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Friday, June 24, 2011

Things I Love pt 1

I have a recent obsession with glass jars. 
Peanut butter jars, alfredo sauce jars, vintage mason jars with the metal lid, etc.

I have quite a collection.
I realized a bit ago, rather than recycling them, REUSE them! 
(reduce, reuse, recycle!)
They have come in quite handy for storage, freezing, sharing food.
They also make great gifts! 
For Christmas, I would fill them with hot chocolate mix and wrap a bow around it!


Maybe store some tea? How about that home-made laundry powder from REDEMPTION soap??
 
Your turn, what do you do with you glass jars?

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Hairy Scary!

I was in the basement when with one hand I pulled back the heavy duty black bag and with the other hand reached in... to the hairy scary!
It was wool. 
Nothing to be afraid of. silly...
But it has been sitting in my basement, freshly sheared and unprocessed. It stunk. And it scared me.
What if bugs were in there? What if a rat or mouse had made a home...
What if those things ARE in there but I just didn't reach them yet when I scooped up the top pieces and put them in a box.
My house smells like a barn.
I have wool boiling on the stove.
(No, I'm not joking)
Of COURSE there is a story...

Once upon a time, there lived a young couple who went to a Sheep Shearing Festival with the husband's parents. There, they met many nice sheep farmers, looked at prices and chatted with sellers and even purchased a small sack of New Hampshire grown Alpaca wool. You see, this young wife had a joy for doing things the old fashioned way. She intended to find a wool supplier so that she could make and sell wool dryer balls.
Little did she know, a special blessing was waiting for her. An acquaintance found the young wife at a sheep herding show and said she would like to give her some fleece from her small flock. The young wife was astounded and asked why this woman wanted to simple give her wool- they hadn't met until this point! The young wife's in-laws told their friend about the small business their daughter-in-law had started and the mission behind it. And that was that. The woman wanted to support a business that supported something beyond itself. 
The young wife walked away humbled by this woman's generosity. She journeyed for weeks trying to find a local wool processor to clean up this giant bag of wool, but alas, she came up empty handed. So one night, after the young wife tucked her sweet babe into bed, kissed her husband as he went off for a bike ride, she plopped herself down in front of her computer and found Google. All the same things came up as before. A little saddened, but having energy and new hope after finally feeling well (she had been sick for days to finally learn that she had strep throat!) she ventured fourth in her journey. She looked up how to clean wool by hand, and save the lanolin, shrugged her shoulder and thought to herself "that looks easy."
And so the story continues. This young woman has never done this before and has no one to reference to but the internet. She is hopeful and being smart about it, has started off with a small test batch.
The lesson to the story is this, when you can't find somebody to do what you need to be done, in the means in which we want it to be done, do it yourself!
... And they lived happily ever after.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Not Big Enough

I'm just not.
I try SO hard.
But I'm just not big enough.
I reached a wall of discouragement yesterday. The kind that hit me like a ton of bricks and I wanted to just curl up on the floor and cry/ go on a long hard run. Does that make sense? Well, it's where I was at.

After a discouraging verbal beat-down from a family member, I was once again reminded how "not enough" I am. (Can we just be real for a sec without pointing fingers- in all of the "mean" people I have encountered, nobody can be meaner than those closest to you. PS this is not a story about my husband.)

Truly, most people struggle with that "not enough" feeling enough in their lives. But when someone straight up bashes you for an area that needs work- and the truth is not spoken in love, my raw weakness is far too exposed.

And then there is my husband. Have I mentioned how next to Jesus, he is my greatest rescuer? Speaking truth in love and building me up when I am down, even if he is down too. Ugh, I love that man.

So here is the battle of my heart/ mind/ purpose.
Why in the world do we think we are "good enough" to pursue full-time ministry, raising support. Who would ever want to support these two broken, inadequate, not "enough" people??? 

I mean really, we aren't perfect. I have such a great hope and purpose in Christ that am confident in who I am and with my life... most of the time. (Not yesterday) And the other truth is, we don't think that we are "good enough" to pursue full-time ministry. We are driven by our passion and our desire for God. 

In my brokenness I am reminded of why we do what we do. Jeremy Camp wrote a song called "My Desire" It beautifully plays out my heart in song. My desire is to be used by God.
This all started when I was 12 years old and I felt God's call on my life to live for Him, serving Him. I thought that maybe one day that would mean going overseas. Never once would I even allow myself to think it would be right here, where I grew up.

This guy Paul wrote to some of his friends telling them that none of us are good enough, we all mess up but because of Jesus' grace, we are redeemed. (Romans 3:23-24) That is some good stuff. And this is the Gospel I strive to live, breathing in and out the truths of the Gospel so that the lies (the ones I tell myself, the ones others tell me) have no leverage in my life.

I cling to this truth, and others daily. Being refreshed by spending time in the Word while my little girl naps each morning. Write key verses out on an index card to remind me of the HOPE I have in Christ.

No I'm not good enough. And I never will be. Each day I am being refined by Christ because I allow Him to work in my life.
 This picture has nothing to do with the post, but I just wanted to share how amazing my little family is. My husband is wearing Abi on his back in the Moby while he picks apart the chicken for me. Love these two people more than I ever thought possible. I can't understand how Jesus loves me even more than I love them.

Can we end this with a little prayer? Is that weird to write out a prayer on a blog? I have no idea who is reading this or where your heart is at.

Father, Thank you for the sunshine today. Thank you for the beautiful Book You have given me, all the letters, stories and truths for me to cling to- the Bible. Without You, I have no hope. Without Your Word, I don't know how I would pick my weepy self off the floor, or what I would meditate on during a run. Thank you for my husband who is a walking example of Your love. And my little girl, she radiates Joy. I need You, I desire You, I can't get over hurts and pain that people cause without You. I wouldn't feel this passion and desire to live my life the way I do without You. Can you remind me that every day, please? Thanks for loving me when I get angry, act and think in ways that don't make You proud. Thank You for my life, each breath, my family (even when it hurts) and my health. I have so much more to tell you, plead with you, thank you for, but I'll chat more with you later. Prob in like 5 mins. Thanks for always being there. My rock. My shelter. My redeemer. I love you. Amen.