Preaching

Well, it's been ages since I've posted, but not a whole lot is really happening except that I preached for the first time on Sunday.  If you are interested you can have a listen here

Maxi Skirt…everyone should have one (or five)

I recently posted a picture onto Pinterest.  It’s a Maxi skirt by Splendid.  I commented that I was going to make it, and had the most repins of anything I’ve ever put up.  My concern was that there were going to be some who thought it was a link to a tutorial…and it’s not.  But it is currently on sale for about $40…I’m too cheap for that.

BUT, maxi skirts have got to be close to the easiest things you can throw together so I thought I would put up my own tutorial.  I’ve made 2 so far and they took about a half hour each and 1-2 metres of material.
PLUS, it turns out I’ve got a baby growing in my belly, so these skirts are going to be my stylish, comfortable go-to skirt for the next several months.

This skirt is all about stretchy, so find yourself some nice stretch material…I got mine for $3/metre and it’s light and VERY stretchy
First, decide how big to make the waste (I wear mine around my hips, so that is where I took the measurements) .  It will depend on how stretchy your material is and how big your waste (hips) is.  You can just wrap some around your waste and stretch it a bit so it fits comfortably.  My hips are 39 inches and the waste of the skirt is 32 inches to give you an idea.

I made the waste panel first and decided I wanted it to be pretty long like in the Splendid skirt, and also because of being preggers.  So I cut it 18 inches (it’s going to be folded in half, so keep that in mind, cut yours as long or short as you like).


I cut mine 18 (long) x 32 (wide) – don’t forget to add seam allowance.  Make sure when you cut, the stretchiest direction (if there is one) is horizontal.  Then  fold so right sides are together (making the fabric 18x16) and stitch.  Then you can fold it in half the other way so wrong sides are together. 
I put it on at this point where I was going to wear it and measured from the bottom of the material to the floor to figure out how long to make the skirt panels.  Again, don’t forget seam allowance and hem if you intend on doing a hem (I didn’t do a hem).


Next I cut my panels for the skirt…you’ll need two


Make the top of the panel the same as your waist.  So because you have two panels, each panel will be half the measurement of your waist.  I also wanted the back panel to be more full so I cut it into more of an ‘A’ shape.

The front panel measured 16 inches at the top, 35 inches long and about 20 at the bottom, the back panel was 16 at the top and about 31 at the bottom…add as much or as little fullness as you want to the front and back (plus seam allowance).  Then put the two panels together right sides facing and stitch both sides.  
Now it’s time to finish it off.


Put the skirt panels inside the waste (right sides together).  In the above photo I have the waist unfolded, but you’ll want to have it folded (wrong sides together) and pin in place (lining up seams).  Make sure when you stitch this part you use a stretch stitch or at least a zigzag stitch…and stitch away.   YOUR DONE.  You can wear these skirts as a dress as well…my only problem with that is I’ve got very full hips, but a small bust so it’s a bit loose on top as a dress…


I made the pink top as well, it’s very simple as well…if you are interested in a tutorial let me know…or I might just do one anyways!
I would live in these skirts if it wasn’t so hot at the moment!!

The Latest

Ok, first of all we are moving…our lease is up as of the 23rd so we are outta here.  And secondly, if you know anything of our life, it seems to be that I am always pregnant when we are moving and it is no different this time.  New baby signals new life all around.  And so I find myself with a little beauty growing inside of me and no place to live (I don’t know why it happens that way).

We are not fully sure of where we are headed.  For now we will be staying with my in-laws (thank goodness for great in-laws).  Then there might be a major move coming up, but we are waiting to see if Matt gets the job so I’ll hold off on that announcement until we know it is happening. 

And that is the latest…more info to follow.

Refashion…

Casey over at Stellar Mother has given me an opportunity to share a love of mine (sewing).  She asked me to do a tutorial on making yoga shorts out of a t-shirt.  It has got to be one of the easiest projects I’ve done.  If you’re interested in that kind of thing go check it out.  She’s got heaps of other tutorials of her own as well.

The Year that Was

Well…another year has finished…it’s been a challenge and a blessing.  We started the year wondering what the heck was going on.  We felt like we should be anywhere but where we were.  I think I asked God several times what he thought he was doing.  As it turns out he was getting us ready to get to know him a whole lot better.
Nothing on the outside of us has changed much, but I had asked God to do something spiritually significant in our lives this year and to be honest I was hoping for something big to happen in a day, but God took us through a few months of simply being with him…doesn’t sound spiritually significant?  Well, I’ll tell you I am a changed person.  I spend time with God now, just sitting and listening on a regular basis asking God to show me his ways and he teaches me more and more each day.  The amount of time I spend with God has increased significantly which changes me a lot.  I hear him better than ever, I know him better than ever and I look forward to continuing on that journey.
God introduced us to some good reading this year as well.  We have been inspired by reading what Walter Beuttler has to say on getting to know God better.  We were encouraged in our time of waiting on God by F. B. Meyer in his book Elijah and the Secret of His Power.  And most recently challenged by the life of Rees Howells in his biography written by Norman Grubb.  God has been preparing us, making us ready…we thought we were ready last year…but THANK YOU JESUS he knows us better than we know ourselves and we would have crashed and burned had God done things our way.
Are we fully prepared for the future?  I’d say not, but we expect that the work we do isn’t the right work unless we need God to do it.  Plenty of ideas we’ve had for things to do because we wanted to do ANYTHING but what we were doing (is that a confusing sentence or what?) were things WE could do, in our own strength…but that can’t be right.
So where does that leave us in 2012…well, unfortunately there are a few things I can not yet divulge…I know, I hate it when people do that…but I promise there will be more information forthcoming, it’s just that there are things that need to fall into place, and people who need to know before the blogosphere, but stuff is definitely happening.  God has opened doors and begun to move in ways we are astounded by.  When you let God do it his way, the impossible becomes the possible…we’ve begun to see it already and I can’t wait to share the whole story as it unfolds, but you’ll just have to wait – we had to!

Praise and Worship…

I’m not talking about the praise and worship done on a Sunday morning that usually includes singing, although I do thoroughly enjoy that type. 

The other day some circumstances arose that caused me to be frustrated and so I was saying to God ‘well what do we do now?’  And I did not find myself any less frustrated for doing so. 

I had read an article by Walter Beuttler called A Holy Solemnity not long before so decided that instead of complaining to God, I would begin to praise him and forget all about the circumstances.  After only a few minutes I felt so much better and being able to let go of all the stuff I know God has control over anyways, gave me a much clearer vision of things ahead.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above… Colossians 3:1.

I really don’t spend nearly enough time praising and worshiping – a few minutes every now and then is about tops and so I’ve been challenging myself to be at it throughout the day.  Instead of picking up a book to read or watching t.v. or getting on the internet, I give that time to God who deserves it.  I’m not saying I’m perfect at it, but boy does it feel good when I take the time to really set my heart on things above.

In fact, while I was spending some time in worship I was thanking God for his Holy Spirit because –well – it’s pretty awesome.  The H.S. gives us the ability to know God in a way that we could never know another person whether friend or lover.

For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  1 Corinthians 2:11,12

It has made me wonder if, perhaps, that is why the world is constantly seeking the spiritual, because we were made to have a spiritual relationship with God.  He is the only one who can give us what we crave because he is the only one who can give the Holy Spirit.  We can’t find it from another person and we certainly can’t find it from any other gods whether they be nature or otherwise…

Faith

I was reading 1 Samuel last night…still on the Old Testament…it’s really fascinating. 

If you haven’t read, recently or otherwise, 1 Samuel 14, have  a look.  The Israelites are basically surrounded by Philistines and grossly outnumbered.  The army is freaking out and running away, but Jonathan (King Saul’s son) decides to have a go.  So he leaves camp with his armour bearer and says ‘let’s go show ourselves to that group of Philistines and if they ask us to come up to them then we know the Lord has handed them over to us’ (I’m paraphrasing). 

So that is what happens and Jonathan and his armour bearer climb up to the group of Philistines and kill them all (about 20).  Following that, the Philistines get scared and start killing each other and in the end the Israelites win the battle.

What I found so incredible about this passage is that first of all, Jonathan stepped out in faith into a situation where any normal person would expect to be…well…killed.  He had confidence that God would hand that group over to him and so he climbed up and took them out – 2 men against 20.  A big step of faith, that, when looking at the ridiculously large number of the Philistine army, doesn’t really even make a mark…20 men killed among ‘soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore’ and Saul with about 600 men.  If I were Jonathan I don’t know that I would have bothered…such a huge risk for so little result?  It created barely a dent in the Philistine army…and yet, because of Jonathans faith, God gave the whole army into the hands of the Israelites.

I’ll let you make your own comparison in your own life.  All I will say is that when Jonathan stepped out on a limb for God…even though his initial impact was small, the world was changed.