Bear Cuffs

I redid the pictures for my bear boot cuff pattern! Aren't they cute? You can buy this crochet pattern here if interested. I used a very soft white wool for these, unlike my first pair that are brown! Would you wear cute bears on your feet?

when your calling isn't your strength

I hear this advice all the time. "Don't know what to do with your life? Look to your interests and your strengths. God gave you gifts and he expects you to use them". I've even been told "you can figure out what God wants you to do by thinking of what you are good at".

I don't know if this advice is biblical or not, but it certainly doesn't apply to my life, or to many of the biblical characters I read about. Moses, for example, was not a eloquent speaker and certainly wasn't gifted in "returning to the scene of where he committed murder and speaking to his adopted brother about freeing all of his slaves". Yet he was called to do so, quiet boldly by the very voice of God out of a burning bush.

So what happens when God calls you to something that isn't a strength? What happens when God has a plan for you life that you are not happy with, and that does not bring you joy or fill you with purpose, and does not use the gifts he gave?

I think God does call us to many things that are not easy and that are not strengths already in our persons. He calls us sometimes to die of cancer. He calls many to be martyred in his name. He has plans and purposes for our lives that break us and drive us to him. And they are not easy, but those things can be our calling and our purpose for him.

God has called me to motherhood. If he had not, he would not have given me children to mother. I love my children, but on the best of days I struggle with feeling inadequate for the task ahead. I already harbor guilt in my heart over past parenting choices--things I wish I would have done different, or guilt from the times I yell at my children. I am exhausted and exist on bad days in a perpetually touched out state. I often struggle with unrealistic expectations, and I long to use my talents in creative endeavors and not feel such a slave to toddlers and hyperactive little boys.

In short, I don't feel at all equipped or called to motherhood. It is a hard grueling climb that forces me to abandon many of the things I love and cling to Christ because he is all I have. Yet I choose motherhood daily because God has called me to it, despite it not being a strength.

My calling right now is to be a mother. To try and be anything else is to abandon God's will for me. Yet it isn't my strength.

Life isn't about ease, it isn't about "Getting what I want" and "using my talents" even if that would bring me the most happiness. Life is about serving God and doing what he wants, and that fact brings me spiritual peace and joy. God is refining me by fire as I do a hard task of trying to follow him while raising strong willed sinners, even with myself still mired in sin. Life is hard, but God is good.

James 1:2-4
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Isaiah 55:8-9  
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Sometimes your calling in life is not your strength or anything to do with what you might want. I would say that often this is the case, specifically with biblical characters. I mean, Job comes to mind-- what kind of person deserves that kind of suffering or would be equipped to deal with it? Only by the power of God did he make it through, by having faith and trusting in God.

I have faith in God and in his plan for my life and I will cling to him and mother onward.

Elf Leggings

These were painstaking to knit and honestly, I wouldn't do it again. But I love them, They are warm and cozy, and most of all DONE!

Stocking

I made Rebekah a Christmas stocking! What do you think? It will nicely match Reuben's that I made in 2017. This will be her first year of receiving a Christmas stocking! I'm so excited!

Lace Gloves

I updated my lace gloves pattern with new pictures and a new PDF! Check it out if you are interested in crocheting some easy lace gloves!

Also, Reuben is now old enough at four years old to help me take pictures of my knitting and crochet. Can you see his toes in the last picture? This helps me SO MUCH because I don't have to use a tripod and camera remote!

Scarf

It is getting cold here (finally) and I am trying to finish up a bit of my straggling projects. This scarf I started over a year ago and here it is, finally done!! And ready to wear.

God has given us all we need, the answer to every question

I often read the questions that worried women ask. I used to ask questions too. I've typed them up on Facebook, Twitter and on YouTube. Some of the ones I've seen lately from a mired of women are:

Should I get my tubes tied? Is this biblical? 
Should I homeschool?
Should I vaccinate?
Can I work outside the home?
We can't afford to tithe, are we breaking God's command?
I have tattoos and I love getting them, now that I am saved should I continue?

A lot of the women end their comment with "I'm searching and praying for God to give me an answer so I can tell what I should do". Of course, each post receives 25 different responses with 25 different opinions attached! Should you get your tubes tied? Are you wondering if it is biblical? One woman will say it is wrong to use birth control because you should have as many babies as God wants and let him control your womb, where another will say she's been on birth control for years after her first baby and that using it is totally fine and biblical.

The thing is; there is no scriptural passage baring the use of condoms when having intercourse with your husband or wife. For many of the questions we ask, there isn't a clear cut answer. So what do you do when that is the case? Can you find out what the "right" thing to do by praying and hoping God gives you a sign?

I want to tell everyone that God HAS given us everything we need on this earth to figure out what to do with our lives. We DO have the answers.

God tells us how to live. He tells us our purpose is to glorify him and bring glory to his name, rather in our suffering or our work or our rest. Everything God does, he does for his name! (Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 23:3, Ezekiel 20:9, Ezekiel 36:22-32, John 8:50, John 12:27-28,John 17:1, Romans 1:5, Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 1:15-20)

Ecclesiastes 12:13 “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” 

When I have a question that I isn't outright spoken of in the bible, I address it in one of two ways. The first way is thinking of God's glory. So, for the use of birth control during sex, I would think: am I wanting to get on birth control for my glory or for Gods? It would totally depend on the person, of course, which is the frustrating thing about querying 700 ladies in a christian ministry group with a heart-felt plea. One person might know that for her, birth control would be selfish, while another would know her energy and life calling lies in a different direction than raising multiple children.

But there is no clear biblical answer about birth control. And that means no one can say "it is this way for EVERYONE". (unless you would like to leave me the verse down below) Anyway, God's word is perfect. You have to start there or you aren't a Christian. God's word holds everything we need for this life. It isn't flawed, God didn't leave out "and thou shall not sheathe thy mates penis in synesthetic casing" by mistake or something.

So why did he leave it out? He left it out because he expected us to all have different roles regarding the use of birth control and our own bodies. He left it out because it wasn't needed.

Do you have a question that fills you with guilt because you don't know what to do? God has an answer for you.

God says "Obey my 10 commandments and Glorify me". Does your question cause you to break one of the 10 commandments? Well, there's your answer. If it does not: ask yourself if you are seeking God's glory, or your own. Ask yourself what your motive is and if it is selfish in nature or part of God's plan for you life. All our actions should glorify God.

That is all you need to know. If you want to hear a sermon on this, I love this one by Paul Washer that really fleshes it out!