Of course, there is much more to Hannah then her barren womb.
It was a lesson I really could have expanded and expounded upon. I certainly have had years of trying to work it all out in my own head.
Here's the truth. Sometimes we don't know why. We just have to accept that God has purpose in our suffering.
Hannah's purpose was that she would give birth to Samuel. He would be raised in the temple and later be spiritual counsellor to King David. He was the one who found him raising sheep, after.
Samuel learned to listen to God's voice. And the story of his mother is one that reminds us to trust God in ALL THINGS and never give up hope.
Be sure to download the printables locates at the bottom of the page after you are done watching the lesson. The recipe today is for an Impossible Breakfast Pie.
It's much later than it needs to be. I have a whole list of things that need my attention, yet I find myself doing piddley things like writing nonsense blog posts.
Yesterday, I promised an update on those green velvet pillow covers I ordered from Amazon.
Overall, I like them. They are a tad bigger than I needed. I'm not quite sure what I was thinking about when I ordered them. I generally order 18X18 covers for my 20X20 pillow forms. These look a little baggy.
I already noticed a bit of cat hair clinging to this one.
Princess the Cat adores a good textured pillow or throw. Kind of like her momma.
I like fabrics that feel good on my skin and, like most of us, find fabrics that are scratchy and stiff unbearable.
My project for today is a simple one. I have a blank spot on my gallery wall. 99% of this wall is made up of my momma's artwork. My goal is to find a frame that I can stick a piece of jewelry in. It is a broach that belonged to my great-grandmother. I had it displayed once before, but I believed the frame didn't make it through out last move.
I realize my little project has nothing to do with preparing for fall. But I have been staring at that space long enough. It's time to act.
Do you find yourself behind in "projects?" I certainly love a good project. Even the most mundane of details fail to frighten me away from one. BUT I can get overwhelmed if I have too much going on.
So for today. Let us start where we are. I had good advice from a friend. This was concerning weight loss, but I think it applies to whatever we are doing. We need to do the small things first. Don't focus on the enormity of the task or project or goal at hand. Do what you can TODAY.
And today I can take myself to the thrift store to find a little frame.
So what is a small thing you can do TODAY to reach your goal?
I was drinking my morning coffee in the big comfy chair in the living room when I noticed them.
Not an actual picture from my living room window. This is a stock photo. I couldn't put THAT much effort into this post. 😁
Bits of brightly covered leaves peeking out of the trees across the street.
I immediately began to plan the first pot of chili for the season. I am one of those annoying people who can't be bothered to celebrate fall while still running the AC at full blast. Until I feel like I can sport my fuzzy socks and slippers without fear of heat stroke, I feel downright awkward pretending it's really fall.
Cause it's not.
Until it is.
I am trying a new approach to my fall decorating and celebrations this year. l hope to give a peek into what I am doing. In the meantime, I don't want to wish away my days for the hope of new things to come.
I think we have all been guilty of that. We are so anxious for 2020 to make a quiet exit that we are not fully enjoying the days we have.
Sure. They don't look like they used to. There is unrest and uncertainty. But let's be honest. There has always been unrest and uncertainty somewhere. We can chose to get swallowed up in the drama and chaos OR we can live our lives with purpose and gratitude.
Sometimes it's as hard as getting up in the morning and deciding to ask for God's direction and grace for the day.
I am spending the next few days leading up to the "official" start of fall preparing my space and my heart for a simpler and gracious season. Today, I am focused on decluttering some spaces. I also made time in my morning to write this post.
I've got some green velvet pillow covers coming in the mail from Amazon and a pumpkin spice candle sitting on my kitchen island ready to be burned.
I'll report back tomorrow and let you know if the velvet pillows are everything I hoped they be.
Our story today has everything! Battles! Blood! Murder!
It's not a movie or a good murder mystery. It's a true story from the book of Judges.
I have your printables linked below. And don't forget to print the recipe for the Blueberry Buckle. Your family will thank you. Be sure to share this study with your friends. I will try and get out a landing page and start linking all of the lessons.
The family of Abraham certainly has some twisty
relationships…AND it’s about to get even more complicated.
Have you ever seen the movie White Christmas?
It’s one of my favorites. In the movie, two sisters have a
singing act and we first see them singing this song written by Irving Berlin.
Sisters, sisters
There were never such devoted sisters
Never had to have a chaperone, no sir
I'm here to keep my eye on her
Caring, sharing
Every little thing that we are
wearing
When a certain gentleman arrived from
Rome
She wore the dress and I stayed home
All kinds of weather we stick
together
The same in the rain or sun
Two different faces but in tight
places
We think and we act as one
Those who've seen us
Know that not a thing can come
between us
Many men have tried to split us up
but no one can
Lord, help the mister who comes
between me and my sister
And Lord, help the sister who comes
between me and my man
All kinds of weather we stick
together
The same in the rain or sun
Two different faces but in tight
places
We think and we act as one
Those who've seen us
Know that not a thing could come
between us
Many men have tried to split us up
but no one can
Lord, help the mister who comes
between me and my sister
And Lord, help the sister who comes
between me and my man
Sisters, sisters
Sister, don't come between me and my
man
Obviously, the two sisters we are going to talk about today
indeed had a “mister” come between them.
We are talking about Rachel and Leah. And the ultimate in
sibling rivalry.
In the video, I read to you a little blurb from my study
Bible (The Life in the Spirit Study Bible) about polygamy. I promised you some
Scriptures.
Of course, I didn’t get them put in my video (distraction
problems) but I thought I would share this article for you here
regarding polygamy and God’s plan. I found it to be sound.
As always, I am including some FREE printables for you to
enjoy along with your study. AND a printable recipe for the Veggie Crustless
Quiche. Just look below. The Scripture printable is a PDF of the scripture from Proverbs you see above. It is really lovely.
Next week we are talking about Deborah and Jael (found in
Judges) and I am sharing one of the most viewed recipes on my blog. The
Blueberry Buckle.
Mostly, I've been trying to avoid the news and all of the crazy that goes with it.
My superpower is avoidance.
Some of ya'll need to schedule in naps during your day. I am serious.
So instead of news, I've been watching some lifestyle vlogs.
I am always fascinated by those Ultimate Disaster Clean with Me videos. Those Ultimate Disasters never look like my Ultimate Disasters. Where are the mountains of laundry? The empty bags of Cheese Puffs littering the coffee table?
I'd show you Ultimate Disaster Clean with Me, but I am NEVER going to film myself cleaning my house.
For one, I'd feel obligated to wear real pants.
Another thing I don't understand.
What is it with Dry Shampoo?
To me that sounds icky. Why don't you girls just wash your hair when you jump in the shower?
I realize you don't feel like you have to fix your hair up every time you wash it.
This is why we have messy buns, pony tails, and head bands.
My generation spent hours every day teasing the hooey out of our bangs every morning. We found liberation when we didn't have to worry about perming our hair every 3 months.
Wash that hair.
Another thing I don't understand is Facetime.
Why do you want to talk to someone on the phone and look at them at the same time?
Isn't the whole point of a phone conversation is that you can literally be on your couch in your nighty and some fuzzy socks and no one knows?
Those folks I'm talking to can imagine me all put together...they don't have to no any better.
I'm excited to start a brand new thing on the blog and my Youtube channel.
I'm sharing NEW Bible Study series called The Bible Ladies Brunch Bunch,
Together, we are going to study women of the Bible for 8 sessions and the first week is Sarah.
You can grab a notebook OR download my FREE printables I created just for this study. It is a generic form, so you can use this one every week.
For the past few years, my church ladies and I have gathered around my table on Wednesday morning for Bible study. I have fixed all manner of good things. I thought it would be fun to bring the study to YOU and to those who can't get out right now.
This is the first video, so be patient with me. I think I'm a little too chatty and just a bit squirrelly.
Included in the video is a recipe for French Toast Cups. There is a printable PDF version of the recipe below if are so inclined.
It was obvious to me I was going to chose Sarah first to study. I have pondered this question for years. Was Sarah really Abraham's sister? I don't think I answer in this video, but we do talk about some twisty stuff. In fact, I use that word a lot.
Twisty.
Whatever word you use it is comforting to know that God still uses our messes and is MORE than able to work out His plan. Despite our meddling.