No matter what.

Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change 

And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;

Though its waters roar and foam,

Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.

 

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My life I give to You, oh Lord,

Use me I pray.

May I glorify Your precious name

In all I do and say:

Let me trust You in the valley dark,

As well as in the light,

Knowing You will always lead me,

Your will is always right.

I know God makes no mistakes,

He leads in every path I take

along the way that's leading me to home;

Though at times my heart would break,

There's a purpose in every change He makes --

That others would see my life and know 

That God makes no mistakes.

~ Kim Moore

Disturb Us, Lord

Picture Credit: Wikipedia. Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada.

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Do you know the history of Sir Francis Drake? He is most well known as a daring English privateer and for helping to lead English fleets to victory against the great Spanish Armada in 1588. I recently came across this inspiring jewel which he wrote in 1577, and had to share it – really, really good thoughts. 

(Oh, and by the way, I began blogging here one year ago today! Thank you for reading! :o)

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Disturb us, Lord, when we are

Too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show Your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

……

Christmas Past ...

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If you haven't noticed it yet, I should tell you that today is exactly one month since Christmas. Because of this I decided it would be the perfect day on which to post the last aforementioned Christmas-y blog, with some of my favorite crafty/gifty ideas of this year.

I intentionally planned to wait on this post till the one month mark, I really did.

Really.

Okay, so I didn't. I actually had a case of intensive blogger procrastination. But then, it enables you get a last taste of Christmas one month after, so how nice is that?

;o)

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This was what we used as a tree skirt this year:

So cheery, yes? It's a red and white duvet cover we were thinking of turning into nightgowns, but in the meantime it was great for short-term use under the tree. ;) Our tree sits up off the ground on a stand about 6" high, so we generally need something largish to cover up the stand ... and I think this idea turned out pretty cute.

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My sister tried out popcorn-and-cranberry strings to liven up the usual popcorn ones. Definitely doing this next year -- they were so cheerful and old-fashioned looking.

She also made this fun decoration:

 

The picture actually doesn't do it justice ... I had a hard time taking a good one because of the weird angle of the cabinet! (Always blame bad photos on the surroundings. It always sounds plausible. ;o) A swag of cedar, popcorn-and-cranberry string, and a ribbon. (She is so crafty, you guys.)

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And I made a 'Merry Christmas' banner!

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Homemade Christmas gifts:

This dishcloth pattern at Homespun Living:Waffle-Knit Dishcloth

You can see pictures of mine {here}.

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Variations on this scrubbie pattern: Knitted Kitchen Scrubbie

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Also {this} pattern, which I am also using for the scarf shown in the linked post, but crocheted in white and hung on ribbon as a snowflake ornament (sorry, I just discovered that I forgot to take pictures of these before they were given! I'm bummed.)

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And I'll leave you with a picture that made me laugh -- Uncle B's cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve, which, from lack of room because of the amount of food we were blessed with for Christmas dinner, found the top of the kitchen dishes cabinet the only remaining place of rest available!

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