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Road Trip Case

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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

Book Review: The Discovery

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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 As Michael prepares to finally write his first novel, he discovers in his grandfather's study an unpublished manuscript, obviously intended for Michael to find.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'

Repost: What's Your Identity?

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

Repost: The Difference Between Men and Women

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

Repost: Turning Out Good Children

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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

The Solid Rock

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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

Book Review: The Blue Castle

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  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