Saturday night, about 10pm

I’m sitting here late in the evening wrapping up a day’s work, serenaded by quiet yet heart-swelling music. Wearing a scarf of deep purple (a new favorite color), I feel rather writerly. I’ve always wanted to be a writer or musician. Throughout my young life I’ve wanted to be many things (architect, actress, cartoonist, animal rescuer, etc.). But the enthrallment with words and music has been there the whole time.

I’ve loved doodling all my life, but every now and then a transitory hope would rise in my heart that indeed, I had it in me to become the next sonnet-writing Shakespeare, the piano-trilling protege of renown. Hours of an afternoon would be spent deep in thought, daydreaming about my myriad ideas and all the possibilities. But somehow the conqueror spirit would leave me discouraged and the scrawled-on pages lost and forgotten.

It’s been a trouble for me, this bog of discontentment I sometimes find myself in. The Sovereign of the universe saw it fitting that He give me a particular gift, and I’ve spent countless hours wishing I had another.

A while back a saw this clip of Maurice Sendak (a famous children’s book illustrator) talk about what it means to be an illustrator: it has given definition to my frustration. Notice what he says 0:53 seconds into the clip. I remind myself of this anytime I feel discouraged about not being a writer:

(Please excuse the momentary curse—to avoid it, mute it from 2:01 to 2:05.)

So that’s what its been! “An illustrator . . . is someone who so falls in love with writing, that the closest he can get to it is illustrating it.”

I’m still slowly learning the how’s and why’s of using art to glorify my King, but it all begins with a thankful heart, praising the One who chose to give the gift.

Does my love for the Lord and fear of Him run so deep and shine so bright that it leaves an impression on those around me?  Does my love for God’s law outshine my own interests? Or do people have to look hard to see my devotion to the Lord?  When people look at me, do they see me or do they see my Savior?

Do I draw attention to myself, or am I humble and focus on exalting the Lord Christ Jesus?  Do I live to please myself, or do I live to please God?

I am so thankful that I can see the continual work of the Lord in my life; His gentle guiding, and even chastisement for those He loves.  Yet I also see so many things that I fail in.  At times I despair at ever reaching the other side of the hill.  But He is always there to cheer and comfort me, show me His mighty deeds, and whisper His promises to me in His Word.  The love and joy and peace He fills my heart with can only come from Him.

“I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I wish to be. I am not what I hope to be. Yet I can truly say I am not what I once was. By the grace of God I am what I am.” —John Newton

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I was recently discussing with some dear friends the subject of stay-at-home-daughters and time.  We talked about all the things we hope to learn and skills we want to have before entering marriage.  Beyond the basic skills of cleaning the home, caring for children, sewing, cooking wholesome meals and decorating cakes, there is a vast world of other useful skills that stay-at-home-daughters have time to learn.

As young women not yet married, we have the responsibility to become as well-rounded and useful as we can be.  Right now you probably don’t have the full care of running the home—this is an excellent opportunity to prepare yourself for the rest of your life.  The more helpful skills we acquire, the more useful, the more of a blessing we will be to our future husbands and families.

Think of these skills as an Invisible Hope Chest.

Your husband could have any kind of job: mechanic, business owner, economics professor, etc.—are you studied in many areas to be able to help him in whatever his calling may be?  Your family may someday have special diet issues—would you know enough about nutrition to accommodate those needs?  Could you start a homestead or home business from scratch and live self-sufficiently?  Do you plan to home-educate your children?  Are you collecting excellent books for them to read?  How do you plan to raise them to become God-fearing and useful men and women?

There is a host of other things to learn as well.  Systematic theology (there’s enough there to keep you constantly in awe for the rest of your life!), finances and banking, how to keep everything in the home running smoothly together, history, English, a foreign language, herbal medicine, science, home birth, and even some carpentry skills will be found quite useful.  And how are your communication skills?

How are you filling your invisible hope chest?  Perhaps you haven’t started on it yet, but what would you like to fill it with?

“On the Cliffs” by Henry Ryland, credit

I’ll admit it: I’ve enjoyed my time away from blogging.  Sometimes we need that.  We’ve had many things going on, including a new project in the works for Noble Rose Press!  And Spring, being the most wonderful season that it is, has afforded many opportunities for me to take the dog on longer walks, weed the garden, and reminisce over what life was like before I used the internet on a regular basis.

I’ll also confess that I’ve considered disappearing from the online world all together.  But I can’t help but be reminded that having a wonderful little nook to write in and share with friends has been a big blessing in my life.  So don’t worry, I won’t disappear.  And I shouldn’t be gone too much longer.  (And not that I don’t have anything to say! ;)  It’s just good to take occasional breaks to refocus and recharge.

I should be back to blogging again soon.  Until then, just imagine me furiously sketching away—because that’s what I’m doing!  ;)

.:. .:. .:.

Just a note: If you have a question and leave it in a comment, I’ll reply to it in the same comment section.

Here’s the dress I made, in all its bright blue glory!  I usually don’t pick such vibrant colors for my clothing, but after not being able to find just-right pink fabric anywhere, and the only alternative was to actually buy a dress, I decided that the blue seersucker would make an excellent spring/summer dress.

{ pattern: B5030 }

The almost-finished garment.  I later added hooks and eyes to replace the pins.  The cuffs have an embroidered white “X” at the base where the corners meet.  (You can see one better in the last photo.)

I was so happy that Mom found this vintage-esque pattern.  I have years’ worth of little sketches and dress designs, and a dress not unlike this one made frequent appearances.

Pattern alterations: Top-stitching, narrowed collar, and shortened sleeves.  The “production” stretched over two weeks, but was finished with plenty of time left to calmly get ready for the long drive to Callaway Gardens.  ;)

Photo credit: Emily Rose

On Saturday afternoon, Dad, Mom, Emily and I went to the Butterfly Garden and walked part of the way there with our friend Miss Rebekah and her father.  We crossed a small stone bridge and took portraits of each other on the way back.

Photo credit: Emily Rose

I can hardly wait to get back to my little Singer with more fabric + patterns!

I go through this season a few times every year.  The pace of life seems to quicken, and one must constantly re-evaluate the most important things.  Perhaps you know exactly what I mean. :)

I’ve made three lists.  A list of all the things I want to do; a list of all the things that absolutely must be done; and a list of things to remove from the first list, especially if the want-to-do’s are distracting from the must-be-dones.

And my, what a list of must-be-dones!  There’s homemaking, NRP, art projects, art lessons, piano for church, and the garden.  Life is wonderful, but sometimes it’s so fast and overflowing!

I would really like to share a few of my notes from the Father & Daughter Retreat from last weekend.  (We had a wonderful trip down to Georgia, by the way.)  But until then, I highly recommend making a list of your most important things and the things that hinder you from accomplishing them.  This has been helpful for me!

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” - Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

. . .

A quick note - The new Ladies Against Feminism site has been relaunched!  In honor of the relaunching, Noble Rose Press is having a sale!  (Emily Rose did a great job of redesigning Mrs. Chancey’s site, didn’t she?)

And I am happy.  Just because the Lord is so good!

I haven’t been blogging as regularly as I’d like, but there have been so many other things to keep me busy.  And I’m sure you understand!

Last week I took my first long walk in the back yard since most of the snow melted. The air was tinged with the mild, damp sweetness of Spring, and a day-long south wind brushed it over the homestead.

“Windflowers” by John William Waterhouse

Art, studying, reading, cleaning, exercising, etc. are constants on my to-do list.  And the calendar seems to be filling quickly with spring and summer plans.

For an up-coming event I’m sewing a dress out of a light blue paisley fabric.  Mom has given me some pointers and cut out a few pieces for me while I was slumped over with exhaustion, but I think I can say (so far) that this is the first dress I’ve made pretty much on my own.  I’ve never made cuffs or a collar, or have even altered a pattern before, so this is a bit of leap for me!  But it seems to be going well and I’m very happy with how it is turning out.

I can hardly wait until the sun decides to stay and warm up the earth some more.  Last year we built raised beds for our garden.  My, how easy to weed! and everything looked so charming and organized.  They did well with our vegetables last year, so we’re planning on building a few more and transplanting the rest of the herbs and flowers into them.

Asplundh has cut down three trees in out front yard because, of course, they were too close to the power lines.  But we plan on replacing them with shorter, flowering trees.  It will look even more beautiful in the coming springs when everything is in full bloom!

Can you tell I’m looking forward to digging in the dirt again?

.:. .:. .:.

The Rescue Haiti’s Children team is still laboring in Haiti.  Haiti’s needs will be long term, and Rescue Haiti’s Children will need continued support as well.  In light of this, I have decided to make a few changes in regard to the original art sale.

Changes: Instead of selling the original paintings, I will be selling prints.  This way more people will be able to buy their own copy and we will eventually (+hopefully) be able to donate even more to Rescue Haiti’s Children.

Also, due to time restraints and the creative process, I will be spreading out the paintings.  I currently have “I was a Stranger and You Welcomed Me” finished and ready to make prints of, which I will be selling in my Etsy shop.  Over a longer course of time I will be creating more pieces for the Matthew 25:35-36 series.  I will inform you all as they are made available.

Thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm!
I’ll keep you updated!

I’ve been reading J.R. Miller’s book The Family (formerly Home-making) and have been drinking in its beauty and wisdom. I highly recommend this book to every Christian who desires to bring honor to the Lord in their entire lives and learn how to better serve their families. This following quote is from the chapter, “The Parents’ Part.”

“But the true idea of a home is that it is a place for growth.  It is a place for the parents themselves to grow - to grow into beauty of character, to grow in refinement, in knowledge, in strength, in wisdom, in patience, gentleness, kindliness, and all the Christian graces and virtues. It is a place for children to grow - to  grow into physical vigor and health and to be trained in all that shall make them true and noble men and women.

“. . . A true home set up and all its life ordered for the definite purpose of preparing and sending out human lives fashioned into symmetry, filled with lofty impulses and aspirations, governed by principles of rectitude and honor and fitted to enter upon the duties and struggles of life with wisdom and strength.”

- J.R. Miller, The Family

Last week I began my twentieth year.  (Most would say I’m nineteen, but…)

~

I think most people my age want to rush into their futures.  In some ways I do want to plunge into my plans.  But I am so enjoying the life that God has given me right now, that I want it to slow . . . way . . . down so I can thoroughly soak it up and appreciate it.

Perhaps that is why I feel old-ish.

There are those days when I get a little antsy.  Not discontent, but . . . I guess the word is eager.  Eager to see what comes next.  But there is still so much for me to learn before that time comes, and there is so much in the waiting to keep me busy!  ;)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. -Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV)

But am I redeeming the time?  And I don’t just mean that in the context of preparing for marriage, but for the entire short, fleeting vapor of my life.  Am I preparing to be a wise and teaching mother? A physician? A gardener, a nurturer of souls?

I often fail and allow frivolous things to distract me, but my Lord is always beside me, teaching me, guiding me back to where I need to be.  Helping me to notice the little things and see His fingerprints.  Showing me His Sovereignty and Providence.  And drawing me ever closer to Him.

As a daughter of the King of kings, I need to want to be as productive as God will give me strength to be.  So while I soak up this beautiful life with its little foibles and fascinations, I’ll leave the time tables up to Him and learn all I can to be prepared for whatever He has in store for me.

.:. .:. .:.

“May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace.”
- Psalm 144:12 (ESV)