"Lies Women Believe.....

.....and the Truth That Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

I can't count the number of times I have glanced at this book on shelves of Christian bookstores and libraries.  This past Sunday, I picked it up and flipped through it.  Hmmmmm......I checked it out.  I have read many reviews for this book ~ both for and against.  Some of the criticisms seem quite valid, and some...not so much. 

I've found that through the years, my love of learning, reading, and desiring to grow a closer relationship with God has lead  me to many great books and have discovered  that some of the most argued and disputed can be the best.  I am thankful that God is a personal God and am always amazed at how He meets us where we are and will use the many tools and resources available to us to do so......and am curious about what God will do in ME as I read this one.

As I stood in the library and paged through the introduction, I read this:

...."a large percentage of Christian women today could be described in the following words: frazzled, exhausted, burned-out, overwhelmed, confused, angry, frustrated, discouraged, defeated, depressed, ashamed, emotionally unstable, uptight, insecure, lonely, fearful...."

Unfortunately, several of those adjectives jumped out at me as if in bold print ~ some of them describe ME lately!  I'll keep to myself the ones that do. ; )  These words also describe many women I know.  They describe women I'm related to.  I think they describe women today in general........I desperately don't want to be like that.  Regardless of circumstances, regardless of others' influences, I deeply desire to live a Victorious Christian life & to be the kind of woman that is.......

"......free, joyous, contented, loving, radiant, confident, gracious, peaceful, stable......"

Jesus said in John 10:10:

 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." 

How many of us actually experience that abundant life?  I believe it is possible, but it's a journey.  And all journeys have ups and downs, and through our travels even those of us who KNOW the TRUTH and know better that to fall for the Deceiver's lies sometimes do.  That sin nature.......why won't it leave us alone?!

This blog was originally started for Sweet Diva as a business/creative blog......but has become much more {because there's so much more to me ~ and I have trouble sometimes focusing on just one thing ; ) }.  I didn't anticipate that......I am quite surprised at the number of comments I get when I post (mostly private and off-blogger) and the number of inquiries I get when I don't.  It seems quite a few people can identify with my more personal posts.  I'm going to post on my journey through this book as I seek to expose the lies that I have fallen for and hope to destroy any strongholds Satan has claimed in my life.  Being a very private person in the real world, I'm a bit uncomfortable with this......but have seen firsthand before how the Lord can change and shape us when we are stepping out of our comfort zone if we are willing.

So, here goes......this should be interesting....; )

Linking up with Mom's Mustard Seeds for Mustard Seed Planting.  My verse for the week:

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30





Things That Kept Me Busy in 12/2010.....Part 1: Sweet Sugar Babies.....

One of many New Year's Resolutions that I REALLY intend to keep:  to be faithful to my Sweet little blog & have a crafty post at least once a week....preferably on Crafty Tuesday!!  So, since December was rather bloggy quiet, I'm going to go ahead and post a couple of projects/orders I worked on in 12/2010 that were never introduced on my site......for some Sweet Little Sugar Babies:

Custom embroiderd burp cloths for a sweet baby girl  : )

A super cute diaper bag for another bundle of joy:

What is it about baby items that make them so much fun to make?  They make me smile just looking at them!  = )

Linking up with:

Multitude Monday: 1,000 Gifts 66 - 82

66.  Order being restored (in the form of Christmas decorations & clutter being put away)  ; )
 
67.  Garbage trucks.....
 
68.  ....and the men who take all the boxes, wrapping paper, tissue paper, bows, ribbons, etc. AWAY
 
69.  Goodwill & other charitable organizations who take our old items to become someone else's new

  (Can you tell I have a theme going here?)

 

70.  Gifts given......

 

71. ....and gifts received

 

72.  an 11th Birthday celebrated

 

 

We spent the day at the zoo (more photos & details later for family & friends)

 

73.  A day at ♥home♥ to just be US after many days of  extended family togetherness....   I  ♥ them, but you know what I mean, even if you don't admit it  ; ) 

 

74.  Hot water......you never know how much you''ll miss it until your water heater breaks!!

 

75.  An official domain (I am now http://www.sweetdivamj.com) for my blog/business

 

76.  Online studios now open at Etsy & Artfire....and receiving hits : )

 

77.  New endeavors (Sweet Diva starts sewing classes this Friday!)

 

78.  Things crossed off the to-do list that have been there too long  : )

 

79.  Decisions made, resulting in Simplification of many things (hopefully)

 

80.  New beginnings......

 

81.  .......Hope restored....

 

82.  .......Hope renewed......

 

"But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more."  Psalm 71: 14

Mustard Seed Planting: Isaiah 9:6-7

Rejoining the link-up with Mom's Mustard Seeds after being away too long:

  "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince Of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with Judgment and with Justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Linking up today with: 





Binding Books Beautifully ~ Motivating Reluctant Writers

Several years ago I visited a booth by Binding Books Beautifully  at a Homeschool Convention and loved the hands-on approach to making books.  "What a fun and creative way to motivate my little writers to work hard on their writing assignments", I thought.  I then purchased the kit and brought it home.......where it sat on a shelf and got moved around quite a few times, but basically was untouched and very neglected due to the chaos and busy-ness of life (much like many of my great ideas and intentions  : / ).

This fall, we joined a Homeschool co-op where I thought I would get to sit back and assist in a class for a year while we adjusted to something new.  I somehow, however, often find myself being volunteered for and/or asked to things I didn't actually plan on and ended up as the teacher of the 5th grade writing class.

After several weeks of receiving half-hearted assignments from many of  my crew of 15, I came across the binding tool and thought, "A-ha!  We'll do a book project & I'll let them make their own books before Christmas break!  Perhaps that will motivate my reluctant writers to put a little more thought and effort into their assignments!".  So, I announced the book project to the class and plans were made.  Quite a few of the students were excited about it and others ~ not so much........until the day came to actually make our books.  THEN the ones that saw us making them were quite disappointed they didn't participate.  It turned out to be a bit stressful for me and I'm not sure I will offer such a hands-on project again to a class this size.  Part of the stress was due to the fact that in our co-op, participation in these things seems to be optional and until the week before the project was to be completed I wasn't actually sure how many students were going to participate.  Kind of frustrating for the teacher who is trying to plan and prepare!  In the end, about half the class made books while the other half played Punctuation Bingo ....and my students absolutely loved their finished product! 

It was a crazy, chaotic day that left me thinking, "WHAT was I THINKING????"!  Bad things happen when I am trying to help one glue, put another one's book in the binding tool, listen to something another one was saying to me & answer a mom's question all at the same time! If, after reading this post, you think "What a GREAT idea.....I want to do that with my kids" and end up getting one for yourself, I have one word of caution:  Should you ever do what I did (get distracted and not match up the symbols on the end of the tool, resulting in a book being trapped in the tool) - do not, I repeat DO NOT - try to pry it apart. It only makes it worse and more difficult to get the nails out. Get a pair of needle-nosed pliers and it will grip the nails perfectly and they come right out {small amount of muscle required, but not much ; ) }

Despite the chaos and some unexpected blunders, I was thrilled to get feedback from moms who thanked me for doing it.  Turns out my intentions were rewarded, as the hands-on project that included writing, drawing, fabric, glue, hammers, nails, needles & thread WORKED and DID motivate those reluctant writers I was seeking to inspire (one of which was my very own 5th grader)!

With all the craziness of trying to make so many books during class, I didn't get any pictures worth posting, but ♥Jacob♥ and I made his book at home the day before:

Gluing (Tacky Glue works well) his chosen fabric to the book boards (I bought a package from Amazon):

The covered book in the binding tool:

Hammering the nails in:

Binding/sewing the book together:

The finished book (minus label)!  The Binding Books Beautifully site shows samples of different label ideas for the front.

A few samples of the pages within (you can click to enlarge if you actually want to read them):

Title Page

There are some spelling, punctuation & miscellaneous other errors, but this is a HUGE improvement from what I often get from him and the point was to motivate his creative thinking and inspire him to work harder on his weak areas ~ so I'm happy with it!!

My personal favorite : )

He is so proud of his book......as were his brother and sister.  They found it very unfair that he got to make one and they didn't, so they are now feverishly working on revising some of their writing assignments and creating some new ones in order to give them as Christmas gifts!  : )

It really IS a very fun project......one or two students at a time.... ; )

Linking up with:

Multitude Monday: 1,000 Gifts 46 - 65

Has it really been almost a month since I've posted?! Oh my ~ I guess I've been a little overwhelmed & my bloggy world has been neglected!




Rejoining The Gratitude Community for Multitude Monday.........

46. Encouraging friends who know her well enough to read between the lines and assume the best about her instead of being a constant source of negativity and criticism.....they are truly a priceless treasure

47. Friends who are drama-free!!!!


48. 3 weeks off from our homeschool co-op (love our co-op, but happy to have a break!)


49.  Last minute Christmas orders


50. Unexpected e-cards from my precious (and often sassy) girl.......it's the "sassy" that makes the unexpected thoughtfulness so meaningful ; )


51. My wise guy ♥ (the one with the red)



52.  Opportunities to serve others....

        On Dec. 10, I was blessed with being able to participate with my daughter in our church's Middle School Christmas Ministry Night. 

Our middle schoolers packing up gift bags of cookies and candy to distribute to various teen crises centers and homeless shelters in our city....

We then divided up into groups and set out to visit and throw Christmas parties for them.....our group visited the Children's Home Society.  We played some Christmas games, shared the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas, and had a Birthday cake for Jesus!  I was so exhausted this night, but so glad I went!  It's true what Jesus said, you know.....it really IS more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35)!

53.  The Middle School Dept. of my church  : )


54.  A ♥church home♥ that REALLY feels like home every time I walk through the doors


55.  A music ministry that fulfills another longing to serve and give of my talents ~ so much more a blessing to me than I could ever be to it


56.  A ladies ensemble that lets me sing with them, covers for my mediocre abilities & blesses me far more than I can say


57.  Little boys singing "All is Well"

58.  Christmas carols

59.  Nativity scenes

60.  ♫ Hallelujah, we've been found....

61.  A child is born....To save us now....

62.  Jesus....

63.  Hallelujah, Light has come....

64.  A Savior who will set us free.....

65.  A promise for those who believe!  ♫