Okay so let me start off this first blog post with this: I have no idea what I am doing!  I don't know how to have a blog or even write a post! haha!  Heres the story on how I got to here though...

I am a fairly busy person (aren't we all?).  I don't have a job outside the home because I am currently homeschooling my two kiddos and I just don't know how I would make it all work.  So I keep busy around the house trying to be a blessing to my family in that way.  In between laundry and bread baking I will sometimes find time to pull out my phone and check a few blogs that I have marked.  Its almost like semi-quasi-adult conversation.  I've got sewing blogs and baking blogs and a craft blog called craftgossip.com that gives me a little bit of everything crafty.  Recently I have found a couple of blogs that are mommies just loving Jesus and their families and writing about it and I have found myself so encouraged by them.  I began to think and pray through asking a sweet friend of mine to start a blog like that.  She is so wise and is a great mommy and always has a word from Jesus for everyone.  I kept praying "Lord you should tell her to start a blog! I would so read it and be encouraged". Then one day I was driving to drop off my husbands lunch that he forgot and I was praying that again and the Lord tapped me gently and said "actually, how about YOU start a blog?"  Now let me say this: I didn't actually hear an audible voice, but it was so clearly in my heart I couldn't deny it.  But I did manage to argue a little....I mean come on...I don't have wisdom and I make more mommy mistakes than good mommy moments.  And I feel like the only things I have to share with others from God's word are the things that He is convicting ME in!  But if He says to do something, then that is what I have learned I need to do.  Joy can only be found in obedience.  So here I am, typos and all, feeling like a dork, wishing I had a better purpose laid out.  Here we go anyway :)
Sometimes I'll share my cookie projects, my sewing fails, my newest health and beauty product made from coconut oil (I am in LOVE with coconut oil!) but I promise to always share with you what Jesus is working into my life, too.  Because we need the fellowship of shared interest for sure, but we really need shared fellowship in Jesus.  That is how we become rooted in Him...by being in His word and being encouraged and challenged by others who are also walking through life hand in hand with our sweet Jesus.

Soooooo here are some pics of my latest sewing project...

My little goober has been begging me for a "satchel bag just like daddy's" for a couple of weeks and since his birthday is Thursday I decided it would be a good time to throw one together.
 I didn't use a pattern (sorry, I like to just wing it usually) but it was a pretty simple boxy like pattern.  The outside is an old pair of pants the hubs never wears anymore and the liner is some fabric I scored over the summer when Walmart went crazy and put half their fabric on sale for $1/yard.  We make regular trips to the skate park these days so it seemed like a winner for this project. I had everything I needed for this project on hand (love it when that happens!)  Even the D rings for the closure were from and old belt that I saved.  (My poor hubs has to put up with my sewing supply hoarding) I didn't do a tutorial because Im still not sure if anyone will want a tute or even read this so yeah, let me know if you want a how-to on anything I throw on here and I will try to make it happen.

Here is the bag completed:

 It even has a handle like Daddy's!

 I repurposed the pockets of the pants to be his Lego holding and pen pockets.

I think he kinda likes it :)  He wore it yesterday from the time I gave it to him almost until bed and wore it to school this morning.  Gotta love those projects that they actually appreciate!

And now for the Word...

Psalm 1 is a super special Psalm for me.  It is the psalm that Christian and I read on our wedding day and has been a sweet reminder of how we want to live our life...in marriage, as parents, in ministry, as friends, everything.  It says:

"Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper."

I just love that image!!!!!!!  I want to be that tree...rooted in Jesus...planted deeply by Him because He is the source of life, of everything good!  I so want to bring forth fruit.  Don't you want to be fruitful???  Sometimes it feels like I would rather sit around and relax and cruise through life but in those "relaxing" moments I'm not relaxed.  Ever felt that way? I have!  It's because I was made to be fruitful and I will only find my joy there!
But I'm so challenged by the part where it says brings forth fruit in its season...ouch!  I want to be fruitful when I want to be fruitful.  I want to see the fruit of my labors! Like now would be cool.  BUT....I am called to plant myself next to Jesus and let Him do His thing in His time.  What a freeing thing that is really when you think about it.  I am not responsible for anything other than placing myself right next to Him, digging deeply into Him and just letting Him do His thing through me!
"Whose leaf also shall not wither".....oh my how I have felt like I am withering at times!  Like when I am sick or the kids are difficult or craziness like moving across the country for the second time in four years.  But if I am placing myself next to my sweet King Jesus then I don't have to worry.  He never fails, He never runs out, He never withers.  I don't have to be afraid of drought.  I don't have to worry about my provision (I am after all of more worth than a sparrow :))  As I am planted by Him, I wont wither.  That doesn't mean that no hard times will come.  There will be storms and there will be drought.  Kids will get the throwing up flu...the car will break down...people I love will hurt me deeply...major medical problems will arise.  But if I am rooted I will make it through.  He is enough to protect and provide and care for me!
"whatever he does shall prosper"...What a neat thought!  As I am planted by Him, I can have confidence that the things I do are not meaningless.  The runny noses I wipe...all those diapers I once changed...the math problems I help solve...the bread I bake (that closely resembles a doorstop in density)....not one of the tiny details of life is pointless.  Each one is an act of service to Jesus and each one done in His name will prosper!  I love the promises we find in God's word!  He so rocks!!!

I promise that not all of my posts will be novels, but thats a little insight as to where the name of this blog came from.  It is my deepest desire to be like that tree...to be rooted in Him...to be fruitful...to not wither in the droughts of life...to prosper in what He calls me to do.  And it is my desire that we might do that together.  There are a ton of blogs out there and you could read any one of them.  I promise you that most of them will be more beautifully written than mine.  I will spell things wrong.  I will not have enough pictures and what pics I do incorporate will come from my phone.  I will fail in front of the world wide web in fact.  Wait, why am I doing this again???  Oh yeah, because we all fail.  Because we all need encouragement and we all need to be reminded that we are not alone in this thing called life.  Because in the midst of making snacks and dropping kids off at events and doing the laundry we need to be reminded that life is more than food and clothing.  We need to be reminded that God is in everything...that He cares about the sparrow and the laundry too!