Quilt Holes

My husband sent this poem to me today and as tears sprung to my eyes, I smiled too...I sometimes try to imagine what it will be like when I see my Lord and Saviour...what will I do?  What will I think?  Will I speak?  Will I cry?  Sing?  Laugh?  Dance?  I often wonder how I will feel when I kneel before Him and offer my pitiful life to Him, the Lord of All...the Mighty One...My Redeemer...My Saviour...My Protector...what might He say to me?  

The song, I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me speaks to my heart every time I hear it played - it's a powerful reminder that some day I will kneel or stand before the Lord Jesus and account for my life...I am so thankful that as a believer, His blood covers my sin!

Anyway, here is the poem my hubby sent me today.  I'm a novice quilter, so it hit home in more than one way. 

 

Quilt of Holes

Author: Unknown

As I faced my Maker at the last judgment, I knelt
before the Lord along with all the other souls.

Before each of us laid our lives like the squares
of a quilt in many piles; an angel sat before each of us sewing our
quilt squares together into a tapestry that is our life.

But as my angel took each piece of cloth off the
pile, I noticed how ragged and empty each of my squares was. 

They were filled with giant holes.  Each
square was labeled with a part of my life that had
been difficult, the challenges and temptations I was faced with in
every day life. I saw hardships that I endured, which were the largest holes of all.

I glanced around me.  Nobody else had such
squares.  Other than a tiny hole here and there, the other tapestries were filled
with rich color and the bright hues of worldly fortune.  I gazed upon my own
life and was disheartened.

My angel was sewing the ragged pieces of cloth together, 

threadbare and empty, like binding air.

Finally the time came when each life was to be
displayed, held up to the the scrutiny of truth.  The others rose; each
in turn, holding up their tapestries.  So filled their lives had been.
My angel looked upon me, and nodded for me to rise.

My gaze dropped to the ground in shame.  I hadn't
had all the earthly fortunes.  I had love in my life, and laughter. But
there had also been trials of illness, and wealth, and false
accusations that took from me my
world, as I knew it.  I had to start over many
times.  I often struggled with
the temptation to quit, only to somehow muster the strength to pick up and
begin again.  I spent many nights on my knees in
prayer, asking for help and
guidance in my life.  I had often been held up to
ridicule, which I endured
painfully, each time offering it up to the Father
in hopes that I would not
melt within my skin beneath the judgmental gaze of
those who unfairly judged me.

And now, I had to face the truth.  My life was
what it was, and I had to accept it for what it was.
I rose and slowly lifted the combined squares of
my life to the light.

An awe-filled gasp filled the air.  I gazed around
at the others who stared at me with wide eyes.

Then, I looked upon the tapestry before me.  Light
flooded the many holes,
creating an image, the face of Christ.  Then our
Lord stood before me, with
warmth and love in His eyes.  He said, "Every time
you gave over your life
to Me, it became My life, My hardships, and My
struggles.

Each point of light in your life is when you
stepped aside and let Me shine
through, until there was more of Me than there was
of you."

May all our quilts be threadbare and worn, allowing
Christ to shine through!

 Is this the cry of your heart today?

 

The Real Me

Yes, I have procrastinated with this post.  Over the weekend, I read my blog roll and read Jen's post at Denton Sanatorium to bloggers to be honest and "real" in their blogs.  That's a tough one!  But, here goes...

This is me with my sweet husband, Jeff.  This is as close to a self-portrait as I will allow as I am not typically the one in front of the camera.  You can see why, can't you?  ugh...  But hubby makes up for me - he's handsome with a great smile and gorgeous blue eyes!

Reality check?  I need to color my hair, lose weight and find some new clothes.  Ah well, that will all happen in my spare time, right?  (If I could, I'd insert a laughing-out-loud smiley here)

A typical day in our house looks something like this:

I try to get out of bed by 5 a.m., but it's usually more like 6 a.m. these days.  Turn on the coffee, wash my face and turn on the computer.  Allow myself at least 1/2 hour to wake up a bit.  Work for about an hour, make hubby's lunch, get another cup of coffee, hug him goodbye, and get back to work.  I try to work until the girls wake up, which is usually around 8:30 or so.

My girls need a few minutes to wake up too, so I give them about 15 minutes to read and then we get breakfast.  Hygiene, getting chores started, and then we sit down to school.  Sometimes we don't get school started until (a-hem) 10 a.m.!  But that's ok, we get it done and that's what matters.  At least that's what I keep telling myself, a typical Type A personality.  If I could have my way, school would be started by 8 a.m.  Ah well, that's one of the beauties of home schooling... a flexible schedule.  

While the girls work on their subjects, I am usually flitting around the house tidying up whatever I didn't get done from the previous day and periodically answering questions from the girls as I fly by with laundry or stuff in arms.  Sometimes all this is done while I'm still in pajamas.  Sad, but true.

Lunch time for me is at 11:45.  I make my lunch while the girls finish up some things and then I watch "my" show.  No, it's not a soap opera!  I like the show What Not to Wear on TLC.  It seems a bit silly sometimes, but I like it anyway.  It's my "let down" for the day. 

1 p.m. - this is usually when my girls get their lunch (they eat breakfast so late) and watch a short show themselves.  I usually try to get more writing done for either my blog, website, or clients. 

Intermittently when I can no longer seem to form proper sentences, I get up and do more chores or see what the girls are up to.  By around 2:30 or so, I feel that wonderful "slump" - you know, when you want to lie down and take a nap but know you can't so you grab the first thing of caffeine or protein you can find, so I have to keep moving.

The girls spend their afternoons crafting, reading, playing the piano, or playing together.  Or, fighting - you know, it happens!  Right now, Julie, our oldest daughter, is working on Christmas gifts, so she often has her door closed in the afternoon.  It's all kind of hush-hush in there.  Love that!  Heather, our youngest, is an avid reader, so I can usually find her sitting in the living room or on her loft reading and listening to music.

Errands, if we have them, are typically next on the agenda.  I don't know about you, but when I leave the house, it's as if everything else just gets pushed to the side.  Errands seem to take forever, but we try to do them only a few times a week so we aren't out and running every day of the week.

By 4:30, I am thinking I need to consider what to have for dinner and try to get that started.  But, if I've gotten into a craft or have started a project, I will admit many times I am surprised when Jeff walks in from work and I have yet to even begin thinking about what to feed my family!  He is gracious with me, thankfully!   

Dinner, chatting with the girls about their day, showers, and then watching a bit of television before bed.  Once the girls are in bed, I might watch a show I've taped or tidy up some more and then get to bed by 10 p.m. when I can.  

It doesn't sound like much, but there are days when it's just plain crazy around here!  I'm sure everyone has those days, yes?

More truth about me...

• I love a neat and clean house but struggle mightily to get it and keep it that way.
• I let my oldest daughter go to co-op last week with her hair still pink from the soccer game the night before (yes, I worried about what people might think and then I thought, seriously, it's just pink hair and how many times do you let her do this?  Not a battle I thought was worth fighting.)
• My sewing area is a disaster...it must be all those creative juices flowing...uh-huh
• I have piles throughout the house - things I plan to do, things I want to do, projects I want to tackle, or stuff I just don't have a place for and am too lazy to stick it back up in the attic...which is another place that needs cleaning.
• My sweet husband gets to leave for work every day with this image of me in his head - a wife who is still in her pajamas, drinking coffee, and hasn't brushed her hair.  Yes, that's lovely isn't it?  I do get up early so I can work before the girls get up and we have to tackle school, errands, etc. so I don't do much to get ready for my day until after he leaves.  He says he doesn't care...but someday I'd like to be that wife who has exercised, showered, and is dressed to the nines for her day before he leaves for work!
• Sometimes I put dirty dishes into the dishwasher with the clean ones just so I don't have to empty what's left in there and I run it again.  Yes, I know...sad, but true.  It makes for a clean sink very quickly!  That's how I think on some days...get it done!
• One redeeming quality - I do make my bed every day.  I figure if the rest of the house looks like a tornado hit it, at least Jeff and I have one room in the house to which we can retreat at the end of the day.

It's true, we blog about what we think people want to read about.  We put out the best photos of our trips, our crafts, etc.  Those are great!  But now and then it is nice to know that there are other moms and women out there who get through their days by the skin of their teeth and sometimes in their pajamas!  

Scripture Reading Update

Day 8:  Job17-20

Day 9:  Job 21-23

Day 10:  Job 24-28

Day 11:  Job 29-31

Day 12:  Job 32-24

All my best to you today,

Turkey Meatloaf Recipe

We love this turkey meatloaf recipe.  It's moist and delicious with the addition of the cottage cheese in the middle.  As I've mentioned before, we are trying some new foods in our house and this is a recipe I discovered in the back of my recipe binder the other day. 

It's from MPS, or Metabolic Profile System.  I used to make this when I was in the program.  I think it's going to be a "keeper" from now on!

Moist Turkey Meat Loaf

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped (about 2/3 cup)
• 2 teaspoons minced, fresh lemon rind, divided
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed, divided
• 3 pieces whole wheat bread crumbs (easy to make your own - see below)
• 1/2 cup 1% low fat cottage cheese (you can substitute an extra egg or broth)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup apple juice or white wine
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, pressed or minced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Coat a 9x5 inch loaf pan with  nonstick vegetable cooking spray and set aside.

Combine the ground turkey, onion, bread crumbs, egg, juice (or wine), olive oil, 1 teaspoon of thyme, garlic, 1 teaspoon of lemon rind, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Mix well.  In another bowl combine the cottage cheese (or extra egg or chicken broth), remaining 1/4 teaspoon thyme, and remaining 1 teaspoon lemon rind.  Mix well.

Place half the turkey mixture in the bottom of the loaf pan and press out evenly.  Spoon the cottage cheese mixture on top of the turkey and spread evenly.  Cover with remaining turkey mixture.

Place meat loaf in a pre-heated oven and bake for one hour.  Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

**The original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of minced, fresh lemon rind, but we found that we preferred the meatloaf without this ingredient.

Make Your Own Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs

I simply toast whole wheat bread until it is crispy (without burning).  Then, I tear the toast into smaller pieces and put the pieces into a blender.  Pulse a few times until you have crumbs.  It's so easy and much less expensive than purchasing the ready-made version.

I apologize for no photo with this recipe, but I am having a difficult time taking food photos that do the food item justice!  

Scripture Reading

As I feared, I have already been remiss in posting the scheduled Scripture readings, so here they are beginning from where we left off:

Day 4:  Job 1-5

Day 5:  Job 6-9

Day 6:  Job 10-13

Day 7:  Job 14-16

Buy One Game, Get One FREE

This isn't normally the kind of post I would do, but with the holidays coming up, I thought perhaps others would appreciate this wonderful deal as much as I did! 

Wendy's has been including small versions of games in their kids' meals and along with the game is an advertisement for one full size version of the game for free with the purchase of one full size game. 

The web address is: www.patchproducts.com/wendys.asp 

Choose two games from the same category (they must be from the same age category or else the code won't work). When you go to check out, enter the coupon code of Wendys10 and you will get one of the games for free. 

I think I paid around $31 for two games and shipping. Great deal, yes?  Plus, the games are educational and fun, which makes it an even better deal in my humble opinion.

Hope this helps someone else! I know we're always trying to stretch our $$$$ and would love to help others do the same.

I have not been compensated in any way for writing this post - it's simply one wife/mom/woman to another offering a great tip for Christmas shopping.

Decorating Pumpkins

We were the lucky recipients of 8 pumpkins this year from my parents' garden.  We had a great time decorating them last night!  The girls drew their designs onto the front of the pumpkin and their Daddy did the actual carving. 

 Jeff making the initial cut on top.

Heather pulling out seeds (notice the slight grimace - it was slimy!)

Julie rather enjoyed putting her hands into the slime and pulling out seeds.  She said, "it's all part of the experience!"  Wonder where she's heard that before...

They were surprised at how many seeds were inside the pumpkin.

This was Julie's rendition of our cat Digsy drawn onto her pumpkin.

Heather drew our family on her pumpkin - "we're all chihuahuas Mommy!" (giggle, giggle)

We carved only two pumpkins and drew on the rest.

The entire Pardoe pumpkin family. 

The best part of the evening though was after we were done with the pumpkins.  We turned off the patio lights and sat together on the patio swing and enjoyed the soft glow of the pumpkins.  The night air was cool, so we snuggled together and just enjoyed the evening for a bit.

I plan to roast the seeds today, so hopefully I can post about those very soon!  

All my best to you this Monday morning!


Scripture Reading for today, October 18, 2010:  Job 1-5

Resting Today

Good Sunday morning!

It's a day of rest for us today and I plan to enjoy it to the fullest.  We're going to service this morning, a potluck dinner with our Sunday school class following service and then home to rest and perhaps paint pumpkins and roast pumpkin seeds.  Doesn't that sound like a wonderful fall day?

I think our cat Digsy has the right idea...a nap might be nice today...

Scripture reading for today, October 17, 2010:  Genesis 8-11

Enjoy your day, whatever you may be doing!

Learning Something New - The First Day!

Good Saturday Morning to you!

 
Yesterday was my first day of reading through God's Word chronologically.  As you may expect, I began by reading in Genesis, chapters 1-3.  I have read through this book of the Bible several times during my Christian walk, but I learned something new yesterday!  It was rather exciting to me that the Lord would have an interesting nugget of truth for me on my very first day of this Bible-reading journey.  (Isn't He GOOD?)

In Chapter 3, it talks about how Eve and Adam sinned against the Lord by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge (of which they were instructed not to eat) and that they realized they were naked and needed clothing.  The Lord explained to them that they were going to have to leave the garden and toil and labor to make a living now that they had disobeyed, sinned, against Him.

Verse 21 of Genesis Chapter 3 says, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."  I read through it twice and thought, wait a minute!  Did the Lord kill animals in the Garden of Eden in order to make the clothing for Adam and Eve?  That seemed odd to me, so I asked my husband about it.  The conversation went something like this.

Me:  Honey, this is what verse 21 in Genesis Chapter 3 says (quoted it to him).  Does this mean the Lord killed animals in the garden of Eden to clothe Adam and Eve? 

Hubby:  Yes.

Me:  Was it because sin was committed by Adam and Eve?

Hubby:  Yes.

Me:  But, why did he kill the animals? (in my mind, the Lord could have just produced some clothing for them without sacrificing the animals' lives)

Hubby:  What had to happen in order for sin to be forgiven? 

Me:  Christ had to die on the cross for my sins.

Hubby:  Yes, and He was perfect, right?  (I'm nodding)  Christ was perfect and yet He had to die.  The animals in the garden of Eden were perfect too before sin, but once sin entered the world, the animals were killed to cover Adam and Eve's sin (their blood was shed).

Me:  (the light bulb went on!)  Oh!  So, this is a 'type' of Christ!

Hubby:  It's a foreshadowing of Christ coming to die for our sins!  (I am nodding) 

Me:  I get it!

I grabbed a pencil right then and wrote that nugget of truth out right in the margin of my Bible so I wouldn't forget it.  Yes, it's ok to write in your copy of God's Word!  

Now, you may be thinking, wow, she just got that after reading through Genesis several times?  I am still in awe of the fact that we can read God's Word over and over and still see and understand new things every time we read it.  He opens our eyes to what I think of as "big" truths and "little" truths.  I know that truth is truth, but sometimes for me, I feel like He gives me one or the other depending on what is going on in my life at the time.

Again, isn't God Good?

I love the saying, "God is good all the time...and all the time God is good." 

To be truthful, there are days that I cannot say that without a niggling question in the back of my mind...my disbelief gets the better of me sometimes...but in my heart of hearts, I know that He is Good.  I know that He has my best interest at heart.  He loves me with an everlasting Love. 

I am humbled that He would love someone like me.  A flawed, selfish, cross (sometimes), difficult person like me...He loves me with no holds barred and died for my sins so that I might live with Him in eternity.

That truth still makes me cry sometimes and makes me wonder why...but deep down I am so very, very grateful that He loves me the way He does.  Thank you Lord!

I hope the Lord is showing you new and exciting things each and every day as you read through His Word and listen for His voice.  He loves you. 

Scripture Reading for today:  Genesis 4- 7

All my best to you today,