Elisabeth Elliot on Love

“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive.
Love is not possessive.
Love is not anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own ideas.
Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.
Love is not touchy.
Love does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
Love knows no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that stands when all else has fallen.”

― Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman

And here we are in 2013!

      The holidays are over and we are getting back into a more normal routine. My husband went back to work yesterday and after having him all to myself for two 4-day weekends in a row, I’m feeling a little lost and not sure what to do with myself.

   I’ve been busy decorating and put up curtains last week with Jacob’s help. We’ve been married almost two years and I finally hung our first set of curtains. When we lived in the apartment I never found anything I liked (pre-made curtains or fabric) so I just didn’t do curtains. In our new house however, that would not be acceptable. I finally found some that I liked at Hobby Lobby for the living room and I’m working on one room at a time.

I still need to get some sheer panels to go behind the curtains and you can see the Christmas tree, bare and waiting to be taken down, on the left side ;)

While I’ve been getting “my spaces” how I want them, Jacob has been doing the same with his domain—the garage. He took advantage of the four day weekends he had during the holidays to work in his garage and build a work bench. I took a few photos, but didn’t get one of the end result.

The first thing he did was build a work bench. He enjoyed himself so much that he didn’t come to bed until the wee hours of the morning.

He finally has a place to do all of the carpentry projects he’s been missing the last two years. I’m hoping for some bookshelves now ;)

In baby news: Morning sickness hasn’t reared its ugly head in almost a month. Thank the Lord for helping me to survive until the second trimester! I was able to enjoy the holidays to the fullest. I am enjoying getting things done again, though I do tire easily and have to take breaks often.

Three weeks ago I felt the first little kick and everyday since then, Little Bit has been letting me know that it’s really in there! It is a very active little person with it’s favorite playtime hours being right when I’m trying to go to sleep. Jacob still hasn’t felt the baby kick yet but hopefully he will soon.

In a few weeks we’ll find out if our firstborn is a boy or girl. I can’t wait to find out so we can stop calling the baby “It” and start calling it by its name. Despite the many predictions that I would have twins, there is only one baby in there ;) I’ve seen for myself.

The 14 1/2 week bump photo. Jacob caught me off guard and talking. We were on yet another trip to Lowe’s for stuff for the garage.

This year is going to be our biggest yet and full of changes. I can’t wait to see what all the Lord has in store for 2013!

October Happenings

   Where has time gone? We’ve been home from the lease over a week and things have been so busy I haven’t had time for much of anything, much less writing.

   Shipping golf clubs, finishing orders from my Etsy shop, getting local order dresses ready for fittings…..somewhere in the midst of all this I’ve got to start packing to move! I usually schedule wedding sewing months in advance and had no idea we’d be trying to move at the same time ;)

We had family and friends-that-are-like-family with us on this trip. The children in the photos are borrowed from my friend Kristin at In Mother Words.  We had such a good time—drinking coffee and cooking and eating peanut butter cups :)

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

My manly bowhunter. Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…

The first deer of the season. Way to go babe!

Ellie and Jacob catching a nap.

The fellas.

Me and Cici coloring in cabin.

The nice 8-point Jacob got on Saturday evening’s hunt. The most fun part was that I got to be with him when he shot it ;)

My Hero and my Healing

It’s been a busy several days since I’ve been here. My days seem to be getting too short—I need to start getting up earlier ;) The Lord is blessing my sewing business so much, I am in awe of all of the business coming my way.

   Things have been busy at church lately. We are in the middle of a 5 week study on holiness—more on that in another post. We had a youth conference at our church and spent two weeks preparing the music and getting ready for it. We had over 430 people attend, which was around four times what was expected and projected for it.  It was wonderful and the Lord was there.   Now our choir is in the middle of preparing to go to another conference to sing—lots of practices and excitement.

   Last Sunday afternoon I had a moment where I was proud to bursting and terrified at the same time. While at my parents’ last weekend I somehow pulled a muscle in my back and it hurt to move. Everyone prayed for me before we left but I was still in a lot of pain. So much pain that I didn’t go to church Sunday morning. It felt better closer to noon on Sunday so Jacob took me out for a bite of lunch and to get some medicine. (I had taken some and spent a lot of time with my best friend the heating pad, but it wasn’t doing much.) I wanted to go to church that night so I needed something with some power in it. Our pastor’s wife is an RN and she suggested Aleve so we stopped in a store to get some.

  When we came out of the store, there was a lady standing at the back of a vehicle, talking on the phone and crying. There was a man standing in front of her—comforting her, I thought, but as we watched we realized that was not the case at all. We put our things in the car and got ready to leave when the man hauled off and slapped the lady hard across the face. I was shocked—he did that in broad daylight! ( I guess I am a sheltered little homeschool girl.)

Almost as soon as the man slapped her, Jacob was out of the car. The man looked like he was going to hit her again and Jacob told him not to touch her again. The man grew very irate with Jacob and went to the vehicle and start digging around in the backseat. There was another man in the car and he got out. Needless to say, I was having a prayer meeting in the car asking the Lord to intervene(Lord, protect my protector!) . I just knew a gun or something was about to come out and I  was prepared to use my car and run over whoever made a move at my husband.

There were a few other people in the parking lot and when they realized what was going on they came over and another man said the same thing as Jacob.

Long story short, they all left and the police were called and came by for a report and they are on the lookout for the man who slapped the lady.  I don’t know if they will find him, but at least she (and the other women in the parking lot) know that chivalry isn’t dead, and the man who hit her knows that he can’t get away with that forever.

  I have to admit, I was pretty scared, not knowing what was going to happen, but I was and am so proud of my defender.

  And my back? I took the medicine and it helped and I was able to go to church. During church the Lord touched me and it hasn’t hurt me the slightest bit since. I know it was the Lord and not just the medicine because there was a certain way that moved that it hurt even with the medicine and I realized during church that it didn’t hurt at all. Our God heals His people!

Blessed and Privileged

   Last Sunday, after the evening service we went out with some friends (this is a pretty common occurrence). In the course of conversation it came up that the following day was Monday. This brought sighs and  groans from nearly everyone at the table. The ladies that were present made comments like “Oh I’m not ready to go back to work yet!” and several more in that vein. The following morning I got on Facebook and saw posts along the lines of “Back to work….sure missing baby girl” and  “So ready to be home already.”

   We ladies who are privileged to stay at home are blessed beyond measure. We don’t live in dread of the workdays and the office and we only have to concern ourselves with our husbands and families. We have been spared a lot of stress and anxiety.

    I am so blessed to have a husband who allows and wants me to line up with God’s plan.  He works very hard so that I can stay at home. The Lord has blessed us so many times over the last 18-19 months. People have been amazed at how He has provided for our every need.

   When we first married there was some resistance to me staying at home. Some couldn’t understand why I didn’t just get a job for a little while to help out and get us in a better position financially. They thought we were being foolish and irresponsible. Whenever you are in the Lord’s will, there will always be naysayers and ones who discourage you.

   But as we tried our best to stay in His will and live according to His word, He has never let us be in need. He has provided for every need, right on time, sometimes in ways that we never dreamed possible.

     I have to stop and give honor to my husband for a minute. It was huge step of faith for him to let me stay at home. He grew up in a two-income family that had trouble making ends meet at times. If it had not been for his mother’s jobs, they wouldn’t have made it, I’ve been told. So with these memories and knowing the difficulties of making ends meet with two incomes, it was a huge step for him to keep his wife at home. He has told me that he honestly in the beginning didn’t know how we could do it on just his income, but we have. He gives all credit to the Lord for making things work and providing for us. We are now in a considerably better financial position than when we married and are almost completely out of debt. Not only has the Lord provided what we needed, but He has gone above and beyond and allowed us to get out from under some burdens.  

I don’t want to give the impression that life is all chocolates and roses because I’m a stay at home wife. Being a stay at home wife does not magically double or triple what is in your bank account. We still have to live by faith on a daily basis and trust the Lord to provide for us. There are times when it gets pretty close and scary and we wonder if we are going to come out alright—but He ALWAYS comes through and NEVER FAILS. He rewards and responds to our faith and obedience—every time.

Of Knights and Fair Maidens

  I have always loved fairy tales and love stories. When I was a little girl I ate, drank and slept fairy tales. One thing that always stood out to me was that no matter how bad things got for the heroine of the  story, she would always be rescued by her man. Her hero always saved her.

   There is rarely  a story you read that does not, in some way or another, feature a damsel-in-distress and a gallant knight in shining armor or a cowboy in a white hat rushing in to save her. There is always a villain after the lady and it is up to her true love to rescue her from  the clutches of evil.

    I think that deep down—even if she won’t admit it—every woman likes to be rescued. I think it is built into us and not something we can outgrow or become to mature or spiritual for. We were made to feel like we need to be saved or rescued and the hero in our lives was made to be be our husband, or our father if we are unmarried.

    Men are wired to be the hero. They like to take care of the ladies in their lives. Men like to rescue and fix things. They like to save the day. You can see this even in little boys. They like to dress up as the hero and catch the bank robber and untie the girl from the railroad track in the nick of time. They like to be “the man.” This doesn’t go away when grow up—I think it grows worse ;)

  Some women do not like feeling like they need saving. It makes them feel weak and helpless. (They are not, by any means, weak and helpless however.) They feel they have to be tough and do everything themselves and not depend on anyone. Even some married women are like this.

   I feel sorry for the women who try to smother the need to be rescued. They are robbing themselves AND their hero of a blessing.  Sometimes an area of perceived weakness can actually be an avenue to the greatest blessing you’ve ever had.

   Sometimes we don’t realize that we need to be rescued. Our hero might see something that we can’t see and it is up to us to trust him enough and let him rescue us. When we put self aside and fulfill our roles as laid out in Scripture,  contentment, joy and blessings will overwhelm us.

     One of the advantages of a wife staying at home is less drama than if the wife had a job outside the home. Maybe not less drama so to speak, but more manageable drama. For example: (and I have seen this many times!)

     The wife is having problems at the office. Whether it be issues with people, or a crazy workload, or whatever, she comes home and tells her husband about it. She is so stressed and sometimes distraught and she wants things to be fixed. Her hero—her husband—in most cases, can do absolutely nothing about it.  This frustrates him because he can’t fix it. All he can do is sit back and watch his wife grow more frustrated and stressed.

   On the other hand, most of the drama in a stay-at-home wife’s life is simpler. 95% percent of the time my issues and problems can be solved and handled by my hero. I’ve been rescued, he fixed the problem and feels macho. We’re both happy and all is well in the world.

   In the end, we all need to be rescued—heroes and damsels alike. From the beginning of time Christ has been rescuing his Bride from the evil one, even dying to save her. Even when she was  running from Him (her Savior!) and didn’t think she needed to be rescued, He had a plan that would wash her clean and draw her to him. In the end, He will carry us off to live in His castle in the sky. I can’t wait!

How to Pray for your Husband

Here are two reminders of ways to pray for our husbands. It is very needful that we lift our men up before the Lord every day, that He would strengthen them and help them.
There is no difference between the two graphics, choose whichever one your like best ;)

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Homemade pasta

Yesterday I whipped up some homemade lasagna and spaghetti noodles. I made lasagna for supper and dried the spaghetti noodles for later use.

Here are a few pictures ;)

Jacob loves to take pictures of me cooking. He loved how everything turned out. He’d never had fresh, homemade pasta before.

Another Facebook Cover photo for you

 

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Domestic Bliss and Trophy Bucks

Sequestered in their calm domestic bower,
   They sat together.  He in manhood’s prime
And she a matron in her fullest flower.
   The mantel clock gave forth a warning chime.
She put her work aside; his bright cigar
   Grew pale, and crumbled in an ashen heap.
The lights went out, save one remaining star
   That watched beside the children in their sleep.
She hummed a little song and nestled near,
   As side by side they went to their repose.
His arm about her waist, he whispered “Dear,”
   And pressed his lips upon her mouth’s full rose—
The sacred sweetness of their wedded life
   Breathed in that kiss of husband and of wife.

~Domestic Bliss, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Before a girl marries she has dreams and ideas about how her home will be one day. I had mine planned right 

down to the color of the kitchen cabinets and tea-time at three o’clock in the afternoon everyday.

 We girls dream of how we will run it, how it will be ordered and how things will be in our very own home.

  What many of us do not take into consideration is the fact that the husband in the home will likely have his own opinions and ideas about how he wants things done in his home. And those ideas just might not line up completely with yours. Even with my very easy-going, laid-back husband, there have been a few bumps in the road in our journey towards domestic bliss.
 Here is an example of domestic dreams clashing:

As I have mentioned before, my husband is an avid and dedicated hunter. I fulfilled one of his dreams by not only having land to hunt on (for free!) but also that I like venison (or deer meat, as we call it). His mother has never been able to eat deer meat, no matter how it is prepared, so having a wife that liked what he brought home meant a lot to him.
  Being the avid hunter that he is, my Jacob likes to have his trophies stuffed and mounted and displayed on the walls of our home. His mom has always loved this aspect of hunting and joyfully displays all of the trophies that her husband and until recently, her son would bring home.
  Unfortunately, mounts are not my cup of decorating tea.  My father and brothers have always hunted, but the extent of their trophy keeping was to mount the skull and antlers on the shop wall. While I love the rustic country look—which is how I have most of my home decorated—mounts on the wall have never really appealed to me except in a man’s office or study. But not in my livingroom….Trophy mounts were not in my plans.
  Guess what? When I married my sweet Jacob not only did I get him, but also his small herd of mounts. At the time it was only Dasher and Dancer (a whitetail buck and an axis buck), but soon our game preserve will welcome Wilbur (a Pineywoods hog skull) and Billy, a Corsican ram’s head. (Those are my nicknames for them—don’t tell Jacob! ;) )
  Our apartment back home is about half the size of where we are living now and we are running out of wall space. It was really starting to bother me because it didn’t fit into MY plans, it didn’t match up with what I wanted, I didn’t want to seem like a redneck, I, ME, MY……..What’s wrong with this picture? Yes, there is a lot of ME and MY opinions in it.
  I had to stop and remember that it’s  not just my home, it’s our home. If I had wanted a house where I got everything my way and completely to my tastes, I shouldn’t have gotten married.
  One of my responsibilities as a wife is to be the homemaker—to make our house a home. We as homemakers are supposed to make our homes havens and places of joy and relaxation for our families. It should be a pleasure to come home because that is where you are most comfortable and where the things that matter to you and are important to you are. I have to remember that what may not be important to me, may be very important to my husband. Something that might be a source of irritation for me may the thing that really makes our dwelling feel like home to him.
  And to be honest, my wonderful husband lets me have my way in everything concerning the house—except the mounts. Those are the only things he asked for and really wanted. Sure, I could have thrown a fit and insisted that we leave them at his parent’s house and he probably would have eventually given in to me.But it means a lot to him to be able to display his trophies in his own home.  It helps make it home. Just like the things that mean a lot to me—my great grandmother’s dishes, the doilies that I made—help make it home. He doesn’t complain about the feminine touches I’ve added here and there. It convicts me about how I’ve felt about his things.
  Marriage is about two people compromising on their desires and giving in to each other. And not just “Ok, I’ll let YOU win this time, but I’m not going to let you forget it!” It means to do it without grudging or complaining. It’s about thinking about the other person and what is important to them and putting them first before yourself. No one said it would be easy, but everyone says how wonderful the rewards of it are.
  Domestic bliss is not something that just “happens” when you return from your honeymoon or after you’ve been married a while. You have to work for it and sometimes the work is hard. You have to deny yourself—no one likes doing that! But if you are committed to making things work, you’ll do whatever is necessary, no matter how much of an inconvenience it is to you personally.
  So I’ve decided to get over my dislike for trophy mounts in the livingroom because Jacob likes them. I’ve decided to start taking even more pride in what a great hunter he is and to appreciate his trophies.
That doesn’t mean that I’ll stop being concerned about wall space though!;)

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EOA # 20

A few first anniversary images

 

One Year ago today…

This year of being married to my best friend has been the best ever!

The Bride

Many times in Scripture the Church is referred to as a woman--the beloved and the Bride of Christ. We as ladies are privileged to be able to be the physical representation of the Church to the world. We are able to show the world what a Blood-bought bride looks like and how she lives in her new life.
  The parallels and contrasts that are repeatedly drawn in the Bible confirm this. The similarities of the husband and wife relationship and of Christ and and the Church fill the pages of the Bible, not only in the New Testament, but also the Old Testament books. The books of the Prophets are replete with examples of the Lord wooing His beloved Israel (a type and foreshadow of the Church) from her sin-filled, empty life to a new life with Him.
  There is much we can learn and glean from the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. The people of Israel were different and set apart from the other nations of the world around them. They had a different lifestyle, a different set of rules, different dress, diet and style of worship. This was because of their relationship with Jehovah, the God Who led them out of Egypt and the wilderness. There was no doubt to Whom they belonged, or Who they worshipped.

  There wasn't a question of "Are they Hittites or Hebrews?" or "Well, they kind of look like Egyptians, but they talk about Jehovah so they must be Israelites." No, there was none of that. Everyone knew what they were and what they stood for.

That is how it should be with the Church. When people look at us, it should immediately be apparent that we are set apart. There should be no question whether we are His or not.

  Most of the time you can look at a married woman and at a glance see what her husband believes and stands for. If a woman is truly in love with her husband and in submission to him, she will be the image and the embodiment of what he believes and values.

   Since I became a married lady earlier this year, I am beginning to understand the Christ and His Bride relationship more fully than in times past. We married, I took his name and left my old life--my childhood--behind. Everything is new. A new home, a new church, new dishes, new furniture, new clothes :)

  I love my husband. Actually, I adore him and think that he hung the moon AND the stars. To please him is and make him happy is one of my greatest joys. I know what things make him feel loved. I know how he likes me to dress--what colors are his favorite on me--and how he likes my hair to be fixed. I know what he would like to see in my life.

  It is my privilege and my delight to please him and conform to his tastes and preferences. I love him so much and the best way I can think of to show him is to do the things he likes. It shows him that he has first place in my heart and affections, that my world revolves around him. This makes him adore and spoil me even more than he already does. He misses me when we are apart and if I send him a text or email that says "I miss you and love you and can't wait till you get home" it makes his day. When I brag on him, or praise him or something he has done, it just triples the effect. He loves and cherishes and adores me even more, and that makes me want to do more for him. It's like a circle :)

  I can't help but stop and think that if my earthly husband loves for me to lavish attention on him, and do things for him just because I love him, and tell him how wonderful he is, how much more does our Bridegroom love attention and affection and praise from His bride? When we do things that He asks, just because we love Him, not just because it will get us to Heaven. When we do things for Him, when we conform to His will, out of love and not expecting a reward, how do you think that makes Him feel?

  I don't want there to be any doubt His mind that I love Him completely and unreservedly.

EOA Link-up 

The Mrs. and the Quilt

I've been a Mrs. for eight months today. It has been the most wonderful eight months of my entire life. I still catch myself wondering if I am dreaming and when I'll wake up.
 Our little home is finally getting where I want it. I've been told that it is cozy and homey, something I've been striving for. I have to admit though, my first few months here I wondered if it would ever feel like home. Its bare, waiting-to-be-decorated walls were depressing and I didn't know where to start. I felt like we would never get anything up on the walls except deer heads and clocks.
  I wanted (and still want) our home to be comfortable and peaceful and for Jacob to love it and be proud of it. I wanted him to be happy and relaxed here and not feel out of place. It's his castle--I'm just the one in charge of decor and atmosphere. (And he lets me have my way in everything concerning the castle :-) )
  I can't pinpoint the moment when it began happening, but I do know the moment when I realized that it felt like home. I'd been making doilies and pillows and having photos I'd taken around the farm developed and framed. I'd been pulling heirlooms out of my hopechest, setting them out and using them. These actions helped a lot--they added personality and really made it feel like it was "mine".
 What really completed it for me was a quilt. Jacob bought me a quilt for our bed--an eight-pointed star pattern on a light tan and white floral background. Even though it was cheater's piecing (for all you non-quilters, cheater's piecing is fabric that is printed to look like a patchwork quilt), I fell in love with the colors. It looks like it was made from feed sacks.
 Feedsacks?! What?! A lot of people don't know this, but at one time feed sacks were made from cotton fabric printed with lovely calico designs. I've been told stories by my great-grandmother about ladies sending their husbands to the feed store with a piece of material and instructions to match the pattern so they could finish a dress.
 I put the quilt on the bed and raised the window blind, turned and left the room. A few minutes later I came into the room and it dawned on me--this was home, really home.
  Who knew what a quilt could do?

The quilt that made it feel like home.

Labor Day

On Labor Day 2008, I met my Jacob for the first time. I didn't know then that he would be my husband :)
This year we spent it with my parents. My youngest brother spent most of the weekend with us then we all headed out to my parent's home Sunday night after church. Monday was spent playing--riding 4-wheelers and shooting skeet. My siblings start school today so we had to have one last fling :)
 I have to take a moment and brag about my awesome husband who can fix anything: The 4-wheeler in the picture was given a cosmetic overhaul by Jacob last week. Someone had taken it to the deer lease and somehow the straps holding it released and it bounced off the trailer and down the interstate. The truck was going 70mph so the damage was pretty bad. The handle bars and bumper were very bent and the pipe on the front and back racks were practically ground off. All of the plastic fenders were damaged. Upon closer inspection though, there was no damage to the motor or the frame and Jacob was able to buy replacement parts and fix it. Now it almost looks brand new. :) Thank You Lord for my Mr. Fix-It!
  The weather has been gorgeous! We finally got some rain and a little norther blew in. It has been around 85*--with no humidity and a nice breeze. That is a great change from the 106* weather we've been having. We had twenty consecutive days that the temperature was over 100.
  Now it's back to normal--I have a mountain of laundry from the weekend that needs attention, menu planning that needs doing and a pineapple doily that is almost finished. Keepers of the Faith classes start back up this week so I have crafts and lessons to plan.
 Take heart--fall is almost here!

My manly man

 

Jacob and the mouflon  ram he shot with his bow last weekend. Yes, its head will end up on the wall with his other trophies.....

How to Preserve a Husband

Being a new bride, keeping my husband happy and comfortable is naturally one of my main concerns and interests. I came across the following in an old canning book of my mother's. She assures me this recipe is a good one and worth following. Enjoy!


How to Preserve a Husband

Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young. When selected, give you entire thoughts to preparation for domestic use. Some wives insist upon keeping them in a pickle, others are constantly getting them into hot water. This may make them sour, hard, and sometimes bitter; even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender and good, by garnishing them with patience, sweetened with love and seasoned with kisses. Wrap them in a mantle of charity. Keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion and serve with peaches and cream. Thus prepared, they will keep for years.

--from the Ball Blue Book, Copyright 1972