.post-body img { margin-left: -40px;}

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Changeable Me Thanking my Unchangeable God

  Do you ever stop and think just how changeable we are? It drives me crazy sometimes when I think of just how fickle I really am. I've already shared one aspect of that, in my sort-of, off and on frugality. But it certainly doesn't end there. For one thing, I love hearing and playing music. And sometimes I'll be completely and wonderfully caught up in it. But then it fades. The excitement dulls and I move on to something else, like, oh I don't know...sewing for instance. Then before too long I get tired of that and do something else. Really a vicious cycle, is it not?
  More than anything though, I hate that my thoughts and feelings towards God are never the same. Not to say that they don't improve. But I wish that once they have, that they'd stay that way. Okay, let me explain cause that was probably a bit confusing. Let me first start with this. I want to know my Savior. Not just to know a few aspects of His character, but to truly know Him. I love that the words of the Psalmist often express what I'm feeling so well. "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God," (Psalm 42:1 ESV).
  It is pure joy in those moments when I see Christ in a new way. Oh, how I relish those tiny glimpses of His majesty. But it is so easy to forget, to forget just how awesome His salvation really is, how abundant His mercy is towards me, everything. At times, I'm completely and wonderfully caught up in Christ. Then other times I become indifferent. I'm always changing and never consistent.
 Now, that was all rather depressing and I'm starting to get myself to that point, so I'd better break out the good news now. To begin with, I need to be thankful for those moments He does give me and the continual knowledge of Himself that He does give. But more than that, I am thankful that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," (Heb. 13:8 ESV). And you know what that means? It means that when I don't love Him enough, He still loves me with infinite love. It means that even if I can't see all of Him quite yet, He still is the great I AM. Just because I may not be aware of it from moment to moment, He still is who He will always be. He simply cannot change. And in a world with changing people and changing lives, and changing everything...that's good news!
  Of course, I can't fail to mention one last point. God has given me hope beyond this world and beyond this sinful flesh that I still painfully live in. For those rare but wonderful moments will one day be eternity. Those glimpses will be a never-ending, uninterrupted, infinitely blissful gaze. For "when he appears...we shall see him as he is," (1 John 3: 2).

More Country Folk Art

  In my last post, I said that I was frugal. I should clarify that I'm frugal at times. And at other times, not so much. Several weeks ago, I had the idea of decorating our bathroom "country." Why the bathroom? I guess because it needed a paint job. Anyway, I had the brilliant idea of painting it a deep, country red. As we soon discovered, red is a very difficult color to work with when it comes to painting walls. In fact, we ended up doing three coats, and still didn't get the exact color I wanted! But I'm getting a little off track here. Since the shower curtain we already had obviously wouldn't match, I decided I wanted to make one. Why isn't this being frugal? Well, it probably would have been cheaper just to buy one, since fabric is so expensive. Not only that but, once I get something in my head, I go all out. I think of this that and the other that would add to the looks of the room or help with the clutter. Yes, I hate clutter. To tell the truth, I sometimes dream about having my own house some day and how neat and tidy it'll be. But, as nice as it sounds, I have a feeling I'll have more things to do than go around picking up books, throwing out papers, and putting things away 24-7. Because that's pretty much what it takes.
  Okay, so I did make my shower curtain, and surprisingly without a whole lot of difficulty. Of course, it isn't too surprising since I didn't measure as much as I should have. So it was a bit lop-sided in the end. The worst part of sewing is the measuring. If there wasn't any math involved, I'd probably do it more often. So when I do sew, I do as minimal amount of measuring possible, which doesn't always give the best results. But it's almost worth it, just for the sake of making it more fun.    
Pinning
 When mom and I went to get fabric (in my opinion this is the greatest part about sewing), we really didn't know how much to get. And we ended up getting a lot less than what we needed. Fortunately, I found another pattern to add, besides the two colors we bought, from our stash of yard sale fabric (I guess all that cluttering fabric that takes up so much space in the closet can be useful after all). So at least we didn't have to go out and buy even more fabric.
Correction: A part of sewing
  So here I am, just starting the curtain and pinning the pieces together. And of course, that really annoying problem arose after I just started to sew. The fabric was wrinkling up and getting out of place. So, first lesson learned: pins aren't always such a good idea. Sewing certainly requires patience. After only about 10 minutes through, I had to break out the thread ripper. Not sure what it's called exactly. But, I'm calling it that (thought about finding out online, but I'll resist). Usually I have to consciously remind myself that one mistake made is another lesson learned. That seems to help keep me halfway calm, most of the time anyways. Alright, so shortly after starting up again, I screw up again. I don't know about everybody else but, that's just how it is when I sew. But thankfully,  mom's usually ready to help in such dire situations as these. =)
Mama to the rescue!
So now that I've got some help, I can start making progress once again. I like to finish my projects within, at most, a few days. I get rather uninterested if they drag out any further. I was able to finish this in about two days, and that I considered to be an accomplishment.
"Peaceful Ironing"
  I once thought ironing was a rather boring part of sewing, but now I can sometimes enjoy it. Especially when there's music in the background and if I do it in front of a window on a beautiful, almost-fall day. Then it can be almost peaceful, as strange as that may sound. 














Well, the rest of the way through it went fairly smoothly, so there isn't too much more to say. =)
Other than that I made button holes for the first time which was surprisingly easy and quick. All 14 holes differ quite a lot in size, as I was too anxious to hang it up and too lazy to measure. But you can't notice anyway once the hooks are attached, so I didn't worry too much about it.  
Finished!
   Unique for sure and certainly not perfect. But hey, that's what homemade is...unique and certainly not perfect.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Country Christmas Tree Ornaments


  I absolutely love country folk art (something I get from my mom). As that sort of thing can be quite expensive to buy though, and as I can be rather frugal, I'm trying my hand at making my own. My mom and I were walking one morning, and with the air being chilly, it got us thinking about winter, and then Christmas. She had the idea of decorating our tree differently this year...having a rustic Christmas tree. I loved the idea and got started with the decorations soon after. It isn't normal for me to be thinking about Christmas already when it's not even technically fall yet. But I was too anxious. So anyway, I decided to make these country Christmas tree ornaments.
 I'm not much of a seamstress, but I do like to sew off and on when I'm in the mood. I mainly like to work on household items. I've had my fill of trying to sew clothing. Then again, maybe one day I'll try again...who knows? Since I'll have to make a good many decorations for the tree (I only made five so far), I figured they should be pretty simple. As is often my habit, which isn't always a good one, I searched the web for ideas. I seriously count on the internet for everything...at least when it comes to hobbies. Nonetheless, I'm getting better I think. In fact, I didn't even follow directions for these! =) They were really, really easy and quite fun, especially when it came to mixing and matching the different colors. All I did was sew two triangle pieces together, stuffing it about three-quarters of the way through. After doing the same with the stars, I sewed them and the string onto the trees and hot glued the buttons. Fun, fun. =) 

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Hard Things

In our culture today, there is so much pressure put on young people over what they plan to do with their lives. Everybody is expected to go to college, to make something for themselves, to do something great. I had a complete stranger say to me once "Go out there and change the world.", which was interesting because he was there checking my Grandma's air conditioning at the time. But you all know how it is. When we graduate life changes, and most people think that it's the time when we can finally do something big. It's time to go to college and time to work on getting that career, because that is making the most of our lives. So when I tell people I'm not going to college, and that I'm just staying at home, I usually get a silenced, stunned kind of nod. Some may think that I'm just lazy, and some think that I have no aspirations. After telling a woman once that I was going to stay at home she replied, "So you don't have any goals?" Did I say that? No. For some reason, hard work, ambition, and success, are thought to only be achieved through college or anything else that the world identifies as being BIG. I'm not here to say that college is wrong, wrong, wrong. It can be good for some people who are looking to get some specific job they love or whatever. But what about young women, like myself, who desire something different? Young women, who want to stay at home, and eventually get married and raise families of their own. What are they doing? Are they wasting their time and their lives doing menial house work and never have any dreams and goals? A friend told me one time that she had read the book "Do Hard Things", and it made her feel like she wasn't really doing anything big or important. And sometimes that's how stay-at-home daughters are made to feel by our culture. But you know what? We are doing "hard things". When we are staying at home we aren't being lazy. In fact, daughters who stay in their homes are doing one of the hardest things there is; putting others before themselves. When we choose to stay at home, we aren't choosing to take the easy road of rest and relaxation. We're choosing to devote ourselves to serving our families. Think about the "excellent wife" in Proverbs 31. "She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands."(Proverbs 31:13), "She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle."(Proverbs 31:19), "She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."(Proverbs 31:27). Even though this passage is talking about a wife, as young women in the home we're preparing for marriage so I believe we can apply this to ourselves. Go and read Proverbs 31. Do you think that woman is being lazy? No, I don't think so. And you know what? I don't think she went to college, and she doesn't have a career, and she's not doing something that would be called extraordinary. She is simply doing the things that her family needs her to do, and things that will benefit her family. Working in the home is still a hard thing for me to do. I have always hated doing dishes, and rarely committed myself to helping around the house. But God has given me a new heart to want to serve and help my family, whether it's cleaning around the house or running errands for my mom, helping my dad with the garden or at the church, or whether it's helping and encouraging my younger brother. So, despite what some might think, staying at home is a hard thing. It's hard going against the culture and doing what many believe to be unimportant. And it's hard to commit yourself to serving others. But through God's grace we can "Do Hard Things". So, am I lazy? Maybe sometimes :) But God is working in me to make me an active servant. Do I have goals? Yes. I want to write stories, and maybe even a book! I want to serve my family, and most of all, I want to honor God with my life.

~Katlynn

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Story Writing

  I have always had an imagination. When I was little, I was always coming up with something exciting for my brother and I to play together, and sometimes I came up with stories to write. And yes, they were typical, little kid stories; terrible writing, no sense, and usually never finished. But it was just so much fun making them up. Well I'm a little older now, but I still like creating stories(I just don't play them). So about two years ago I decided to try writing again, but this time I wanted to really do it. This time I wanted to finish it and make it good. And much to my own amazement, I actually finished it, and it wasn't too bad. Still my writing wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, and I was still coming up with stories. So last Summer I read a book on writing and by Fall I had started into my next story, hoping that this time it would be even better. Now I don't know if I'll turn out to be an author some day or not, but writing has given me a chance to use the imagination God has given me. And on top of that it gives me something to work at and accomplish, and something to get better at and enjoy. I never imagined myself really trying to write, it just didn't seem like the kind of thing that I would like to devote my time to. But here I am. So I want to encourage you, to step out and try things, whether it be writing or something else, because you never know until you try. :)
  Now, if you're anything like me, you love adventure and excitement. And when I read I usually pick books that look like they're going to be just that, exciting. So when it came to writing, I wanted to write stories that would be exciting. The story I'm working on right now is called, In Search of Treasure. And yes, it's kind of a pirate story, but it's more than that. So here is a summary and maybe soon I'll put on a section for you all to read. 

      Rebecca Mason's world is turned upside down, following her father's death, when the truth about his past life is revealed and she is caught up in a deadly treasure hunt. While her and her companions struggle to survive, Rebecca struggles to forgive, and to show the rest that Jesus Christ is the greatest treasure.

~Katlynn 

Katlynn

Hey there,
  Thanks for visiting our blog! All posts labeled "Katlynn's Page" are posts where I show you my hobbies and other things I like to do. I hope they will inspire you to try your hand(and your brain) at being creative, or just give you something fun and interesting to look at. I have a collection of hobbies that are all fairly different from each other, but probably the core of many of them is creativity. I inherited the "artsy" gene from my Mom and my Grandma, but with more of a twist. I enjoy drawing sometimes; however, my creativeness mostly takes form in jewelry making, slideshow creating, story writing, etc. In my "Katlynn's Page" posts I'll share these with you, as well as other various hobbies and interests, and maybe they'll help get your own creative brain waves moving ! :)

Laryssa

Hello,

 Welcome to my "hobby page." First, I'll share a little about myself. I just turned 18 this last August and am still trying to grasp the fact that I'm actually an adult now and will never, ever be a kid again. So yeah, haven't quite gotten over that yet but...getting there, I think. =)
  As I am not doing school work any more, my time has been taken up with doing the things I love most, like baking, cooking, canning, couponing, shopping with my mom, serving in my church, being with my beautiful family, and being with my beautiful family (that's the best part about being a stay-at-home-daughter, so it's worth mentioning twice). Above all though, I love the wonder and joy and peace of living day by day with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love learning more and more about Him. I love that I am His forever. And I love that He has made me to glorify Him in absolutely everything I do!