Praise

Happy Sabbath!  My favorite day of the week.

This morning I was doing a  little reading and the following concept resonated with me.

What is up with us grousing humans?    The unfallen angels in heaven praise God continually, and here on earth are mortal humans for whom Jesus left His perfect heavenly home, suffered mockery, insult, and death, to redeem us so that He might lift us up out of our miserable lives to sit in heavenly places, and we offer no song of praise.




And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3.

Mom and Me project

While at the Quilt, Sewing, Craft show in January, Mom and I saw this great looking quilt at the Crooked Nickle booth.

A quick text message pix to Kelly Sue for input, and Mom decided to buy the pattern to make Ryan's graduation quilt.  The whole thing was to be assembled on a fusible grid, so she bought that as well. During the assembly of her last quilt with blocks set on the point, she had gotten so frustrated.  With this in mind, I thought this seemed a good way to go. However, before we had even left the show, she was making me promise to help her do this new method.

Two days later Mom had Kelly Sue and I out fabric shopping.  It was Superbowl Sunday...her favorite quilt shop was running a special and the place was hopping.  It took a few hours, texting pix to Ryan for approval, and some additional shopping at Joann's, but at afternoon's end she had what she needed to get started.

With a commitment from me for at least one afternoon a week, she went home to prepare her fabric and start cutting.  My first afternoon with her I finished cutting the blocks and we got them fused onto the grid.

The second week, we ironed on the black sashing.

Then came the sewing... sessions 3, 4, and 5.

Mom started getting anxious that Karl and I would be leaving for our move to Colorado before the quilt was done, so I started going out more frequently.

By the sixth session we were ready to trim the edges and....

...sew on the first border.

Yesterday, on our 7th and final session, the outer border went on, the backing pressed and everything ready to take to the quilter. 

Now Mom can breath easy, her part is done and it is still months to graduation. My plan is to post a photo of the finished product, hopefully with the graduate...  check back in June!

Quilted with Memories

Made as wedding gift for friends Kristi and Tim Medina

March 15 was National Quilters' Day, so I decided to post photos of a few of my quilts...both my own creations and one each from 3 generations of quilters before me.

Round the World King

Kristopher's Star

Crafted for me in the early 1950's by Grandma Katie Herber

Friendship Quilt coordinated, assembled, and quilted by my mother, Claudine Herber

In quilting frame

Crafted by Anna Kelln Ruf with her granddaughter Anna Ruf (Schwinn) for hope chest in early 1950's.  This is the great-grandmother Karl and I share, so belongs in both of our family lines.

I get a daily devotional via email. This statement spoke to me. 

Prayer is the breath of the soul. It is the secret of spiritual power. No other means of grace can be substituted, and the health of the soul be preserved. Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the Well-spring of life, and strengthens the sinew and muscle of the religious experience.  In Heavenly Places, by Ellen G. White.

Sun setting,

moon rising, 

                                                a quick hike up a lesser peak...a great way to end the day with my hubby. 

 I know if it wasn't for the enticement of another geocache to be discovered, I'd probably not get him out on such a regular basis, but I am enjoying our nightly walks/hikes as long as it lasts.  Today is 25th in a consecutive run.

They Teach it at Stanford University

 In an evening class at Stanford University, the last lecture was on the mind- body connection -- the relationship between stress and disease.

 The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman. . . whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.

 At first everyone laughed, but he was serious. Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically, this quality "girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin -- a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.

 Women share feelings, whereas men often form relationships around activities. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and  evidently that is very GOOD for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working
 out at a gym.

 There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged? Not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality
 personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!

 So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for  your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health.

 Thanks for being in my life to help me stay healthy, happy, and feeling very loved.

Today I was studying from Matthew 20 and Mark 10, the story of James and John (aided by their mamma) asking for exalted positions. Jesus' reply about servant leadership and the first being last, and the last being first must have boggled their minds.  They, as Jesus observed, were used to leaders lording over everyone they could.

 "In Jesus' kingdom, no one should control another person's thoughts or actions.  God gave every person the freedom to think and to choose.  Even angels don't come to earth to rule and be honored-they come as messengers of mercy and to help humans work for others."-Messiah

I think John got it... years later he wrote in his epistle, "This is how we know what real love is: Jesus gave his life for us.  So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters." 1John 3:16

Mixing it Up - Garbanzo style

Yesterday, after I had soaked and pressure cooked a pound of garbanzos, I couldn’t make up my mind whether to make them into vermicelli southwestern style soup or chicken style with flat noodles, or the Portuguese style with kale.  Then I remembered that I had completely over dosed on gluten when my family from Georgia and Kentucky had visited over a week ago and cheating could get me into trouble if I did it now.  So, I worked out a compromise, using all my favorite non-gluten components of the three soups and this is what resulted.  It was so tasty, I decided I’d better write it down, otherwise I’d never remember just what I had put in it. 

Garbanzo Combo Stew

1 lb.     garbanzo- sort, soak and cook using 1 gallon or more of water

When cooked add salt and/or chick seasoning to taste

Bring Garbanzos back to a boil and add:

2 medium potatoes, diced

4 carrots, diced

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, diced

8 oz. tomato sauce

Cook until carrots done then add:

1 bunch kale, chopped fine

Cook 8-10 minutes

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped fine

Let cook 1 minute more.

This gains flavor in fridge, so is even better as left overs!