The View From Up There

"Come up hither, and I will show thee things." Revelation 4:1

In my daily walk with the Lord I am reading the book "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. This book is by far one of the more meatier devotional books I have ever read. For the day of March 27th, I read this:

"We have all been brought to see from a higher standpoint. Never let God give you one point of truth which you do not instantly live up to." -Oswald Chambers

Whenever I feel like I am blind in this world, just going through the motions, God shows me that He is in control of everything. I never have to worry about a thing. He is always on the higher standpoint. Always. God will bring me up to Him, if I am willing, and point out to me what I need to let Him fix.

"God has to hide from us what He does until by personal character we get to the place where He can reveal it." -Oswald Chambers

Handmade Gift Bag

I love to make paper crafts. I am often stamping cards or putting together little gift packages for family and friends. On a recent trip with my mom, sister and grandmother, I stopped a cute little bead store to ooh and ah over. (Making jewelry is another hobby of mine.) My grandmother liked the beads too and decided she wanted me to make her some jewelry. So I helped her pick out some beads and findings that match her already existing wardrobe and she purchased them for me. (This was also a lesson in patience!)

Having made the jewelry I decided to create a little gift bag to present the jewelry to my grandmother. In essence the bag is more of a lidless box, but it's cute and easy to make. Well, actually, it took me a few tries to get the measurements right, but now it's easy!

Here's what I did:

1. I started with a regular 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of card stock which I then cut down to an 8 1/2" x 9" rectangle. I use a Fiskers cutting system with an orange blade for cutting and a black blade for scoring or creasing.





2. I scored the rectangle twice width wise. First at 3" and again at 6".





3. Then I scored the rectangle twice lengthwise. First at 2" and again 6 1/2".





4. On the width wise creases I cut slits just up to the lengthwise crease, making little rectangle "flaps". Then I folded all the creases.





5. After I folded up the middle "flaps" I brought up the two "flaps" on either side. The motions are similar to folding the ends on a package.





6. I used adhesive to keep the seams together. Only add adhesive to the paper where it won't stick to anything inside the box.





7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 on the other end... and Presto!





8. Instant cuteness!





9. Then just decorate accordingly. I use the Stampin' Up! brand of paper, inks, stamps, and other supplies for my paper projects. The stamps come in coordinating sets, and the paper, inks, and ribbon are all of the same dye lot so everything matches perfectly. Go to http://stampinup.com to find a product consultant/demonstrator near you.

I hope you like it! If the directions are obscure or you can't understand them, please let me know so I can make revisions where necessary. Enjoy!

*This design is all my own. You may use this design for your own gift packaging but please do not sell this design.

The Question

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" I am sure most of you have been asked this question at least once in your life. Firefighters, cowboys, doctors, and teachers among other childhood heroes can be listed as a child's ambition for later years.
Once upon a time my response would have been, "I want to be a missionary when I grow up!" But as I matured in my faith in Christ I learned that that is not what God wants our focus to be on.
What would our world look like if the question was, "What does God what you to be when you grow up?" If we are raising generations for Christ, isn't this what the question should be?
God did call me to go on a missions trip once. I spent two weeks in Ethiopia, Africa, had an amazing time, but came home realizing that that was not what God had in store for me. He gave me the vision of bringing other souls to Christ when I was four years old. But it wasn't for many years later that I knew what God had meant.
"What now?" I thought that since the rest of the world sent their daughters to colleges I should go to college too. But no, God didn't want me to do that either. "Well, then surely I need to find a job," I thought again. But no, God revealed to me that neither the foreign mission field nor college nor the secular workplace was where He wanted me.
"What does God want me to be when I grow up?" Yes, being a missionary to a foreign land is a noble calling, and one that is still near and dear to my heart. But God's mission for me was to be a wife and mother, the noblest vocation fo them all.
Instead of attending college, working outside the home, and, otherwise, living against what God has called me to, I am living under my parents' authority, working and preparing myself to be a Proverbs 31 wife and homeschooling mom. And what joy and contentment the Lord grants to those who follow His will!

*The Lord spoke to me concerning college and the workplace through the book "So Much More" by the Botkin Sisters. I firmly believe that all daughters of the King should read this book.