Modern Day Conveniences or Distractions

This week I went back in time, leaving behind modern day convenience to revisit the days of "doing it by hand".

I am a total city girl.  I was raised in Austin, the capital city of Texas, and later-in-life moved to the huge Metroplex of Dallas/Fort Worth.  I enjoyed my visits to my grandparents' farms, but I have never had to grow my own food or sew my own clothes in order to survive.  Anything I have done has been because I chose to do it.
Isaiah 60:21
Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

So that is why I say that this week I went back in time to do things by hand.  I chose to make strawberry jam.  Yes, I have canned in the past, but put it away for modern conveniences years ago because of my busy family's schedule.  I was so delighted at the end of the process, not only with the product, but also the enjoyment I felt from accomplishing this task.  No, I probably didn't save any money, genetic brands are very cheap. But I know my product was healthier as I limited the sugar.

While I was on a roll in my Lucy apron, June Cleaver mode, I decided it was time for some homemade strawberry ice cream.  In Texas, we are already having 80 degree weather and I haven't made homemade ice cream in years.  So I pulled down my electric ice cream maker...still a little out of date since it requires ice and rock salt.  We assembled it in our backyard and plugged it in, to the dismay of our neighbors, who would hear the noise and yet not enjoy the final product....life on a postage size lot!

As I was watching the ice cream maker do it's job, I realized my children have never seen a hand-cranked ice cream maker, nor participated in my canning.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

1 Thessalonians 4:11
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,


I realized that, although I would never give up my modern conveniences, I'm afraid we have lost some things along the way...

,,,mainly PATIENCE and the products from the work of our HANDS!

As a child, anticipating the ice cream, I helped turn the crank...it became a whole family event.  When I canned with my mother and grandmother, we all gathered around the backyard in metal, bouncing, yard chairs, to snap beans and peel peaches. Later enjoyment of the food brought a sense of pride, as well as the  patience learned.  Relationships were enhanced during the task.

There were lessons that were learned in the "doing it by hand" times.  Everyone washed the dishes, everyone picked the garden, everyone turned the ice cream freezer.  We sat in the den and hand-sewed with ongoing conversations.  Abilities and stories were passed down to the next generation.

I went to bed the other night with a grin on my face and a contentment in my heart because I had used my hands in a different way that day.  I still clean my own house, cook our meals, homeschool my children....the list goes on and on.  I love my modern day conveniences but... I think I will look for ways to bring some of the old lessons back into my family. Maybe I will find a hand-cranked ice cream freezer to start out with....don't you know my high tech adult children are going to pitch a fit (that's a Texas word for not happy)!

Time to Re-Design

As I had blogged early this year, I felt this was my year for...well, let's say, putting off the grave clothes and coming back to life!

I allowed some major life disappointments and tragedies to just kinda...take me out of the game.  I continued to go on with life, but it was a daily struggle.

As stated in my past post on "cultivating", I was needing to put my hands back on the plow and create again.

I am having so much fun!!!  As I step back into creating, I am returning to many of my past pleasures.  My sewing machine is being used again.  I am once again designing in my head and this time it was  new bedding.
The one I had needed to retire. She had served me well, even if I never brought out her complete beauty.  She had stood in my "dream wall" bedroom in our past house.  I had painted my walls after a trip to Fredricksburg, Texas.  Inspired by one of the city's great shops, I set out to recreate the wall treatment at home. Hours and weeks later, my dream became a reality and I still adored the walls years later, but my bedding never fulfilled my vision.

She now sets in a room without color or curtains, due to the fact the landlord has forbid touching anything.  So, this creative girl had to have an outlet for her cultivation.  A new coverlet started it all.  Extra pieces of fabric I already possessed and some time to create allowed me to dust off my sewing skills.

After repeated text messages back and forth to my friend "Ethel", (not her real name but my term of endearment), I started sewing.  One night I saw what I wanted for my side pillows, inspiration which came from different visits to talented blogs..."W" drawn on paint cloth material, flanged shams would customize the new bedding.

Three large, European Shams across the back, one large king sham in front of them with side shams and accent pillows finish up the head and the bed was DONE! Next comes the adventure of adding accents and accessories as finishing touches to my "bedroom vision"!

It is BRIGHT.  It is so CHEERFUL...I just smile as I enter the room.  It is NEW!  It is a LIFT to my SOUL.

How precious to feel the hand of God as He uncovers you from your mourning....the verse states, "He gives beauty for ashes", is what I feel today.  Not only do I have a new look in my room, I was able to create and bring life to my vision.  I was cultivating and the Lord allowed my soul to rejoice!