How I Spent My Summer - Knitting Items for Sale

 Red Metallic "Eyelash" Scarf $20

 Black Metallic "Eyelash" Scarf $20

 Blue Metallic "Eyelash" Scarf $20

 "Pluscious" Primary Colors Scarf $10

 "Pluscious" Candy Colors Scarf $10

 "Ribbon" in Reds/Oranges $10

 Blue Baby Alpaca Reversible Unisex Scarf $40

 Flashy Lace Scarf $8

 Flashy Gold Metallic Lace Scarf $8

"Aura" Purple Scarf $19

 Wool Mittens Burgundy, Green or Red $15/pair

 Spa Cloth - Exfoliate every day! $8/each

 Rolled Hat and Mittens in Variegated Browns $20

 Metallic Blue Entrelac Hat and Feathers and Fans Scarf Set $45

 Brick Red Extra Warm Hat and Scarf Set $45

 Acryllic and Wool Blend Entrelac Hat (Blue/Purple) $25

 Wool Entrelac Hat (Greens/Browns) $25

 Wool Entrelac Hat and Mittens Set (Brown) $40

 Wool Entrelac Hat and Mittens Set (Variegated) $40

 Blended Fiber Red Entrelac Hat with Sequins $25

 Blended Fiber Teal Entrelac Hat with Sequins $25

 Blended Fiber Black Entrelac Hat with Multi-Color Sequins $25

 Black Cowgirl Cowl $30

 Off White Cowgirl Cowl $30

 Blues/Tans Cowgirl Cowl $30

 Smoky Cozy Poncho $30

 White Cozy Poncho $30

 Blue Wrap $32

Smoky Wrap $32

The Thanksgiving Project 2011

A couple of weeks ago, my son came up with an idea and invited others through Facebook to participate. It was a simple thing.

1. Make a list of people for whom I am thankful.

2. Write each a note telling him or her about my thankfulness.

3. Mail the notes on November 21.

What a blessing I received by doing that. I kept my list to about 15 and wrote about 3 notes a day over the next week, then waited eagerly to mail them and even more eagerly to hear from them after they read them. Not all have responded, but it was such fun and such a great opportunity to do something I should do often and without prompting.

I have enjoyed another good year. The company I work with is completely out of debt and showing a profit. It is exciting to see what God has done. There have been difficult times, of course, but not nearly like last year.

My children are happy and healthy and growing in the people that they are. I am enjoying watching the transformation.

Thanksgiving has been spent visiting our son and it has been such fun. I love my family, and I hate for the long weekend to end.

I am grateful for good friends and a family who love me every day of the year. I am thankful that my needs are met, and many of my wants. I'm thankful for God's Word to bless me every day. I'm thankful for this nation, even with its imperfections.

As I look ahead to the Christmas season, I am most thankful for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth we will celebrate. May God bless every reader as only He can.

Happy 2011!

It's a new year with new hopes and promises. Why does it feel so much different than yesterday? Simply because the whole world is launching into a new year altogether? Perhaps. It's as though we all have the same chance to start over and do things right.

Does that mean that everything I did before was wrong? No, but without a doubt, mistakes were made. We can put those in the past. The calendar says we can do that. We've turned a new page, and it's blank, just waiting for us to fill it in with new events, new friends, new activities.

I don't make resolutions. I believe those just set you up for failure. I don't need any help or encouragement to fail.

My life underwent many extreme changes this year. My youngest child moved out. I went back to work. Friends have lived through major changes and traumas in their lives. I became a truck driver. No, that's not my new job, but I traded vehicles with my son last January and realized that I like driving a pickup. So when the time came for a new vehicle, I got another truck.

With God's help, I succeeded in turning around a nearly bankrupt company. When I walked through the door, their debt was almost $100,000, Today, it is just over $15,000. For the first month, I came home and cried every day because I was afraid I couldn't do it. Week after week, I looked at the bills that were due and payroll needs and prayed for exactly the amount of money I needed to meet those obligations. Time and time again, God sent exactly what I asked for. My boss prayed along with me, and in the last couple of weeks, I can see that he is finally beginning to believe it has happened. The debt affected his credit rating and I am working hard to restore that to its former high level.

What does 2011 hold for me? I don't know. I now have a job I love. I work close to home and get off between 1 and 2 every day. I have to take calls after hours, but I can do that from anywhere else I need or want to be. Today, I finished our 2010 album. In it are memories of the good times we've had. I didn't tell stories of sad times or the difficulties we've encountered. I know from experience that God graciously erases those from my memory over time unless I dwell upon them. I am determined not to do that.

There have been hurts, but there have been so many more blessings. It is those blessings that I will choose to remember and love those memories.

So my hope for any and all who read this is that you, too, will look to 2011 as a time to adventure into new things. I established a quiet time about 16 months ago, and I have stuck to it without fail. I intend to continue that through 2011. There is peace in my day when I start it with God's Word. I have been so much more patient, controlled and positive this past year. I wish I hadn't waited over 50 years to develop that routine.

I have continued to knit, though not as consistently as I did before I went back to work. As noted earlier, I've kept our family memories up-to-date in albums. Those are things I want to continue doing. But a couple of ideas were raised today by my son and his girlfriend. She has asked herself repeatedly the past couple of days, "What are you trying to build?" Now, that's a deep question. I find it one I want to delve into also. My son reminded me today that we are "on the mission field" wherever we are. I want to live out Christ in me to everyone I am in contact with every day of 2011.

Are those resolutions? No, but they are directions in which I want to walk. Just as I had to cling to my verse for the year over and over again in 2010, I will have to remind myself daily of my decision to reflect Christ and build something for Him this year. With His help, I will succeed in that also. And the promise and excitement of this first day of a new year will continue each day throughout 2011.

For Budding Writers

Monday, April 12, 2010

She Speaks Scholarship Giveaway

Have you ever had a dream?

A dream that you tucked deep in your heart, and were afraid to even speak it? 

Every year women come to the Proverbs 31 Ministries She Speaks Conference with just such dreams.  It may be a dream to write, or speak. It may be a dream to lead a women's Bible study, or start a ministry to unwed mothers. 

As the director of the writer's track at She Speaks, I meet women every year who are wondering if they have what it takes to write.  They might think the dream is foolish ... because who would read what they have to say?  But the dream beats so hard in their chest they just had to come to the conference.  However, they tenderly protect that dream, even as they put themselves out there for all the world to see.

Is that you?  Do you have a dream to write but haven't taken the first step?  Or have you been writing for awhile but know God is prompting you to take the next step in your writing journey?

Today, I have the privilege of announcing a contest to help someone take that next step of obedience in their dream to write. 

Thanks to the generosity of author extraordinaire, Cecil Murphey, I will be giving away one scholarship to attend the She Speaks 2010 Conference, held July 30-August 1 in Concord, North Carolina.   If you haven't heard of Cecil Murphy's amazing newsletters for writers, you'll want to click here to subscribe for free! While you are there, spend some time reading about Cec.  He's coming to the conference and will be speaking to all the writers, and meeting one-on-one for some informal coaching.

And to win it, all you have to do is write an article that would be appropriate for publication in the P31 Woman Magazine.  We'll pick one article as the winner.  In addition to winning the scholarship, we'll also publish that article in the magazine.  Kind of like icing on the best cake you have ever eaten!

We may also select some honorable mentions, and will publish those if we do. 

So - how do you win this amazing prize?  Here are the rules for the She Speaks Scholarship Contest:

1.   You must not have attended She Speaks in past years. 

2.  Write a 500-1000 word article that would be appropriate for publication in the P31 Woman Magazine.  See the guidelines on the link to the magazine, and see archived feature articles for a sample of our style. 

3.  Only enter one (1) article per person. 

4.  You can either attach the article in a Word document or include it in the email.  Include a creative title and your name.

5.  Email the article to me at editor@proverbs31.org  on or before Thursday April 15, 2010 at midnight.

6.  If you have a blog, please help us promote the She Speaks Conference by writing about this contest and linking to the She Speaks Conference site.   If you want to post the She Speaks button on your site, feel free to copy it.  But it is not a requirement. 

7. The winner of this contest will be awarded a scholarship for the cost of one person’s registration for the 2010 She Speaks conference.

The value of this scholarship is $575 which includes your conference materials, conference registration, 2 nights at the conference hotel and meals associated with the conference. Please note it does not include any travel expenses. Also, you will be assigned a roommate or you have the option to pay the extra charge for a private room. This scholarship is transferable, but only for someone who has not attended the conference.  It cannot be traded for cash.

Your article will be evaluated by the P31 Woman editing team, and we will announce the winner on April 21st.

This is the first year we have scholarships to offer, and we are thanking God and Cecil Murphey for this opportunity.   Please pray about what to submit.  And, if you aren't a writer, please send a note to someone you know who is. 

Happy Easter!

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never
noticed this....


The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes..


The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.


Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.


She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved.. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'


Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.


Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.


Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!


In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.


When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.


The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.


Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.


The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm finished."


But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........


The folded napkin meant,
"I'm coming back."

Disappointment Leads to Action

I am disappointed today. I am disappointed in our Congress. Last night, after much wrangling and based on party affiliation, a "sweeping" health care package was passed - against the will of the people of this nation.

Abraham Lincoln said that our government is a "government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people" and that it "shall not perish from the earth". (Gettysburg Address) But political status has overtaken the concept of passing laws to reflect the will of the people.

Our Senators and Congressmen have forgotten that they have been elected by us to be our spokespersons in Washington. They have been defiled by the desire to follow party lines and vote the way the party tells them to vote. They have been defiled by power.

NO MORE! My own legislators actually voted against this bill. But they have been in Washington too long. Congress will not vote for term limits for themselves. Nor do they abide by the laws they dictate. They are exempted from many of the despicable laws they pass and they are not participants in Social Security (which they have bankrupted by borrowing and granting to many who have not contributed to it) or in Medicare (which they have proven they cannot run adequately and doctors are ending their participation because they cannot be paid and jack up their prices ridiculously to try to obtain what would probably be a fair price for all) nor will they participate in this health care they are going to provide for us.

I WILL VOTE AGAINST ALL INCUMBENTS. I WILL PASS TERM LIMITS FOR THEM BY NOT VOTING FOR THEM AGAIN.

I will not apologize for taking action to end my disappointment. We need to take control of our government. For anyone to stand in Washington and tout reform knowing that the majority of the citizens of this nation are against governmental control of that reform is arrogant and self-righteous.

Join me and vote out every incumbent in Washington and TAKE BACK AMERICA!

Psalm 46:10

I don't always have a "verse for the year", but this year, God has brought one into my life by showing me a wider interpretation of it than I'd seen previously.

"Be still and know that I am God." I'd always focused on the "Be still" portion of the verse. I am a Type-A personality. Fix it and move on. I like to be doing something all the time. If I'm watching television, I'm reading or knitting at the same time. If I have to wait somewhere, I take knitting or reading with me to make the time pass quicker. To be still and listen for God's voice is a challenge.

But recently, God showed me that the rest of the verse is paramount in my life and in my walk with Him. "...know that I am God." Trying to find a way to solve life's problems has caused me to many times put myself on the same level as God in thinking that I hold the key to making all things right. I've usurped His authority and His godliness by thinking that I can do His job for Him. I've tried to become God and failed to let Him BE God.

So I am working on that. An ongoing battle? You betcha! I look at a broken relationship in my life and think, "What did I do wrong? How can I fix this? What do I need to do?" And accepting that I HAVE to wait for God to work this through for Hisglory is killing me. I long to have things made right, but I don't know how to step back and let God make it right without my interference. And as the tears stream down my face this morning and I struggle to let go of the worrying and the fretting to think of SOMETHING I can do that will help the situation, my real battle is with myself. I MUST be still and know that GOD is God, not Donna.

Thank you, my precious friend, Kim, for the necklace you had made for me with Ps. 46:10 on it. Thank you, my loving and insightful son, for the plaque you gave me at Christmas. Both serve as constant reminders that I am NOT in control, and that is as it should be. The timing is not of my choosing, but one day, I believe, things will be better and I am longing for that day, but I am going to back away and allow it to come in God's timing and for His glory.