Undisturbed Calm to Accept...

"O God, give us serenity to accept what cannot be changed, courage to change what should be changed, and wisdom to distinguish the one from the other." ~ Reinhold Niebuhr



In my words...

God... give us clear, unclouded, undisturbed calm to accept what can't be changed. Give us strength in spirit to change what should be changed and good judgment to see the difference between the two.

How often do we fret over things we have no control over... like the changes in our life from the Lord?

 

Okay... we have a choice.

 

A choice to take the steps toward change or not, but if we are compelled, moved or spoken to by God and we do naught... then we have a reason to fret.

 

Do I mean we will be struck down in our tracks if we don't obey?

 

I would not be sitting here typing this now if that were the case.

 

I do believe however; that God is in complete control and is a loving but disciplinary God. I look back over the years and see that when I didn't obey, I was taught a valuable lesson in the process.

 

God loves me but He doesn't let me slide.

 

It's like being a parent. You teach your children, you guide them, and you tell them what to do. You love them with all your heart, but when they blatantly disobey you, you discipline them.

 

Does this mean you don't love them anymore? - Of course not.

 

Does this mean you're going to leave them on their own and let them do what they want? No.

 

You will always be there to pick them up when they fall, to guide them and to love them, no matter what.

 

That's how God is.

 

So have an undisturbed calm and follow God's calling on your life. Don't fret, Jump! Jump straight into God's arms and do His will.

 

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

May the road rise up to meet you...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Comments by ZingerBug.com

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

Why Is It...

Why is it when we laugh so hard, we start crying?

Why is the power of suggestion so strong?  For example: if someone suggests there had been a mouse in their desk... you instantly start checking your desk.  Even though the person who had the mouse, keeps food in their desk and you do not.

It's the afternoon and your feeling tired, but as soon as you punch your time card out, you get a spring in your step and have re-energized.  Why is that?

Why is it we tend to remember the hard times more than the good times and we forget how blessed we are until we hear of someone who is suffering more than we are?

Why, why, why...

I'm sure there is someone out there that has an answer for every question I asked, but I don't really care if there is an answer or not.  It's the questions and the curiosity that keeps things interesting in life; that keeps us searching and striving to learn more.

If we didn't ask, we would grow old and stagnant on the inside.

Wouldn't you agree?

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Tonight was the Logan County PieceMakers Quilt Guild monthly meeting.

We received a Hoffman fat quarter for the Hoffman Challenge.  Our creations are to be done and submitted at our June meeting.  We will have judges come in to judge the entries. 

The wheels have been turning in my mind on what I'm going to create with this fabric but I need to stay focused on my afghan and get it done this week.  Next week I can sit down, plan and draw out a design for this years Hoffman challenge.

It was announced tonight, that the 8th Annual Spring Fling Shop Hop is coming up.  If you happen to be in my neck of the woods, here are the dates of the Shop Hop and the participating stores. 

March 31 through April 2, 2011   Thurs. - Sat.   

9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Participating Shops

COUNTRY HOUSE QUILTING

4794518978

16324 N. Hwy 94

Pea Ridge, AR 72751

CROOKED CREEK QUILTS

479-996-5808

1736 W. Center

Greenwood, AR 72936

www.crookedcreekquiltshop.com

JUST FOR FUN FABRICS

479-424-1219

Maybranch Square, Suite 12 - 2801 Old Greenwood Rd.

Fort Smith, AR 72903

www.jfffabrics.com

MAMA'S LOG HOUSE

479-928-1600 or 883-0254

3715 E. Clarks Chapel Rd.

Huntington, AR 72940

www.mamasloghousequiltshop.com

THE QUILT CORNER

479-298-3006

110 S. Hibler St.

Sulphur Springs, AR 72768

THE RABBIT'S LAIR

479-636-3385

116 west Walnut - Historic Downtown

Roger, AR 72756

www.therabbitslair.com

SAGER CREEK QUILTS & YARNWORKS

479-524-5244

304 E. Central

Siloam Springs, AR 72761

www.sagercreekquilts.com

SEW A STITCH

479-273-6064

100 N.W. 2nd St.

Bentonville, AR 72712

www.sewastitch.com

I'm thinking... ROAD TRIP!!!

I also found out the 2011 Quilt Congress will be in Fort Smith, AR in September.  I will post more info on that when I get it.

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In Closing...

My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart.

Psalm 73:26

God bless and keep you,

Sonia  

A Generous Monday

Today was a hectic but good Monday.  Monday, good?  Hectic yes... but good?

It actually was a pretty decent day.   Today we started our bi-annual "teacup" auction for the American Cancer Society, we have at work for the employees to participate in.  My morning was filled with setting it up.

When I first heard of a "teacup" auction, I visualized a lot of pretty teacups sitting out for auction. 

That's not exactly how it goes.   We take in donations from our employees and some suppliers, for the auction and I use recycled cardboard boxes from work to collect tickets.  Tickets are sold and the buyer puts a ticket or tickets in the box for the item they are interested in.

This teacup auction had enough donations to have 57 different groupings, taking up 5 tables.

The donations were everything from live plants to items from Professional football and baseball teams.

Here are a few pics of some of the stuff turned in. 

 

Someone made a birdhouse .  There is also a bookmark that is embroidered.

This box gets filled up every time!  Go figure.  :)

 One of our pro-athlete donations

A cute embroidered diaper (part of a set)

A cedar book shelf and a small cedar chest, made by an employee's spouse.

Small table... 

Can you believe it was made out of scrap pallets from the back of the plant?!

We usually get some pretty good stuff to raise money with.  I think we will do good this auction.  I will post how much we raise later in the week.  We will have the drawing on Friday.

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This evening I reached one of my goals for this week.   

 I finished the star block for the Quilts of Valor project.  

 

I will mail it off tomorrow.

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 In Closing...

The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

Psalm 34:7

God bless and keep you,

Sonia

Shouldn't All Recipes Be Good Recipes?

Today turned out to truly be a day of rest.  I wound up taking a nap for about 2 hours this afternoon.

I had planned on making my star block for the "One Star Challenge' for the Quilts of Valor program, but alas the "sand man" took over.

I picked out the fabrics last night that I'm going to use.     

 

When I got home from church this afternoon I cooked the chicken pot pie for lunch.    It doesn't look that good in the pic, but it turned out pretty good.  Good enough to save the left overs.

After church this evening, I decided I wanted something sweet to eat.  So I decided to follow a recipe for a coffee cake.   I had everything I needed in the pantry and it didn't take a long time to cook... or so I thought.

I followed the recipe to a "T",  but there are times you come across a recipe that just doesn't work out.  I wound up throwing out half of the cake.  

In the recipe it said to cook for 20 minutes at 300°F.   I did.  

It was not done in 20 minutes.  As a matter of fact I wound up cooking it for 40 minutes.  

Then after eating a slice, I decided I did not care for the recipe.  I asked my husband and kids their opinions and they agreed.  It wasn't awful but it wasn't delicious either.   So a frowned face gets marked on that recipe page.  >(   

This "not so good" recipe was not from my vintage cookbook set.

Have you ever tried a recipe that didn't turn out?  I mean, followed it to a "T" and not tweaking it?   I was surprised that this one didn't turn out.   That usually happens when I don't follow the recipe!  

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My Goal this week...

I actually have two goals for this week.

1.   Make the star block for the Quilts of Valor and mail it out.

2. Finish the afghan I started (pattern on Crochet tab) and mail to Project Linus.

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Microsoft clip art

To check out the Giveaways Tab at the top and enter.  :)

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In Closing..

Stand fast in the Lord.   Philippians 4:1

God bless and keep you,

Sonia 

A Beautiful Day Indeed

Today was a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine.  I took some pictures of the new growth going on where I live.

This flowering pear tree is in my back yard.  The blooms are ... well quite frankly... they are stinky.  Never the less the tree is pretty when it is in bloom.

 

The daffodils and hyacinths at the front of my house are blooming too.

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MY GOAL TODAY...

I finished my "Spring Trip Around the World" quilt today.   

I will be donating it to the Logan County PieceMakers Quilt Guild's "Love Quilt" fund.   I am over the collection of  love quilts and lap quilts this year and thought I'd start it out right by putting in a quilt.  

The quilts are given to young children entering a head-start program and to those in nursing homes.  As you know, change is difficult for a lot people.  So these quilts help comfort the ones making a transition in their lives. 

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RECIPE...

One of my blogger friends, Mariliz, mentioned chicken potpie in one of her blogs this week and I have been wanting chicken potpie ever sense!

So, that's what we are having for lunch tomorrow after church.   I will be using a version of chicken potpie from my vintage cookbook collection.

The recipe is called Chicken Casserole with Pimento Biscuits.   My family doesn't like pimentos, so I'll be leaving them out and will most likely add another veggie to the filling.  You can see the recipe on the Recipe tab above.

Right now, I smell the chicken cooking.  My husband is such a sweetheart.  He always takes steps to help me out.   The chicken is rolling away in a big pot with onions and seasoning.

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GIVEAWAYS

Check out the new giveaways I posted today on the Giveaways Tab at the top.

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IN CLOSING...

He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.

Psalm 91:2

God bless and keep you, 

Sonia

 

Just One Star Challenge from Moda Fabrics

Below is a challenge I have taken on.   

Please read and contribute to those who serve for our freedom!

http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-one-star.html

Moda fabrics is proud to be participating in a Quilts of Valor program co-ordinated by Marianne Fons. Moda's very own Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson have created a line of fabrics and kits benefiting this program available in stores April 2011. Invite someone you know that may not

quilt to get involved.

Note from QOVF website: Just how much of an impact has the Quilts of Valor Foundation made? As of February, 2011 there have been over 37,000 quilts awarded to service members/veterans.

So this project inspired us to take it a step further.  

We invite you to join the Moda staff and designers in our newest Challenge…

The challenge is to piece, quilt and bind 100 quilts in 100 days using the
Flag of Valor pattern by Minick and Simpson.

The deadline for star blocks
is May 1, 2011 so that we can meet our quilt deadline
by Flag Day, June 14, 2011.

As the saying goes – “many hands make light work”.

We need 1800 star blocks to reach our goal.
Please take a few minutes to piece Just One Star block (click here for block pattern) using a medium red or blue and a cream background. Better yet, invite your small group or even your entire guild to make Just One Star block. Sign each block with your name and state.

Then we can truly say....the hands of a grateful nation comfort our soldiers!

We will coordinate the  donation of the 100 quilts thru the Semper Fi Fund, a cause

that is near and dear to designers, Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson.

Thank you for your help!

Send untrimmed blocks to:

United Notions/Moda Fabrics
Attn: Just One Star Project
13800 Hutton
Dallas, TX 75234

Mark Dunn, Laurie Simpson, Polly Minick and Colonel James J. Minick USMC will be involved with the Semper Fi organization to donate the completed 100 quilts.

2 ways to be involved:

Make a quilt block (blocks) to support moda and Semper Fi's efforts.

 Complete quilt kits (shown below) are available from your favorite

quilt store to benefit Quits of Valor .

"I am so excited about this project and think quilters everywhere are
going to jump into this." - POLLY MINICK

 

 

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God bless and keep you,

Sonia