No Fear

I have been studying the book of Acts in my quiet times, and one idea that has stood out to me is the idea that we are to have no fear.  In the past, I have only considered the idea that we are to have no fear within the context of sharing the gospel with others.  This weekend, I began thinking that this can apply to other areas of my life as well.  There have been many times when I have let fear control me and prevent me from accomplishing a task.  I don't like to call people on the phone because I am afraid that I will interrupt them or that I will not know what to say.  I don't like going to a new restaurant by myself because I am afraid that I will make a mistake in the ordering process.  I have even not stopped at garage sales because of fear. 

As I thought about the different areas of fear in my life, I realized that God does not want this fear to be there either.   I am sure that there have been times that I have missed out on great opportunities because of fear.  I need to give this fear to God so that when opportunities come to share the good news with others, I will not be afraid then either.

Funny Story

This morning when I put away the peanut butter in the fridge (it is natural peanut butter) I heard a loud hissing noise.  At first I thought that one of the pop bottles was beginning to leak, but the sound was not coming from them.  I picked up the peanut butter and realized that the can of Reddi-Whip was making the noise.  A small hole developed in the side of the can and it was spraying the contents out of the tiny hole.  I put the jar of peanut butter back to block the spray until it was done.  Fortunately, the can was in a tray in the door of the fridge, so the mess was fairly well contained. 

What is funny, is when I first took out the jar of peanut butter, I was wondering if the Reddi-Whip was still any good and if I should throw it away.  I guess God gave me my answer.

Wondering

The other day when I was at the grocery store, they had some coupons for a product available and with the coupon, I was able to get the product for free.  The coupon came out of a machine that would dispense one at a time.  I went ahead and got two of the coupons, but I wondered if there is proper etiquette for this circumstance.  I didn't want to grab all the coupons and thus prevent someone else from getting the same deal, but I wondered how many coupons would be acceptable to take each time.

Dirt and Lava Update III

Here are the latest picture of my progress on the pile.  I think that my time line might change to try to finish it by October 2011!

My Limited Sewing Abilities

I must begin by saying that my mom is a decent seamstress.  When I was growing up, she often made our Easter dresses, she made clothes for me and my cousin when we were little, she made clothes for our Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls, she even made my wedding dress and the bride's maids' dresses.

I have tried sewing on and off over the years, but my ability to sew in a straight line is not the greatest.  I am sure that if I sewed more, it would get better, but I often lose patience, so I rarely sew.

Since we are working on a more limited budget, I want to learn to make more of the gifts that we give.  A couple of months ago I dressed up some burp cloths for a friend by adding some fabric and ribbon down the center.  The cloths did not come out too bad, so I decided to try it again.  Here are the results of my latest project.

My lines are starting to get straighter, so maybe my next project will be a little more ambitious.

Dirt and Lava Update II

As you can see in the two pictures above, I have made a little more progress on the pile.  It is taking longer than I expected, so I think my time line will need to change.  I can usually fill about three buckets of dirt in a thirty minute time frame (which is about the maximum amount of time I can work because my back begins to hurt)

Currently, I have been placing the dirt in an area of the yard where much of the rock and dirt was originally located.  The previous owners had a strange horseshoe shaped area where I believe some strawberry plants were planted, but our dogs quickly took care of any vegetation that grew.