Fragment Time!

} Wow, where does the time go? My days are running all together now - I didn't realize it was Friday!

} My mom wants me to take my aprons and turn them into a side business. I have to admit, that "S" was a fine achievement! I'm working on a mother-daughter special design right now. Just picked up the material today. Needless to say, I don't think the fairies would snub their noses at it! AND, I have this great idea for a Batman apron...and of course, one for myself - Wonder Woman!

} So I don't work at KFC anymore, so what? I still like the food! And have your tried these new Fiery Grilled Wings? Zero Carbs, low fat - and some nice spicy-ness! So nice, that I've had them three times this week. Seriously helps to have some variety on a low-carb diet.

} And remember the baby nahavo-style blanket? Well, I think it's obvious how it went over!

Love these Friday Fragments! For more - go see Mrs.4444 @ Half-Past Kissin' Time:

Tag...You're It!

I'm honored - I got tagged! So now, I get to share with you my Top 5 Memories of 2009 - and I am choosing happy ones, too! :-) So, here goes.

First up - My Last KFC Convention (little did I know it would be my last...at least for awhile ;-) ). It was fantastic because I got to do SO much for it. I produced the best video that touched everyone's heart while still providing information (and a lot of that was bad due to declining sales). Plus, it was in Washington, D.C., a place I haven't been before. So I got to visit the Smithsonian and all those wonderful historical places. We drove by Congress and I exclaimed to the driver, "Hey, I just saw Jack Bauer there on TV!" He politely agreed with me. Did you know there was a museum under the Lincoln Memorial? That was a secret my driver told me.

Second, was getting a new pastor at GCC. At first I was ambivalent simply due to the ups & downs we've had there during my 11-year tenure. But I truly believe Michael is right where God wants him to be. Plus, I've gained a new brother and sister in the deal! Now I just wish I had a picture of him in that elf costume...

Then there was the Women of Faith Conference in Indy. That's always such a fantastic experience anyway, but this year I met Mary Graham, President of Women of Faith. The speakers were speaking straight to me that weekend, and I'll never forget it. Yep, that's SCC on the stage!



In November came the 175th Anniversary Concert for GCC. That was a really big deal for a lot of people in many different ways. I've been told it was like a weight was lifted that night. Plus, all that video work! And the second half of 80s focus - the clothes and hair! Man - that was a GREAT night! I just wish I had some pictures from it, I'm stealing this one from Rebecca.

And my #5: Singing with the Family Choir at Northside Christian. This is just a picture of the stage, but imagine the floor painted white and multiple Christmas trees in various heights scattered around. The choir was in the middle and band scattered in front. I love to sing and be on stage. I had given that up for awhile, but I still love it. And it was in front of thousands of people over the course of the weekend -AND-those big screens on the side? Yep, ended up on those too. It certainly helped that I had started working out!

Now, I'm tagging!

Mrs. 4444, OctaMom, Marsha's Musings, http://www.themomjen.com/, and Denise, plus anyone else that wants to join in! Let me know so I can visit!

A re-do? Again?

I think in golf a re-do is called a mulligan. Wouldn't we all like to have a mulligan in life every now-and-then? There are lots of areas that I would love to re-do: certain relationships, not sticking with college the first time around, getting rid of my first car, and so on. We talked at a women's study one night about as women we like to have control. But there's only so much we have control over. And some of those things I think I would like a re-do for, I really didn't have control over in the first place. So why waste time going backward? Keep moving forward, as a good friend reminds me.

So why am I even writing this? I want to change my blog design again. Yeah, I know. However, I think this design just doesn't reflect "me" totally. But do you know how hard it is to fit strategic business with Wonder Woman with sewing & crochet and reading and writing and music and and and...all in one design! Good grief, I'm all over the place! I've been discovering a lot about me lately, and I apparently don't fit any rules. I don't have a specific focus, I am good at a lot of different things. That can be frustrating when trying to decide on a path of life to take when there's about 100 in front of you.

All I can do is keep moving forward. So, be on the lookout for one of my steps, blog redesign! No telling WHAT you'll see before I settle on something more permanent. Thanks for visiting!

Are you an untidy child in need of cleaning and love? I am.

During my down time these past few days I managed to watch a few movies. One being The Inn of Sixth Happiness with Ingrid Bergman and Curd Jürgens from 1958.

Bergman plays the role of Gladys Aylward, a real person in history. She was someone that in Britain was rejected as a missionary, but went to China anyway. She teamed with another missionary in Yang Cheng that ran an inn for traveling merchants - hot meals and stories from the Bible. Gladys adopts children, assimilates herself into the culture and basically just loves the people...and they love her. During the Second Sino-Japanese war, she led 100 children over the mountains to freedom. She became known as "Ai-weh-deh", or "Virtuous One" in real life, but in the movie is was Gen-eye (that's how it sounded). And in the movie there is of course a love interest - Colonel Yin Nan.

This movie and story was really done well and I just loved it. But there's one line that stuck with me. When Colonel Yin is talking with the magistrate of the town, and admits he's in love with Gen-eye, he shows his admiration and respect of her in his description of her relationships with others. "She sees them all as untidy, unkempt children in need of a little cleaning and loving care."

How much better would life be if we all had that view of other people? Isn't that pretty much how God as Father sees us? In need of cleaning and love. Good thing Jesus can do that.

Time to Blossom

"Then the time came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." ~ Anais Nin

This quote sparked me. The past few days I have been in a real funk. Blame it on change of diet, hormones, loneliness, whatever, but it's been painful and mind-numbing. I have had to literally turn off my brain just to get some rest. And before this I had been contemplating doing an intensive study on who I really am - how God created me, what He created me to be and to do. I am praying that through this kind of study I will gain some revelation from God on what path to take in my life.

I know that the will of God encompasses a lot - like an umbrella - and within that I can make my own choices about my looks, career, education, men, etc. But one thing I have learned about myself is that I don't like to waste time going in the wrong direction in life, and I've been down a few wrong paths.

I started this study tonight based on the initial breakdown of who I really am: a creation of God, and a female. Then questions stem from there, and whaddya know, some answers are found in His Word. I've got a couple of books to help guide me to the appropriate passages (The Purpose Driven Life, and Captivating). Already, I can think a little again, and I remember my word for 2010: preparation.

If you'd like to join me in this, leave me a comment or send me your email, or shoot me a message on facebook. I'll post or send thoughts your way and I'd really like to hear all your thoughts on this as well - how it applies to you.

Let me leave you with these:

"For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." (Colossians 1:16)

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:10)

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)

One Word...Preparation (and a creative tidbit!)

The other day I read Natalie's blog about having one word to describe the new year. Her's is "Believe," and she has a great posting about it and how she'll be focusing on that one word all year.

I loved that post and it got me to thinking and praying about my one word. I'm in such a desert place again in my life - nothing I did intentionally, but it sure feels like the desert again. But as I was showering and reflecting on my readings of late, I thought about all the stuff you have to do in the shower and how different it would have been for Esther (Hadassah) in the Bible. She was part of the captured girls in Persia to be prepared for one night with the King so he could pick a new queen. It took a year to prepare. A whole year for one night. And I thought taking an hour to prepare a meal that takes 10 minutes to eat was bad.

And then a word came to me - Preparation. I don't know for what, but I now feel like I'm being prepared for something, for that "such a time as this" kind of moment or season just as Esther was prepared. Who knows but God? So all I can do is focus on being the daughter of the Most High King to the best of what He's created me to be. I will focus on this word this year. So when I feel like I'm in the desert place, I know that I am to be preparing, learning, resting for something special. It'll be a great surprise I'm sure!

So what would your one word be for 2010?

When "preparing" for this posting, I thought about my recent sewing projects and all that went into them to "prepare" the material for sewing, and the final projects for revealing. I'm going to get a lot of mileage out of my word this year! For the secret to this picture, visit my Creative Side blog to see my first few sewing projects. And I'm sure Rebecca will be posting about it soon, too!

"Fearless" Book Review

“Fear may fill our world, but it doesn’t have to fill our hearts. It will always knock on the door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner, and for heaven’s sake don’t offer it a bed for the night. Let’s embolden our hearts with a select number of Jesus’ do not fear statements. The promise of Christ and the contention of this book are simple: we can fear less tomorrow than we do today.” These are some of the most comforting words that Max Lucado starts with in the first chapter of his latest book, “Fearless,” that pretty much summarizes the whole message. Max gives incredible insight into some of the situations that we fear most, everything from not mattering in this world and disappointing God, to not being able to protect our kids and those final moments of life.

At each turn of the page this book set my heart on fire and led me to the words that give peace eternal. It seemed as if he was talking to me specifically with some of the concerns and the illustrations he gave I completely related to. Personally, I think this is Max Lucado’s best book yet. And I was even more excited to discover the discussion guide in the back! Now my small group can cover these topics and be blessed by the truth and insight found in Lucado’s words. Thanks, Max!

For more information on Fearless, and to peruse through sample chapters, visit Thomas Nelson Publishers' Fearless Resource Link.

Fragment time!

} I love these Friday Fragment sessions cause today that's about all I can do is fragment a thought or two out there.

} I FINALLY got the navaho baby blanket done (if you click the pic it'll get bigger)! This thing was tricky - you had to follow the insructions to the letter and count a lot. For crochet, I'm used to getting a "pattern groove," get the first bit of stitches down and you can just repeat and hardly ever look down. Not to mention my great-grandma taught me you always have to adjust a pattern to get it just right. No wonder I never saw her make on of these! But Grandpa of the Baby Cherokee Princess is going love this! The colors, although seemingly strange for a baby blanket (with black), is their family's tribal colors.

} Spent New Year's Eve with my BFFs watching movies, eating lasagna-spinach dip-frozen turtle pie, and playing Wii! It was my first time playing the Wii. I'm officially hooked! I knocked out a few other players in boxing with the help of my Turbo Jam training, won a match in tennis, busted a bunch of beach balls on my segway, and led a parade around the fountain (leave it to me the drum major to find the marching segment on the Wii Fit!). And I got to thinking about the different foods that are traditional meals for New Years. I've always heard to eat greens and black-eyed-peas for luck. Anybody do anything traditional meal-wise? I found a cool article on Epicurious if you want read more about it.

} I've already slept-in with a headache this morning. But maybe, just maybe if I get up and try to get motivated the feeling to go back to a warm cozy bed would be conquered.

HAPPY 2010 Everyone!

May the Lord bless you and keep y ou. May the Lord show you his kindness and have mercy on you. May the Lord watch over you and give you peace.

Love these Friday Fragments! For more - go see Mrs.4444 @ Half-Past Kissin' Time: