Driving a Stake in the Ground

Edited 06.27.15

I am saddened, but not surprised at the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of same sex "marriage."

Rudderless, the majority justices continue to sail the USA toward rocky shores.

Perhaps I am painting a target on myself, but I feel compelled to post a statement of my faith and beliefs here today.

I do not hate anyone.  Because I follow Jesus Christ, because He loves and forgives me, and because His love compels me, I love everyone, though I do so imperfectly as an imperfect human being.

"Love your neighbor.  Do good to those who do evil against you.  Overcome evil with good."

Those some are my foundational motivations and guiding commands.

Below is a more formal belief statement, the wording of which I borrowed and tweaked from an Alliance Defense Fund pdf.

"I believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female, evidenced biologically at birth. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen 1:26-27.)  ‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity, which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God.’

"I believe that the term 'marriage' has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen 2:18-25.) I believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb 13:4.) I believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.

"I believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10.)

"I believe that God freely offers redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking His mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:19-21; Rom 10:9-10; 1 Cor 6:9-11.)

"I believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. (Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31.) Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture or with how Jesus treated people while He walked the earth."

I understand that our government has approved and legalized relationships and actions that are in opposition to my beliefs.

I do not believe that those who have made these decisions hate me.

I am not your judge.  (Matt. 7:1, John 5: 26-27, John 12: 47-48.)

These beliefs guide my relationship with God and with man.  A desire of my heart is to grow in loving relationship with God and with all of humanity every day.

If you disagree with my beliefs, I respect you and love you anyway.  I think all of you are amazing creations of Father God who carry unique and needed gifts into our world.

Can we focus on the things we agree upon and work together to build a promising and bountiful future for us and for the generations to come?

Have mercy on us, oh God!

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Swing Flags #2

See http://abdemoss.blogspot.com/2015/06/swing-flags-diy.html for more details!

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Theme Song Thursday Twofer

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E.T., Phone Home

Yup, I'm showing my age with that title.

It's symbolic of a request for like-minded, like-hearted people to check-in and contact me.

Does your heart burn with passion for God? and/or

Are you pursuing revivel?  and/or

Are you longing to go deeper with Holy Spirit? and/or

Are you a stay-at-home-mom, SAHM?  and/or

Are  you a home school parent?


If any of that is you, give me a shout out via a comment here on the blog or email me.  I'd love to begin a conversation with you about our shared values, beliefs and experiences.  What is on your heart these days?

No pressure or obligation.  Just curious about who reads this blog and what God is up to in your life.


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Theme Song Thursday

  While this is a repeat, it is the theme song on my heart at this moment!

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A Trim Healthy S Cookie that I LOVE!!!

Sheri Graham share oodles of exceptional information on her site, including this Trim Healthy Mama S recipe for Chocolate No Bake Cookies. From my childhood, cookies like this have been a craved fave.  This delish recipe is low carb and sugar free, which matches my adult self's needs -- the best of both worlds!!!

My tweaks to her amazing recipe are:

• use 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil for the amount of fat listed in recipe, 
• use 1/2 coconut and 1/2 oats for the amount of oats listed in the recipe, 
• and add more sweetener to my taste, sending me back to my younger days of making batch upon batch of these yummy cookies!   

What's one of your favorite cookies recipes?

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Swing Flags DIY

Spotted some swing flags at the Women on the Frontlines Conference in Chicago earlier this year and knew that I MUST have a pair. . . which means making them myself.

After researching quite a bit, I found a site that had instructions for making a pair of these fab flags. These are not exactly like what I saw at the conference, but are close enough.

http://dyed4you.com/blog/2011/03/how-to-make-swing-flags/

The instructions at this site were extremely helpful and a fantastic guide for my sewing adventure.  If you have sewn before, you should have no problem tackling this project.  It took me approximately 2 hours from setting up to tearing down.  This web site is jam packed with helpful information, flags and fabric for purchase AND even videos for how to use the flags.  I highly reccommend it!

I chose a green SilkEssence fabric from my local JoAnn's Fabric store.  I love the color and the way it floats! Because I was not going to have someone shoot a photo of me with the flags in action, you will have to imagine that part!

If you have never sewn before or are a beginner, I want to offer you a few tips to go along with her instructions.

1) With regard to "Step 1":  do cut the fabric to the size she suggests (36 x 49"); I left my length at 54" because that's how much was there when I cut the 3 yds. in half.  It does work, but in hindsight I would prefer a bit shorter flag. (Because you will cut the weighted cord to the size of the flag, adjusting this after the fact is more work than it's worth for me.)

2) With regard to "Step 2":  yes, do the ironing as she tells you to do; you will be incredibly thankful. Silk and polyester fabrics should be ironed on a cool or fabric specific setting, which varies from iron to iron.

3) With regard to "Step 4":  Make sure to wait to cut your weighted string to the size you need, rather than whack it in half before you start the project, and then cut it again for each flag.  (I had enough pieces left over to use in another swing flag, which I hope to make soon; I would have preferred to have it all in one piece, though.)  Also, for the next set I make, I will try to make the flags mirror images of each other in regard to the weighting placement; this will not bother most people, but I want each hand to hold the "right side" of the fabric when I am waving these flags.  It's one of my many "Monk"-like things.

4) With regard to "Step 5": When you fold the fabric to make the pockets for the weighted string, keep in mind that the presser foot of your machine will need to fit alongside of the weighted string with enough fabric coming out on the side opposite to the string to actually sew a seam.  Measure the width of your presser foot, add to that at least 1/4" and then be sure to turn down at least that much more than the width of the weighted string.  The selvage side of the fabric is easiest to deal with because you are only making one fold.  The cut sides of the fabric require two folds, which is a bit trickier, but not overly hard.
   Also I pinned the weighted string into place and the fabric for the pocket, both separately.  I am usually not a fan of lots of pinning, but found this to be optimal for me.  The weighted string won't stay in place otherwise, and the slippery fabric needed pinning, too.  As I sewed the pocket, I removed the pins that were holding the fabric, but only adjusted the ones holding the string.
  As for the zigzagging over the weighted string part, I set my zigzag to it's highest width, 11.   I re-positioned the string into the center of the pocket, which meant removing the pins a few at a time as I was sewing toward them.  Then I sewed slowly over the string, carefully guiding and adjusting the string to keep it feeding into the center of my presser foot.  It is a bit tricky to do, but it did work.  I didn't even break a needle, amazingly.

Can't wait to buy some more fabric and make another set!


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Theme Song Thursday

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A Social Media Lie

There’s a thought “out there” that people present only their “best side” to the world through social media and that this affects people negatively.  It’s been awhile since I first heard this thought, and I’ve been pondering it off and on since then.  Does it affect me negatively?  I say not.

It is true that my not spending much time on social media potentially lessens its negative impact upon me , which means I probably don’t recognize it immediately.  Yet, as much as hearing good news from someone else about something in their lives can cause jealousy to arise or can trigger a “poverty mindset,” social media only impacts me negatively if I choose to go down the path of negativity.

You got me — I am saying that social media does not control me or anyone else.  The reality is that each one of us has the responsibility and authority to control our own self.  A person can give that control over to someone or something else, but it resides with each person.

Social media is an opportunity to rejoice with others and to believe for the good things that are ahead for each one of us; it’s a momentum thing.  Ride that wave of the amazing things He is doing on the earth with expectancy. He is always up to wonderful things!  (How I love seeing Kingdom truth show up in the world without any religious clothing on it!)

Self control may be an unfashionable character quality these days, but it is a truth that cannot be ignored or denied.  How much better a world this would be if each person pursued excellence in self control!

{I had promised myself that I would not duplicate posts at both of my blogs, but. . . this one seems to fit the landscape of both.  My apologies to anyone who is reading both.}

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