Changed By Love

Changed By Love

Following the Lamb wherever he goes… Revelation 14:4

A Very Sweet Valentine’s Day

♥

I had a “Give a Mouse a Cookie” moment that won me a date with my hubby. I went up to my bathroom to fix myself up a little so Kelsey could take a picture of me with Kirby. I hadn’t even brushed my hair yet! So I brushed my hair. It still looked kind of poofy from the way I slept, but I was just going to leave it. But I noticed my foundation sitting there on the bathroom counter. I haven’t used it in months (maybe years). I thought, hmmm, I think I’ll put some foundation on. So I did. Then I thought, hmmm, that won’t look good unless I put eye shadow on. So I put some eye shadow on. Surprisingly, I remembered how to do it. Then I put my mascara on (the only makeup I wear regularly). Then I couldn’t leave my hair all poofy. So I wet my hair down and got out my curling iron. I still remembered how to do that, too.

Then I noticed that my shirt was all wrinkly. Funny, I hadn’t noticed that before. So I went to my closet to get one of my old stand-by shirts, and I noticed a fancy black blouse that I’ve never worn. I put that on. I don’t have any fancy black pants or fancy black shoes, but I figured I had done enough by that time. I just left my black Danskin warm-up pants on and my black Reeboks.

While I was doing all that fixing, the thought came to me that I should ask Gary to take me out to eat since it was the day before Valentine’s Day. We were planning to go grocery shopping anyway. What was to stop us from going out to eat first? So I went downstairs looking for Kelsey and Kirby to get my picture taken (and looking for Gary to see if he would take the hint). I couldn’t find any of them. So I sat on the couch and read my Bible. Gary finally came and sat beside me. He didn’t say anything at first, but then he really looked at me and said, “Wow, you look good.” I used that to wrangle a date out of him. We went to eat at Panera and had a nice leisurely chat and then went grocery shopping together. We were both relaxed and enjoyed ourselves more than we have in a long time.

Then I got my picture taken with Gary instead of Kirby.

So I want to know who put my foundation on the counter right in front of my face. When I find out, I’m going to give them a big hug!

We started our Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped waffles. They were good!

Fiona arranged her waffles in the shape of a butterfly. Another budding artist in the family!

Kirby's at it again! Trying to take credit for my cooking successes!

Garrett had some hair issues, so he wet it down and rushed downstairs when he heard me announce on the intercom, “Come get your Valentine waffles!”

Doesn’t Kirby look proud of “his” creation?

Abby ♥’s her waffles!

Here I am telling Chef Kirby that I’m the one who made the waffles, not him. Kelsey takes his side, of course.

We made chocolate cookie dough last night and let it chill over night. Then we shaped it like play-do and made heart-shaped cookies today. Fiona and Emma enjoyed helping me with this part of the party preparations. They tasted yummy.

Fiona decorated her cookie. It doesn’t look chocolate any more! Oh, by the way, I just found out that chocolate is better for you than fruit!
I’m being a very good Mommy, then.

Here are our sandwiches made from the little toast things that started the whole Valentine’s Tea Party idea. They actually tasted really good. We put ham on some, turkey on the other platter with 3 different types of cheese. Kelsey and Anna made them. They also put cubes of cheese on toothpicks and crowned them with green grapes. Then Kelsey put toothpicks in carrots! We had a very nice spread that tasted delicious.

Shawn was in charge of the tea. He boiled the water, took our orders, called out when each person’s tea was ready and sweetened our tea for us.

Patrick got a hold of the camera and took a nice close-up of Garrett.

Then we had this for dessert: fruit pizza! One of my favorite things. It, too, was delicious. Fiona, Kelsey and Morgan made valentines for each of us and passed them out.

Sweet? Yeah, that’s the word for this Valentine’s Day.

Love That’s Enough

We all know 1 Corinthians 13, don’t we? I used to have it memorized. I kind of have it memorized now. I sang it in a wedding once.

But I read it in the Amplified version one time, and something stuck out to me that I hadn’t really gotten out of it before. Actually, Gloria Copeland commented on it, and I thought about it later.

Here is 1 Corinthians 13:5 in the Amplified:

5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

Are you ever touchy?

Or fretful?

Or resentful?

Uh, my hand’s up on each one. Especially touchy. You know, when you feel kind of moody and don’t really want anybody to touch you. When you feel like you hate everybody.

Okay, that’s a little more than touchy, isn’t it? Well, I hate to admit it, but every once in a while, I don’t want anybody near me. And I can even pull away from one of my children when they try to come close. I really hate to admit that. And later, I feel so bad about it.

So I see my lack of love, and I take it to the Lord and ask Him to help me love at all times. I ask Him to help me to stop being so prickly. I really don’t want to be that way. And I can’t blame it on hormones. They might be part of the problem, but if the Lord told us to love with the kind of love that is never touchy, fretful or resentful, then He obviously intends to give us the power and enough love to do it. He has to give us His love in order to love perfectly. So that’s what I will do. Ask Him to fill me with His love. I know my love isn’t big enough.

But God’s is.

Planning for Valentine’s Day

Do you plan everything? Do you look at a calendar and see what’s coming and decide how you’re going to handle everything and what you will do in what order?

Well, I don’t.

Not usually anyway. Sometimes I think about things a little bit ahead, but mostly I fly by the seat of my pants. I’m not saying that’s the right way. That’s just how my personality handles life.

But sometimes the Lord steps in to my unplanned life and gives me ideas. Like He did last night.

I was at Walmart and, of course, saw all of the Valentine’s Day stuff. It didn’t move me. No wheels started turning or lightbulbs came on. But I was standing at the deli waiting for Gary to order chicken when I saw these cute little toast things.

Something about these little guys just got to me. They're so cute!

Right then, inspiration struck. I should have a tea party for my kids for Valentine’s Day and make little sandwiches with these little pieces of toast. That set me to looking for other things to serve at our Valentine’s tea party. I found some little red foam plates. I had already picked out red plastic cups, not even in Valentine-planning mode yet. Now the wheels were turning. I went over and got the waffle maker I saw on a previous shopping trip that makes 3 heart-shaped waffles.

This is very cute, too!

Now the wheels were smoking! I got a bouquet of pink flowers.

These flowers have silver glitter on them and a faint rose smell.

I looked at some of the icing-covered cookies and brownie bites, but I really don’t like all of that icing. So I think I’ll do something with heart-shaped chocolate cookies that we make ourselves.

When I got home with the flowers, the kids knew something was up. I told them my plans for a Valentine’s tea party. Morgan said he didn’t want to be at a tea party. That’s for girls. But Kelsey convinced him that it’s not just for girls and it wasn’t all going to be pink. There would be lots of red, too!

I showed them the waffle maker and they were all excited, even Morgan. Anna said, “Sweet!”

So there you have it. I’m planning something several days ahead of the event. I don’t always have to be spontaneous. Now I have more time to get some more stuff for it. I can hear Gary groaning now.

Wheels for Noah

Help a homeschooling family get the transportation they need for their whole family. The Estes family are the owners of Hands and Hearts, an online store that sells homeschool materials http://handsandhearts.com. They have really neat resources, btw. 🙂

Their son, Noah, has a mitochondrial disorder and is now at the point where he needs to be in a wheelchair. They cannot modify their present van to put in a wheelchair lift without losing seats which they need for their other children. They have 8 children.

(I have the button for the blog that gives updates on Noah on my sidebar now. Noah is such a cute little boy, and he has been through so much. Please pray for him.)

The Lord has given them a plan and opened doors for them to do a fundraiser. Details are below. If you can help in any way, please do what you can. At least spread the word about this fundraiser for Noah called Wheels for Noah.

These are the details sent by his mom, Kate Estes.

============COPIED & PASTED INFORMATION===============

_Happy, Sad, Exciting News_

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 01:53 PM PST
Happy, sad, exciting news – how’s that for a mixed emotional bag? Not long ago I asked for prayer for clarity regarding a fundraiser for a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for Noah. The Lord really opened things up as of a few days ago, and Jeff and I have been able to accomplish an incredible amount with His help – Jeff here at home, and me in the hospital when Noah was sleeping or engrossed in a video.

The whole thing has me happy because we NEED this vehicle and I know it will be a huge blessing for all of us, especially Noah. It makes me sad because, well, because it stinks to need a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. To be honest, while it makes me sad sometimes, I did most of my grieving last summer as we came to terms with the fact that Noah would need a wheelchair. It was a very, very bitter pill to swallow, but at this point I’m choosing to rejoice that he is getting his ideal chair (next week!!!) and that the
Lord is opening doors for a fundraiser for the vehicle.

It’s exciting because while we were hoping to do something toward the end of March, the Lord has shut the doors for every date except March 5th.
Gulp. That is really, really soon and we are going to have to move really, really fast.

Here is the 3-fold plan:

1. On Saturday, March 5, we will be having “A Night for Noah” at our church. It will be a fun family event with all sorts of activities. The key fund-raising aspect will be a silent auction.

2. On Friday, March 4th- Saturday, March 5th, we will be hosting an ONLINE silent auction for those who can’t attend the local event.

3. On the fundraiser website (I’ll share about that in a minute), we also have a place for direct donations and for sponsorships (where individuals or businesses can buy a small ad that will go on the website.)

It’s a lot to get done in 24 days, but the Lord is already opening doors left and right. We’re interfacing with local friends, family, and community members to get the local event (A Night For Noah) off the ground, but we need the help and support of our online friends in order to make the online silent auction a success. While it’s always been painful for me to ask for help, I’m going to jump right in here and list what we need:

1. We need your help publicizing this event. It will take a LOT of
publicity to pull this off, but if each of you blogs, tweets, emails, and posts on facebook, we can create some massive momentum. Many of you probably also belong to online groups like Yahoo groups where you could spread the word.
We also know that many of you are a sort of contact person for a church, Bible study, etc. that you attend in real life – please let those people know as well.

Please contact owners of websites and blogs that you read as well! Doing so has the potential for them to spread the word to their entire circle of influence! Please tell everyone you can about this event and direct them to the fundraiser site – _www.wheelsfornoah.com_
(http://www.wheelsfornoah.com/) .

2. We need donations for the silent auction. We need donations of all kinds – gift certificates to online merchants, gift certificates/vouchers for national chains (restaurants, hotels, chain stores, etc.) and physical items. The items can be donated individually or combined into themed baskets (chocolate lover’s, date night, gardeners, book lovers, etc.) There are tons
of theme ideas in the “How to Help” section of_ www.wheelsfornoah.com._
(http://www.wheelsfornoah.com./)

3. We need financial donations – there may be people in your circle of influence who can’t donate something to the auction, but who would be willing to make a financial donation. Again, they can do this right on
_www.wheelsfornoah.com_ (http://www.wheelsfornoah.com./) .

You could donate an item yourself if you have some sort of business. You could go in with some friends to build a themed basket. You could also approach other businesses and ask them for a donation – these could be businesses that where you know someone personally, businesses that you patronize, and/or businesses that advertise on your blog or on blogs that you read.
They can be big chain businesses or little Etsy shops – every little bit helps!!

The _Wheels For Noah_ (http://www.wheelsfornoah.com./) site is a complete communication clearinghouse for all three facets of the fundraiser. You can read a more detailed list of ways to help and sign up to help right there on the spot. You can also upload donations you’ve procured for the auction – you provide the description, photo, suggested price, etc. I’ll read and modify these as needed – for example, I might choose to combine a couple of items into a package, then will approve them to go live on Friday, March 4th. The auction itself will be held right there on the site!

There is also a message board where you can indicate any merchants you’ve approached and what results you got. This will prevent anyone being approached by multiple people.

There is a “Donations” page where people can make direct donations via Visa or Mastercard and watch a thermometer rise toward our goal. There are instructions for donating via Paypal or check, and those payments will be added toward the goal thermometer as soon as they are received.

There is a guestbook where people can leave notes, prayers, and good wishes for Noah. At the end of the fundraiser, we can get a keepsake CD containing all of the comments, notes, photos, message board entries, etc. from the site!

So, in a nutshell: please visit _www.wheelsfornoah.com_
(http://www.wheelsfornoah.com/) and read about ways you can help. Share the site with everyone you know and ask them to spread the word as quickly as possible. Consider asking for donations for the silent auction and ask people you know to do
the same thing.

I hope that my straightforwardness in this matter is not an offense to anyone. I don’t want a SINGLE person to help out of a sense of guilt – but by the same token, this is the only way I have to get the information out to the many of you who have asked to help, and it’s clear we’ll need a clearly organized plan if we’re going to pull this off so quickly.

Noah is doing OK – good enough to be home, but pitiful enough to make my mama-heart hurt. He doesn’t seem to feel terrible, really, but is very weepy, very tired, and very pale. His nurse described him as “ashen” when she saw him. It’s clear that having the flu and a bladder infection back-to-back has taken a huge toll on him, and it will take lots of time, rest, and prayer before he is back to himself. I’m practically counting the minutes until his new wheelchair gets here. I know it may seem odd to be happy about
getting a wheelchair, but like I said at the beginning of this post, I did my grieving a long time ago. I know that Noah will be SO much more comfortable in his new chair, and it makes my mama-heart happy to know that I can cheer him on when he feels like being active, and support him when he’s tired and weak. Thank you for continuing to pray for him!!!

Blessings,
Kate
P.S. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or suggestions about the vehicle fundraiser.

Winter in Your Heart?


Does it feel like winter in your heart?

Are you asking the question: “Is love alive?”?

You might like the following video and song I found.

The meaning reminds me of the last part of Bette Midler’s song “The Rose”.

Some say love it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
Some say love it is a razor
that leaves your soul to bleed

Some say love it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love it is a flower
and you its only seed

It’s the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It’s the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance
It’s the one who won’t be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed
that with the sun’s love
in the spring
becomes the rose

I found this video at a blog called Storybook Woods. This was my first visit there, and it looks very good. Lots of homemaking tips and craft ideas. Her blog is very artistic and beautiful. And it sounds like she has written a book. I haven’t read it, so I can’t recommend it, but you might want to check it out!

Update:

I’ve read the first chapter, and I feel sure that Wren Bay is a wonderful book.

Check out this promo video that Clarice’s daughter put together for it: