Can I ask you a question?
"Is God all He says He is?" If you're anything like me, a home-grown church kid, that question is pretty easy. "Yeah of course, He's GOD!". That's what we're suppose to say right? Ok, so can I ask you another question then? "Do you believe you are the amazing person you say you are?" (Think about that real hard before you answer) What if I told you that the answer you gave for the first question affects the way you answer the second? You're probably confused so let me explain myself. Lots of times the way we view GOD can affect the way we view ourselves. If we believe GOD is an awesome being Who created all things and called them good (Genesis 1:31), then we'll believe that we are HIS good creations because HE made all things "good". But if we don't believe that GOD makes things "good" then we'll view ourselves as a mistake. About a year ago, GOD started bringing to my attention a lie I had believed about myself my whole life. It's the one statement that almost all my insecurities hang on. The lie was: "I am GOD's one exception" I knew GOD was an amazing God who created all things good and that HE loved us beyond measure. But for some reason I believed that HE made an exception when it came to me. GOD loves everyone unconditionally but me GOD forgives everyone but me GOD has a purpose for everyone but me Do you see a pattern here? And the sad thing was, I lived it out! I would tell people all the time that GOD loves them and has a purpose for their life, all the while silently adding to myself "everyone but me that is". One day, I can't remember exactly what I was doing, but I remember GOD spoke to me and said: "Susan, if you believe that you are MY one exception in life, then you believe I have contradicted MY Word." In The Bible in the book of John, Jesus is talking to a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 emphasis added are mine). Jesus said GOD loved the whole world. Not just parts of it, not just a certain select few, the WHOLE WORLD. He also goes on to say that "The one who believes in Him is not condemned; but whoever does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not put his trust in the name of the one and only Ben-Elohim [Hebrew for Son of God]." (vs 18 brackets are mine) GOD revealed to me that when I believed that I was HIS one exception, in reality I was believing that GOD repudiated what HE said in the Bible. If I was going to preach to others that GOD loved them and that GOD had a plan for their life, I had to believe the same thing in regards to myself and stop condemning myself when HE already loves and forgave me. I'm telling you this because ever since that moment I have discovered that all my insecurities are secret lies about GOD that the Devil has told me. When I stopped trying to fix myself with all the "self-help" rules I had learned, I began to see that all this was truly about GOD and HIS image, not mine. Think about it, Who is the Devil's enemy? GOD Who is GOD's beloved? We are If you had an enemy and you wanted to destroy them, you could do it one of two ways: Attack them directly, or attack the things/people they love. The devil can not directly attack GOD. HE is The Almighty and has already beat the devil in the ultimate battle against death (John 12:31-33) . So instead he'll attack those GOD loves because by causing us pain, he causes GOD's heart to break (Isaiah 63:9). He does this in many ways but one way is by telling us lies about ourselves which cause us to unconsciously doubt aspects about GOD, in turn, causing us to not believe HIM and ultimately turn away from HIM. Think about some of the lies we believe about ourselves and how they affect our thinking of Who GOD is: I am not loved. GOD doesn't love. I am useless. GOD makes useless things. I am ugly. If we are made in HIS image, then GOD must be ugly. Now, I am not saying that you are irrelevant and that your insecurities have nothing to do with you. Your fears and insecurities are very real and important to you and how you walk through life. I'm just suggesting that we're looking at this all wrong. Instead of focusing on how we feel, we should be asking ourselves "what is the ultimate battle here?" So here's what I propose: pray that GOD would reveal to you one of the insecurities you have and ask HIM to reveal to you what that lie says about HIMSELF. Even if you feel like you don't have any insecurities, you still may be believing a lie about GOD that you don't realize you believe. It will be scary, asking GOD to reveal the truth about HIMSELF, maybe a truth you don't even realize. Believe me I know! But at the same time, when GOD reveals Who HE really and truly is, lives are changed and the devil flees (James 4:1-10)! Try it, and see what happens. Here are some suggestions on ways you can do that: Spend time listening Pray and ask GOD to reveal HIMSELF to you and then spend some time just listening. The Bible says that those who wait on The LORD will not be ashamed (Psalms 25). It will be a challenge, quieting your mind, but it will be rewarding. Be alert and patient GOD will answer you in HIS timing. It may not be immediate but it may be. GOD is not a god to be controlled or swayed. He will answer you in the way and time HE wants to answer you in. This may mean waiting a little bit so you can get to a point where you are truly listening, or so HE can answer you in a way that you'll know it was HIM speaking to you. Just be alert and patient. HE will answer if you're truly seeking (Deuteronomy 4:29). Which brings me to my next suggestion: Don't expect a certain answer to be delivered a certain way GOD does not always answer us in a booming voice from the heavens. Sometimes HE allows other things or people to speak for HIM. I remember one time GOD revealed a lie I had been believing by letting me literally speak it out loud! I was talking with a friend (and by talking, I mean I was talking she was simply listening not saying a word) and before I even knew what I was saying I heard myself say the lie I had believed and why I had even believed it! So don't expect an answer in a specific way. GOD sometimes likes to surprise HIS children! Have some accountability You can do this by asking someone, or a group of people, to pray for you and keep up with you during your time of searching. I would like to encourage you to leave a comment in this post so that I and others reading this can pray for you. You don't have to say anything specific, just that you've accepted the challenge. Also I encourage you to comment on other people's posts encouraging and praying for them! Please remember though that there are real people behind those comments and treat them with the kindness, love, and respect that Jesus offers to us all. Are you ready? Nervous? Excited? Feeling a little bit of a lot of different emotions? Me too. I know the lie I'll be working on this week is "GOD can't fulfill me in my everyday longings and desires". Doesn't that sound selfish? So be praying that GOD will reveal to me how HE is the only Messiah and I am not. I'll be praying for you all too! Blessings on your epic quest! Love, Susan
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We started off the week with a baptism at Brighton Beach. There were three people to be baptized, one man and two ladies one of whom is Jewish. It was amazing to be standing on the beach singing and worshiping GOD with my fellow brothers and sisters in Messiah whom I had never met before and welcoming yet new siblings into the family of GOD! I felt so connected to these people that are so different from me, but yet we all share the same Heavenly Father and the same love and gratitude for HIM. And the joy to watch these three new believers announce publicly to the world what GOD had done for them and their decision to follow HIM for the rest of their lives was something I really can't describe to you. But if you are a Christian, you know what I'm talking about. (each person being baptized gave a short version of their testimony beforehand) Everyday started off with a worship service and devotional. We had training all morning and headed out to the streets in the afternoon. There were about 34 participants in Shalom Brooklyn and we were divided into teams of 5 to 8 with a Chosen People staff member as our leader. The teams would rotate between sites throughout the week so there was a new team at the same location through the entire week (which proved to be very helpful in many ways). At the sites (usually a park) we would set up a book table with some Biblical literature and Bibles to give out. While 2 people would man the table the other team members would break off into pairs and walk the park doing a one-page spiritual questionnaire to try to get people in conversations about their beliefs. (our team) If you will notice our shirts say Isaiah53.com on them. The main book we handed out at the tables was the book Isaiah 53 Explained. This book goes through Isaiah chapter 53 (also known as the Suffering Servant passage) and breaks the passage down explaining how Yeshua (Jesus) is the Jewish Messiah. We would ask people if they had ever read Isaiah 53 and if they had who they thought the person in the passage was.
You will also notice in the picture above that the sign on the table asks the question "Does God Exist?". Another way we got people to stop by the booth was to pose a question on a white board and ask people's opinion on the question. Some of the questions the Shalom Brooklyn group thought of included "Was Jesus really the Messiah?" "Have you found peace with God?" and "Who or what is god in your life?". It was interesting to hear the answers people had. One guy stopped by the booth that I was at with the question "Does God exist?" on it and checked "yes" in the boxes we drew below the question. When I asked him why he checked "yes" and who he thought God was he said that he didn't know who or what it was but he knew that all this (meaning creation) didn't just happen but chance that something, or someone, had to have made it. It was amazing to see that no one taught this man that knowledge, GOD revealed HIMSELF to this man. I always felt like it was MY responsibility to tell people about GOD, that if I didn't tell people they would never know about HIM. But that day GOD taught me that it was not my responsibility to save people. HE saved people, it was just my responsibility to obey HIM as HIS disciple. In the months leading up this mission trip I had really been struggling with having a Messiah complex (meaning I felt like I was responsible to save people). Through this trip GOD showed me that HE was orchestrating plans that I didn't know about to draw people to HIMSELF and that when I, in my human disadvantage, could not fulfill or finish a task HE would and that nothing was slipping by HIM. Every person is precious to HIM and HE desires that ALL come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9, 2 Peter 3:15) and, while HE wants us to choose HIM of our own free will, HE will do the drawing. Which leads me into my next story. On the fifth day we were in NY we set up our booth in a part of Central Park (actually right next to the Trump campaign headquarters). There I met who I'll refer to as Pigeon Man. Pigeon Man was feeding pigeons (thus the name) and had drawn the attention of me and two other young people because the pigeons where eating right out of his hands (literally!). The particular tracts I was handing out that day were advertising a website called I Found Shalom where several Jewish people share there testimonies. I mentioned that he seemed to have found shalom because he obviously seemed to be at peace and asked him if he'd share how he found it. Apparently this man has looked at every major religion of the world and has picked out the "common threads" in them to be his religion. This man also believed strongly in free will and that the purpose of life is to choose righteousness and that if you don't choose righteousness in this life, you will come back again and again until you do. I tried pointing out to him that you can not say that you believe in free will if life's ultimate goal is to choose righteousness. Let me explain what I mean by that: Free will is the ability to choose your own path in life and how you will walk that path. In order for free will to work, the choices you or I make must be honored. If I want to choose to follow a Jewish Rabbi my choice to do so must be honored by letting me follow this Jewish Teacher. And if I want to choose to be evil and not choose righteousness in order for free will to work I should be allowed to pursue evilness. But what this man was saying is that while I could choose to be evil, at the end of the day (or the end of one of my many lives) I must choose to be righteous in order to move on. Otherwise I would be stuck and unable to proceed in life. But if free will is the ability to choose ones' own life, how can we make our own choices if at the end of the day we MUST choose to be one certain way? I tried to be respectful in presenting my case, as Pigeon Man was in presenting his. But in the end we had to part ways because neither of us could agree with the other. We talked for a good hour on this subject and many others before he had to leave. Honestly I would have finished the conversation sooner but remember the two young people I mentioned earlier who were watching the pigeons with me? They were hanging on every word Pigeon Man and I said. So I stuck around because I knew they were listening and when we parted ways they walked off with Pigeon Man asking him more questions. Watching them walk off I literally began to weep knowing just how blind this man was and here he was making disciples. It was so heartbreaking to see an intelligent man who has genuinely studied be so blind to one simple truth. It was hard to walk away from that meeting not knowing if I made a difference and feeling like I had not. But you know what? GOD gave me a peace about it. No, I didn't feel like I presented my case in the best way and that Pigeon Man got back to his house, fell on his knees, and gave his life to Messiah. But, I had defended my Savior in the best way I could, and even if those people didn't listen, I shared The Truth with them and GOD was going to handle the rest. I've got more stories coming up so stay tuned! Hello people! I'm back and boy do I have lots to share! So without further ado, here's what all went on in the big apple! So Jonathan and I flew out on a Saturday morning. Considering I've never flown or navigated an airport before I would say I did pretty good having only forgotten to take my phone out at security and crashed into a lady on the airport tram :). The flight was SO COOL even though I cried all during take off :). We landed right on time and found our way to the hotel with very little trouble. I did have the worst headache ever upon arriving due to the cabin pressure in the plane and seriously considered taking another flight home. Only after talking and praying with my dad, hearing that my baby cousin was praying for me (thank you sweet Brandon), and taking two of these magical green things call sinus pills, was I able to feel better. (at the airport on our way to New York) So we are finally in New York and get to have a quick rest before we begin ministering right? Wrong See we had ordered a cab service to pick us up at the airport to take us to the hotel before orientation that night (because we all know that if it was up to me to navigate I would have gotten us completely lost! :). The cab driver, we'll just call him Carl for now, picked us up at the baggage claim and took us on a 15 minute drive to the hotel we were staying at for the week. We got to talking and turns out this man is a Hindu or Buddhist (I can't remember which now) and freely told us what he believed. Johnathan and I, not knowing what else to do, continued to ask him questions as Carl told us how sin comes about. According to him humans were once giants who were equal to God but once we started living for ourselves (Carl described it as when the word "mine" came into being) humans began to shrink and loose connection with God. I honestly don't know if our questions made any difference or if he just thought he was an older man "enlighten" these poor confused youths. He allowed us to pray with him after he dropped us off and to take a picture with him. But needless to say, that was our first taste of New York! (us with our cab driver and our amazing selfie taking skills :) Orientation was that night and we got to meet some more people who were join us for the week as well as our team leader. There were about 34 participants in Shalom Brooklyn and we were divided into teams of 5 to 8 with a Choosen People staff member as our team leader. While we would all be together during the morning and evening hours we would break off into teams in the afternoon.
There were people from all over that came! We had one lady from Hawaii and one guy from Canada, but the cool place to come from apparently was North Carolina. Almost half of the people there were from North Carolina. Jonathan and I were the only ones from Tennessee and that first night everyone thought we were married because we had the same last name! So when it came time for us to introduce ourselves I had to set the record straight because everyone kept asking us if we were married or not. I even had a man come up to me after orinatition thanking me for clarifying because he didn't know if we were married or not and didn't know how to ask! :) But that was just the first night. And it was just the beginning. Next post I'll share about some of the actual ministry as well as a baptism at Brighton Beach! Sorry it is taking me so long to get this out. Life hit me full force when I returned. But, more on that after I get out my ministry trip posts! More Soon...I Promise! Susan The post below was originally written in April of 2016 but just never got posted to the blog. The thoughts are still relevant today though, so enjoy. In my sewing room (which also doubles as my bedroom :) I have a rolling chair that I sit in whenever I am sewing. Being that it rolls it makes it very convenient to move from my sewing machine to my serger without having to get up every time. One day I noticed that my chair was not doing what it was designed to do. Usually all I have to do is push off from wherever I'm at and since my room is so small, that's all it takes to get me to the other side of my room. But now I basically had to drag myself and the chair over to where I wanted to go. My chair just refused to roll! When you sew, there are going to be threads everywhere, it's just something you have to deal with. I have a trash can next to my work space that I throw away my thread tails and scrap fabric in. But sometimes I get so busy I forget to make sure my trash ends up where it's suppose to end up. Then I roll over it with my chair and the wheels pick it up and wrap it around the inside of the wheels. Sometimes I did this on accident but other times I was just too lazy to bend over and pick it up so I let the chair wheels do it for me. The threads where gone so the problem was solved right? Wrong. What I didn't know was that over time these threads knotted themselves up more and caused strain against the wheels of my chair to where it could no longer function properly. Eventually my chair got to the point where it just could not roll or if it did it rolled only a very little. I knew I had to fix this problem so I turned over my chair and looked inside the bottom of my wheels. What I found surprised me. Do you see that!? Do you see all that thread!? I knew that my chair had to be pretty bad to cause it to slow down as slow as it was but I had no clue it was this bad! And there was only one way to get rid of it all: I was going to have to cut into it until I cleared it away. As I began the long task of cutting and pulling and cutting some more, GOD began to show me something. I began to realize that this was sometimes how sin entered our lives. We get so busy and caught up in living that we don't see the bad habits we are forming or the sin we are allowing to enter our lives. Sometimes, like in the case of my chair, we don't realize the things that have entered our lives. But also like me, either out of laziness or selfishness, or whatever reason, we choose to let it come in and over time it builds up until we can not longer function the way we were designed to. We live in a sinful world. That's something we can not stop. But we can stop sin from entering in our lives if we are careful and alert. I will always have threads in my room, that's just a part of sewing that I can't stop. But I can make sure I throw them away in the trash and make sure they end up in the trash and not on the floor or back into my life! “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36 Just like cutting away at the thread was the only way I could get my chair to function again, so there is only one way to get the sin out of our lives: GOD has to cut it away. As Christians were are designed to reflect and live in a way that shows the world GOD, but we can not do that if we have a bunch of sin in our lives! "You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways Behold, You were angry, for we sinned, We continued in them a long time; And shall we be saved? For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on Your name, Who arouses himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have delivered us into the power of our iniquities." Isaiah 64:5-7 I began to discover too that, while there was a lot of thread caught in my wheels, there was also a lot of small pieces of fabric and hair tangled up in there as well! When we begin to look at our lives, and I mean really look at our lives, we begin to find things in there that we never noticed before. Habits that we didn't know where bad suddenly we are shown just how dangerous they had become. We are shown ways that our sin has not only affected us, but has caused damaged to other people in our lives, more often than not, to the ones we love most. "Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar." Psalms 51 6/12/2015 0 Comments The Story of How My Life Changed*Note: Because this story is so long I've decided to divide it up into 3 parts. Please bear with me because it is a story worth telling* Do you know how a disease starts? A disease does not start the day you wake up sick, no, a disease starts long before then. You get it days, sometimes weeks, earlier and it varies how you actually catch it. Maybe you forgot to wash you hands after touching something. Maybe you breathed it in. Maybe you caught it from someone. Then after it enters your body it stays there for a while slowly taking over until every part of you is affected. You can get a disease many different ways but the point is: You don't know you have it until the symptoms start showing. That's exactly what happened to me last winter. I was dangerously sick and didn't even know it. What was wrong with me? Well, before I tell you that I need to explain how I found out that I had this illness. Back in about early November lots of different things began happening in my life that I believe brought me to the point that this disease could no longer remain unnoticed: - My brother was about to graduate from high school and he knew exactly what it was that GOD wanted him to do with his life (unlike me who found out, no lie, one week before my graduation). - I was 4 months away from my 20th birthday and still living at home. - In the past 2 years I had completed only 1 of the online sewing classes for which I had signed up. - My sewing business was not where I wanted it to be at this point. - and prince charming had not shown up. All I ever wanted to do, since I was little girl, was to be a godly wife and mother. I felt like that was my life's calling but apparently that was not to be at the moment. Either that or God had forgotten a very important key element to my plan. I began to feel depressed and fearful. What if God had forgotten about the plans He had for me? I thought. What if I'm not relevant to His Story? Don't get me wrong, I knew GOD loved me; I just began to wonder if I didn't have a part to play in the big scheme of life. I became dissatisfied and started having this feeling of anxiety all the time that caused me to have trouble eating. Then one of my biggest fears came to past: I began having panic attacks. My family has a history of panic attacks with the females on my mom's side. I, of course, thought they would never happen to me but secretly I feared that one day I would have them too. That day had come and I was terrified. They quickly grew until I could no longer control them. Every aspect of my life was affected to the point where my whole day was determined by how sick I was in the morning. I even missed out on most of my extended family's Thanksgiving gathering because I was so messed up. But the point when I realized that this could go on no more was the week of my birthday. I threw up for 5 straight days and made my family, and myself, miserable. That's when I knew everything had to stop. Now. I thought I was just worried about my future and at my cousin's suggestion began looking up scriptures about how GOD is bigger than any obstacle. I prayed, I tried eating better, I read and re-read these verses every morning regardless if I felt like I needed them or not. But nothing had seemed to work. One night I was praying and by praying I mean I was whining about how terrible my life was and how God needed to fix it. After a while I began to get sleepy so I ended my complaints with, "Okay, goodnight God. I love you." "Prove it" That got my attention. Prove it? What do you mean God? I gave my heart to you when I was ten, I try to live a life pleasing to you, obey your word, what do you mean prove it? "Show me you love me" Then He brought to my mind all the many times my mom has asked my daddy to prove that he loved her. Did she not know that daddy loved her? Yes she did. But she likes it when daddy proves it to her by giving her flowers, taking her out, or simply helping her around the house. "Okay God, how do you want me to prove that I love you?" The answer didn't come straight away but after searching and geniunely seeking God I finally got it. "Start by serving others" So I began by looking for ways to show God that I loved Him in my everyday life. I started not only reading The Bible, but studying it. I started trying to treat my family the way I wanted to be treated. I stopped simply watching the kids I babysat but tried to find ways to spend time with them that benefited them and not just put up with them on the days I was tired. But like always, Satan doesn't give up too easily when he has a hold on our lives. I continued to be sick. (TO BE CONTINUED)
10/19/2014 12 Comments One Year Later...HI EVERYONE! I'M BACK!!!!! Did you miss me? So sorry about my absence here on the blog but I'm *finally* able to catch up now so hang on to your hats! 'Cuz I've got some exciting news! So I've come to the realization that I've had this little blog for a whole year now! One year, one month and ten days to be exact. All through September I had been suspecting it but my life as of late has been like this: *Repeat* So thus, I missed it (sad face). BUT... That's not going to stop me from celebrating now! So after washing a load of dishes (giving me a moment to think of something I could do), I thought that first I'd do a flash back to where I've come from since my first post then I'll move on to a giveaway (sneaky sneaky). Since this is a sewing blog (that I throw in a bit of my personal life here and there) one of my goals was to document my sewing journey. Since I first started blogging I've: Learned to sew with knit materials (see a dress I made here) Learned to crochet Learned a bit of alteration skills (see here where I altered my first dress) Costumed half of a web series Made my first dog costume (you can view the cutie modeling it at The Athens' Regional Cancer Center in Athens TN) Created a wedding veil from scratch Sewed with terry cloth for the first time (see the apron I made here) and learned how to sew a vent in a sleeve (see a tutorial I made here) And I've also done a bit of business throughout the year (as in, projects I've gotten paid for! YAY!). I hope to double that amount of knowledge by this time next year, but we'll see... So what's in store for the upcoming year? What projects are next? Well hopefully if all goes as planned (which is never in my case) I'll be taking a few more online classes to increase my sewing skills and I have a few projects that I want to do on the side as well like: Sew a coat for the first time (I've never worked with wool before so I'd like to give it a shot) Add some new skirts and dresses to my wardrobe (because who doesn't want new clothes especially ones you made yourself?) Some tee shirts Doll costumes A new medieval gown for me (because for some reason I do not have a princess gown in my costumes stash. What's wrong with me?!?) More crochet and knitting projects A dress that I already bought fabric for (just haven't made yet...) and maybe some other things as well! We'll see as the year goes by! On the non-sewing related side, I'll still be sharing bits of my crazy life with you all including more book reviews and something else I'm working on. I can't tell you now but just know it's a part of my business and ministry. Hopefully, I'll *finally* start working on some of the other aspects of my website and this will become a part of that. If it helps, no one in my family but my brother Jonathan knows what it is either. But I hope to start posting about it soon. Okay, now onto the giveaway! Now that you all have gotten to know me over the past year I would like to get to know you! What's your name? Where are you from? Do you like Charlie Brown (I mean who doesn't?)? So here's how the giveaway works! Leave a comment on this post answering these questions: 1: What's your first name + gender? 2: What's your age? 3: What's your favorite part about this blog? and 4: Do you sew? Then give at least one question you would like to ask me and I'll answer them (within reason) in another post after the giveaway is closed. It's that easy! What's that? What do you win? Oh yeah! Well be patient, I'm getting there... The giveaway will close exactly two weeks from today (Nov 2nd). You can comment as many times as you want, but you'll only be eligible to enter once. In other words, you can leave six comments with different questions for me but you'll only be put in the drawing one time and only if you answer the four questions above about yourself. Make sense? Good! I know, I know, I'm getting there! Just be patient (it's a virtue ya know)... The winner will be selected at random the ole' fashion way, I'll write all the entries down on a slip of paper and have one of my handsome brothers draw a name out of a hat. Hey, remember this is my first anniversary party to throw! Give me a break! But y'all trust me right? ;) Okay, okay, OKAY! FINE! I'll tell you what the prize is now! If you'll remember I mentioned above (for those of you that skipped that part and moved on down to the giveaway) that one of the skills I learned this year was crocheting. So in celebration of all my achievements, I'm giving away a pair of crochet earrings that I made with me own two hands! Ain't they purdy? And if for some reason a guy is following this blog, (which would be slightly creepy...) if you win, I'll make a handmade bow tie that is an exact replica of the one Mr. News wears in S.C. TreeHouse Productions' Web series Literal: What We Believe. 'Cuz you wouldn't want a pair of earrings now would you? Course not! So I'll be fair. To recap:
Leave a comment before November 2nd answering the following questions: 1: What's your first name+gender? 2: What's your age? 3: What's your favorite part about this blog? 4: Do you sew? and at least ONE question you would like me to answer. You can only be eligible to enter ONCE but feel free to leave as many questions for me to answer. And don't be shy to ask random ones like: "Have you ever ridden a dragon before?" or "Do you have one pink toe?" I'll do my best to answer within reason :). Thank you all soooooo much for following along with me on this journey! I can't wait to see what else my Father and Creator has in store for me and to be able to share it with you all! Now go enter the giveaway quick! Remember, you only have two weeks! Love, Susan So I took another step in the adult world I voted Yep voted, and it was the scariest thing I've done this year. My mom and I had to vote early because we were going to be out of town on election day. So she and I rode down to the election office and pull into the parking lot. I'm extremely nervous. I mean THE ENTIRE FATE OF MY STATE RESTS IN MY DECISION OF WHOM I WANT TO RUN THE BALL GAME! No biggie right? Mom told me the whole ride there that I was going to do fine and not to be nervous. So putting on a brave face I step out of the car ready to fulfill my duty as a citizen of the Untied States of America... and right into politicians. The first guy I bump into into is Bulgy Bear. If a bear was turned into a human I'm pretty sure it would look like this guy. He lumbers over and says in his deep bear voice "Hello miss how are you doing today? (I'm pretty sure he meant my mom) I would apreciate it if you would vote for so and so for so and so position." We told him thank you that we were already planning on voting for this person. He looked at us like we were the first people to tell him this and he didn't know what to do now. Next we run into Mr. Peppy. "Hello ladies are how are y'all doing on this lovely day? Would you please write in my friend for this position? If you do you will be making an excellent chioce." he says as he hands us pencils with the person's name he's supporting written on a little flag (I must admit, the pencil flags were pretty cute). Then to top it all off, right before we enter into the building we meet Ms. I'm-running-for-office-so-I'm-meeting-you-in-person. She talks to us for a little while about what she stands for and that she would, (everyone say it together now) "really appreciate your vote". No pressure. So we finally get in the building and fill out the necessary paperwork. I'm given my ballot and I sit down at a table flanked on either side by cardboard walls preventing anyone from seeing my decisions (except of course the people right behind me counting the votes!) So I'm sitting at this table all alone with the only instructions to fill in the box COMPLETELY for your vote. I very much felt like Frodo with the ring at that moment. Scared and alone I put my head in my hands and prayed
"Lord give me wisdom" Then I lifted my head and knew what I needed to do. Minutes later I turned in my ballot and walked out. Mom was waiting for me with a big smile on her face "See I knew you could do it!". Really Mom? Then why do I feel the need to pass out? As we head out to make one more stop before heading home we pass by a sign promoting a man that I voted for. I tell Mom that I voted for him and she asks me who else I voted for. And I can't remember! Nope, can't remember who I voted for. Thus begins panic attack #2. To top off my first voting experience some 90 year old man at the store we stopped by on our way home had a stroke in the back. Guess who got to see him get rolled out (who by the way, doesn't handle big medical emergencies like that very well)? That's right, me. So how did I handle myself? Did I go to G-D like I did earlier in the day and rely on HIM to make sense of the matter? Nope I buy some candy and continue my panic attack in the car. America is in some trouble if I'm the one deciding who gets in office. G-D *help* America! Susan 7/31/2014 0 Comments My Hunting DressHave you ever heard the phrase "kill two birds with one stone"? Well I killed multiple birds with this one dress. Not literally, but theoretically. So I've officially dubbed this as my "hunting dress" because sometimes I name my sewing projects epic names. Hey, parents name their children and the way I see it every sewing project I work on is a labor of love, thus these are my children. Call me crazy if you'd like but that's just who I am! :) Bird #1 I've been taking a few sewing classes online as a way of expanding my sewing skills. This is what I've been doing for the moment instead of college. I call it "homeschooling through college". It's not for everyone but it works for me. One of the classes I've been doing is how to sew with knit fabrics (like t-shirt material). This is my final project for the class and definitely my absolute favorite! Bird #2 The fabric I ordered online at Mood Fabric. Before whenever I needed fabric for a project I always got it from either Joann's, Hobby Lobby, my personal stash and occasionally Hancock's. But as I was taking the class the instructor said that the only place to get quality knit fabric is to order it online. The ones in the stores aren't good at all. After trying some I bought at Joann's I decided she was right. One of the places she suggested was Mood Fabrics. The fabric was pretty expensive, the color was darker than I thought it be and the fabric was REALLY clingy and thin! I was not pleased with the overall product but the service was pretty good and the delivery speed was timely. I think I'll try ordering from them again because I ordered some other knits at the same time and they seemed to be really nice. So I'm thinking that maybe this fabric just wasn't that great. But it was a learning experience and I definitely learned a lot from it! Bird #3 I was still in need of one more costume for my character in Literal and since I had yet to make a costume for myself I decided to use this as one of them. Christopher helped me pick out fabric that we both liked for Ann so now I have one more costume. That I made! See if you can spot it in the episodes to come. The dress pattern came with the class so I didn't have to buy it separately. It has an empire waist, quarter length sleeves and an A-line skirt. The dress shape is more or less created by clear elastic sewn into the waistband that helps hold it against the body. You would think that it would be tight but it's really very comfortable. I hemmed the sleeves in a way I've never done before. I cut a band out of the fabric that was the length of the sleeve end and 3/4" wide. I pinned it up underneath the sleeve with just a 1/4" still peeking out then I sewed it in place. After that I sewed up the rest of the sleeve as the directions called for and, because jersey tends to roll, I just let the fabric do its thing creating the effect you see here. Basically I just worked with how the fabric naturally acts to achieve the look I wanted. Even though I loved how the sleeves turned out, they are not my favorite part about this dress. No my favorite part is still yet to come. Wait for it... Wait for iiiit... POCKETS!
Yes that's right, pockets! The pattern did not originally call for pockets but I used a pocket pattern from another pattern from the same class and added it in. See, in my opinion, all skirts and dresses should have pockets. You know just in case the need for one arises. Guys are so lucky because almost every pair of pants out there has pockets. So if you're a girl and want pockets, you're going to have to wear pants. But what if you feel like wearing a skirt? This is a major problem in the clothing industry that I think needs addressing. If anyone is interested in the class I took to make this dress (or the patterns) you can find out about it at Craftsy: Sewing with Knits. I would TOTALLY recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to sew with this tricky material. The instructor is amazing and carefully walks you through every step so you know exactly what to do. Well worth every penny! Love, Susan 6/14/2014 0 Comments Sometimes You Just Need A DaddyThis is a poem I wrote on April the 8th 2013, the day I got my wisdom teeth removed. Sometimes you just need a daddy Who will take a day off from work to take you to your oral surgery even though he needs the work Sometimes you just need a daddy Who brings you a blanket for the ride even thought you already have a jacket Sometimes you just need a daddy To lean on and draw strength from Sometimes you just need a daddy To talk to about the mural on the wall in the waiting room to keep you mind off what is to come Sometimes you just need a daddy Who will hold you purse and jewelry because you can't have them during the surgery and doesn't care one iota about his manly pride Sometimes you just need a daddy To remind you that G-d is in watching over you and taking care of you the whole time Sometimes you just need a daddy To hold your hand until the last moment Sometimes you just need a daddy Who will pray for you fervently during the surgery Sometimes you Just need a daddy To open the car door for you and treat you like a princess Sometimes you just need a daddy Who will play the radio the whole ride back because it soothes you Sometimes you just need a daddy Who will make you laugh and smile despite the pain Sometimes you just need a daddy To care for you until your Mama gets home Sometimes you just need a daddy when only a daddy will do Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who understands why you don't want to talk and loves you anyway Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who causes flowers petals to fall on the truck you're riding in because HE knows just what to do to make you feel like a princess Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who is the only ONE who can give you peace through one of the scariest moments of your life Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who takes your hand into HIS when your earthly father has to let go Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who provides you with a doctor and nurses who know exactly how to take care of you Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who pays for a surgery you didn't want but desperately needed Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who give you sleep quickly and gently Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who takes the pain away Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who shows you how much HE loves you through the wonderful people HE placed in your life to pray for you in your weakest moment Sometimes you just need a Daddy Who just KNOWS We all need a daddy, each and everyone of us. G-d bless the brave men who willingly take up this role and fulfill their duty as daddies. And G-d bless HIMSELF, The ultimate Daddy. Happy Father's Day Deddy! Thank you for always loving, protecting, guiding and being there for me. I am blessed beyond measure because of you!
Love Your Sweetheart, Susan (My flower everyone signed at my graduation party) One year ago today, I accomplished the first to-do item on my bucket list:
Graduate as a homeschooler from start to finish. Even though I have finished all my "schooling", I've never stopped learning. During this past year I learned many valuable life lessons; some of which I'm still learning today. So I thought in honor of my graduation "anniversary" I'd share a few of those lessons with y'all along with the three best pieces of advice given to me since then. Some are a little silly and some are very serious but all have helped shape me into the person I am today. Hopefully, you can learn from me and give yourself a little laugh! So without further ado, here they are in no particular order: Lessons I've Learned Since High School Graduation: -Life is going to start whether or not you're ready for it -Marriage is loving someone unconditionally for the rest of your life -If you're buying gas and you're paying in cash, you must go in and pay FIRST before you start pumping. Otherwise, you'll be standing there wondering why in the world nothing is coming out - Who the woman doctor is (courtesy of Mrs. Shelby H. Thanks for that one!) -How to hide money in your bra (I was so proud of myself when I figured that one out!) -What it feels like to have absolutely no control of the things happening around you -How to play nerf war -How to stop said nerf war without lifting a finger. Just scream your head off and someone will call an automatic time out 'cuz they think you're seriously hurt or something -That I can be over dramatic at times (see above) -What happens when you put diesel fuel in your car that isn't suppose to run on diesel -When someone tells you to shut up; listen to them. (There're probably trying to save you from embarrassing yourself) -What it feels like to lose someone you love -What it feels like when a piece of your heart is ripped from you and buried alongside that person -How to cook chicken -How to dry out sweet potatoes in the oven -How to calmly address this situation: one of your friends decides that it would be funny to drop an article of food down your blouse IN PUBLIC! (I'm looking at you Annie W.!) -How to be a bridesmaid (which may or may not involve helping the bride pee 10 minutes before the wedding) -How I handle emergency situations (It's a good thing to know, because if you're like me and don't handle them well, you need to make sure you're always with someone who does) -That I HATE cast iron! It wants to be babied and I feel like it never gets clean. So if I ever get married, please DON'T BUY ME ANYTHING CAST IRON! -That even when I mess up, I am surrounded by o-mazing friends and family who love me despite my flaws and a Heavenly Father who loves me even more than that! "Being old is cool! You can choose to not buy cigarettes or respect the elderly in an adult manner, and no one can stop you." -My friend Robert who graduated two years before me "Don't worry, you'll be fine. You will mess up, but if you do, there is always Sonic and Hardee's down the road." -My Mum before she left me in charge of the cooking for a whole week while she took care of my Grandma in Mississippi "Your attitude affects your altitude! Soar high in all you do. God will see you through." -Donna H., my 5th & 6th grade Sunday School teacher Love, Susan |
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October 2019
Book Review
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