Decorating

Yesterday was a rainy day so I decided to sew.  I made a chair for Ranger but he won't get into it so I guess the grandkids will get to use it. I had the fabric from curtains I had made and some recycled from a local draper;  I used old pillows for the arms,  foam cushions from a couch that was left here at the house; and the zipper was re-purposed from an old mattress cover I took apart. Total cost, $0. I love it.

Now I have decided to recover cushions for our dining room chairs. It seems like when we have people over for dinner it is so comfortable sitting at the table chatting that we never do move to the front room. At this point my cushions are an odd assortment of leftovers and falling apart. I don't have enough of one fabric to cover them so I'm thinking of 'quilting' together fabric squares to use.

Last week I painted the final three walls of my room and got my summer quilt out. The top is adorned with appliquéd flowers from a companion fabric and I will finish by embroidering vines and tendrils with silk ribbon.  Next time I make this quilt I will make the background squares white so the design shows up better. My theme for this room is Beatrix Potter, very English :).

What is God doing?

A realization of a long-time dream of mine came about this last weekend, we traded some work for this little beauty. It's in pretty good condition and we can attach our propane tank to it in an emergency.  Notice how I have the microwave oven on it? I think this is so like our lives, a juxtaposition of antique and modern.

What I am pondering on right now is how God works. We have something really big we need an answer to, and we need it really soon.  Yet God has been teaching me from Isa.40.31 'waiting on the Lord'. When I saw the eagles last week the scripture came to my mind again, 'they shall mount up with wings as eagles...they shall renew their strength'. One definition of renew is changing for the better, or growing up. The Word teaches that as we wait we grow stronger, yet I don't feel stronger, I feel more stressed. My strength seems at an end. But here is the mystery, Paul said he gloried in his own weakness so that God's greatness would be made clear. Unmet expectations of the past cause me to not  like being weak and dependent on someone else, even God. Long ago I worked through forgiveness and I guess now is the time to let the emotions come to the surface and be healed. Did I mention, I don't like letting my emotions showing either. I guess part of growing up is becoming incredibly vulnerable, or weak so to speak, and in this weakness I will be renewed, or grow stronger. It defies logic.

Has God not met my expectations?  You bet!  I don't know why things happen the way they do, but this I know, I press on to know and understand Him more because He is, and He is a rewarder of those who seek him. He is all justice and all mercy.  If I can't trust God, then all that I have lived for has no meaning.

We have a mass of daffodils planted at the corner of our little farm and I set out one day to get a picture of them. From a distance they looked to be scatter planted but as I got closer I could see that they were all in rows and the Lord reminded me that from my perspective my life looked chaotic but from His perspective it had order. Therefore, my declaration must be that God's word is truth, no matter what I see, and He is an awesome God. I shall partake of His nature, and someday I will know my life from His perspective. I wait patiently for His perspective to be made clear, and to know His will for our lives; and in the meantime, I will absolutely adore His little gift to me, my stove.

Are You Ready

With the earthquake in Japan we have returned to the thought of preparing ourselves for a disaster. We do live near a fault line but disasters can take many forms, a home fire, a death in the family, a community in need.  We had a power outage last fall that lasted 8 hours so we went to town, got Chinese take-out and had a candle-light dinner and played Rummy. I happen to have three oil lamps so I can put one in the kitchen, one in the dining room and one in the bathroom. [If you put it in front of a mirror you get a lot more light.] Some disasters you have prior notice, most you don't. If my house started shaking right now I would probably grab my cpu and my great grandmother's picture.

My planning takes various forms, from food, to shelter, to protecting our selves, and don't forget how important your data on the computer is. I also have family photos that are over 100 years old and are irreplaceable. For foods I like to have canned, dry and frozen foods on hand. When we lost power for several hours the frozen foods were not compromised because they keep each other frozen for a long time, when you don't open the door. If they are packed closely together they stay frozen longer. If we were going to be without power for several days I would use the frozen food first.  We keep one 5-gallon tank of propane full for the grill and we have a camp stove that we could use. When I was a girl we had a storm that took out power and it was two weeks before we got it back. In those days we had a small stove in the kitchen called a 'trash burner' and we cooked on it. I am looking at a duel fuel stove for when we rebuild our house. It has wood and electric. I'll have to see if it justifies the extra expense, but it would keep a small area warm as well as being useful for cooking.

Keeping paper supplies on hand is a good idea as well. Plates for eating, towels for cleanup, toilet paper, etc.

We have well water so we keep a few gallons of water in containers and my husband is designing a rainwater collection system that we could use for flushing and irrigation.

A gas can with some fuel that you can use for the lawn mower so that is doesn't get old is handy.

We have pets so I am thinking about their needs as well, although the dogs love eating people food as much as their own food.

My sweetie has medications to take every day so we get a three month supply. We actually save a little money this way and don't have to worry.

I think the key thing for me to remember is not to be motivated by fear, but to see what might be coming and be prepared.  I won't spend money I don't have and won't buy things I would not use ordinarily around the house.

I would love more ideas for this planning.