The children got letters from Daddy yesterday and Ally got her birthday card from him. The children were excited to see a picture of Daddy, that he sent, of him holding a picture that Will had drawn...
We also received a postcard from him a couple of days ago...
When the children saw in the photo how much Daddy liked to receive pictures drawn by them, they were compelled to send him more. So they sat at the table to draw Daddy some pictures...
It always thrills my heart to see my children drawing. I love to see how they see and express things. Here was Beth's picture for Daddy... It was a picture of her and her daddy.
Carolynne drew a picture of Daddy, too...
Will drew a picture of the whole family...
They are excited to send them to Daddy. Ally was able to sit down and write him a letter, too. They sure enjoyed getting those special letters from their Daddy! "Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers." ~ Proverbs 17:6
This has nothing to do with their letters and pictures but I was thrilled that Saturday afternoon/evening I was able to finish my new jumper...
I hope to replace most of my wardrobe with these and perhaps a couple of other homemade dresses. We're going to try to work on Ally's new dress this week.
In participation with the Valentine's Prayer Pledge, below is a 7 day prayer plan that I've had in my prayer journal for my beloved.
My plan is to use this and another plan that I have, combining and changing them, as the Lord leads, along with my regular daily prayer.
In this prayer plan there is Scripture that pertains to the request. Praying Scripture is praying God's will and is very powerful.
Side note: I do not know where I aquired this list (it was years ago).
7 Day Pray Plan for My Beloved
~ Sunday ~ Pray that he would become a holy man, a man of prayer, mature in the Lord, growing in his knowledge of God. 1 Thess. 5:23; Col.4:12; Eph.6:18; 1:18-19; 3:16-19
~ Monday ~ Pray that he would learn to take every thought captive, to not be conformed to the world's thinking and to think Scripturally. That he would learn not to depend on his circumstances for happiness but on God alone. Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 10:15; Habakkuk 3:17-19
~ Tuesday ~ Pray that he would have new strength in the midst of his busy schedule and that the Lord might infuse him with strength. Pray that his self-image would be a reflection of the Lord's thoughts towards him. Isaiah 40:31; Ephesians 3:14-19; 1:17-19; Romans 12:3; Psalm 139
~Wednesday ~ Pray he would become a called man, not driven, with well thought-through and prayed-through goals in life. Pray the Lord would give him wisdom to lead his family physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. 1 Cornthians 9:24-27; Ephesians 1:17-19; James 1:5-7
~ Thursday ~ Pray he would stand firm against schemes of the devil and resist Satan in all circumstances. Pray he would not be deceived into unbelief and sin. Ephesians 6:10-18; James 4:7; Galatians 6:7
~ Friday ~ Pray the fruit of the Spirit would be exhibited more and more in his life. Pray he would learn to love as God commands. Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Romans 12:8-10
~ Saturday ~ Pray the Lord would protect him, guard his courses. Pray he would learn to manage his time well. Proverbs 2:8; Ephesians 5:15
Friday evening, before bed, Beth (4 years old) said to me, "Mama, I don't want to go to hell". Oh, how that blessed my heart... so much was said in that statement. I saw how her heart was tender to the things of the Lord. Will was eager to help his sister understand how not to go to hell. We spent some time together explaining the Gospel to her. She said she wanted to pray and climbed up into my lap and asked me to help her. So we prayed together. What a blessing it was! I am not judge of what age is the age of understanding... only the Lord knows that. But it was such a blessing to see that she was interested in spiritual things... in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sunday evening, Will shared with us what he wanted to 'be' when he grows up. As a backdrop, I just want to mention that earlier last week, he expressed his desire to learn about all the countries in the world. He wanted to read lots of books so he could learn more. That being said, he shared with us that he thinks he wants to be a pastor or a missionary when he grows up. I told him I would pray with him about this, that the Lord will help him be sure. He has long been quite the prayer warrior in our family and has a burden for lost souls. He frequently requests, in church, prayer for his two younger sisters (4 & 3) that they will be saved one day.
What a sweet blessing it was to see the tender hearts of my children. I love to see glimpses of their untainted faith. As adults, sometimes we tend to let our faith be 'complicated'. What a joyful (and humbling) reminder to see the simplistic, genuine faith of a child.
"But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." ~ Luke 18:16
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." ~ Isaiah 40:11
In my previous t-shirt dress post, I was asked to share how I made them. So today I sat down to make another one so I could explain with pictures. :-) To create the skirt, I make the waist about twice the width of the child's waist. For example, if her waist is 10 inches, I make the width 20. For the length, I measured how long I want it and then add a couple of inches for seam allowance. Then I draw my pattern on sewing tracing paper and make it into an 'A' line skirt (using a yard stick). I, then, cut the pattern out on the fabric for the skirt...
I have both of my girls lengths on there and just fold it when I am making the shorter one. This pattern is placed on the fold of the fabric (the straight line side) so when it is cut and you open the fabric, it will be longer than the waist of the shirt...
Two skirt pieces should be cut. In the picture above, the shirt is cut already. To cut the shirt, I hold it up to my daughter to see where I want the waistline to be, then I cut it. Here is a photo of how much I took off of this particular shirt, though every shirt is different...
I then sew the two skirt pieces together at the sides, using about a 3/8" seam...
Then I sew a gathering stitch (on my sewing machine, it is the number 4 setting) on the top of the skirt (the waistline). Then I put the shirt inside the skirt (right sides together) matching the bottom of the shirt to the top of the skirt...
I line up the skirt seams with the shirt seams and, then, gather and pin the waistline...
Then I sew the waistlines together...
I, then, hem the bottom and the new dress is finished...
I sure hope that helps. They make wonderful little dresses for lil' girls, older girls, and mamas.
I'm not sure if they're just growing too fast, if the washing machine ate them, or if I somehow missed a box when unpacking when we first moved here... but I noticed that the lil' girls have been in need of more dresses. This weekend I decided to make up a couple of t-shirt dresses for them. It's been a long while since I had made any of these but soon remembered how easy it was. I hope to make a few more this week. Here they are in their new dresses... (they helped pick the fabric)
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and to look well to thy herd."~ Proverbs 27:23 {the "theme" of our blog}
I love relating this Scripture to my role as a mother! As homeschooling mamas, how much more are we able to know the hearts of our children and able to know what each one of them needs spiritually.
When we are diligent in noticing and observing our children, the Lord reveals a lot to us about them. We are able to see their character strengths and weaknesses. When we are looking well to our herds, we are prayerfully and actively doing what we need to do in teaching, training, and nurturing our little lambs.
This Scripture, to me, is very powerful. So much is being said/implied in this one verse. What an awesome responsibility we have in being the mama shepherd.
May the LORD help me to do all I can in gently training the precious sheep He has entrusted to me, as their Mama Shepherd.
