Driving for the victory
• Oct. 6, 2008 - What's Up With The Quilts?
Good Morning!
For those who are here for the quilts, here is what is up. After much prayer and discussion, currently, Patchwork Quilts will be available for sale through Blessed Baby Boutique in Farmington, Maine. They will actually be available to see, touch, and purchase at the shop, not online as we'd previously mentioned.
You can see what is available for sale at our photobucket site as well as seeing previous quilts. I have not had the time to post them here yet, but hope to do that in the future.
I will also be contacting galleries and shops in our new area, to see about the possibility of quilts being available through them.
I've gone from a work space that was 9' x 12' to a section of my dining area that is about 3' x 4 '. Needless to say, everything is a little chaotic. While I'm planning new quilts, there is no room to work yet. I have a master organizer (thanks Mom) coming this weekend to help whip things into place.
Hoping to have everything back up and going in short order.
Blessings, MaggieRaye |
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• Oct. 6, 2008 - In and ... "settled" ???
Posted By MaggieRaye
Good Morning!
I figured for my regular readers I should update you. We're into our new place, praying it is only temporary.
I'm suffering from severe pride issues as of late - so you can imagine amidst the boxes and chaos of moving and having to have and ask for so much help - it just isn't pretty. I miss my independence so much!!!! I can only now begin to imagine how our elderly feel when they are taken out of their life long homes and placed into facilities. Ugh!!!!
Also, I hate it when we've worked so hard to play by the rules and those around us are so obviously, are NOT! I'm praying for huge, and unimaginable blessings on this one.
We have much to be grateful for and yet the things that loom large in my site are the things I'm struggling with and through, especially with and for MattMann. Lizbeth has moved so many times, that she seems to be taking it all in stride.
On a very positive note, I think we've found the church we'll be attending. We've visited it several times, but both of the kids are excited about Sunday School and the worship service is family integrated and it's a well established church with heirarchy and accountability.
We miss our friends so much! We miss the space of our big house and yard! At the same time, there is no doubt in my mind that we are where the Lord would have us to be for this season in our lives. We are very close to many members of our extended family for the first time in many, many years. The walk from our place to the little store, library and post office, is just amazing. The kids already have their library cards - that was a first priority.
We're still amidst boxes! But we're back to doing our school work and I'm hoping next week to get back to work quilting. I'll be posting more about that in the next post.
Check in, leave a comment, and let me know how things are with you.
Blessings, MaggieRaye |
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• Sep. 18, 2008 - Hand Me Down Fundraiser
• Sep. 18, 2008 - Update on Quilts and etc.
I'm online tonight, uploading some more pix into Photobucket. You may want to stop by later and check out the new albums I'm adding. One is of past quilts. The other is of lap robes I've done this past year for our church's Ladies Aid group. These quilts are used in the state chaplaincy ministry, so they go to nursing homes and hospitals.
Our move progresses forward and I'm way calmer and less tweaked than when I last posted. God's hand seems so clearly to be guiding this move, in such amazing ways that I can not even begin to share here.
Quilts, yes, I know some of you have been waiting for the official word of what is available for sale. For now we've hit a small bump in the road with our co-op and since it's most important that we take care of our members, website stuff needs to wait. They will be available through Blessed Baby Boutique. However, if you just can't wait that long, please let me know. We can work something out privately, and the co-op can still benefit.
The quilts for sale are the ones in the first album on photobucket - except for the one with baby LizBeth on it - that's now officially a family heirloom. I'm going to try to put those photos into a specific album marked so that you'll know they are the quilts for sale.
However, as always, I'm running out of time, but not things to do, so I don't know how far I'll get tonight.
One final note, the Lord's hand clearly seems to be working in the area of quilts also - through Blessed Baby, He has brought another WAHM into my life, who does clothing consignment as a fundraiser for local schools in her area, the clothes that she can't sell are very likely going to end up in -- yes, quilts.
I will try to get her information up here tomorrow so you can all go by and check out her awesome website, maybe do some early Christmas shopping, you know it's never too early to start.
Praying for the Lord's blessings on your day,
MaggieRaye |
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• Sep. 12, 2008 - Dark Cloudy Days
Moving is not fun! Just incase you've never moved or if it's been a really long time, let me assure you it is not fun. I don't care how much of an adventure you try to turn it into for the kids. At the end of the day, when your normally tidy house is in disarray amidst half packed boxes and there is barely a path from the bedroom to the bathroom, it is not fun!
I've had several dark days, inspite of the sunshine. Those clouds that just hang over you, no matter what you do to lift them. There are a lot of reasons, and thanks to praying friends, the dark clouds are lifing.
This is a great move for my family. There is no doubt in my mind - when I can think out from under the clouds - that the Lord's hand is guiding this move, each step of the way. We'll be closer to family. This is a bonus as it has been years (13) since I've lived close to my extended family. We get a chance to start fresh after three very difficult years. No one knows are past, and so there is no one to be unforgiving and hold it against us. It will be a fresh start for all. We have several church choices - and interestingly, my children are leaning toward the more conservative option, as their preference. The kids always amaze me.
MattMann is settling in, after many days of tears of leaving the only home he's ever really known. I'm grateful for praying friends, as I believe this has made all the difference. We're even taking part of his dirt pile with us. The dirt pile, is more of a pit, that he's dug in the back yard, but he spends hours out in it digging, playing with his trucks, just being a boy.
LizBeth is thrilled to be around "babies" ranging in age from 4 years down to 2 weeks in age.
Today, was one of the hardest good-byes. A young mom, that I've known for six years, since before she was a mom, when she was a college student. She signed my quilts ( I made myself a signature/going away quilt for all our homeschooling friends to sign). She told me I'd been the spice in her life during our friendship. That sometimes I was the salt. It was sometimes bitter and hard to take, and other times I was the sugar, that sweetened things, but that regardless, she'd grown, and she was thankful.
Don't know about you, but I was ready to cry.
How do you answer that? What do you say? I thanked God, because it means, even when I can't see it and don't feel it, He is using me for the Titus 2 role that I feel so called to.
I will miss her and I pray that we will be able to maintain our friendship, even through the distance. Even though we've had some really rough and rocky roads, and there are times, I'm not sure we'd have considered the other one to have been a friend, the fact of the matter is, that really, it's more than a friendship, she is truly a sister in Christ, and I believe that is why things are the way they are for us now, in spite of everything.
And so, the official count down has begun. We have 17 days remaining in our big house in the mountains, before we move to our apartment on the coast. 17 days, to pack, and cry and say good-byes, and cry, and return library books, and cry (I thought the librarian was going to cry yesterday, when we went in for our last real visit) , and get in doctor's appointments, and incase I haven't mentioned it, I think we'll probably cry a little. We've lived in this house the longest I've live anywhere in my adult life or for that matter, anywhere since I was 11 years old, when my mother sold the house i grew up in and we moved from a small town to the city. I know it's a good move for us, I know the Lord has something special waiting, but it's so hard to let go of the familiar and say good-bye.
Fortunately, I don't have to say good-bye to any of you, you can just keep on reading, from where you are and there will possibly only be a little hiccup of a change - a few days where I won't be able to write - in things for us.
Praying His blessings on your day,
MaggieRaye |
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• Sep. 11, 2008 - Time to buy new shirts
Posted By MaggieRaye
You know it's time to buy new shirts when your son comes up behind you and says, "Mom, you need to fix your shirt, you look like a lady construction worker."
Yikes!
Here is the story behind it. I've lost a fair amount of weight in the last year, and someone gave me a bunch of awesome clothes. I was also given several pair of jeans. I haven't worn jeans in a long time. This has been really awesome as we're packing and the chilly fall weather has descended much too quickly over New England. I'm happy to have jeans to pull on. However, the jeans and shirts came from too different families, and the shirts are great to wear with skirts, but not with jeans. They are just not long enough.
Have a little guy who is also chunky, we've spent much time working with him to avoid the exposure of "the plumbers crack" and having a teen girl we've worked very hard to be modestly but not frumpily covered.
You know that your children have learned the lessons when they start pointing out the flaws in your clothing. My son is not the only one. LizBeth busted me for an "inappropriate" shirt on Sunday. I really hadn't noticed, and thought it looked great.
Ouch! So right after we move and get settled - say just in time for - oh, Christmas maybe, I think I'm going to need to go shopping for a few new, and appropriately fitted items. I'm thing MuMu's might be good - of course, the prints might offend my fashion conscious teen, but what can you do?
Praying your having a blessed day,
MaggieRaye |
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• Sep. 5, 2008 - Not for the Serious Minded Reader
Okay, you were warned in the Title, this is not for the serious reader. And yet, there is an element of seriousness about it.
If you've seen the movie, The Wedding Planner, you'll understand that the new favorite line around our house is, "You saved. . . . my shoe." If you haven't seen it, you just won't appreciate the rest of the post in it's entirety.
My daughter is developing an addiction to shoes. Now, I really wouldn't mind, if they were practical shoes she was actually going to have many occasions to wear. But these shoes....
Today she bought 4 pair of evening/prom type shoes -- remember please here, we live in rural (read the woods or hicksville) New England. We need things like LL Bean Boots 3/4 of the year, just to be practical. The dressiest place we go is church, and Bean Boots are standard issue for this about 6 months out of the year, as well. No real need for one pair of cute little black strappies, (which she already owned) never mind four more pair of these types of shoes.
Oh, her behalf, at least she did buy them to match the three formal dresses she has in her closet, which she really has no occasion to wear either, but that is fodder for another post.
These are shoes that city girls wear to proms, evening out for dinner in a nice restaurant, office parties. Serious, fancy shoes.
Now, the serious side of this is that LizBeth's aunt is feeding this habit, by working for Dyeables. The shoe warehouse is seriously less than a block away from our house. There are no retail stores near us that carry these shoes, but we have access to them. This is not good for someone with my daughters "condition". But on the upside Scripture does teach that we should, "Train up a child. . " and to be good stewards, so I will tell you that retail, todays purchases would have cost . . .
are you sitting down, cause this is really kinda. . . well, mind blowing really.
$392.85 not including sales tax or the hand bag that her aunt bought for her that retails for $33.99 - who actually spends that much on something that small????
Okay, the catch is that it was a warehouse sale so LizBeth spend a grand total of $2. Yes, that is right. I've trained her up well. If she must buy those ridiculously impractical shoe wanna-be's, at least she got her money's worth (after all she saved $390.85, which she didn't have to begin with, but hey, it's a nice thought, right) -- well, maybe... I'm still not sure that they were actually worth $2, but I know that they were definitely not worth $392.85.
Champaign taste and a beer pocketbook, yup it's genetic. I have grand taste -- though not in shoes, but I think this even tops my wildest of wild moments.
And most of all, it's just fun to tease her about in front of the whole world -- or at least the small corner of it that stops by here.
Oh, and now, there are four more boxes to pack and move, way to go, LizBeth, we're suppose to be paring down not adding stuff to our personal belonging.!
Hope you enjoyed this little side trail from our normal seriousness.
Blessings amidst the silliness,
MaggieRaye |
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• Sep. 3, 2008 - Responsibility - Part III
I warned you! This is my soap box, and it's been a long time since I've stood on it -- well unti recently. However, with all the commotion of packing, having not found exactly where I want to pack this, I keep tripping over it, and taking the opportunity to stand upon it.
This mornings little vent is about a dual responsibility, shared by us (single homeschooling moms) and the church.
Matthew 6:24 says, "No man can serve to masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and espise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
While I know this largely speaks to serving the world and God or money and God, I believe the principle can also be applied to the welfare system. Once we've been pushed into it, and become dependent upon it, there is little room to serve God, while jumping through the bureaucratic hoops that are required of us.
So where is our responsibility, to stand firm, for the Lord and to resist being forced into this ungodly alliance with the worlds government. To resist being taken out of our homes and away from our children -- because this is the first thing the welfare system does, as soon as it can possibly get away with it. Our responsibility is, and though this sounds easy, it is not, to live and walk by faith and not by sight. (That was for me more than all of you, this morning.)
I'm reaching another crossroad in life, not just with our impending move, but also with my faith. I've walked and lived by faith before, sometimes boldly. Right now, I'm not sure I have enough faith to step out the way I need to and live it. For so long we've been referred back to the welfare system, over and over. We've continually been encouraged to go to the State first, and that the church would fill in any gaps still left. I know in my heart this is wrong, but I've been too sick to fight back. I've been too tired to fight back. Now, I'm feeling as if the Lord would really have me take the stand again, for Him and Him alone, trusting in His provision, totally and completely. As you think of me, keep this in prayer. Also, ask the Lord if you are where He would have you to be.
Now, I said there was dual responsibility here, so what is the church's responsibility in this? I believe their responsibility is to step up to the plate, and be the first to help all in need (whether single mom's or others). Not last as a gap filler, but first. The cry for help should be answered by God's people not the world. Needs should be met from within the body not from without.
Throughout the scripture God clearly shows that those who oppress the poor, the needy, the widow and the fatherless will be judged, scourged, that the Lord will not let them go unpunished. For my own part, this makes me sad. I would not wish this on anyone, even those who've hindered me.
So that's it for now. Maybe today I'll find a place to pack this soap box away, until after we move. Or maybe the Lord will speak to my heart again, and I will need to step upon it.
Blessings as Always,
MaggieRaye |
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• Sep. 1, 2008 - This Should Make Things Easier
For those who want to go by Photobucket and have a look at currently available quilts, here is the direct URL:
www.photobucket.com/patchworkcottage
That should take you directly there. I'm hoping to add some other albums this week. One of previously sold quilts (maybe), one of quilts I've made as gifts and of course the ones I've done for the nursing home ministry. We'll see what time allows for.
In terms of packing. I have two completely empty storage closets, and three empty cupboards in the kitchen. Half my sewing room is packed - the other half must remain functional until the last possible moment, as must the computer/office space.
Here's hoping you're having a blessed Labor Day.
MaggieRaye |
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• Aug. 31, 2008 - Responsibility - Part II
I recently posted on Responsibility - my favorite soapbox. Shortly afterwards I read the following devotional and realized this needed to be a part of this soapbox. No matter how little we have, there will always be someone who has less. You may encounter someone today who has no smile, certainly you will have one to share.
So single moms, when you feel that the church is not keeping up with their responsibility, do a personal self-check and make sure you're keeping up with yours.
In addition to gleaning, I believe we are responsible to give, as we are able.
Here is the devotional:
God's Calling Journal, August 30, p. 253
"Give abundantly. Feel that you are rich. Have no mean thought in your heart. Of Love, of thought, of all you have, give, give, give. You are followers of the World's Greatest Giver. Give of time, of personal ease and comfort, of rest, of fame, of healing, of power, of sympathy, of all these and many more. Learn this lesson, and you will become a great power to help others and to do mighty things."
Luke 6:38
"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bossom."
So, are you gleaning? Are you giving?
I figured if I believed strictly in giving 10% of my money for tithe, I would have little to give. But if I give 10% of my time and talent, too, well, then there is something to share. I'm hoping this week (yah! I know, I'm overly optimistic at this point) to put on Photobucket some of the quilts I've done for our Chaplaincy Ministry.
I figured out this morning 10% of my day is 2.4 hours, that is the minimum I need to give back to the Lord. 10% of my work week is 3 - 4 hours, that is the minimum I need to work for the Lord or for my work to count for the Lord. Then there is 10% of my income, which is not much, but that also is the minimum that I need to give back.
Let me just put a side note here, in light of recent life experiences, I do NOT believe that the 10% you give back to the Lord MUST be done through your church. The Lord may lead you and your family to tithe of your time, talent and treasure in some other way. Supporting your local church is as important as them supporting you. However, when the church is not supporting those with needs, because they are busy building buildings or adding programs, I feel a personal direction to give to those where I know there is a real life sustaining need first.
So are you gleaning? Are you giving? Are you upholding your end of the responsibility? I am trying to.
May the Lord bless your Lord's day,
MaggieRaye |
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