But it it still very unreal that this child of mine is even old enough to go to college. It's very unreal that Chris will be away from me more than he will be with me. It's very unreal that he will have to experience hurt without me, fear without me, and new beginnings all without me by his side. This is where I would absolutely crumble without the knowledge that my God will be his comfort, my God will be his strength, and my God will walk alongside him. It's a blatant reminder of the reality I know already- that Chris isn't mine. He is God's. And although Scott and I have the absolute privilege to call him our son and raise Chris to know God, it is our loving Father who will take Chris and lead him down this path of life. Because ultimately he is God's son. And I take much comfort in that... as he starts college classes today. Praying for you and missing you so much Chris!

Words that inspire me today.

Days will come when you don't have the strength

And all you hear is you're not worth anything

Wondering if you ever could be loved

And if they truly saw your heart

They'd see too much

*

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful

*

Praying that you have the heart to fight

Cuz you are more than what is hurting you tonight

For all the lies you've held inside so long

But they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

*

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful

*

Before you ever took a breath

Long before the world began

Of all the wonders He possessed

There was one more precious

Of all the earth and skies above

You're the one He madly loves

Enough to die!

*

You're beautiful, You're beautiful

In His eyes You're beautiful!

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful!

You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His

You're beautiful!

You are made for so much more than all of this

You're beautiful!

You are treasured You are sacred You are His

*

by MercyMe

Countdown to Wantobe Quilter Campaign at Stashmanicure

"Hello friends and followers, I would love to welcome you

to a Wantobe Quilters Campaign over here. ( http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com)

 They are having quilting supplies to giveaway 5 x a week for 12 weeks. 

Supplies that will have you quilting

before you know it...From sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines...everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter. 

Even if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too...Tuesday and Thursday are days for us..

All you have to do is give me your name and phone number 

and email sew I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win

anything I can win something too. 

All you have to do is be my follower and a follower

over at Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure....

That is all! There are over 49 Sponsors involved.

I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you.

I love being a QUILTER! 

( p.s you will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with a blogger where you see this message)

Hurry on over to Tricia's blog,Hillcrest Home Prims.....she is having a SURPRISE giveaway and it sounds like it's going to be a good one!  She has to reach 400 followers before she has the giveaway and she is very close now.  Why not stop by and check out her lovely blog and enter to win!

iPad 2 giveaway

 I’m posting this to enter a contest offered by Brad’s Deals at I Am Bossy! I want to win the iPad 2! Enter to win here!

Eventide Update

I will not finish my quilt in time for Tuesday's show but that is OK. It's much more than meeting a deadline and more about the process.

When I decided to do the quilt a long, I didn't know all that life would throw my way:

- 3 weeks of being sick

-college trips, college trips, college trips

-sports practices

-a brain cramp with following the Ohio Star block directions. I have looked at the directions for 2 weeks, on and off, and they made no sense to me. Looked at them again yesterday and everything clicked. Not sure what the initial hang up was. Pretty simple to follow.

-nasty comment from a long armer that set me back

My progress:

-all material cut. Love my material!

-large quarter square triangles made

-half of the Ohio Star quarter square triangles made ( hope to have them all made by the end of the day and maybe a couple of Ohio square blocks finished!)

I think a realistic deadline for finishing my quilt will be the end of April. Tomorrow we have another college visit and my husband's office party. Sunday is church and a local quilt show. Wednesday we leave for a trip to Ohio to visit a Christian college out there and won't be back until Saturday.

Once the Ohio blocks are done, the quilt will go faster. I can already tell I am going to love it! I will post a picture when I am done. I can't wait to see everyone's quilt. The glimpses I have had, I love how different they look even though we are all using the same fabric.

Hurtful comment

Not sure what to think. I sent a lap quilt out to be quilted. The second time I have done that. Paying someone to quilt my quilt is a luxury that I can't really afford. Half price quilting sale sounded great. This quilter has quilted a quilt of mine before and found problems she didn't like though the quilt went on to win a blue ribbon at county fair. This second quilt i sent her, she sent me a note with 2 or 3 problems listed and then the hurtful comment, "I hope you can still use your quilt..." I have to say this one comment makes me want to stop quilting. I have made wallhanging for friends before but now wonder if they are horrible. My family likes them but this comment makes me think they are junk. If someone thought the quilt was worthless, would you take their money to quilt it?

Eventide

Finally I got all the cutting done for Eventide today. I am sorting all the pieces and plan to draw all the diagonal lines on the squares to make the quarter square triangles that are needed.

I am behind after not feeling well for three weeks. I just couldn't seem to get my energy back. I hope to be able to do a lot of sewing this week but we'll see. I have a couple of funerals to go to as well as running 3 teenagers around.

I am loving the fabric and the feel of the quilt just from doing the cutting. I hope to have another post for Tuesday. Time to get back to the sorting.

Sick

I had hoped to share with you about a surprise package I got in the mail last Saturday but I have been sick since last Sunday. I have had the cold, fever and achy bug that has been going around. Starting to feel a little bit normal again.

A Rush of Wings

ABOUT A RUSH OF WINGS
Though her panic is real, Noelle St. Claire is uncertain what danger she is fleeing. Fragmented images and slivers of memory have driven her to abandon her wealthy, sheltered life in New York for the hope of a haven—remote and safe.
Noelle's arrival at the Rocky Mountain horse ranch owned by Rick Spencer and his brother Morgan causes more than a little stir. Beautiful, vulnerable, yet strangely secretive, Noelle is an enigma the two contrasting brothers seek to unlock. But as their attentions breach the wall she hides behind, the past becomes a menacing threat from which Noelle can no longer hide.

A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzmann has been in my "to read" pile for a while now. Noelle St. Clair is a wealthy, yet sheltered young woman. Her memories are sharp fragments of the past that scare her into running away. Although, she has no idea what it is she is fleeing, she is frantic to stay away from the past. Noelle is confused and running away from something she is not even sure happened. The author does a fantastic job of telling a romantic story that keeps you in suspense until the very end.

I do highly recommend this book if you enjoy mystery and romance. This book has great twists and turns, just when you think you have it figured out and you know what is going to happen, hold on to your hat a twist happens and the story is turned upside down. It is a great page turner to the very end. She points her readers to Christ. I appreciated the fact that Heitzmann shows us the struggle that is in each of us as we seek to find God in all of our lives. All we have to do is turn back to God and find the strength that we need to get through each day. The characters seemed so real I felt like I was a fly on the wall. The author had a way of telling the story that made it interesting and yet so intriguing to the very end. I really had no idea how the book would turn out until the very last page.

Note: This book was originally published in 2003 and was re-published with a new cover in 2010.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House a division of Baker Publishing Group as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Amy Inspired

The main character in the story, Amy, is on the search for who the "real Amy" is. . Amy is an aspiring writer who has fallen back on teaching English due to her mounting rejections. She is looking for a man who she can fall in love with, and feels like the rejections are piling up there too. It seems as though life all around her is moving forward and she is stuck. The author wrote a lot about mature matters, and was rather obsessive about body parts, in my view. Not what I expect when I read Christian fiction. Unmarried, unrelated, young men and women living in the same apartment go against my beliefs.

My Thoughts: I really did not care for this book. It did not keep my interest; I had to make myself read it. It was written in first person, and just did not grab me. I really did not understand why this was considered Christian Fiction. There were several things that went against Christian beliefs and this was disappointing to me. In my opinion it could pass as Secular Fiction.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House a division of Baker Publishing Group as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Hatteras Girl

Hatteras Girl is centered on the Outer Banks of North Carolina around a single Korean-American girl who has two dreams. One is to be married and the other is to be the owner of The Bailey House with her best friend, Minnie. The Bailey's were a sweet elderly English couple who had run the bed and breakfast and had entertained Jackie and Minnie each day after school.

Will Jackie's dream come true and will she fall in love while it does? We all learn (along with Jackie) that even though things may seem to be the path God wants us to take, nothing happens without patience or happens exactly the way we think it should. Sometimes God has other plans for us and they will become revealed in God's time. I love a strong main character that isn't so perfect that I can't relate to her and who sheds little pieces of wisdom here and there as she learns. This was a fun light read that would be great to read on the beach. Sometimes you just need a fun read.

Bethany House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Least Among You dvd

The Least Among You is a movie that is inspired by a true story.
Arrested in the 1965 Watts riots, Richard Kelly must serve probation at an all-white seminary.

I enjoyed this movie of a young man trying to rise above circumstance, dealing with family and personal issues while trying to successfully get through his post-secondary experience in the 1960's. This story is an example of persistence through times of fear was inspiring. I enjoyed this well filmed movie inspired by a true story. I have watched this movie a number of times since receiving and it still doesn't feel too predictable. The Least Among You is filled with interesting characters that causes one to evaluate and understand how our society has changed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this DVD free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”