Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

clipart courtesy of http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/

The last day of 2014! My nephew asked a question of family and friends on FB this morning–What would you like to say to 2014 as it closes? Sadly, he said it had been a terrible year and he was hoping for a better 2015. I remember those days of negative thinking so well! They got me nowhere and seemed like self-fulfilling prophesies. Over the past year or so I have slowly been taking on a more positive attitude–key word being attitude! My response to him was the following: “Saying goodbye to it sadly, but looking forward to an even better year in 2015. It’s all in my attitude. It won’t be perfect but I refuse to get all stressed over the imperfections. Leaning on the Lord. He knows His plan for each of us. Jeremiah 29:11-13.” *

Right after seeing my nephew’s question, I noted that one of my nieces posted a little story about two dogs going into a mirrored room, one comes out with his tail wagging and obviously happy, while the other comes out growling. The difference being of course that each saw himself in the mirrors, one seeing a thousand happy dogs and one seeing a thousand angry dogs and reacted to them. Point being, what you see around you is a reflection of who you are!

My goal in 2015 is to always see myself as the woman God made and the woman He loves, therefore seeing the world in the same way. He made all of us in His image and He loves us all! Our bodies are His temple. He lives in us,so let’s make our goals reflect that temple. Just as we want our homes to look the best when we invite guests, so should we want our bodies to be a wonderful temple we want to invite the Holy Spirit to inhabit. That is what I am setting for my goals this year. Happy and healthy new year everyone! What are your goals for 2015?  Have you thought about them?

*Jeremiah 29:11-13New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

Obstacle can’t stop you

Very true! As a friend once said to me, the only one stopping me is me!

osarobohenry

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2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,500 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Fun in the Mom Cave, aka Sewing room

Well now the holidays are over and the gifts have been opened and I am happy to report that my efforts in the Mom Cave were successful.   Lots of happy recipients!   I had such fun making the gifts and having a stress free Christmas in the process.   Much thanks to my sister Nancy for motivating me and reminding me how much fun it can be to be quilting and sewing again!

Thought I would share pictures of the things that I made that kept me away from the blogs for a while since they have now been gifted and are no longer a secret!    Hope you enjoy seeing them!

table toppers

wall hanging and table mat

potholders

another rag quilt for my son-in-law

and a rag quilt for my daughter

pillows for my granddaughter with fabric from her Dad’s birth country of Laos. She was thrilled to have them!

Another quilt for daughter-in-law.

table topper( I made four of these altogether!

This is my silly son, putting his rag quilt over his head when I was going to take the picture!   lol

I think you can get the idea of why I had so much fun and why I had very little time for blogging since Thanksgiving.    Can’t wait to get going on the next projects!  Lots of ideas!   I am so thankful that God blessed me with the ability and desire to create things with my hands and sewing machine and the myriad of other sewing tools.  I love giving gifts that I have put a part of myself into, whether it be in creating a handmade item or finding just the perfect gift that I know will be a blessing to the recipient.  What a joy it is to me to see a person enjoy what they have received.   Making others happy—a great gift from God that I never want to lose sight of.

2 Corinthians 9:7  ESV

⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I hope everyone had a very wonderful Christmas season with many blessings!

Healing with love

Good advice on living a much more peaceful and happy life! There is definitely something about helping others and taking the focus off of ourselves that goes a long way in making us realize how wonderful life is! Life isn’t all about us individually—it’s about helping and being kind and compassionate to others; making ourselves aware that regardless of our status in life, we are all the same! there is not one who is better than another. (my comment on this simple but wonderfully true post! I encourage others to read the full post. 🙂

Merry Christmas to all!

Ahhh the lovely Christmas season!   The time of year many folks get overly stressed on getting the right gift for everyone on their list. Stressed about budgets being off track because of the extra expenses this time of year.  I often ask myself How is it that we don’t remember that this holiday comes the same day every year and why don’t I plan for it ahead of time?   Is that what Christmas is all about for us?   It’s not a wonder that depression begins to set in come January for many of us.  Not quite sure how I managed to do a stress free Christmas this year, despite spending much time making gifts this past month.   I guess I just decided that stress was not worth it so I didn’t worry about it.  All projects got done and wrapped, except for a few small projects that I will do today and tomorrow—simple quilting projects that I am sure will be enjoyed by the recipients and definitely enjoyed by the quilter–me!

The biggest joy of having a stress free Christmas is it has given me more time to think about the reason for the season–the birthday of our savior, Jesus Christ.  How often, among all the hustle and bustle of the season, do we take the time to reflect on what it means to us.   Do we take the time to remember his birth? to thank God for sending his son to earth because he loves us so much?   On Christmas morning, before we begin to open all the gifts, will we take time to read the Christmas story in Luke 2 with our family and to remember it is His birthday?   Do we have a gift for Jesus?    As my pastor has said many times, how would we like it if it was our birthday and gifts were given to everyone except us?

We have a wonderful tradition in my church of giving gifts to Jesus, whether it be some item we have noticed we need in our church or money for money for missions or for purchase of items needed.   The packages are placed under the Christmas tree and the Sunday evening after Christmas, they are opened by the little children in our church.   It’s a great lesson and reminder that it is His birthday.

Pastor shared a great verse with us yesterday that, as he said, sums up the Christmas story in a sentence–1 John 4:14  ¹⁴ And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Le’s remember that verse and the story of Christ’s birth this season and share it with others!   Wishing you all a Christ-honoring Merry Christmas!   I love you all, my blogging friends all over the world!

this was fun to make and I have decided it is not just for Christmas.

When carbs go bad!

In order to make myself more accountable,  I decided to post this comment and cartoon on my blog and also on my Facebook page!

When carbs go bad! Made a pact with myself to lessen the amount of “bad” carbs I eat. I love breads, pasta, etc. but they do not love me, hence gaining back some of the 60 lbs that I lost last year. Very disappointed in myself. Saw this cartoon today that made me giggle but also motivated me at the same time. Also, based on a comment a friend made of something she did today, I googled 20 lbs of fat! oh yuck! that nasty stuff is part of my body? ewwwww Here goes with a new start to getting back on track!

Just an update on what is keeping me away of late

Hi everyone!  Sorry I haven’t been around much to read and comment on your blogs much and definitely not writing much these days.   Doing well health-wise but up to my elbows in Christmas activities between church and sewing some of my gifts.  Will try to keep in touch once I get caught up but in the meantime, I wish you all well.  Praying for all of  you my friends!

Hugs!

Amazing, Right? Did you see this?

I originally saw this on another blog and tried to reblog it because it is so amazing but the video never came through causing me to delete it.  Instead I am just posting it directly on my blog but I want to be sure to give the credit to Jason from the Harsh Reality blog for leading me to it.   Thank you Jason!  http://aopinionatedman.com/2014/11/30/amazing-right-did-you-see-this/

Warning:   Tissue alert.   An amazing story told in the the shadows of the dancers.