Fiber Arts Monday – Simple Basics, looking for some ideas

With having little girls in my house again I am looking for ideas to help them learn the basics of sewing and easy projects that will encourage them to keep their hands busy.

Cherish, who is 8, is working on a printed plastic canvas project that we picked up at Hobby Lobby. Just learning the simple basics of how to hold a needle and which direction to stitch in has been a challenge, but plastic canvas , a big plastic needle and yarn are perfect to learn these simple things.

She will work on it for about 10 minutes, get frustrated and then have to put it down. I’m OK with that, I want her to enjoy it. The key right now is mechanics.

But the best part of doing this is that it forces time to be still with us, even when I may not want to. I have to sit with her and help her untangle her knots, or show her AGAIN what direction to go in. It gives me a perfect opportunity to teach her patience and the importance of details and diligence. I am learning just as much as she is, not in the skill of sewing but rather in patience and diligence in my parenting, in nurturing our relationship.

I even started my little Peach on these.

I used Styrofoam trays and poked holes in them.

Then I taped the yarn to the foam to be used as a knot.

We use a single thread so they can be used over and over again…

and un-knoted easily.

She thinks she is making something great! She is learning the same things, just bigger and slower. If she messes up the trays it’s no big deal, I’ll just make more. These are also great to keep her busy while we do school work. I even numbered her holes so we count as we go.

Boys like them too, but sometimes they find other things to do with the string!

Here are some other easy beginner projects:

Cloth Napkins

Tea Towels

Hair Scrunchie

Fiber art is anything that includes stitching, weaving, quilting, sewing, rug making, crocheting, knitting, spinning, etc…

Each Monday we can share ideas, patterns, finished projects and ask questions about fiber arts in the comment section.

You can also link up to your blog post or photo account that is related to fiber arts, I just ask that you link back to the most current Fiber Arts Monday post. Just leave your post link in the comment section and tell us what it is.

Liberty

“Yes, we did produce a near perfect Republic, but will they keep it? Or will they in their enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of their freedom? Material abundance without character is the surest way to destruction. I tremble for my country when I realize that God is just.” ~Thomas Jefferson

All LIBERTY comes with the heavy price tag of RESPONSIBILITY.

Whether concerning your liberty as a citizen or as a parent, if you are not willing to fight for and preserve your liberty then you don’t deserve it.

Just like birthing a baby is the easy part,

it’s the diligent parenting that is the hard part!

It All Sounds Good on Paper

It’s usually easy to come up with a plan. I personally love developing plans because I am a visionary by nature.

Plans are necessary if you have a goal and want to obtain it whether it be:

and so on…

And then…

comes reality…

the part where you roll up your sleeves…

and you start chiseling away at your plan…

it is usually dirty work, painful work, but necessary work.

This is the nitty-gritty of life.

This separates the dreamers from the doers, the idealist from the realist.

It’s great to dream, it’s great to plan, but if you do not get up and start working the plan you will find yourself accomplishing a whole lot of nothing.

I cheat on my diet occasionally, but at least I have a goal I am sloooowly working towards and not just sitting with Little Debbie every day (actually Little Debbie is NOT welcome in my house because she does not play nice).

We have a family chore chart hanging, we follow it the best we can…never perfectly, but at least everyone knows what is expected of them each day.

My lesson plans really look good on paper, but it rarely works out as I planned, but at least I know what direction we are heading in…we get there each quarter, each semester.

Our garden doesn’t look anything like I envisioned it to, but we are reaping some harvest! It’s better than last year’s, and maybe next year it will be even better! Gardening is hard work but the flavor of the food is so much better than store bought!

God has brought our desire to care for orphans to pass. This is HARD work, maybe a bit ~~harder~~ more complicated than we thought it would be, but we’re not quitters. We know the tasks set before us as a family, is an important one, an eternal one.

Family life makes for great pictures, but unless you are serious about the relationships in your family and all the behind the scenes loving and training then it is all in vain.

You may dream of being:

a missionary
married
a mommy
a successful business owner

The point is we can make anything look good on paper…

or a computer screen (especially with a good photo editing program),

but unless you are willing to carry out the details,

the daily hard work to get it done,

then you are nothing more than a dreamer!

Don’t waste your life dreaming and planing…be a doer!

This does not mean that every plan will succeed, many won’t, but at least you are moving…learning…DOING!

So often it is what is learned on the journey that is more valuable than the destination!

Life Lessons of Working Along Side Your Children

If you want to know someone, to see what they are made of, roll up your sleeves and work along side them. Nowhere is this more true than with your family, especially your children!

Whether doing daily chores or working for pay outside the home it is your duty to train your children to work diligently!

Some Things to Think About

-When doing chores or anything else at home with your children it is easy to let things slide and not expect their best each time, but when someone else is paying you (and them) to do an excellent job, you can’t let anything slide.

-The first several months the girls and I were cleaning other people’s houses I would point out what they were missing, often they would act as if I was being too picky. I would make them go back and re-do it. One day I received an e-mail from one of our clients pointing out a few things that were not done completely. This particular day I was not feeling well and did not have the energy to inspect their work. I let the girls read the e-mail. The girls were embarrassed and felt bad about the whole thing. In response to the e-mail I took responsibility for the work not being done completely (the buck stops with me) and offered the client a reduced pay for the next cleaning. In the long run it turned out to be a great life lesson because the girls realized that it really does matter that they do the job completely and that Mom is not nit-picking for no reason! Since then they have really improved on their quality of work, which makes it easier for all of us.

- One day while tackling a big job, one of my girls had an especially bad attitude. She made the whole day misery for her sister and me. When we got home her Dad gave her a stern talking to and we docked her pay. From that point on her attitude 100% improved. When you are providing a service for someone else you can not have a bad day. Remember you are training them to be a responsible adult.

Life Lessons Learned from Our Cleaning Jobs

-To Appreciate the Service of Others- Anytime you do service work it makes you appreciate the work of others. After working as a cashier and waitress in my younger years I truly appreciate the worker on the other side of the counter. Cleaning for people will give that same appreciation.

-Learning to Deal with Difficult People- This has been especially good!!! Some people are very hard to work for, whether it is a personality conflict, unreasonable expectations, a gossiper, etc… I am able to take each situation as they come and help my daughters learn how to respond or when to overlook an offense. This takes a lot discernment that usually comes with experience. I am so thankful they are getting this experience under my watchful eye and from our world view.

*People are a Witness to How a Family Can Work Together- a sight rarely seen these days, unlike the old days when it was common for children to work in the family business as they grew up, learning hands on skills and people skills.

There are so many things that are taught in a family, but it all gets kicked up a notch when you have to work together to please a client, this is when your family’s true character comes shining through; the good the bad and the ugly.

Not everyone will be excepting of having young people clean their house even if their parent is present.

Our current culture views 14, 15, 16 years old as irresponsible and not capable of quality work. We have encountered this many times; but with time you and your children can earn their trust and respect, just as we have.

We NEED more families working together. We need to be expecting more from our young people and it all starts in the home, with the parents setting a good example!

Also posted at The Legacy of the Home!

To ‘Rise Up’ is MORE than Getting Up Early!!!

What I love about Facebook is ‘meeting’ so many people with similar interest and coming across so many great writings. Yesterday this article was ‘liked’ by a friend of mine that I have great respect for, so I clicked over to see what it was all about. It is really good and I wanted to share it with all of you.

When I emailed Mrs. LaPoint, to get permission to post her writing, I found out that she lives about 25 minutes from me…small world! My friend in Georgia pointed me to this Virtuous Woman who is practically a neighbor! You can ask to be Terri LaPoint’s friend on Facebook here.

So enjoy this little tidbit from the Scriptures and be encouraged to always dig dipper!

Rise Up

by Terri LaPoint

She rises up while it is yet night” – Prov. 31:15. How many sermons have been preached about this sweet domestic woman who gets up out of bed before the rooster crows to cook and clean and be a good housewife? How many night owls have felt condemnation from the typical understanding of this verse (and its companion verse in vs. 18 “her candle goeth not out by night”)? I know I have wrestled long and hard with this.

Until.

Until one night when I was hugely pregnant with my 3rd child (my 10 lb 4oz chunk!), and I was up late because I couldn’t sleep. I was reading my study Bible, the one that has an actual lexicon in the back. I started looking up the words in Prov. 31 to see what the words mean in the original Hebrew language. And I was TOTALLY blown away!!!

For those of you who don’t know, the Hebrew language, the original language, is a picture language; in other words, they draw pictures with the language to communicate a message. This is opposed to the Greek language of the New Testament which is a very precise language. It says exactly what it means. If there was a more precise word to use for communicating a message, they would have used it – no room for ambiguity. But the Hebrew language is a beautiful language that teaches and expresses things by drawing a picture in our minds.

So, the first word I looked up was “night.” And it can mean a literal night. But being a picture language, that same word can also mean “a time of trial and temptation,” even as we would say in English “the dark night of the soul.” So next I looked up “candle.” And yes, it can mean a literal candle or light. But it also means “trust and confidence in God”! So her candle goes out at night can mean she stays up all night canning vegetables and sewing clothes and working, or, equally valid, it can say that her faith and trust in God does not stop in those hard times of trial and temptation!

Then, and here is the best part to me. You’re not going to believe how powerful this is! In Proverbs 31:15, she rises up while it is yet night. She gets up out of bed? NO!!!! “Rises up” is a WARFARE term! It is used of the armies of David rising up against their enemies. It is used to say “Rise up, O Judge of the earth” in Ps. 94:2. It is a POWERFUL word, with the idea of rising up in the natural or in the spirit prepared for battle, prepared to win! This is the only time in Scripture that it is translated to mean a wimpy getting out of bed in the morning. That is NOT what it is talking about at all. The Proverbs 31 woman who was a woman of God who would see adversity coming, against her home, her family, her nation, and she would become bold in her prayers. She would rise up in the spirit in those times of difficulty and intercede before the throne of Almighty God for Him to help and intervene! She gave “meat” to her household – the meat of the Word, the meat of what God showed her in prayer, and she gave “portions” to her maidens, to her friends around her, because there was so much overflow of the power and anointing and the truth of God that she was able to bless others around her and give into their lives as well.

The Proverbs 31 woman was a mighty woman of God, strong in intercession, who loved God with all her heart, and knew how to rise up in the spirit to see God move in a mighty way in the circumstances around her!

So as you pray today, in times of difficulty and darkness, may you RISE UP in authority and boldness, and get ahold of the throne of God as you pour out your heart to the One Person who can change nations, who can turn the heart of a judge, who can redeem us from the snare of the enemy. May you be encouraged and strengthened!

A Minimalist Attitude Just Won’t Fly Here!

For the most part I’m all for living simply, now not too simple. ;o) I’m pretty frugal and I don’t mind having less to make life more simple. I think it is very easy to get caught up in owning so much stuff that it can eventually own you. I mean really, do we need 4 frying pans? Do we need 6 pairs of black dress shoes? Do we need 23 bath towels when only 4 of us live here?

There are some things it is easier to have less of so we don’t have to spend loads of time maintaining them; just my opinion.

But there is one area that we will not tolerate the minimalist mindset in and that is your work ATTITUDE!

Do you have anyone in your house that does the very least they can, just enough to stay out of trouble? I bet you do, most everyone has at least one of those in the family. The sooner you can nip that selfish, lazy attitude the better.

Set an example of going the extra mile when YOU are doing your work.
Don’t be a martyr when when you are giving 110% and no else is.
Encourage your children to do a little extra than what is asked of them, praise them when they do.
At family gatherings or church fellowships require your children to find ways to help clean up and not stop until the things are done.

Don’t settle for a minimalist attitude when it comes to a good work ethic from yourself, or your children.

An Interest or a Commitment?

Emma (16), is learning all kinds of business skills with her Mary Kay endeavor. I appreciate that MK gives such good training, because they want need you to be successful at business. Because she is technically too young to be a consultant it is all done in my name, so I go with her to these meetings, which means I am learning a lot too!

A statement made last night concerning success:

“The difference between

an interest

and

a commitment

is doing what you need to,

even when you don’t feel like it.”

This is so true and it applies to all of life! Whether you want to succeed at business, weight loss, money management, relationships…anything, you have to be committed.

What do you have an interest in? Do you want to have a better marriage, a more peaceful home, better behaved children? Then what will you commit yourself to do, even if you don’t feel like it?

Do you want to learn how to do a skill? Do you want to be good at it? Do you want your children to learn practical skills? It is up to you to not just want it, but to commit to it! No more excuses!

Failure is only a stepping stone to success if you are committed!

What Builds a Man?

Heard this song for the first time last night. I immediately thought of my young friend Ben, in Virginia, who just turned 17; he has restored an old Farmall tractor.

Which made me think about the character he is building with that tractor.

I love it when young men are doing manly things, like learning how to rebuild a tractor, or a car, or a go cart, especially when they have their own money invested, like my friend Ben!

I have another friend, Johnathan, who is 18, he attends a local college. Johnathan is always working on something. One of his favorite past times is to buy old cars (trucks, 4-wheelers…anything) and repair them to sell. If they cannot be fixed he scraps them. He is one productive young man, like my friend, Ben.

We all need to be busy, but especially young men.

Young men have such energy, strength and hormones. God made them that way!!! They have so much to be doing.

Allowing them to be idol will only lead to trouble.

I have great respect for the parents of these young men. They have given them permission to take risk, invest money and time, and make a mess, even if it means giving up their garage for months! As these young men keep their hands and minds busy they learn valuable lessons. They are experiencing the reward of hard work; they are leaning how to solve problems and persevere.

I know not everyone lives in the country, not everyone has the finances to undertake such a great task as restoring a tractor (just for the record, Ben worked to pay for his tractor’s restoration), but we can all find something to do. Some guys may rebuild computers, some may garden, some may repair bicycles, some may start a local mission to care for the needy, etc… Find their interest, find a problem that needs to be solved and give them the skills to step into their manhood!

Here is Ben, with his first restoration project. Now that is something to be proud of!!!

I hear he has started on a second tractor. In 20 years I don’t think you’ll find this man sitting on a couch vegging out on TV and games for hours on end! He’ll be the one you’ll call to fix your tractor, or truck, or lawn mower… He’ll be the one getting things done, taking good care of a family, running a business and leading a church.

Are you giving your sons what they need to ‘man up’?

Women give birth to boys, but work, conflict and struggles build a man!

Opportunities

When we take away one’s opportunity to fail,

we take away their opportunity to succeed.

Whether it be allowing your children to help in the kitchen, sweep the floor or mow the grass, if you do not allow them to do it imperfectly in the beginning, they will never know the satisfaction of doing it well.

I hope some of you perfectionists/obsessive parents will let your kids help prepare food or whatever this week. If what they are do turns out badly, teach them to learn from failure and to do better next time, make sure there is a next time.

It is learning from experience, good and bad, that causes us to be successful adults!

Only those who know how to preserver will be future leaders in the home,

in business and in government.

What responsibility are you handing over to your children to do this week?

Do you as an adult have an attitude of perseverance?

Comfort Breeds Complacent People

Everything is always changing, nothing stays the same. I love going to my grandmother’s in Upstate New York, it is where I spent the most of my time growing up and many things there still ‘look’ the same, but things are different.

This old apple tree is a special landmark on Grandma’s farm.

As Jeff, Olivia, Emma and I walked the path back to *the apple tree* I told the girls about Joe, the pony Grandma had while I was a kid (and adult), how I’d ride him out there and he was so eager to get to the tree for the apples but he acted more like a stubborn mule when it came time to leave those apples.

I looked at this rugged tree trunk, twisted and decaying, amazed that it was still standing out there all by itself. This same tree that stood as my mother and her siblings grew up with that tree as a part of their everyday life.

Our home and the people that reside here are constantly changing, which is good; but there are days I wish we were a little more ‘mule-like’ and would just stand still as Joe the pony did under that tree, eating the fruit of it’s branches, in no hurry to go anywhere or do anything. But I know that it is the changes of seasons, the challenges of life that twist and shape us that make us fit to be used for God’s glory; because it is not about us, it’s about Him!!! At my life’s end I want to be like the apple tree. I want to be so used by anyone who comes along. I want to be one that people can count on to be a landmark of faithfulness.

Joshua (22), is in AR working, Olivia (19), is pouring all of her heart and soul into caring for Miss S, and for 3 weeks Emma (16), is serving a family with a bunch of little ones while the Dad is away. I am so thankful that our daughters see the importance of giving of themselves.

Although our daughters are able to come home on the weekends, it is just me and Jeff during the week; it feels so strange! Now don’t think for a moment that we are lonely, because we really enjoy each other and it’s as if we are on a honeymoon most days, but it just feels so strange.

One of our 2010 New Years prayers was that we would see and do some hard stuff, especially our children; comfort breeds complacent people. We’ve been considering some foreign mission opportunities, but right now God has called our daughters to serve the Body of Christ right here locally. They are both learning TONS! They are learning how to die to themselves and give for the sake of others. They are learning how to “give water to the least of these”.

Some of the stuff the girls are doing is really hard and I am so thankful! I can’t think of anything worse than wasting a summer indulging selfishness and encouraging laziness (we all have it in us). There are opportunities all around us, we just have to be willing; we need to be investing in things that are bigger than ourselves.

I am against government education for many reasons; one reason is because it is not realistic! Most adults don’t get 2-3 months off for a vacation every summer. I have seen so many teens just hanging out because it is “summer”; some may find a summer job, but most won’t. Most will veg out in front of the TV or pool side, it’s just not realistic!

Are you encouraging your kids to do the hard stuff? Are they giving of themselves to make someone else’s life better? Are they learning new skills or improving on what they know? Don’t allow them to waste their summer, to waste their youth!

I’d love to hear what your kids are doing, or what you are doing as a family, leave a comment!