ByGrace

A couple of weeks ago, I found a treasure trove of DMC embroidery floss at the thrift store. I snatched it right up, but when I got home I realized I didn't have anywhere to store my sudden wealth of floss. I had found a storage box with the bunch of floss I bought, and I had one already at home, but I quickly realized I was going to need about 4 boxes to store all this floss. I also have a new floss goal: at least one skein of each color floss that DMC makes! Anyway, storing all that floss in boxes is no problem, but when I'm working on a project (like Keeping Room ), I don't want to cart 4 boxes of floss around the house and have to constantly open different boxes to find the floss I need. And there was no way I could - or would - take all that floss with me on a trip, which is one of my favourite times to work on cross stitch projects! So I began a search online for a pattern to make an organizer that would hold floss, scissors, needles, hoop, pattern, and the actu...

This blog entry contains affiliate links . I've just discovered author Dan Walsh . I've read two of his books now, and this one was fantastic! In fact, right now it's one of my favourite books I've ever read. He has written three suspense novels (this is one of them), and several inspirational novels, as well as a series of books with Gary Smalley. I have a couple more of his books on my list to read soon! The Discovery: A Novel  is the story of aspiring author Michael Warner. His grandfather, famous and prolific author Gerard Warner, has recently passed away, leaving millions of dollars to his beloved family and his home in Charleston's richest neighbourhood to Michael. As Michael prepares to finally write his first novel, he discovers in his grandfather's study an unpublished manuscript, obviously intended for Michael to find. As he begins reading this yellowed manuscript, Michael realizes that this story is different than any of his grandfather'...

Wes and I have been attending Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, CA, this week. In my absence, I'm re-posting some past entries. I hope this one will be a blessing to you, as you remember that God knows your name . . .  From April 28, 2010: I recently read the story of an elderly nurse standing behind the window of the newborn nursery where she worked. Outside the window were three young fathers nervously peering through the glass to identify their newborn babies. With the babies all wrapped up in their soft blankets, it was hard to tell which baby belonged to which father. The nurse put on her glasses and began to examine the tiny bracelet on each baby's arm, then looking at the bracelet on each father's arm, carefully matching each baby's name to its father's name. As she positively identified each baby, she opened the door and gave each father his baby and watched his face light up with delight. As she turned away to her o...

Wes and I are attending Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, CA, this week. In my absence, I'm re-posting some past entries. I hope you'll enjoy this one, in which I highlight the always-present differences between my husband and me.  From June 12, 2009: There's a huge difference between men and women, in case you didn't already know that. Wes and I are always finding those differences, many times at inopportune moments. The latest was Monday night, just as our guests were arriving for Andrew's party. I had made punch, a punch that requires orange sherbet to be added at the last moment, so that there are pretty little creamy orange balls of sherbet floating on top of the punch. But I had forgotten to take the sherbet out a few minutes ahead of time to soften, so it was still hard. I struggled with it for a couple of minutes, and then my honey came to my rescue. Would I like him to help? Sure! He can whip anything into shape! Wes ...

Wes and I are attending Spiritual Leadership Conference in Lancaster, CA, this week, so I'm reposting some blog entries that are favorites of mine. This one concerns helping our children turn out well. This is an ongoing discussion for most of us parents, and I had someone just a couple of weeks ago ask how we raised our children to ensure they would do well. As you'll see in this post, there are no guarantees, but I hope this brings you some encouragement as you raise your children! And if they're already grown, these are some good things to remember. From July 24, 2008: In our Thursday night Bible studies, we've been going through the book of Genesis. We've seen the best and the worst among the people God called His own. One of our men mentioned tonight that he is really enjoying this study because it makes the Bible characters that we always thought of as saints (figuratively speaking) become human to us. Which they were. Tonight we studied chapter 3...

Believe God's word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences . Your Rock is Christ , and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows , but your sea .   --Samuel Rutherford-- Remember that your feelings are not trustworthy. They will come and go.  God's Word stands sure!  Build your life on the Solid Rock of Jesus!    photo credit: lapidim via photopin cc

  I finished reading The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery over the weekend. This is one of Montgomery's only books with an adult heroine intended for adult readers. It's the story of Valancy Stirling, 29 years old and still living under the control of her domineering mother and prying aunt. She's never been in love and is hopeless that she ever will be. She lives in fear of offending her mother by breaking one of the overbearing rules of "the clan," her small-town extended family full of quirky characters. Valancy's life is so dreary that her only solace is in reading nature books by her favorite author, John Foster, and dreaming of life in her imaginary Blue Castle, where life is perfect, her home is beautiful, and her handsome prince awaits. The story begins on the morning of Valancy's 29th birthday, as she realizes she probably will never marry and will be trapped in her miserable life forever. Then she visits the doctor and receives the news that s...

  Christmas Credo Let us keep Christmas softly ~ Apart from crowds and noise and vain display; Let us hang garlands fresh of prayer and praise, All love-entwined, in glad array, In the deep chambers of the heart, where He, The Holy Child alone may see And gladdened be. Let us in silence wait Before His altars 'til we see the Face Of the Most High ~ That we may worship truly in the secret place. He will give peace and joy; and as we sing Our carols, let us give ourselves an offering Of love to Him, our Saviour-King. Then let us seek the lonely and the sad, And make them glad  That Christ is born this day, That He in yielded lives holds sway. So shall we keep the Day of Days all softly and know well His coming to our hearts anew to dwell: Our glorious Lord, Emanuel, Emanuel! ~~ Lillian Imhof Robinson ~~ Day 24 Scripture: " And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said...

   "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:13,14 photo credit: Infomastern via photopin cc

Welcome to another week of Worth the Read ! We're getting close to the end of the year, and most of us are setting goals and making plans for 2014. Today I'm offering some links to focus on preparing for the New Year . . . 5 Accountability Sources To Help You Reach Your Goals   Accountability is not mandatory to reach your goals, but it sure does help when you know someone will be checking up on you!   10 Practical Ways to Stay Focused For the Coming Year   Stay focused this year instead of failing within the first three months. 5 Ways To Stop Wasting Time Surfing the Web   Does anyone else get sucked in like I do? I sit down to check "just one thing" and look up an hour later. Here are ways to learn balance in using your online time. Ten Tips For the Next Ten Days   Not ready for the new year quite yet? Here are ten tips for enjoying Christmas week Bonus: O Holy Night Free Chalkboard Printables   Beautiful printables based on one of my favor...

  I'm joining Susanne at Living To Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five . Each week, we share five blessings we've enjoyed during the past week.Hop over and take a look at others' blessings, then share some of your own! 1.Yet another Christmas party , this one for my Patch the Pirate Club students. We didn't have a lesson, practice a song, or listen to a story, but we had treats, games, and a craft. And now we have a break! We're taking the next two weeks off from Patch Club - and this teacher is grateful! 2. A Christmas quilt. I found this quilt at the thrift store last spring. I love the colors in it (they match my craft room ), so I've been using it on the bed in there until this week, when I realized it would look great hanging over the back of the love seat in our living room. I'm really enjoying seeing it all through the day as I work around the house. 3. Pain relievers . A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with rotator...

I loved this poem when I first read it, because it echoes a belief that I hold dearer the older I get: the joys of life - the jewels, if you will - are the little, everyday things that make up each day, if we will just see them. Take time to see life's jewels this Christmas! Jewels The jewels of life are not rare stones To be cherished and hidden away; They are not the diamonds deep in the earth, For which men labor each day, They're the little things we seldom note, That we carelessly pass by . . . The song of the birds that herald the dawn, The stars in the midnight sky. They're the fragments of a robin's egg That we find in the emerald grass, The crystal of the dewdrops That vanish when morn is past; They're the silver of the moonbeams, Too fragile for hand to hold,  Yet all of these jewels are there to see,  If we only pause to behold. They're the perfume of the flowers That rises like incense above, The tender kiss of a little chi...

My friend Barbara of Stray Thoughts wrote a new Christmas meme (pronounced "meem" to rhyme with "cream") last week. What's a meme, you ask? In bloggy terms, it's a list of questions about a topic which one blogger asks on her blog, and other bloggers copy and answer on their blogs. I've answered a wedding meme , a Thanksgiving meme , a kitchen meme (when we lived in North Vancouver), a Meet My Bible meme, an Eight Questions meme , and another Christmas meme , among quite a few others. I enjoy doing them, and I enjoy reading them on others' blogs, so if you choose to do this one, let me know and I'll come read it! Just be sure to give the credit to Barbara , ok?! Photo from Stray Thoughts What is your favorite Christmas song?   My favorite Christmas hymn is O Holy Night; my favorite secular song ( since I'm not a kid anymore !) is All I Want For Christmas Is You, the older version. Favorite Christmas special/movie? I love A Charl...

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14 photo credit: Waiting For The Word via photopin cc

  This has been a good week! We got to put our feet up a little after two parties and being out of the house every night last week. Yay! Thursday evening, Wes and I got coffee and rode around for about an hour looking at Christmas lights in a different area of town than we went during our church Christmas party. I love doing that - he knows how to make me happy! ;) Also on Thursday night, Beth went to the college Christmas banquet. Here she is with her date, Caleb. And, of course, being goofy . . .   Now for this week's links worth reading . . . 20 Tips For Personal Devotions in the Digital Age Great advice here, especially with a new year about to begin. I think I found this link at Stray Thoughts . Thanks, Barbara! The Rewards of Living An Organized Life by Laura at I'm An Organizing Junkie   Another good article for a new year. I should read this every day. Making the Most of Christmas: 10 Ways to Enjoy an Effective Christmas Season   ...

  I shared some of my fondest Christmas memories in a previous December Daily post. When I was a child, Christmas was a thrilling time to me, just bursting with anticipation and excitement! And part of the excitement was listening to Christmas music. My uncle had given me his old record player (which I wish I still had!), and somewhere along the way I got the Gene Autry Christmas album Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer . Oh, my! I was in heaven when Christmas rolled around that year! Not only did I have my own record player, I had my very own Christmas record to play! My favorite song from that record was Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)  - because I loved Santa Claus! I would listen to that song and just imagine Santa coming "right down Santa Claus Lane." I actually believed in Santa Claus longer than most kids! Here are the lyrics to Here Comes Santa Claus (which I find slightly scandalous now!) . . . Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa ...

Some Pieces of Wood Some pieces of wood our Master held, And His form was of a child. My Lord! Some pieces of wood our Master held, And His hands with slivers filled. My God! Some pieces of wood our Master held, With arms nailed firm and fast. My King! A Child! A Man! A Crucified King! It all began at Bethlehem when angels came to sing. My Lord! My God! My Living King! Some pieces of wood did hold! Ole Winter Day 11 Scripture: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Micah 5:2 photo credit: 50 Prime via photopin cc

Have you tried Starbucks' Cranberry Bliss Bars ??? They are heavenly! A couple of years ago, I found a recipe to make these bars - and so I did. And they're even better homemade!!! It's become my little tradition to take these to our church Christmas party. Cranberry Bliss Bars Recipe from Food.com Cake 1 cup butter, softened 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed 3 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla or 1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup diced dried cranberries 6 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks Frosting 4 ounces cream cheese, softened 3 cups powdered sugar 4 teaspoons lemon juice or 2 teaspoons orange extract 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/4 cup diced dried cranberries Drizzled Icing 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon milk 2 teaspoons vegetable shortening orange zest, garnish (optional) Directions : Preh...

"Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." ~~ Luke 1:34, 35 ~~ photo credit: Will Humes via photopin cc

  Worth the Read is a feature I want to bring back to the blog - I just have to remember to collect articles that I read through the week! Here's this week's collection of links I feel are Worth the Read: When You Feel Forsaken - Many people feel forsaken at Christmas. This article by Alicia Reagan can be an encouragement to find your security in Jesus. For some reason, I feel that the Lord would have me share this one today. The Key to Contentment - At this season that seems to feed discontentment, Terrie Chappell gives us one of the keys to being content in an excerpt from her book It's a Wonderful Life . Choosing Joy - Many of our problems are caused by the choices we make. In this article, Jenny Navarette tells us how to choose joy. The Clock is Ticking Down - Pastor Jack Trieber of North Valley Baptist Church encourages us to prepare for the new year in four of the most important areas of our lives. The Stewarding Life Planner - This is a 2014 dai...