Dainty

My, my, my!

What a lovely dress! Who made that, pray tell?!

Go order the pattern while you're visiting her website, it's an awesome pattern for the novice and experienced seamstress. Cut to finish it took me about two (2) hours. Two! I plan to make at least eleventy nine million more. Pretty much every little girl I know will be getting one of these dresses at some point.

No, I did not amputate her arms prior to this photo. Apparently she was trying out her "coy" pose. Even though there is not a coy bone in her body.

With Hope

When I was 15 years old I travelled to Orlando, Florida with my church youth group for a huge youth conference. One of our days was spent at Sea World and the park was filled with thousands of teenagers and the stages were filled with concerts and shows. On one particular stage my friends and I rocked out to a new Christian artist named Steven Curtis Chapman, he was dynamic, young, and fun. He played a guitar while he sang, he was excited about the Lord, and we screamed liked freaked out little groupies on the front row. He looked down and laughed at us a couple of times. We were so dorky. It was a great concert and I have been a huge fan of his since. His music has been a soundtrack for my life in so many ways and on so many occasions.

I was horrified and saddened to learn of the death of his five-year old daughter yesterday. I'll link to Shannon's blog for more info and further links.

The song playing is one that was especially meaningful to Hubs' and I after the death of Hubs' cousin seven years ago. Joshua died unexpectedly at the age of 21 and we were grief stricken, having just spent the weekend with him only days before. I can't imagine that Steven Curtis Chapmen ever expected that this song might apply to one of his own precious children.

So hard to understand . . .

Totally Makes My Day

There is nothing quite like seeing your creations on actual little people. I love, love, love seeing my kids wear the stuff I've made for them and I love it just as much when I see other kids wearing them too.

Pam bought two items from the shop last week- one from Kate and one from me. Her little bitty girl looks sweet as pie.

And Liz's little boy finally grew into his weiner dog gown. It is my absolute most favorite item I have made and sold for the shop yet.

And Tricia posted pictures today of her kids in their matching outfits. Her kids are so much cuteness I could stuff them in my mouth for all the sweetness.

I know, it's a lot of horn tooting for Bon*Bons, but this kind of stuff does my heart good.

A funny thing happened at the Beth Moore conference over the weekend. On Friday night as JK and I were leaving the arena she saw a group of ladies talking and recognized one as a friend from college who she hasn't seen in a long time. As we approached we realized that it was a bunch of ladies we knew from school and church and other places. A few of them I didn't know personally, but knew of through mutual friends. The Nazarene community is a small world, people. Very small.

My friend Karina, who is test driving her adorable baby hats in the shop, saw me and said, "Oh my word! This is my friend with the Etsy shop I was just telling you about!" She then explained to me and her friend that she had been talking about her hats with one of the ladies and was telling them about the shop. Just then another one of the ladies whips around and points to me and says, "You're Bon*Bons?!" Karina introduced her and instantly I knew who SHE was from HER website. I blurted out, "You're Daisy K!" We had a good laugh and talked about our shops and the stuff we make. People, it was so cool. Go check out Kelly's website, she makes really cute stuff. I think we could be crafty BFFs. I liked her immediately, even in the short amount of time we spoke.

So that's about it. More fun crafty talk, seems to be all I'm good for lately.

The last of the open forum questions

I've been saving this final question for last partly because I wanted to be sure that I gave it careful thought and partly because I am not always sure how to put into words what lies so deep in my heart. A large portion of my faith is based not on what theologists and philosophers can write or reason but on what I have experienced personally. I've wondered if it would be good enough to just write about what I believe and have experienced as a Christian without all the heady verbology and documentation from authors and experts. I am not a theologian, my words are not fancy. My faith in God is simple and personal.

So here I go. Let's see if I can do this question justice. I've broken it down in smaller parts so that my head doesn't explode. Bear with me.

If you believe in god, is your belief a product of society? Do you simply believe in the same god that your parents, and their parents do?

Of course my belief system was initially taught to me by my parents and grandparents and other people around me from the time I was a toddler. That's typically how it works when you have a family that desires to instill a particular set of values in their children. However, God is not a product of society and isn't limited by borders and cultures. He has the power to draw whomever He chooses to Himself. A person does not need to be born and reared within a certain doctrine of faith for God to use him or her.

I believe that He has a purpose and plan for each person's life but with the gift of free will we can choose whether or not we look to Him to define it for us through His Word and teachings or go our own way. I'm not saying that God has a memo written out for each of us with bullet points of what we will do for our entire lives, but I believe that if we truly want to live Godly lives and look for direction in the Bible and through prayer as we live our lives, that we are living within God's plan and He will use us accordingly.

If you were born in Afghanistan, would you have a different god and subscribe to the same religion that your parents and their parents did?

Again, so what if I was? He is not limited by borders or cultures.

Whose god is the true god?

My belief in God and the Bible is based on verifiable, historical fact. To quote a trusted, knowledgeable advisor, "The single most significant event in history - the resurrection of Jesus Christ - is a fact. Truth IS objective; Jesus said 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.'. Jesus also claimed to be God when He referred to Himself as 'I Am'.

So - we can not only be completely assured of the fact that the God of the Bible is, in fact “the true God” - - but we can get to know Him. In fact, He made a way - He put together a plan whereby we can have direct access to Him - - but that was at a tremendous cost. This erases any doubt as to His desire to give us direct access to Him."

If their god was truly god, could you make the switch? Likewise, could they? Is there really a god, or do societies make up something to cope with stress of life and for understanding of existence?
Yes, they could. Society didn't create God, God created society.

Was Karl Marx close to the truth? I don't know, I haven't read Karl Marx.

***

If a person really wants to pick apart and intellectualize faith to prove why it is not to be believed they can probably find every reason they intended to find to not believe. When we look to ourselves, books, and other people to analyze and find justification for faith we take our focus off of God and His word and lose sight of the simple truth that it is. And we are always disappointed by who we find God to be when we don't look to Him for truth.

Faith is simple for me. I believe it, I pray it, I read God's Word, and as I learn more I know and understand more. God is real, plain and simple, and His instructions for life, the demonstrations of His love and faithfulness, and the proof of His power is contained in the Bible and I see it in my life every single day.

In moments of pure joy and in moments of total darkness and deep grief He is there. My faith has never, ever, once failed me. This doesn't mean that life is easy, or pain free. Quite the opposite. But have hope and I have a stronghold that I can hang onto as I go through difficult times. God is real and He is still working in miracles.

As a Christian I still make stupid choices, I say things I shouldn't say, and I do dumb things without thinking. But the most beautiful gift of faith that I have known is the gift of grace- God's gift of forgiveness whether a person deserves it or not. I am forgiven and I am responsible for making my wrong actions right, but I am also free from the debt of that sin once it is forgiven. Grace is more than a song that is oversung in the media when people talk about churches and religion. Grace is the ultimate gift we are given through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the means by which we can go directly to God to plead our fear, pain, hurt, and needs. We aren't bound by rules and procedures, we are able to access God and have a personal relationship with Him every single day. We can laugh with God, cry with Him, plead in anger, meet with Him in all circumstances.

To quote the Apostles Creed,
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

I believe it. I know it to be true. I have experienced it first hand. I have no doubts, I don't entertain doubts.

***

The asker of this question bantered back and forth with me in the comments of the original post and also asked this question:
Aren't you girls sick of diaper and fru fru talk?

Of course we get sick of talking about diapers. And changing diapers. And wiping poop off of small butts that are in the diapers. The last time I checked, being up all night with a vomiting 18 month old who has no concept of "THROW UP IN! THE! BOWL! NOT MY PAJAMA SHIRT!" wasn't very fru-fru. But we do try to make light of it the next day by rearranging our angst, fear, and sleeplessness into a funny story. This is how we make it through this job of parenthood, not by writing long prose about how hard it is but by finding humor and support from others who go through the same thing.

***

and finally, my Aunt Dawn asked:
What do you like most about where you live? What do you like least?

The most:
Long, warm summer evenings where the sun sets very slowly until 10:00pm
It's not a large urban area
I don't have to drive far to feel like I've completely escaped the real world into nature and quiet beauty
My family is here- both Hubs' and my own
It's an affordable, and fairly well kept secret place to live and raise a family

The least:
Short in-between seasons. Fall and Spring last all of about two weeks before the extremes hit. For example, 10 days ago I shivered through Cool's baseball game with a blanket and wool coat. On Saturday I watched it from inside my minivan with the AC running full blast so that Jack didn't have heat stroke.
It's quite a distance to any major vacation destinations like Disney or tropical locations.


Are you as exhausted as I am? I need a Twinkie.





**a little message to my anonymous questioner: You know that I love you and A very much and that I'm no more afraid to answer your questions boldly than you are to ask them boldly. Neither of us likes to avoid topics out of fear of discomfort or offense. My dad taught me young about respectful discussion and it's something I value very much regardless of viewpoint.

Now when are you two going to come for a visit?

The Living Proof Live conference with Beth Moore was everything that I had prayed for and longed for it to be. I'm still processing so much of what I heard and learned about myself and about God's place in my life.

I am overwhelmed. I am excited. I am humbled. I am thankful. Most of all, I am in awe of my Lord and Savior who holds my life in His hands.