elf yourself

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/E6TdnJqAeNT2MEgtwt6J

Lori Ann

 

Looking at yourself in the reflection of the living water, see yourself through the eyes of God.

~C. Ankesheiln

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Cute, crocheted tiara for a doll.

I made this for my daughter's amigurumi frog backpack that I made. The backpack pattern is on Crochetmagazine.com. I altered it to suit my needs. Visit me on Ravelry.com to see my version of the backpack!

Here are the directions:

Experience Level: Beginner
Size: Approximately 14 cm long and 11cm tall with the sock folded down as illustrated.
Materials 50g balls of worsted weight yarn, 5mm crochet hook (or size to acquire gauge), needle to tidy away ends
Gauge 4 sc per inch, 3 rows per inch

Round 1: ch. 1, sc in each chain around, sl st. to join. Repeat 2 times for rounds 2 and 3.

Round 4: 6 sl st, *sc, hdc, dc, tr, 3ch, sl st into the top of the tr, dc, hdc, sc* repeat from * twice to make 3 points on the tiara. 6 sl st to the end.

Praying like a child

My daughter said her first prayer last Sunday. It went something like this, “Mumble, mumble, Jesus. (peek at Mommy to see if I’m doing this right) Amen!” It was a very proud day for my family. Since Sunday, she has been praying all the time. On the way home from work the other day, she prayed from Mandeville to Lacombe. While her first prayer was pretty simple, her prayers have become more elaborate. She prays for family members, her kitty cats and her dolls. She prayed for her daddy to come home from work and for her poppa to “feel better”. She thanked God for the satsumas that her grandma brought. What amazes me is her simple faith and how easy her prayers flow.
How often do we make prayer more difficult than it needs to be? Is prayer a struggle for you or is it like talking to a friend? My Baptist upbringing led me to believe that prayers needed to be flowery with lots of fancy words. After listening to years of deacons and pastors praying long-winded, poetic prayers, a person can get a complex. God wants us to pray to him. He desires us to come to him as children in simple faith. Spend time today in the arms of our Father. Praise Him for Who He is. Thank Him for His blessings big and small. Ask for His forgiveness for your failures. Give Him your burdens and know that He loves you and will not forsake you. Blessings to you!

Hot Air » Blog Archive » CNN: Obama’s lying about William Ayers

I can't believe this was on CNN!

Hot Air » Blog Archive » CNN: Obama’s lying about William Ayers

And the giant came tumbling down

Only a boy named David,
Only a little sling
Only a boy named David,
But he could pray and sing
Only a boy named David,
Only a rippling brook
Only a boy named David,
But five little stones he took.
And one little stone went in the sling,
And the sling went round and round
And one little stone went in the sling,
And the sling went round and round
And round and round,
And round and round,
And round and round and round
And one little prayer went up to God
And the giant came tumbling down.

My daughter and I were driving in the car this week, listening to a children’s Bible song CD when this song started to play. It got me thinking about the story of David and Goliath. I started wondering why David got five stones from the stream. Did he have a crisis of faith? Did he think that God wouldn’t protect him with just one stone? Why five? Why did God feel that it was important to tell us that David took five stones, but killed Goliath on the first try?

This is what David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." 1 Sam. 17:45-47 I don’t think that David was struggling with his faith. David brought the 4 extra stones along in case the rest of the Philistine army attacked. When I think about the fact that he only brought 5 stones to defeat an entire army, it really puts the story in a different perspective.

Think about that as it applies to our daily lives. Do we prepare ourselves for the battle? Do we come against the enemy “in the name of the LORD Almighty?” Or do we hide in our tents like the army of Israel? No matter what battle you are fighting today, fight it in the name of the LORD Almighty and victory will be yours! Blessings to you!

Trust Him

What a difference 2 weeks makes! Two weeks ago, we were facing Hurricane Gustav in the Gulf. People were evacuating and boarding up. The sun was shining and bright, but we walking around with the memories of Katrina and the trepidation of Gustav. As I write this, Ike sits just south of our shores and is churning up thunderstorms, but the mood is light and free. The weather forecasts put Ike’s arrival in Texas and we put our trust in their prediction. The peace that we have this week knowing that the storm may pass by us, but won’t cause the damage of the past.

We trust in the forecasters, because they have proven themselves trustworthy by predicting accurately in the past. Likewise, Christ can be trusted. How often do we forget to put our trust in Him. He is always there. He is always right. He is all we need in the storms of life. Trust Him today!

Louisiana hurricane evacuation routes!

It has been a while since I last blogged. We had to evacuate to Plano, Texas which is where my husband's company sends us when they evacuate. Thankfully, Gustav was not a Katrina and we are home again. No major damage here! The worst part was cleaning out the fridge and freezer. I hated throwing away hundreds of dollars of food, but I'm not a gambling woman when it comes to food poisoning my family.

Along our evacuation, we followed the evacuation route signs like good little evacuees and ended up lost! So I decided, before Ike makes it into the Gulf, I'm going to google various routes and put them up on my blog. Maybe this will help others as they plan to evacuate.

This one I would love to travel, but I'm pretty sure my huband will veto. He doesn't really like going off the interstate. I love back roads though, so here it is.

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This is the all interstate route. Most people know that anyone planing to evacuate on these roads will end up stuck in traffic for hours.

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This was our original plan, but we ended up getting off of I-59 in favor of Hwy 11. This was a good route, but I-59 will be crowded and contra-flow will end in MS way too soon.

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This was the route that we took home. We were able to bypass Jackson, MS. I highly suggest taking Hwy 27 in MS if you like scenic routes! The countryside in Mississippi is beautiful!


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Hope this helps others in the future! I'm sure I'll be looking back at it next time I need to evacuate!