2015 SSMT #1

Happy New Year! Today I'm starting to memorize Bible Verses along with thousands of others through the Siesta Scripture Memory Team on Beth Moore's blog. Beth hosts this event every other year. The goal is to memorize a verse of scripture on the 1st and 15th of each month. At the end of the year I will have, hopefully, memorized 24 verses. This is my third year to participate and I'm very excited!

The verse I've chosen for today actually came from a blog post on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. You can find the post written by Judy here. What a great verse to start the new year with!

Psalm 37:4 ESV
Delight yourself in the Lord,
     and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The desire of my heart for 2015 is to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. To make good use of my time. To be loving. To share my faith with whomever God puts in my path.

Happy New Year!

So Long 2014!

I probably say this every December 31st, but I don't know where the year has gone! It has been filled with family, friends, and fun. Our family grew with the addition of Storm's birth in June. We got to spend time with friends both near and far. We managed to complete a few projects around the home. And although it's not technically "new" to us after more than a year, it still feels new!

This past year I used the Our Daily Bread Devotional Bible for my daily devotions. I enjoyed it immensely and have passed it on to Jessica for 2015. I'm looking forward to using a new chronological Bible, the "Chronological Life Application Study Bible" NLT. Unlike my old chronological Bible, this one is filled with charts, maps, and loads of "helps". I am so excited to get started on it tomorrow morning!

My stitching this year was made up of baby samplers, Christmas stockings, and afghans. I only managed to complete 12 projects. Ugh. I need to make three stockings next year. And I also need to finish my share of both my afghan and Jessica's. I'm hoping to get lots of starts going in 2015. I also hope to "finish" the 15 or so finishes I found in my craft room yesterday. They're stored in plain sight so I guess that means I'm consciously avoiding seeing them!

I've also committed (or maybe I should be committed) to making a lap quilt for Katie out of some of the kids baby clothes.

On the book front, I've had a pretty good year. I read a total of 79 books. I have a stack of new ones I received for Christmas ready to be read. And I'm working on my list for the VNSA book sale in February.

I have many hopes, dreams, and goals in mind for 2015. There's just something about opening the pages of a blank calendar book that makes me feel excited and optimistic!

So as 2014 winds down in these last hours, I hope you're looking back with satisfaction at a year well lived and looking forward with anticipation to the opportunities and challenges of 2015!

Happy New Year!

Looking Ahead: One Word

For the past few years I've been choosing One Word for the new year. In 2014 my one word was Home. It was an easy choice. We had just moved into our new home and I wanted to concentrate on using the blessing God had provided us as a way of thanking Him for his provision.

The previous year's words include: Bold, Freedom, Confident. As I look back on them I can see how they fit into what my life looked like at that time.

This year's word came to me loud and clear last week during my morning devotional. Time. I was convicted about how much time I waste. And believe me, it's a huge chunk of time. In 2015 I want to be aware of what I'm using my time for. I want to be in the moment. Fully in the moment. I don't want to while away the hours playing Mahjong or Trivia Crack on the phone. You get my drift.

So there you have it. I need to stop wasting time. I need to be in the moment. I need to have better priorities. Not to mention more self-control. Time. Once it's gone, I can't get it back. I want to be deliberate about how I spend my time.

For everything there is an appointed time,

and an appropriate time for every activity on earth.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NET

Looking Ahead: 2015 SSMT

Wow, it's hard to believe that an entire year has gone by since SSMT 2013. I'm looking forward to another year of memorizing attempting to memorize 24 Bible verses in a year. Don't know what SSMT is? You can check it out on Beth Moore's blog here.

If you've ever attended a Beth Moore Bible Study you know how enthusiastic she is. Her blog reads just like she sounds on the videos. If you decide to take on the challenge of memorizing for 2015, let me know. I'd love to be your cheerleader (and I could use an accountability partner myself!).

I will be choosing a verse to memorize on the 1st and 15th of each month in 2015. If I can do it, you can do it!

Photosynthesis

Sunny stunned us one day last week as Katie, Dan, and I were talking by saying, "That's like photosynthesis." Katie commented that photosynthesis is a big word and does Sunny know what it means. Sunny then proceeded to explain to us the progression of a seed to a plant and back to seed.

Wow.

This child is in Kindergarten. I'm pretty sure I did not learn photosynthesis in Kindergarten.

On Tuesday, she probably brought home her plants. She informed us that one is a vegetable and one is a flower. Yesterday she and Gramps planted them in a pot in our back yard.

And a new generation gardener is born!

Stripes

The other day I noticed that Gramps and Storm were both dressed in stripes. Of course, that calls for a photo!

Gramps, Storm, Sunny

A Savior, Which is Christ the Lord

Merry Christmas!