Busyness a Weapon

The hardest thing in the world for me to do is be still, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I am a doer, I like to be involved and get things done. If you ask me to do something I almost never say no.

This lifestyle is not healthy. It is not healthy physically because a body needs sleep, down time and home cooked meals. This does not happen when I am over committed. My house keeping falls apart, the children become undisciplined, and we all end up grumpy! It is not healthy emotionally because with so many ideas in my head and looking at the "To Do" list it is easy to become overwhelmed and confused. I am not able to be a good wife to my husband.

But mostly, it is unhealthy spiritually. When I am running from one commitment to another, waking up to a dozen things that need to be done before breakfast, and not being able to sleep at night because I am thinking of all the things I need to get done tomorrow, this hurts my relationship with God. As much as I love to read God's word and talk with Him, this fall towards the bottom of my list of "Must Do's" So add guilt to my feeling of not being able to get it all done.

Every so often, I get so exhausted, it's like God is saying...again..."BE STILL, REST in Me." Now I know that this is the truth, that the most important thing is to commune with God...EVERYDAY.

I think busyness is the #1 weapon of the enemy. Why am I such a slow student? Tomorrow is a new day and I am thankful that God is all about new beginnings. :o)


HERE is a good Devotion on the topic.

Bartering

This school year I am bartering lessons with another homeschool mom. I am teaching her daughter, age 16, homemaking lessons. Right now we are working on piecing a quilt together and in a week or so we will do canning. My daughter, age 16, is receiving piano lessons. She has had 8 years of lessons, but now she is learning how to improvise.

This is working out GREAT!

btw...if you'd like to
learn how to quilt
you can download lessons from my site,
or
if you live in or near Blount County, Alabama
I give private and group lessons!

For more Frugal Ideas check out Biblical Womanhood!

Online Quilting Lessons

I am thrilled to be able to announce that my

Beginner's Quilting Lessons

are FINALLY online!
These are not the video, I'm still plugging away at that.

These lessons are presented in five PDF lessons,
with a BUNCH of pictures!
You can also e-mail me if there is something you don't understand in the lessons.

Each lesson is $5.95 and you can buy them as you need them.
Work at your own pace.
Choose your own colors and fabrics.

Why Quilt?

The woman that is worth more than rubies as described in
Proverbs 31:10-30, is always busy with her hands. She is either
caring for her husband and children, feeding the needy, or
being productive with her hands. She does all these things to bring
glory to God, to honor to her husband and to improve her home.

Quilting is just one thing that girls can learn to do to be
productive and to bless others.  There is a sense of joy that
comes when you give a quilt to someone that cannot be explained.
Quilts are special, they can become keepsakes.

Quilts can also be a means of income for a household. Once the
skills are learned there are countless items that can be made to
be sold, from potholders to king size bed quilts.

Heritage Quilts are extremely special, you can read more about those on
our website. These can be very profitable to a quilter and priceless to the
ones that receive them.

You can see here how our daughters earned some NICE prize money at
our county fair last week. Some of that money was from quilting
projects. 

The Bailey's Barn Party!

We had the privilege of attending a Barn Party at the Baileys Saturday night. They drew a HUGE crowd and even had a caller for square dancing. It was wonderful to be surrounded by so many like minded Christians...over 200 of us! There were children EVERYWHERE! It was like a little slice of heaven on earth.

Life is meant to be enjoyed and THANK YOU Bailey Family for adding to our enjoyment!

Thank you
Baileys
Boyds
and
Tarvers
for the FUN bluegrass music!

I did not plan on making a video so I know it is pretty shotty camera work, and I didn't get even half of the beautiful faces that were there... but you get the idea.

Fair Review

The County Fair has come to end. :o) What a long week of volunteering, but it was fun. We met alot of new people, came home with lots of new ideas that we want to try, but most of all we thank God for His grace!

After helping with the Baked Good registration for two days,
my fellow quilter and friend Jerri and I came to man the Quilter's booth on Wed. night.
This is not me and Jerri, but it IS our Quilter's booth with 2 of our other ladies.

Our families also came to ride rides that night.
Pictured above is Emma, friend-Katie and Josh.

Here is Olivia with her 4-H booth, it was about the hazards of smoking.
She won first place which included a $60 check!
Somehow Emma's picture with her booth got deleted from my camera
so I don't have it. :o(
She won second place and a check for $50!

Friday night our whole family volunteered to work the gates.
We were actually representing our quilter's guild,
but if you get one of us... you get all of us!
Here's Josh, he helped take up tickets and figured out how
some un-paid fair goers were getting in!

Emma and I worked the other side of the gate.

Jeff and Olivia worked the ticket booth.

It was this night that we were even more aware of God's grace on us. If it weren't for His mercy we'd be just like alot of those at the fair that were in need. They are in need of the Holy Spirit to correct their language, their lying, their immodesty, their OBVIOUS immorality, their selfishness. NOT that we have arrive at perfect holiness, because we have not, and won't until we receive our heavenly bodies. I KNOW there is plenty that God still wants to clean up in us. One of our children commented on the amount of breast that was shown, I had to remind her that until the heart is changed you can't even address the clothing, and if it weren't for Christ we'd be just like that.

This is another reason why we choose to do the things we do. We need to be in the public eye, not hiding our light under a bushel. We met alot of new people, some had questions about homeschooling, and I hope we have dispelled some misunderstandings.

Today was booth take down and pick up of prizes.
Here is Olivia with her 34 ribbons and $229 in prize money!!!
She worked long and hard for this.

Here is Emma with her 16 ribbons and $106 in prize money!!!
She too put in a lot of hours on her projects.

Here is just one of Olivia's quilting entries. It is a flag wall hanging.
I just love it! You can't tell in the picture, but it was made with muslin,
so the white looks vintage.

Here is one of my entries.
It is a crocheted baby sweater...representing the Alabama Football team!
Roll Tide!

Frugal Friday ~Tomatoes

This weeks Frugal Friday is You Pick Tomatoes.

Where we live there are ALOT of tomato farms. After the workers go through and pick, they open the fields to the public. Even though these are fields that have already been picked there are BUNCHES of 'maters left. We can pick a big box for about $3-$5 . I like to get 3-4 boxes in the fall and do all my tomato canning at one time. This year I want to also make veggie soup and tomato soup. I hope to do this next week.

For more Frugal Friday tips hop over to Biblical Womanhood!

Yesterday, our all knowing, Sovereign Lord took home one of His chosen. His mom was 7 1/2 months pregnant with him when she noticed he was not moving. Little Zion was born via c-section yesterday morning.

Please pray for this family as I know that they have many hard days ahead of them. Grief is hard, and having to bury a your child is the most painful thing I personally have experienced.

County Fair Week!

The Brodock home is affectionately called "Fair Central" for a few weeks in September. We absolutely LOVE our county fair. Our favorite part is participating in the exhibits. We enter items in several of the handiwork, gardening, food preservation, and baked goods categories. The girls each also do a 4-H Booth exhibit. This year Olivia's booth is about the dangers of smoking and Emma's is about exercise.

We try to keep fair project ideas in mind all year long when we make things. This is a GREAT
way for the children to use their skills that they are working on. The county fair allows them to be
judged and hopefully be rewarded with ribbons and cash, and if not, they learn good sportsmanship!
It is also great inspiration for ideas of how to improve on what they know, and consider learning
new skills. But mostly, the county fair inspires all of us to be productive.

Baked Goods Registration
front: Emma and Olivia
back: Me and our friend/neighbor, Carolyn,
who is over all individual exhibits

We use this time to do community work and volunteer as a family at the fair. This year
 the girls and I are in charge of the Baked Goods registration, and all of us will be helping
work the gates one night. We are also helping at a couple of booths during the week,
including the Sav-a-Life booth. I am not saying this too toot our own horn, but to point out
that there are times when families can be a witness for Christ to the community just because
we are willing to serve. When people see that you are willing to serve they wonder what is
different about you, THAT is when you point to Christ. There are alot of people that are
willing to volunteer as individuals, but not many are willing to serve as a family. Not many
teens are willing to give freely of their time unless they are doing a 'Community Service Project'
for a club or a grade. I hope that we are teaching our kids that this is a way of life. I also hope
we are dispelling myths about homeschoolers. THIS is TRUE socialization, being able to
communicate will all ages and types of people, not just 30 other kids their age all day
long.

Emma taking water to the fair workers.

It is a great time to see people that you have not seen in years and to meet new people.

A Must-See--The Monstrous Regiment

Here is a sneak preview of a Gunn Brother's documentary coming in October.

Pumpkin Pot Holders

I am so happy to say that I actually finished a project today! yhaaaa... I snapped a few pictures along the way so I could share with you. :o)

You will need:
small amount of green fabric
small amount of orange, maybe 1/4 of a yard
scraps of batting
(I always save my quilting scraps of fabric and batting)
Orange thread
Sewing machine
scissors

Cut a strip of green fabric about 1 1/2 - 2 inches wide and 12 inches or so long.
I was just estimating and using scraps that I already had cut,
it does not need to be exact.

Fold the strip in half and press it;
fold both sides in and press it;
then in half again, press it, like a double bias tape.

Sew a zig zag all the way down. The purpose is to hide your raw edges.

Cut your orange fabric to look like a pumpkin.
I folded my fabric 4 times to get 4 pumpkins pieces,
I cut all 4 at one time.
The fabric was right sides together twice, so that they would be the same shape.
Be sure to make the bottom of the pumpkin flat so that it will be easy to stitch up.

Cut 2 layers of batting, place it under the pumpkin.
place wrong sides (non-printed side) of pumpkin together;
put them on top of the batting.
Place your stem as shown; gently lay the top layer of pumpkin down,
making sure it is even with the other pumpkin.

Pin your stem and pumpkin in place.

Starting a couple of inches over from the center bottom,
stitch around the pumpkin; remove your pin when you come to it.
Leave a 3-4 inch opening at the bottom.

Trim off excess fabric, batting and stem that is sticking out.
Carefully turn pumpkin right side out.

You may want to trim a little of the batting off at the bottom here.

Then fold your opening under, making a small seam, you can press it if it helps.
As closely to the fold as you can, sew the opening closed.
Be sure to backstitch to hold it secure.

Starting at the top center, sew half circles to make it look like a pumpkin. When you get to the bottom center, while your needle in down in the fabric, lift your presser foot up, turn your pumpkin in the opposite direction, put foot down and sew upward. continue this until you have enough lines sewn.

There you have it!

If you don't want to make these, you can buy them from me for
$6 a set!

You can email me at kathy@TeachingGoodThings.com

Be Frugal~Have Babies!

This week's Frugal Friday Tip is
HAVE BABIES!

Having children really does not cost as much as the 'experts' say! It is only common sense and good economics to birth children. If you don't buy into the culture's lie of materialism you will realize that children really don't cost much. And when they get to where they eat more food and their shoes cost a bit more, they are to the point where they start contributing to the family. It is the THINGS that people think kids need that cost so much.

Now that our children are older 13, 16, and 19 it is incredible! We ALL work and play together. We ALL make money in one way or another and we ALL contribute to the household. Do you know what it is like to have a 13 or 16 year old daughter WANT to go buy some groceries and then come home and COOK THEM? This is true education for them, they will make great wives. It is wonderful, it is rewarding, and it is exciting for them!!! They love it. They feel important.

When yard or house work needs to be done, we ALL do it! When there are community events we ALL help. At these community events it is mostly adults doing the work, kids are off doing their own thing, thinking only of themselves and their friends. We always get comments about how nice it is that ALL of our family participates in these events. This is part of our witness of Christ and His ways.

I only wish I would not have cut off God's blessing of fertility 13 years ago.

One last thought...God said debt is a curse we embrace that, He said children are a blessing and we kill (abortion) and prevent (birth control) them. How sad. That debt won't bring happiness, but the list of blessings that children bring is endless.

Here is a great blog about birth control.

As our children grow even older and God brings them mates, we plan on helping them in their families. We hope to help them build up treasures in heaven by having strong, God-lovin' families, where God is in charge of the number of children. He is smarter than we are! If He provides for the birds of the air and knows the number of hairs on our head, won't He provide for each child HE creates?

Check out Biblical Womanhood for more frugal ideas!

Building Character

I read this this morning by Nancy Carter from the Homeschool Minute about Building Character in Our Children:

A wise woman once said, "While we're focused on building character in our children, God is focused on building character in us."

Maybe it's perseverance - we can't give up on them.

Maybe it's patience - no one guarantees immediate results.

Maybe it's humility - lest any man should boast!

Maybe it's contentment - learning not to envy that mom down the street whose kids seem to have it all together.

Maybe it's dependability - truly showing our children that we'll stick with them even when their behavior breaks our hearts.

Maybe it's dying to self - doing what needs to be done, even when we don't want to. Like oh say. . . playing a board game with your kids when you'd rather read a book by yourself. (Ouch stepping on my OWN toes now.)

And maybe it's for God to continue to grow our faith in Him, to truly remind us to walk by faith and not by sight. When we see what God can do in our children's lives in spite of all of our mistakes and shortcomings (both parents and children), we are reminded that truly it IS all about Him. It's not always easy, but it is about Him.

Entrepreneur Days

This is a post from Rhea Perry who started Entrepreneur Days in her home. I thought this was a beautiful post and why we are continuing to persevere to keep our home as a true 'home base' for work and ministry!
*******

In this age of securing professionals for everything, we have
lost sight of one key truth.

God ordained the home to be the center of ministry.

There are tons of examples in the Bible and in history where
small things started in homes.

Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his garage.

Pierre Omidyar started Ebay in an apartment.

Sergei Brin and Larry Page started Google in their college
dorm room.

And look where they are today!

My family has personally experienced that on a much smaller
scale with the conference we just hosted two weeks ago.

Entrepreneur Days, which served over 300 guests from 30 states
including Alaska, California, Washington, and Florida, started
in my living room just a few years ago.

We even had guests from Saudi Arabia and Canada.

This past weekend, I wanted to host a double baby shower for my
daughter and my daughter-in-law and so my old friends could meet
my son-in-law and my daughter-in-law.

But since I have been a bit busy with the conference lately, my
house isn’t in “show shape.”

In fact, parts of it are trashed.

I considered renting the hall at the volunteer fire station down
the road so I wouldn’t have to clean the house.

But I started thinking about my purpose, as I always do.

Home is supposed to be the center of ministry. It always has been.

So I rounded up the kids and we focused on cleaning the public
spaces.

We just shut the doors to the rooms we didn’t get to.

Ever done that?

(I know you have!)

So yesterday, we had a glorious event! The boys all stayed.

Drew even stayed and played our silly baby games.

He didn’t win the diapering competition but his energy efficient
house stories and his $66 power bill during a month when
temperatures averaged over 100 degrees was popular with the
ladies.

(He’s building super energy efficient houses these days.)

After the event when all the guests had left, the kids were in
such a great mood that I didn’t want to leave them to go to bed.

That’s what home is supposed to be like.

If life at your house isn’t what you’d like it to be, pray that
the Lord gives you wisdom to change what needs to be changed.

Learn how to balance all the people and activities so you always
keep the main thing the main thing.

(That’s why women are multi-taskers!)

When we keep our priorities right by honoring our spouse and
children and focusing on establishing home as a place of
ministry, God is pleased.

And everybody else is happy too!

So many books, so little time…

Rhea!
who wants to help you make your home the center of your
business as well!

My Favorite Projects

We snapped a few pictures after church today. The older the kids get the harder it is to get a picture. Actually, it is Jeff that makes photos hard to do. His personality is so easy going...except for taking pictures, you'd think you were asking him for blood or something! His parents tell me when he was a kid he would cry and throw things at the camera. When Josh was little he hated pictures too, although he didn't throw things, he'd just cry or go hide...now here he is, slap in the center! :o) He was also setting the timer on the camera today and running into place. :o)

Those that know me well, know I usually have a half a dozen projects going at one time. I have 2 baby blankets in the basket next to the recliner, about 5 quilts cut out...but not put together yet, several sewing patterns waiting to be cut, I started a jute/beaded necklace about 2 weeks ago...and the list goes on... :o/ BUT I do get things done, just not as fast as I start them. :o)

As much as I like to make things, I'd have to say that my family, especially my husband, are my favorite projects. They are my life long project that I want to pour my whole life into. They are the project that God himself gave me. Unlike finishing a quilt or catering a wedding reception, I will never see the complete project of my family, because it is God that is responsible for the results, and hopefully these results will carry on for generations. When I finish a quilt, a cake, or whatever... I can take a step back and look at it. I can see my mistakes and wish I would have done some things differently, and that is how I feel about being a wife and mother. Jeff and I just celebrated our 21st anniversary. There are many things I wish I would have done differently, but then again, those things make up who we are. God uses all those things for our good and His glory. What a mess things would be if it were all up to us!!!

I am so thankful that God gave me this special project, this calling (mission) in life, to be a wife and mother. I am even more thankful that I am God's chosen project, and that He has promised to FINISH ME (unlike my boxes of unfinished projects). When I am done doing the things He has for me to do, He will bring me home...HOME to enjoy Him forever! Until then may I be clay in the Potter's hands.

The BEST dog in the world!

Receiving Blanket

You can make really neat receiving blankets for just a couple dollars. I found this fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby (my FAVORITE store), although the clearance price wasn't as cheap as I wanted it, but I just LOVED the fabric, so I bought a couple of yards! We have FIVE babies due at our church and I may need to give this one away! :o) I woke this morning KNOWING what I want to do with the rest of this fabric. If there were only more hours in the day!

After washing and drying your fabric, cut it to the desired size.
Press a 1/4" (or there about) seam back twice as to hide your raw edge,
do this all the way around.
Then use whichever stitch you'd like, just try to keep it straight.
Press again to make sure it is good and flat.

For this blanket I used some nice fun fur type yarn.
It was regular $4.00 and I got it for 99 cents! Can't beat that! :o)
Any fun type yarn/string will work.
I used a small steel crochet hook, inserted it,
made a single crochet, chain 3,
made another single crochet about an inch over.
So the yarn is 'looped'
but you can not tell because it's fun fur! :o)Now wouldn't this be a neat receiving blanket for a family that had a farm? :o)
So keep your eye on the fabric on the clearance racks and
you can whip up a bunch of receiving blankets in no time for just a few dollars!
You can see a couple of other types I made earlier this year.
HERE

Frugal Friday~Baby Shower Gift

Since I have so many irons in the fire that I don't know which end is up, I will refer my FRUGAL FRIDAY post (hosted by Biblical Womanhood), to the post just below this one.

Below you will find a unique baby shower gift! Make it yourself and it will cost a fraction of what we are going to charge for them! :o)

Diaper Wreath

My daughter, Olivia (be sure to check out her blog), made this to enter in the county fair in a couple weeks. It will go in the category, Wreath, Non-Christmas. I thought I'd post a simple tutorial about it. :o)

Items Needed:
A Wreath
(you can get these at the dollar store
or watch for after season clearance and buy a few)
Most anything you'd put in a gift basket
use your imagination!!!
Ribbon
Diapers
(disposables are used here, you could use cloth also)

Use ribbon to tie diapers on wreath.
Wouldn't it look nice with cloth diapers tied on with raffia?

Be sure to cover all of the wreath.

Tie on all of your items.

There you have it!
Olivia used a receiving blanket that I made for the 'bow'.

An option:
Cloth diapers, using raffia, crochet booties, a knitted blanket...

Another option:
Instead of using diapers, use baby t-shirts...

Another option:
Tie on scrap booking items...

Another option:
First Aid items

Be creative...

Abortion: The Context of Our Praise

From Dean Abbot:

While we are busy trying to show the world “Christians can have fun too”, the world around us grows an ever darker, more murderous place.

We fail to consider our context. The most significant fact we should carry with us about our culture as we consider how we might design church services that speak to it is the reality of abortion. We should remember that while we fill our services with clever skits and shallow songs and advice on achieving your best life now, the streets of our cities run with the blood of 50 million babies.

Whatever we do in church, it should point to something, indeed someone, strong enough and virile enough, to gain victory over evil of that magnitude. The culture of death is the culture into which we speak. Abortion is the context of our praise. A church dedicated to her own entertainment, to feeling good on Sunday mornings will fail, indeed has failed, to point to Jesus, the one who will redeem and punish the evil of our age.

Read the whole story HERE.

Along the same topic I read THIS last week...just makes me sick! God have mercy on our nation.

A Tribute to Dr. D. James Kennedy

I read THIS TRIBUTE today from Dr. Kennedy's daughter. What a difficult time they have had, but at the same time what an incredible blessing to have such a Godly heritage!

Her closing remarks as she prepares herself for her father's going Home:

Paul said, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” I believe my dad always pressed towards that prize and when he steps into glory, he is going to meet Jesus who will welcome him and say, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” Now it’s our turn to run the race and press toward the prize. We can cross the finish line and hear “well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Supermarket Savings 101

Here is a brand-new course,

Supermarket Savings 101:
A Beginning Course Teaching You How to
Drastically Reduce Your Grocery Budget.

This course was developed from a very popular online class that Crystal Paine of BiblicalWomanhood.com taught recently. She is running a super savings special on it this next week. The starting price out is at the rock-bottom price of $5.97 and upping it $3 each day until she reaches the retail price of $17.97 (which will be this Friday)!

I will be doing this with my daughters over the next couple of weeks. This is an e-book, so you instantly download it. It also has audio with it! She even offers a 100% money back guareentee if you are not completely satisfied within 45 days! Now you can't beat that!!!
The course even includes SIX bonus e-books which are:

1. Six simple and easy-to-understand audio lessons, including a question and answer lesson at the end where she address many questions submitted by those in the pilot class.

2. A 57-page course handbook including all the transcripts from the audio lessons, assignments to help you learn the ropes, and lots of extra helpful information.

3. Six bonus e-books to encourage you as you seek to save your family money which include:

Thriving on One Income

Momma's Guide to Growing Groceries

Simply Centsible Breakfast

Simply Centsible Suppers

Menu Planning Made Easy

The Bread by Hand

Click Here to learn more about this course!

Blue Patchwork Quilt

Here is a throw I just finished up Friday. Part of it is made from some vintage fabric, the rest of it is newer fabric. I was trying to achieve a vintage look, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

This one will be listed for sale for a reduced price of $35, because it has one small flaw that has been stitched up in one of the squares. Normally this size would sell for $45.