Getting crafty

I've been dying to get crafty lately. My friend Jennifer's baby shower was the perfect occasion. I made her an initial onesie with a ruffle butt. Here's how it turned out.

Don't worry boys. I haven't left you out of my crafting weekend. How adorable is the tie onesie I made for my friend's son. Can't wait to see him in it!

Much of my inspiration came from www.makeit-loveit.com. I still have use of a sewing machine for another couple of days. We'll see what other projects I can come up with. Enjoy.

25 things about me

I never caught on to the facebook craze of giving 25 facts about yourself. Today, for some reason I decided to do so.

1. I love that I am from Indiana. I miss cornfields, Colts, and my family.

2. I have been to 43 of the 50 states and have a goal of making it to all 50 before I'm 50 (Alaska and Hawaii are in there- that takes awhile).

3. My lifelong dream is to be a published author. I'm trying to blog more to help me get started.

4. I love watching Gilmore Girls and most nights I fall asleep to it. I start with season 1 and work my way through.

5. We'll be friends forever if you spend a day with me on a Gilmore Girls theme marathon. I've done the wedding episodes, Thanksgiving episodes, and birthday episodes. What other marathon themes can you come up with?

6. I've never kayaked, but after my canoe trip in Arkansas I officially want to become a kayaker.

7. I have intermittent spurts when I decide to be a distance runner. They don't last long. I'm trying again and have a half marathon scheduled on October 23rd. (I can always walk it, right?)

8. When asked what my favorite move is I almost always reply Rudy. I truly love Rudy, but the movie I can quote the most is Empire Records. That's my favorite guilty pleasure movie.

9. The best book I've read in the past year is Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.

10. The book I had to read in seminary that changed my perspective on God is Grace Awakening by Chuck Swindoll.

11. I love crafting. I crochet. I scrapbook. Soon I will use Modge Podge. I have even been known to craft while watching football.

12. I'm a huge Indianapolis Colts fan. I have autographs from Peyton Manning and Marcus Pollard. I'm more proud of the Marcus Pollard.

13. Little in life makes me happier than my 2 nieces and my nephew. They can always make me smile.

14. I love watching families in action.

15. I really truly enjoy hanging out with your kids.

16. Upon recommendation from Cynthia Thomas I spent Friday night watching The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters and I don't regret it one bit. I now want to own the documentary.

17. I'm probably one of the most loyal people you'll ever meet.

18. I come across as a jokester and light hearted. Underneath I'm super sensitive.

19. My perfect night involves hanging out with great friends.

22. I love being on a boat in the water.

23. I spent many a family vacation in Hilton Head and can't wait to go back.

24. I hardly ever wear make up, but when I need to I can apply it as well as any makeup counter. Plus I wax my own eyebrows.

25. My mom is pretty much my best friend. We talk almost everyday and I don't know what I would do without her in life.

26. My dad is super awesome. I love going on vacation with him. He's a big prankster and loves to tickle me by poking me in the side.

27. My folks have an amazing marriage and have been such great examples for me.

28. My sister in law has more strength than I can imagine to raise 3 kids as a military wife.

29. My big brother is my hero. I am so proud of the way he serves our country and how much he sacrifices.

30. I love my family and when you get me thinking about them 25 things turn into 30. I would not be me without them in my life.

Nest Needed for Crafty Corner

Maybe it's the fact that I haven't had an actual home for a while, but I have entered into a nesting phase in my life. I want to decorate, cook, and craft. Hopefully I'll have a place to call home soon and be able to create to my heart's content. I'll need to invest in a sewing machine so I can make things like this.





Then I can finally start quilting like I really want to. Then I might have to invest in Accuquilt go I can quickly cut fabric to make super cute quilts and other projects. Yes please.

P.S. I totally forgot something for my wish list. I'm finally ready for some TOMS.

Size 9.5

Size 10 in the wedges

Favorite things- Ultimate edition

Just when I thought my wish list was complete I remembered my desire to own Boy Meets World on DVD. I had seen it a few years ago, then they stopped making it. I could find it for over $50 a season which is a little out of my price range. Today I went on amazon.com and discovered that Seasons 1-3 will go on sale again on September 7, 2010. My life (or at least my dvd collection) will soon be complete.

These are a few of my favorite things. 2010 edition

These are a few of my favorite things... (I don't own them yet, but I sure would love to).

iPad. Every time I travel I want one of these a little more.

Not going to lie. I really want an iPhone 4.

I can't decide between these two

fabulous necklaces from Make

Pie not War.

I love, love, love this bedding from Anthropologie.

Now that I have mentioned stuff I will let you know that what I love most is quality time or words of encouragement. If you really want to make me feel special set a time to hang with me or drop me a note letting me know you appreciate me. Those two things will always be my favorite things.

Catch and Release Friendship

I am currently reading same kind of different As me for the second time. The first time I read it I flew through it reading it in one day. I loved it and its story resonated in my heart. The second read comes about a year later and have been slower. This time it is truly piercing my heart. It breaks at the story and the editing. It's outstanding. If you haven't read it you should. Start right now. I mean it.
About midway through the book Denver uses the phrase "catch and release friendship." Tears poured down my face as conviction went straight through my heart. I am by no means an expert in friendship. Most of the time I wonder how worth it friendships really are. I know I cannot survive without community and am grateful for those in my life who don't let me live without it, but most of my relationships start out as "catch and release." You see, I love befriending people who are new or in transition I just don't love maintaining those friendships. I plug them in, find them friends, get them connected, then I'm done. I'm out. I move on.
I was deeply hurt in friendships as a child. It seemed as though everyone walked out on me. I learned young that everyone leaves. As an adult I try not to get attached to friendships. I allow them to run their course and then release. I don't release people back into their old environment I make sure they are in a new and better one, but I release none the less. It seems the people who are still my friends are the ones who refuse to be released. Thank you for being that to me and for helping me to live my life in community. I know I cannot exist alone and cherish your love and friendship.
Lord, help me not to see friendships as "catch and release." Help me to be "a real friend. Forever."

I'm a fan of the Colts, but I'm devoted to Jesus

I am a huge fan of the Colts. This is a common knowledge fact about my life. I love that people think of me when they see something Colts related. I get texts and pictures from random locations when people hear about the Colts or see Colts paraphernalia. People have even started supporting the Colts just because of my passion for the team. Friendships have been formed and deepened around my passion for the Colts.

Tonight I got many condolence emails, text messages, and facebook posts. It made me realize exactly how much I'm identified as a Colts fan. While it's great to be known as a Colts fan I hope that even more I'm know as a fan of Jesus. I'm not going to lie, it's a little bit convicting. It's easy to be identified with a team because I can wear my Colts jersey, necklace, socks, and shoes. It's harder to show your devotion without outward appearances. I'd love to wear a Jesus robe and rock some Jesus sandals, but that doesn't really work. My horseshoe necklace shows I'm a Colts fan, but when people see my cross it looks like simple decoration.

While I'm sure many people in my life will forever remember me as the Colts fan I am, I hope I will be remembered even more as being devoted to Jesus. He is my everything and my all. I hope I can love like He loves and live like He lived. I'm a fan of the Colts, but my whole life is devoted to Jesus.

How He loves us

Sunday at church Neil ended his message by having the worship team sing "How He Loves" by David Crowder Band. It's a great song and I have been singing it all week. As I was listening and singing one line in the song was particularly troubling to me. It says "And we are His portion and He is our prize." I read that and get upset. How could I be His portion? He is my portion. He is my future, my all. How could I be that for Him. He is enough for me. He is all I need. There was something about the idea of me being His portion that seemed so wrong to me.

I decided to do some research ready to write David Crowder and inform him of his theological inaccuracies. I went to Bible.org and entered "we are His portion" ready to be proven right. The searched returned Deuteronomy 32:9. "For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance." Wait. What? "The LORD'S portion is His people." How could that be?

Context is everything. Read around it. Surely you can still prove you are right. This verse comes at the end of Deuteronomy. The end of the second telling of the law. The end of the wilderness. The final words of Moses. This passage actually comes in the Song of Moses.

"One Old Testament scholar called the Song of Moses "one of the most impressive religious poems in the entire Old Testament." It contrasts the faithfulness and loyal love of God with the unfaithfulness and perversity of His people" (soniclight.org)

Verse 8 describes the LORD giving the nations their inheritance. He has given His people their portion. He has trusted them to care for what He has given them. "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel." (Deut. 32:8)

Then Moses goes on to describe us as The Lord's portion. We are His portion: His share, His part, His territory, His own possession, His allotment. We are His inheritance.
I am humbled. When I think of the Lord as my portion I think of Him as my hope, my future, my all. He is everything to me and all I could ever need. The idea that I could be anything like that to Him is overwhelming to me. Me- the Lord's inheritance? No.

Moses follows on in his song to describe how the Lord cared for Jacob. "In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye," (Deut. 32:10). Those are the tender words of how you would care for your inheritance. The rest of the song continues to describe how the Lord cared and protected His portion.

I know that God loves me. I've known that for as long as I can remember. I suppose there is a part of me that knows that with my mind, but somehow looks at His love as an obligation. Something along the lines of "I love you. I just don't like you right now." You can love without longing. You can love without placing true value on the object. That's not how God loves.

Most days I don't feel too loveable. I see my selfishness, my insecurity, my sin. How could that mess valuable? Yet I am valued by the King of the Universe. So much so that I am His inheritance. I am valuable to Him. When something is of value you guard it, you care for it. How He has treasured the nation of Israel and how He has treasured me. Oh how He loves us.

I don't know if this will hit anyone else upside the head like it did me. I encourage you to read through Deuteronomy 32 and think of how much you are loved by the Lord almighty. The way He loved and cared for Israel is the way He loves and cares for you. "What God has done in the past is a model and a promise for what He is doing and for what He will do in the future" (Dr. Allman).

He loves us, oh how He loves us.

He loves me, oh how He loves me.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJyW55AXJAk