January

Multitudes. The whole point of documenting these multitudes is to realize how small and special they are. They aren't anything huge or significant. Just the little splashes of happiness that touch our every day lives.


Sometimes this world looks pretty bleak. Depression, grief, and fear cover the sky like the heavy banks of gray clouds that cover the January sun.We don't see the tiny blessings. The little flashes of glitter in our lives.

What are some of your multitudes? Please join me in this!

~ Heat

~Sweet friend who created a sweet gift for me and my kitty.

~ Home.

~Craft supply stores.  (Ah bliss!)

~Panera Bread's Bread.

~ Little girls doing puzzles

~ Piano keys


~ Snow

~All you who are reading along on this months book!

~A Cat who chases her tail, then when she notices that she is being watched drops down and pretends to be the epitome of dignified cat-hood.

~ Late Christmas gift from my sister (a tiny "pocket watch" pendant on a necklace. :)

~ Giggling with my siblings as we all turn every last pocket in hopes of finding the one last quarter needed for the vending machine. :)

Want to join me in listing multitudes?  Just leave them in a comment below or send me a link to a blog-post you have written. :)
Amanda

Fine Print: Images are mine. But you knew that right? 

January~ A Book Worm's Calendar

Dear Fellow Bookworms,

I hope no one has had to survive even a day without something to read. I know I have been busy savoring my Christmas books. But I do apologize for waiting until now to announce the book for this month. 

This month's book is one of my top ten favorites. 

Esther Ried by Isabella Alden. 

Esther Ried is tired, overworked, and discontent. But when she visits her wealthy cousin her life will change, forever. Spiritually Esther had been asleep, apathetic, but  her awakening brings her to a new realization of her task in life. How will Esther find ways to serve God in her busy and exhausting world?

I can think of no better book to start out a new year with than this. It's a well written fiction story that will open your eyes and wake you up. If you like old fashioned stories, inspiring stories, and simply delightful stories you will enjoy this one. I cannot recommend it enough. :) 

And one of the great things about this month's book is that you can get it completely free. 

Find it here on Project Gutenberg (one of my favorite book places), read it either online or download it into your computer or e-reader. 

Are you like me and too busy crafting up a storm to actually read a book? Fortunately for you this book (and the rest of it's series) is on Librivox, excellently read, and completely free. 

But, if you would prefer to actually have a tangible book in your hands. Get it here.

Please tell me if you plan to read along this month or any other time. Have you already read this? Let me know what you think! 

Happy Reading

~Amanda 

Fine Print: Images not my own. And, yes, if you buy this book from the Amazon link I have provided, I will make a commission. Feel free to do so. :)

New Year Multitudes

Multitudes of Blessings ....

I've missed documenting them here these past few weeks. Did you know that when you forget to remember the small blessings in life, your view of life gets crooked? Slowly it begins to seem as if your world is nothing but black clouds and frigid winds.

I forget to see the little rifts of sunlight shining behind the clouds, the rainbows in the rain.

This week: 

New year fresh, bright, new. 


Thick snowflakes lazily dropping to the ground. 


Birds flocking to feast at our bird feeders. 


Family times.


Last of the Christmas carols dying away. 


New journal to fill.


Winter starlight.


Ping Pong games with siblings. 


Falling asleep to quiet music.


New books with stiff spines. 


Crafting while listening to audio books. 


Discovering this month's book. (Coming soon! ) 


Don't forget to look for the blessings!
Amanda

Fine Print: Images not mine. Linking up with Anne Voskamp and her Multitudes for Mondays.

 

2011

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...."

Could anybody else sum up their year this way?

For the past two days my google reader has been choked with post, everyone summing up their year. Giving statistics, their 30 favorite things, and the best of anything and everything of 2011.

My year? It was rough. Harder than probably anything I've ever faced. But it was also good. Because I have a big God. A God who can heal and help and hold when your entire world crumbles.

My stats? Let's see. There are to date 17 of ya'll who have been brave enough to push that follow button. :) Thank you.  There has been quite a number of you who are still lurking in the shadows.Thank you for sticking around, reading, and commenting.

Wanna hear a story?

We went hiking today. On a dirt trail. A trail that had been recently rained upon and was, literally, a mud path. The steepness of the path, made our slogging difficult. Most of the time we were forced to stay off the path. Sticking to the slippery but safer, leaf covered, forest floor. It was scary, and an adventure but we all loved it.

Anyhow, I slid and slipped along about half way before I discovered a thick, straight branch obsructing my path.  I grabbed it eagerly, well actually more like the drowning man and the straw. And, with the help of my trusty stick, I made it down as far as my family dared to journey. All the way I leaned on my stick. Stuck  hard into the mud, it held me steady, saving me from several slides. Without it, I would have been muddy, and perhaps hurt.

 I had to lean on that stick. I couldn't make it across that trail by myself and still keep my footing. I had to lean, to allow myself to trust in a rugged tree branch.

There is another fad going around this year. It consists of choosing one word, just one, to live by in the new year. As we reached the top of that hill I knew what my word was.

Lean

Just Lean.

I could struggle, slip and crawl through this next year. Trying to do it alone, and getting nothing but dirt and bruises to show for it. Or I could lean. Allow God to hold me. And   trust Him, He won't let me fall.

The path will still be hard. But I have a strong God to cling to. I don't have to go it alone in 2012. All I have to do is Lean.

A very happy New Year to you all. May you each have a year of growth in your knowledge of our great and glorious God.

Amanda

Fine Print: Image are not mine. And yes, I would love it if you pushed that follow button. : )

Christmas

It's all so big and beautiful.

Christmas - the festival of Christ. God becoming Man. The Creator born. But not born to live, but to die.

I've been trying to somehow wrap my mind around it all. To try and put myself back in Israel, with the shepherds, as they walk trembling to the manger. Or with the wise men, as they with their entourage enter Israel in search of the highest king. A king even they, the king makers, would bow to.

But I can't, it's too big.

It's a bigness that calls for a response from us. A soul who truly sees, must bend in awe.

Because when you glimpse this awesome sacrifice, this amazing love. All you can do is whisper, "Hallelujah".

May God be praised.

In hopes that you Christmas is/was filled with a glimpse of the greatness of our God.

Merry Christmas,
Amanda

Self in the Focus

I got cranky today. Cranky because someone wasn't listening to me. She was self absorbed, self focused. 

And I was mad. 

Because she wasn't paying any attention to me. 

Couldn't she just see how self- interested she's being, I thought. Couldn't she quit being all about herself and think about me. 

She was self focused. And I wanted her to focus on me. 

I wanted what I wanted. I thought I needed attention. I wanted a listening ear. I craved for someone to notice my awesomeness for just a little while. 

Do you see the problem? 

We are trained by our sin nature, by the culture around us, by everything logical to the human mind, that we are number 1. That we deserve a long list of things. That we are the greatest, the best, the epitome of humanity. 

But we aren't. We're self deceived little humans, deserving nothing. Called as children of God to abase ourselves and love others. 

Self focus is natural, but it's a remnant of our sin nature that needs to be thrashed and tossed away. Who's with me? 

Christmas Decorating

Sparkling lights.

Retro gold trees. 

A Christmas Carol.

Vintage Tablecloths.

Baskets.

Blankets.

Torn Book Page creations. 

Vintage bottle brush glitter tree, rescued from the dirty floor of a warehouse. 

I've been decorating for Christmas. 

These little book page trees are so fun and easy to make. Want to make your own?

Take an old book. Preferably something that's not worth reading (don't cut up a dear friend). :)

 Draw your basic Christmas tree on top of a stack of 11 (exactly 11) pages. Just like this. As you can see it's just a basic drawing not a work of art. : ) Also you can do any size you want.

Cut out your pattern. A good pair of scissors will easily go through 11 pages of old book paper.

Staple two or three times right down the center of the tree. (If you look real close you can see it in the picture.)

Once you have it all cut out. Gently fold each page up on one side. Until you have folded five up. Like this.  Holding to the folded side, fold the other half the other direction. Leaving only the very last middle page unfolded. 

Spread the pages out until you have a nice tree.

Display!












I wanted to add something a little extra to my big tree. So I strung some red beads on green embroidery floss, and wrapped it around.  Cute huh!

Let me know if you decide to try it out!