GoD's EmBrOiDeRy-a LEsSoN fOr JoSLyN

Joslyn has been carefully stitching the last two days a new design. This morning she finished after our Bible Study time and showed it to me. Of course it melted my heart and I am anxious to get it hung in a special place, but this special piece of embroidery held with it a lesson as well. She flipped it over to reveal a mess and seems to be discouraged by it even though it is the side unseen. But it reminded me of one of my favorite passages from "Not Good if Detached" by Corrie ten Boom. It is entitled "God's Embroidery." So I had Joslyn go pull the book out of my purse and bring it to me so we could read it together.

Corrie was sharing about a young immigrant women she met who asked her "Can I really trouble God with the petty things of my life?" This women spoke of how she certainly spoke with God about her soul, but I carry the weight of my everyday troubles and loniless, alone.

Corrie shared Psalm 147:11 with her 'The Lord taketh pleasure in those that hope in His mercy.' This verse struck me deeply this morning. Not only is He a God who created us, loved us enough to save us so we could spend eternity with us, has plans to use us and grow us, He actually delights in us bringing our everyday struggles to him, He wants us to ask for help and to hope for His help!! I needed this so much-probably more than Joslyn....

As Corrie spoke with this young woman about prayer, she shared a story from when she was in a concentration camp. She shared how she had gotten a bad cold and asked her sister Betsie, "what can I do, I do not have a hankerchief?" Betsie replied, "Pray" Corrie said that she laughed, but sure enough Betsie prayed very simply and asked that the Lord provide her a hankerchief because of her cold. And sure enough, as she said Amen, Corrie heard her name called by the window. It was a friend with a small package for her. This friend had brought her a hankerchief and Corrie asked her "Did you know I had a cold, did someone tell you to bring this to me?" Her friend said "No, but as I was folding hankies in the hospital, a voice in my heart told me to bring this to you" Corrie said that changed her-it told her that there was a loving God who cared about impossible little things for His children on this small little planet! She shared that God does not always answer us the way we expect, sometimes he even says no. But that is because he sees more than we do. He does not panic and He has no problems concerning us. And then she shows a beautiful piece of embroidery, showing the wrong side and mentions how it is complete chaos.

My life is but a weaving, between my God and me,

I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily,

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.

Not till the loom is silent, and the shutters cease to fly,

Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful in the skillful weavers hand,

as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned.

Joslyn's little embroidery for me will help me to remember that I can rest and trust in His plans. Even when life seems like chaos or not what we had planned, He is always at work. He knows what our beautiful embroidery "Life" is going to look like.

What I am Reading Right Now...

I have never taken the time to share about the books I am reading, mostly because I am not a "book" person most of the time. It is hard for me to sit still, calm my mind enough to focus on a book for any length of time. Sometimes it comes from reading so much for schooling our kids as well, it makes me anxious to work with my hands which seems to be almost nessasary for me to function, BUT! All that said, I thought through what I was reading recently and I guess, I am actually kind of a book person considering the list I have right now. Here is what I am reading and why.

The first is "Everyday Talk" by John Younts. i am going through this with a close mom friend that I am mentoring (although I think I learn more from her)! It, if anything, is a strong reminder of how much our everyday speech(conversations, frustrations, murmurrings, questions, discipline, etc)effects our children's world view of God. Convicting! For myself, it has helped me to take a breather before I talk without thinking first.

This book is beautifully done. It is the story of Ruth told in a poetic form from the perspective of Obed sharing with his Grandson David about the life of his great grandmother Ruth. I have been reading this to the kids when we are around the table off and on. Love love love it!

I am reading this book with Joslyn for school. Joslyn will read a few pages and then I will read a few. It is a book telling about 10 women that have changed the world. Godly examples of women who loved the Lord. Among them are women such as Isobel Kuhn, Amy Carmichael, and Corrie ten Boom(of course). Causes Josie to ask questions and begin to see the joy that comes from serving the Lord with our whole lives. There are others in this collection for girls and boys.

Desiring God is my "brain hurts" type of study but in a good way. This one I spend a good amount of time flipping back and forth through scripture with. This is one I do later at night when the house is completely quiet. It takes all my focus, and allows me to pray while I listen( I am doing this with the audio version so I can hear and read. I listen to it in the car as well. This is my challenge right now.

This is a book we are reading as a family. it is one of the books written about the life of Corrie ten Boom. I want the kids to have a real eye opening view of the holocaust and about what Jews and Christians went through during this time. Corrie ten Boom has a way of connecting with young and old and a way of applying the living Word of God to everyday life. Awesome!

And this one is my favorite and will most likely remain in my top of all time. It is another book by Corrie ten Boom called "Not Good If Detached". It is almost like a journal of hers, each chapter is a conversation or experience she had while traveling around the globe sharing the gospel after being freed from the consentration camp. This book goes everywhere with me, it is always in my purse, and I have read and reread this book multiple times. It has caused me to treasure Jesus so much more in my own life, it has so often given me clarity on situations in my own life and the scripture that applies. It is a most precious gift and get this, it was nestled and hidden away on a shelf of books in a little thrift shop up in MN that my mother in law took me to. We got stranded at this shop due to a violent storm that came through, so unlike my normal visits to thrift shops, I had time to leaf through the books. This tiny little beat up book captured my attention immediately. The title actually made me think of the verse in John 15:5

I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me, you can do nothing.

And after that thought crossed my mind , I looked down and saw "Corrie ten Boom" And I thought, well, of course. God had sent that storm just for me and had hidden that little book away just for me, knowing my heart and mind, knowing even the little details of what catches my attention -old and worn objects overlooked and overloved. I am now on a mission to track down as many copies of this book that I can so that I can give them away to friends, family, and students.

So for now, those are what is on the reading list. I will make sure to share a few more of my favorites sometime soon.

Here's the Scoop...

This week started out with joy....

I was able to sit through the service again this week at church. It has been difficult being anywhere that I needed to keep quiet. The fall allergies seem to go straight to my chest and I end up with this nagging and irritating cough that can be quite disturbing. But it has been a blessing to have an evening service, since mornings seem to be my worst time. Our Pastor preached from Romans 12 on forgiveness and shared about my ultimate hero Corrie ten Boom who was a survivor of the Holocaust. It was neat to hear again of one of her amazing stories of how the Lord had given her the strength to forgive those who had hurt her and her family so deeply. She always says that when the Lord asks her to do something really hard, He is also the one who supplies whatever she needs to do it. She is just the vessel that has to be willing to allow Him to work through. Well, I have been pondering this for awhile now and it seems like the sermon Sunday confirmed I should do this. I have wanted to start doing a post at least once a week called Coffee with Corrie. Her books have become so precious to me because her love for the Lord was so genuine. I just have not found to right words to express to impact she has had on my own faith in Jesus. So I thought, little bits may be a good way to start. So, hopefully next week when I am back from a trip to MN, I will begin my posts of Coffee with Corrie.

Then Monday morning I was blessed to start the day having coffee and going thrifting with a precious friend who has brought such healing to my own life, someone who has brought closure to a very lonely period in my life. A friend who has made me finally feel like I am home after having lived here for 8 years. Only the Lord could have orchestrated this friendship, and He has used it to awaken areas in my life that I had forgotten about and had almost begun to believe were unnecessary. It has been a friendship that has had the depth of a kindred faith in Jesus, but the laughter of just being girls, we have been able to share and be challenged as moms, and confide and relate as youth pastor's wives. It is a timely and precious gift from the Lord.

Monday evening brought more joy as Matt and I took Joslyn on a date. With having five kiddos-I have shared before, that we enjoy taking time out of the normal routines and" seventh heaven" to have the one on one time with each of our kids. We used to do dates that was just Matt and one of the kids or me and one of the kids because hiring a babysitter was just not something we could afford very often. But now with a child old enough to babysit, we have been able to begin taking each of the kids with both of us and that has been very fun! So Matt and i took Joslyn to see The Legend of the Guardians. We took her last night and I think there were maybe 5 cars in the parking lot-it was awesome! We told her we rented out the entire theater just for her(she knew we were kidding) But it felt pretty special to have the whole place to ourselves. Just the 3 of us in a mega 3D theater. the movie was magical and beautifully made and it fit Joslyn's personality.

After tucking her in and the other kiddos who were still awake when we returned home, I sat down to check a few things. And the week turned to sadness. The last day and a half I have spent much of my time reconnecting with old friends from college and sharing any updates I had received. A friend of Matt and I's from college was in a devastating accident with an over sized semi yesterday afternoon. The accident had shut down the highway in MN where it had taken place, for many hours. Kris had been airlifted to Mayo even though it was only 20 miles from where it had happened due to how critical time was for the injuries she had sustained. She was in surgery for over 8 hours before she was stable. Her injuries from what I have been told will require multiple reconstructive surgeries. Her sister Beth told me she is very broken and will have a long road to recovery. Kris and James have 5 young children the ages of our kiddos, I am sure this is very hard on them as well. But one thing that has just stirred my soul has been the countless amounts of old friends, family, and even more that do not even know them that have risen up in prayer for them.

BUT! She is alive,

it is a miracle,

and all of us are so very grateful that she is still here!

Praise the Lord!

And

the

week

turned

to

REJOICING again!

I am hoping I will be able to see her this weekend while at a conference in MN.

On a creative note, I have been working on some new designs for my mittens. I have a special order I am putting together. Sunday night after everyone was tucked in bed, I spent some time playing with colors and designs and here are some that I have come up with. I have only gotten the front panels finished thus far.

Now to bring them to life with picking out the contrasting colors for the palm and thumb and maybe some fun little surprises for the linings. My beloved linens are now going to have to share my attention with this crazy fascination with felted wool. No worries, my cutting mat with still have lines worn at the precious measurements of 18 and 22 inches for my bed linen fat quarter followers. I will remain loyal to the saving of as many reclaimed bed linens as possible-But I am also going to rescue wool sweaters too-I MUST! Haha.

Blessings to all of you this week-may the Lord bless each day and may you see His gifts and thank Him, He loves you enough to have died for YOU!