Okay - so I have bunch of stuff that needs to GO - and I'm really tired of seeing the OMG abbreviation everywhere [I try hard to make my mind read 'oh my goodness!] so am hoping that we might also come to think of it as 'Once a Month [old stuff] Giveaway! I plan to randomly draw a name from the comments each month and send that person a little bag of goodies that hopefully they can use [new to them and all, you know...] So March's OMG goes to Morning Dove - send me your address and I'll get some stuff in the mail to you!
THIS
[my favorite cat on his favorite car with a blanket of springtime pollen] is why I love THIS [sorry the photo isn't clear - but you get the idea!]
I’m hoping THIS is blackberry winter.With Easter just a couple of weeks away: redbuds blooming, daffodils fading away, and forsythias now green, SURELY spring has really sprung by now… It got a little frosty over the weekend so my garden was covered. Everything seems to be doing well – except for the one banana pepper causality caused by the torrent[s – multiple days!] of rain we got at the end of the week – it’s broken in half – and while I think it might survive, Craig has declared it sub-standard so it will be replaced. When I go for the substitute I’m also looking forward to picking up some squash [zucchini and yellow] plants, and maybe some egg plant and brussel sprout plants as well. Sure don’t want to plant those from seed – but! the lettuce is starting to come up; the carrots: well, nothing so far… We also did the winter yard clean-up this past weekend. We like to wait until spring to drive our little john deere around the yard and fill the wagon pulled behind with all the limbs and [yes] branches that have fallen from our trees during the winter. It takes several hours and multiple wagon fills to complete it all, but we do our best to get up everything that the mower can’t go over. We still have one LARGE limb hanging from a crook in a tree in the back – it needs to be sawed in half to get out – a little more work there, and besides, our cats are having SUCH FUN chasing the squirrels running up and down it. Ended the evening with a little fire in the fire pit to knock back the chill in the air. A wonderful way to end a very busy day – so hello spring!
Each week I will share a little from one chapter of the book
[for the ENTIRE reading, you'll need to have the book...] We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize. [Names will be drawn in the event of a tie.]
In the book Jill writes: - people who have traveled difficult roads we’ve yet to start; people who have struggled through treacherous territory with unwavering courage; people who show us that it’s possible to live through loss and emerge, thriving, on the other side of adversity. But is that what I’m looking for today? Nah. Right now I just want a mentor who can be nice and superficial and show me how to have some fun – fun that’s not limited to bingo. Although bingo can be quite lively and even rowdy with the right crowd on a Friday night. A Good Time Mentor is one who – no matter how old – somehow has a handle on the principles in this book…Granted, finding a person who lives as if they’re celebrating one wild party after another is difficult. Therefore I’m suggesting that we be on the lookout for women with maybe just one of the attitudes we’re looking for – get to know them, take them to lunch, ask them how they got so good at this fun thing. Surely you can think of a few of these people right now.
“Praise be to the Lord. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. “Ruth 4: 14 -15
Isn’t that all we want? To be not only consistently sustained, but also renewed? To reach the point where we have hope for the future and joy for the day? We can thank God for all kinds of women available to mentor us in these attitudes and to point the way to the party!
Try this: Start a search for older women who have a knack for finding the fun in any situation in life. Each time you find one with a great attitude of one kind or another, make an effort to get to know her. Take her to lunch; invite her into your life.
Scrap Prompt: Use the sketch provided to share how another woman has helped guide or direct your life - at any point during your life...
A few years ago I had the opportunity to complete this extraordinary scrapbook album designed by CathyZ and based on the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal. While I still haven't read the book, I love the concept of this album - a random sampling of those ordinary facts about your life [my life.] The homework involves keeping a list, A to Z, of random memories for several weeks and then gathering photos [or not] to support these memories. Love it. The album is really very simple [a la Cathy Z] and easy to put together with only two square photos per page and two to four 'definitions.' Have I said I love this album? And I want to share some of my life with you so I've committed to do just that in 2009 [keep in mind this was completed during the summer of 2007.] I'm going backwards and today I present: T
TOMATOES
My favorite food – in any form- salsa, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, in a salad with mozzarella, basil, and olive oil. But the best is warm off the vine with a little salt on each bite, eaten like an apple. Love a good sausage biscuit with a slice of fresh tomato, Oh!And bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches are pretty yummy too!And now with my ‘little’ stomach issues I must limit my tomato consumption, can you tell I’m in serious tomato with -drawal mode?
TIRE SWINGS
A joy of summer. If I didn’t have one then a neighbor did. I had a HUGE [catalpa] tree in the back yard that Joe hung an old tire from and we would swing for hours. Sara Lou had a smaller mimosa tree in her front yard that we hung a stick from and would swing and twist from it until it broke and we fell. We’d land so hard that it would knock the breath out of us – but we kept going and going! So I have fond – if sometimes painful- memories of the tire swing and made sure our boys had one to play on as well. The only one who ever broke it and fell was Miss Kim from next door when we were just playing around with them all one evening.
Am not sure WHY I didn't make these last week when the boys were home - I've fixed a cute little bucket full that will go in the mail tomorrow... and since I made these quickly between work and Bible Study I completely forgot to take the ingredient photo sorry, okay here goes - TEA CAKES Ingredients: sugar - corn oil - flour - eggs - and vanilla --- how basic is that? These are the cookies my grandmother made for us so often and when we did a family cookbook - way back in 1988 -- I bet we had twenty tea cake recipes submitted all purporting to be THE RECIPE that Mama Moland used... I didn't try them all [I'm not much of a roll-out-the-dough kind of cookie maker] but my sister and I agree that this recipe, submitted by our Aunt Gail, is the closest to the real thing - as we remember it anyway...our grandmother passed away before the cookbook came into being. Miss Inez Kirby's Tea Cakes Mix together, drop by spoonfuls on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350* until brown around the edges: 3/4 cup corn oil -- 2 eggs -- 1 tsp vanilla -- 1 cup sugar -- 2 1/2 cup flour [self-rising] That's it! And they are delish! These are tablespoon size - about 4 inches round... I usually make them smaller [teaspoon size] but needed them to fit my bucket. And Mama Moland always made hers HUGE too - and frosted half with chocolate that got hard and crumbly.
4 – “Ride On” p 149 – Make a List. This is a free faithbook class based on the book, Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan. We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize.
– My Take: This led me to think about…how I am definitely a list maker. I live and breathe by lists most of the time. And after seeing the movie, The Bucket List, I really wanted to write out my lists of life long dreams – but never did until now. My layout includes just a few of the items on my 'bucket list' - got the photos off the internet...
This is a free faithbook class based on the book,
Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan.
Each week I will share a little from one chapter of the book
[for the ENTIRE reading, you'll need to have the book...] We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize. [Names will be drwan in the event of a tie.]
In the book Jill writes, You may or may not be a list maker. If you’re not, you probably bristle at the thought of being confined to a few items on apiece of paper that supposedly dictate the events of your day; or maybe you just have super human memory. Some people, however, are married to their lists…My husband is a list maker. That man can get more done in a day than I can in a week and all because he eats and sleeps with his little list. There is another type of list that even non-list makers can embrace, and that is the Fun Stuff I Want to do Before I Die List. The concept is this: there’s something about the act of writing down your thoughts that tucks ideas into your brain and alerts your subconscious to opportunities or actions you can take to make these things happen. Keeping a Fun Stuff I Want to do Before I Die List is not a new idea, and many people find the concept appealing. Few, however, actually put it into action, often because their ‘play muscles’ are way out of shape, or they feel guilty spending time and energy on something they believe is so frivolous.
But we mustn’t forget about the freedom of the mind and spirit we are privileged to experience just by the virtue of the fact the God is watching over us. “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.” Deuteronomy 32:10.
What a picture! Read that scripture again and imagine yourself without boundaries, mental or physical. Then consider this: if you first pray to God to guide your heart and mind as you pick up a pen and start a list, you will most certainly find yourself very close to riding the heights of the land of adventures you’ve only dreamed about until now.
Try this: Is there something fun you’ve always wanted to do and just haven’t gotten around to it yet for some reason? Start a list – a life list, a this year list, a summer list. And remember, put only fun things on it – nothing like ‘lose ten pounds’ or ‘paint the kitchen is allowed.’
Scrap Prompt: Use the sketch provided to complete a layout about your 'bucket list' the things you'd like to do - just for fun - as you live your life here on earth.
I have high hopes! I've always loved to garden but as our schedule got busier and busier through the years it seemed kind of crazy to plant a garden only to have it later grow over with weeds or have the fruits of my labor rot on the vine because we were busy with other activities.
And I'll even admit there's been at least a couple of years when we bought all the bedding plants and they never even made in the ground. I've been so happy to have this raised garden that Craig built for me a couple of years ago - it was great on the one end that got sun! Not so for the plants closer to our patio. Now that it's moved up on the hill I think all the plants will be happy and as we've become empty-nesters I have the time once again to devote to a hobby I love.Here's the boys moving the dirt into the beds after it was moved. They also had to put a back on the garden since the original was against the house. - We used an old fence panel someone was discarding, cut it into two pieces, cut again and voila! have a nifty backing for the new and improved garden!]And my windows will serve as a 'cold frame' should we have another little snap [is it blackberry winter we're still waiting on?] Today I've been emptying old pots of dirt into the garden [can't let THAT go to waste] and planting some seeds [carrots and lettuce,] onion sets, and bedding plants: three tomatoes [better boy, talladega, and sweet 100s -cherry tomatoes] - as well as two banana peppers, two bell peppers, and basil. I plan to add cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini. [Lest you feel there's not enough room - we believe in the square foot gardening method - where we use every. single. inch. of space. - And it works! I only wish I had some of Kim's rabbit droppings!] Watch for garden updates every week or so -
The world is full of God's wonder! I encourage you to try something new this week and ask God's guidance on future plans for your life - both big and small ones... Would love to see more of the work you're doing along with the class - am a little disappointed in that. But I know with today being the first day of spring we're all probably busy with new and fresh projects. Ours has been moving my garden to the sunny side of life
- Craig built the raised beds for me a few years back and I wanted it placed right outside the kitchen door for convenience but after a season or two we quickly decided two things - 1] watering the garden caused unwanted run-off under the house and 2] there really wasn't enough sun to sustain it's entirety - so while the boys were home we all worked together and moved it up the hill then moved all the dirt back inside it. I walked over to the craft show during lunch today and bought a little rabbit to serve as my 'scare-crow' and can't wait to get him all set up. He's too cute. [Need to head to a thrift store for some clothing...]
“Wonderland” p. 115 – Try Something New. This is a free faithbook class based on the book, Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan. We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize. – My take: This led me to think about…how my sweet husband is always on a learning track about something new. Love this. I have to admit that I’m not nearly as adventurous. So this quick devotional has inspired me to jump in and try something that I’ve been pondering for a while now – KNITTING. We’ll see how it goes since I plan to get started in January and hopefully will have something [anything!] to share by March. Edited: I bought a 'Teach Yourself to Knit' kit while working out of town in January and started practicing my skills [strangely, purling is much - much easier for me...] and after some trial and error I completed the little purse [about 10 inch square] pictured here at the end of February! Yippee! I've found it very relaxing and almost one of those 'mindless tasks' that can be done while watching tv, etc. I say - almost - because I've found I must keep up with my count or I somehow add stitches here and there...it's been fun to learn something new!
Each week I will share a little from one chapter of the book
[for the ENTIRE reading, you'll need to have the book...] We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize. [Names will be drawn in the event of a tie.]
In the book Jill writes, You may not know it when it happens, because it often happens quietly, but one day you may notice that life seems… well… a little boring. Maybe a lot boring. Like something’s missing that used to be there, but you’re not quite sure what that something is. Maybe you’ve lost your wonder. It’s easy to do, since often at this time of life we have been working the same job for a number of years, living in the same town, going to the same church, involved in the same routines of life. Not that sameness and predictability are always negative…consider whether you’ve misplaced your fascination with life… the kind that comes from newness, from the first times…You long for moments when you honestly believe that if not another thing ever happened to you it would be just fine, because you feel so full of the awe and mystery ad excitement of discovery; you long for the wonder of first times. When was the last time you did something for the first time? If it’s been a while, and you’ve been feeling less than wonderful lately; if you’re stuck in the muck of the same ol’ same ol’ and long for someone to pick you up from the here and set you down somewhere more exciting: if you can’t remember the last time you discovered something and were actually happy about it, then consider asking God to show you the wonder only He can stir up
– the kind David celebrated when he said,
“He lifted me from the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to God.”– Psalm 40: 2-3
He may lead you someplace quiet; He may lead you snowplowing into a crowd of people.
One thing’s for sure: He will most certainly lead you into wonder…
Try this: Make a list of moments / times in your life that were full of wonder. What do they have in common? Often it’s newness. Then answer this question: When was the last time you did something for the first time? Do something this week, whether it involves cooking something new, wearing something new, or challenging your body or mind in a fun new way...
Scrap Prompt: Use the sketch to record something new [big or small] in your life this week, this month, or in the last year.. or use it to record your feelings as you seek God's will for something new in your life…
What do you have to celebrate in your life right now? For me? Our boys are home from school for a week - yay! So fun to have some time with them! I thank the Lord every single day for my boys. So I encourage you to look around from big to small - take the time to thank the Lord for the things He so freely gives. One of the speakers at my recent women's weekend encouraged us to spend at least five minutes a day with our Lord? What?! The truth is that so many of us spend less than that in undivided time - yet we call Him our Lord. So they encouraged us to spend at least 5 minutes a day and thirty minutes once a week and a day ALONE WITH OUR LORD at least once a month. I'll confess that my regular routine is somewhere between 5- 20 minute daily, a little longer on weekends, and several hours alone with my Lord a couple of times a year. - And those extended times alone are so special and uplifting - I encourage you to schedule some extended time with your Lord.Would love to hear about your quiet times - To clarify a class question - participants have until the end of class to post all of their entries [either on the yahoo group or give a link to your blog, etc.] Winners will be announced at the end of class.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to complete this extraordinary scrapbook album designed by CathyZ and based on the book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Rosenthal. While I still haven't read the book, I love the concept of this album - a random sampling of those ordinary facts about your life [my life.] The homework involves keeping a list, A to Z, of random memories for several weeks and then gathering photos [or not] to support these memories. Love it. The album is really very simple [a la Cathy Z] and easy to put together with only two square photos per page and two to four 'definitions.' Have I said I love this album? And I want to share some of my life with you so I've committed to do just that in 2009 [keep in mind this was completed during the summer of 2007.] I'm going backwards and today I present: U
UNIVERSE
God’s awesome creation. When I think of how incredibly big our universe is I also realize how very small we are as mere men on this earth. Yet, the God of All Creation, of water, earth, and sky loves us so very intimately. He truly is a God of Wonder – throughout our Galaxy!
UPSIDE DOWN
Hanging from the side bars of a metal swing set – or if we were really brave – doing flips and hanging upside down from the top bar! This was one of the best ways to ‘while away’ a summer day – but we all became a little more cautious after Lorna fell [from the top] and broke her tail-bone…youch!
US
Me and You. Through all the years; good times and bad times – doing what we do best – just being us! I love Craig so completely and am so blessed to have him in my life!
URBAN
City Life vs Country Life – maybe we have the best of both worlds since we live in a small city. And I’m not sure I would love living in a big city – but I do know –for sure- that I have no desire to be a ‘country girl’.I need to be in close proximity of the things important to me: church, schools, work, doctors, shopping, etc.
2 – “Naked with Candy” p. 69 – Be Uninhibited and Savor Sweet Opportunities! This is a free faithbook class based on the book, Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan. We'd love to have you join in! , post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize.
My take: This led me to think about…the summer of 2007 when, truth be told I couldn’t see a whole lot – on the surface of things – to revel in. While I could feel my Lord’s presence I wasn’t quite reveling as both my parents were so very ill and my dad passed away in the early fall [and other changes were happening in my life as well.] Afterwards, I took a day to sit alone – All. Day. Long. Out by our fire pit, alone with my Lord. And I found out what it means to be complete in Him. To truly celebrate Him – in the good and the bad. He is what makes me complete – and all I have to do is come into his presence.
Each week I will share a little from one chapter of the book
[for the ENTIRE reading, you'll need to have the book...] We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize. [Names will be drawn in the event of a tie.]
In the book Jill writes, "
Beth Levine tells this story about her little boy, “Our son decided that not only was underwear objectionable, the rest of his clothes were as well. I found him running around the house stark naked only pausing long enough to grab a treat from the kitchen table. ‘Mamma!” he cried with soul soaring glee, ‘I’m naked with CANDY!’ – What more can we ask from life? She asked her husband, ‘I feel like being naked with candy myself.” [– Beth Levine, “Mr. Wonderful” Woman’s Day February 18th, 1997, p 144] It sounds tempting and no wonder. It’s the freedom that we all long for: to be completely ourselves – no pretense, no masks, nobody to impress, and nothing to hide. This liberating ‘naked’ state of mind coupled with candy [the act of play itself] – having something available that is sweet and delightful, something that feeds us and exists for no other reason than to bring pleasure – this is the essence of play. I’ve often wondered what it is about adulthood that eats away at our ability to cut loose and have some fun… But I know when I allow myself to be unself-conscious and willing to latch onto a sweet moment, life is infinitely more fun. And I believe this is what Paul had in mind when he urged the Philippians to
“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean REVEL in Him! [
Philippians 4:4 The Message].
Take intense satisfaction in Him. Because whatever else is happening in your life, I feel certain there is candy on your kitchen table right now, today – something sweet for you to celebrate, something begging to be reveled in. Feel the freedom [even with your clothes on,] grab it, and run.
Try This: Today, right now, what can you celebrate in your life? Start your celebrating by thanking God.
Scrap Prompt [from Judy]: Use the sketch to complete a layout about how you celebrate God or about something sweet in your life that you can celebrate, right now.
Yahoo Group - [I'll post the link to the right on the blog side bar.] This group is set up for 'student' use - it's not a requirement and class sessions will not be posted there [they are on the blog.] The yahoo group will be loosely moderated and I hope to check in at least a couple of times weekly. Comments on the group should be limited to the class and faith booking in general. Note: Yahoo ph oto albums are now set up so that commetns may be shared under each photo [now, THAT'S sweet...]Would love to see more in-depth discussion of Jill's book. [Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FaithBasedPagesClasses/ ] Let me know if there are other questions about how the class will work - I'm new with this 'on-line' class thing, willing to adapt as needed, and seeking the Lord's guidance as I share ways to put our faith on our pages...please feel free to share your comments and ideas!
I LOVE to get together with my friends - for Bible study [our retreats are the best!] camping, hiking, Disney, scrapbooking, lunches , going to to the beach, dinners, just hanging out - you get the idea. I'm blessed to have a couple of core groups of friends that have been together for ten + years. The photos on my layout were taken during a women's weekend when we really were playing with someone's bright red lipstick.
Note: While the sketch is for 12x12 [or 8x8] I adapted to fit for 8.5x11. It's been fun to see what you guys have done with the idea - both on the FBP classes Yahoo Group and through emails to me. Keep those layouts coming!
“Come Together” p. 36 – Buddy Up! This is a free faithbook class based on the book, Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan. We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize.
– My take: This led me to think about how much silly fun I still have with my girlfriends whether it’s meeting for a quick lunch [or late breakfast] playing around with a new shade of lipstick [still, at our age!] or sharing our hearts in the middle of the night on a Bible Study retreat. Friends are important to me and I love when we can buddy up and gather together to encourage each other!
The book is full of wonderful chapters of how we can add more Spirit-filled fun to our lives and it was difficult for me to choose only five for our class. For those who have the book, please feel free to scrap-away with any thoughts inspired by other chapters in the book! I'd love to see the faith based pages it inspires! My thoughts are that the 'classes' will work in this way - Mondays - [on the blog] I'll give a little bit from one chapter in the book sharing some of what Jill shares about the topic, along with her scripture reference and thoughts to ponder in 'try this.' I'll also share a sketch and scrap prompt from me. You might be inspired to jump right in and create a layout to share or you might want to think about the idea for a day or two before completing the idea... Wednesdays -[on the blog] I'll share 'my take' on the idea - with my thoughts and my completed layout based on the sketch provided. Hopefully this will give you a bit more to go on and you'll have your faith based layout completed before Friday [so that you'll be ready for the next idea on the following Monday-] Fridays - I'll comment on any comments left here on the blog and on the Yahoo Group that's provided for your use Yahoo Group - [I'll post the link to the right on the blog side bar.] This group is set up for 'student' use - it's not a requirement and class sessions will not be posted there [they are on the blog.] The yahoo group will be loosely moderated and I hope to check in at least a couple of times weekly. Comments on the group should be limited to the class and faith booking in general. Would love to see more in-depth discussion of Jill's book. [Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FaithBasedPagesClasses/ ] Let me know if there are other questions about how the class will work - I'm new at this 'on-line' class thing, willing to adapt as needed, and seeking the Lord's guidance as I share ways to put our faith on our pages... [lease feel free to share your comments and ideas!
“Come Together” p. 36 – Buddy Up! This is a free faithbook class based on the book,
Born to be Wild [rediscover the freedom of fun] by Jill Baughan.
Each week I will share a little from one chapter of the book
[for the ENTIRE reading, you'll need to have the book...] We'd love to have you join in, post a link to your work in our comments, and the top three participants will get a prize. [Names will be drawn in the event of a tie.][All sketches are based on advertisements in the January 2009 Oprah Magazine]
In the book Jill writes, " The advantages of gathering together often outshine going it alone. It’s just more fun that way. The fun you have when you team up with a friend is priceless. Not always worth a lot, maybe – but priceless just the same. It’s just that we’re so busy & arranging to get together takes time & effort & calendar coordination…however, when two or more are gathered, you can have a kind of recreation that you wouldn’t dream up on your own. Try This: What kinds of fun have you had when you teamed up with one or more friends? Is there something you’d love to do with them that you just haven’t made the time for yet? Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another. “ Paul knew, and so do you, that God doesn’t intend for us to do this life alone."
Scrap Prompt [from Judy]: Use this sketch to create a layout about friends you buddy up with - daily, weekly, or every once in a while to have some fun and share God's goodness.
Note: You are invited to join the Faith Based Pages Classes Yahoo Group to share in this class if you would like - it is not a requirement to be a part of the class, but is set up so that those participated can share a little more deeply and upload their projects ot one central place. Go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FaithBasedPagesClasses/
Your choices -- especially your choices of values, attitudes, & behaviors-- will shape your life more powerfully than your genes, social conditioning, upbringing or opportunities. They gradually form you into the individual your are becoming.
