying to do right.  I do not see Christian humility about the sin in her life. She shares stories about her deliberate plan to lose her virginity at 19, thinking she could pray for forgiveness afterwards, how her mother would condemn her for living with her first husband before they were married, and the grief she caused her mother when she was found in the act with her then boyfriend, Kurt Warner, on her mom’s couch.  This was all while she was a professing Christian.  While living with Kurt before marriage, he becomes a Christian and reads in the Bible that they shouldn’t be fornicating (my word choice, not hers).  She explains, “We still lived together. In fact, we still slept in the same bed. But we didn’t have intercourse.”  She goes on to say, “I want to be able to share with our kids, that though we did have sex outside of marriage, once we became convinced that it was wrong, we stopped doing it.”  The words about when she “became convinced that it was wrong” would be laughable, if I were not a Christian reader. Did she not write the earlier portions of the book, revealing that she knew it was wrong? Since she chose not to keep these parts of her life private and as a Christian myself, I would have hoped for an acknowledgement that she was grieved over her sin, regrets these choices in her life, and humbly sought the Lord’s forgiveness.  I cannot see that her attitude about this subject will do anything to exhort her children or any other single, struggling Christians to remain pure until marriage. I certainly don’t expect perfection in Christians, but it is rather discouraging to think others view her as a godly example with her flippant attitude about sin.

Brenda Warner encountered hardships and sorrow throughout her life.  She married a man who did not work, had her first child brain damaged through an accident, endured the end of this marriage due to her husband’s adultery, financially struggled as a single-mother, lost her parents in a tornado, and was overwhelmed with the fame, money, and negative publicity once her husband became an NFL star.  I can respect her resilience as a woman and her love for family. Though as a Christian, while mentioning her prayers through these trials, she does not focus on anything in God’s Word that gave her hope, strength, comfort, or encouragement.  Instead, she constantly talks about how she was a marine, that she was a nurse, and focused on her choices. I never really felt that she pointed to Christ as her source. As a Christian reader, this left me rather discouraged. If you are seeking to know more about Brenda Warner’s life, then this is the book for you.  If you are seeking good, Christian reading and encouragement, find another book.

A Day's Reflections

She writes with the scent of a burning, lilac candle filling the room and under the illumination of a military, headband flashlight resting on the bed above her notebook. The fan blows the corner of her page, and even through the shadows, she can see the wavering lace curtains desperately need washing.  The blinds behind them are no better and since she knows this chore will not make her list of accomplishments tomorrow, she consoles herself with the thought that dust layers function much like thermal, blackout curtains, providing a barrier against the summer sun.  Being eco-friendly and thrifty are praiseworthy traits for any accomplished housewife.

Listening to the rattled breathing of a sick baby nearby, she reflects on her day.  That morning she woke to baby jabbering and hearing her son’s feet excitedly thumping the crib mattress.  She saw his brown curls above the bumper pad as he exerted great effort to peer over it. She wondered if he was looking for her or scouting for something new to chew on. She rose with a smile and was greeted with an excited, giggle gasp.  He did not mind her messy bed head, dark under-eye circles, and morning breath.  His welcome made her feel like the prettiest woman in the world and when she picked him up, he gave her a drool-filled good morning kiss. He laughed as she returned the affection with a growling kiss on his neck.

Within an hour, her cheerful boy became irritable and cranky.  She thought perhaps he was just ready for a morning nap a bit earlier than usual, but she soon realized that he had caught her recent head cold. She spent the day juggling a cuddling, crabby baby who wouldn’t nap and school lessons for her three older children. In the late afternoon, an exhausted mom and weary baby retreated to the outdoor swing. It is his favorite place, where the rhythm of nature always soothes his spirit and restores her energy.  They swung with his head resting on her chest and as he stared up at her, she looked into a brilliant canvas.  A masterful artist painted his tired eyes with radiant shades of blue.  She thought of her son being created in God’s image as she viewed her own image reflecting back at her.  Through his eyes, she saw his hand touching her face and billowing clouds gracing the blue sky between the oak branches over their heads. Her own backyard transformed into a gallery containing the most awe-inspiring works of art.  She lingered there, not quite ready to leave this extraordinary moment for the ordinary duties awaiting her.  She doesn't even remember the distraction which beckoned her attention, but before turning today’s page, she pens her memory, thanking God for the blessings bestowed upon a common housewife.

Book Review -- Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson

The cover of Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson is a bit deceptive.  I expected another survival story from September 11^th, but I was pleasantly surprised to read much more. This is a book about Michael, a man who happens to be blind and who happened to survive the collapse of the World Trade Centers. His story reveals what it’s like living in a sighted world and the prejudices we have toward the blind. His story is about the remarkable technological advances which have benefitted the blind and what steps are still needed to make society more inclusive. His story is also Roselle’s story and the story of the many guide dogs he partnered with before her.  Together Michael and Roselle escaped the World Trade Center, Tower 1 and survived the collapse of Tower 2.  They persevered, but this was nothing new to Michael Hingson.  He lived a life of perseverance, from learning to ride his bike around the neighborhood as a child to tackling geometry and physics. I believe the best thing about this book is the encouragement and hope that we all can overcome our own trials, tribulations, or disabilities; moving forward to rejoice, laugh, succeed, and live our lives full of joy.

Five Minute Friday -- Beauty

It is Five Minute Friday time again.  For details, click the link.  Today's topic is beauty.



I once knew a lady who would quote the verse, “bodily exercise profiteth little” as her motto of how she did not focus on her appearance, but godliness. Well, you could tell by her appearance and surely there is nothing wrong with spending time taking care of yourself and making yourself beautiful. Especially if you are married, I’m sure your husband may appreciate godliness, but he is a man that sure would enjoy a woman taking care of herself as well. So, I’m saying that to preface my writing below on beauty with the understanding that I am not against taking care of yourself, modestly tweaking yourself and making yourself more physically beautiful. Certainly it’s good for marriage and I believe God told us to be fruitful and multiply. Haha!!

Five minutes, let's start!

Thoughts on beauty…

Beauty is not manicured hands. It is a soft touch, caressing your husband or children. It is a surgeon’s skill, saving a newborn baby’s life. It is the man’s calluses from working to provide for his family. It is the tanned, dirty hands working in a garden. It is the mother’s hands which she uses to build her home and family; cooking, washing their clothes, changing a diaper, patting a crying baby’s bottom, putting ice on a bumped head, and giving medicine to a fevered son. Beauty is a daughter’s hands gracing a piano and filling her home with music.

Beauty is not red lipstick. It is a word fitly spoken, a prayer for loved ones, a prayer for our enemies, a compliment, praise, words of thanks, a kiss, a lullaby, and “I love you’s.”

Beauty is not a perfect body. It is the stretch marks from having grown a baby. It is breasts that have nursed. It is tiny scars revealing all the i.v.’s administered during labor or a c-section scar. It is your daughter’s scar from that surgeon who saved her life, which reminds you of God’s grace and love for her. It is your husband’s wrinkles, telling how long you’ve been together and how much you’ve overcome, still holding onto one another in the moonlight.

Beauty is not a fancy house.  It is a home filled with laughter, children's fingerprints on the windows, the grassless patches in the yard from their playing, and a vase in the windowsill with a branch of dead leaves your four year old gave you with a kiss.

Times up…Beauty can be found in every moment. May we not be blinded to it today.

Sewing Summit -- Travel Handmade

Sewing Summit starts a two-week series focused on making bags, Monday, Aug. 15th.  Everything from large duffle bags to cosmetic bags, so you can travel in style.  I'm not sure I'll be making any of these bags during that two weeks, but I'll definitely be following along and getting any patterns or tutorials for future use.  I wanted to share with the rest of you.  Go check out their page for more information and to find their Flickr group.