25 Things About Me That You May or May Not Want to Know.

UPDATED 2018

This is something I did in 2008 and I am updating in 2013 by adding scriptures and  adding updates as noted in red letters. 2018 Purple letters
1. My number one goal is to serve the Lord God Almighty with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. This is still my number one goal.  This is still my #1 goal. and will be for the rest of my life.
Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

2. I have lived an amazing life beyond my wildest dreams. God has lead me down paths that I couldn’t even dream of.  Still true
2 Corinthians 2:14

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

3. I have been married to the man of my dreams for 40 years. Now 44 years. That can’t be true, I’m not that old! Still not that old but we have been married 49 years. We really want to drive to Alaska from Texas to celebrate our 50th year. We went on an Alaskan Cruise around the Inside Passage for our 25th Anniversary. 
Genesis 2:24

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

4. We are blessed with one very tenderhearted son who loves God. In 2012 he left the world and turned to serve God.  He has struggled with a drug addiction off and on all his adult life. Unfortunately, he still is. He is still a tender heated guy.
2 Peter 3:9 
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
5. I worked as a wood cutter in a factory when I was first married. 
Colossians 3:23
(ESV)
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
6. I was a barber, yes a barber for seven years and I loved it until I had too many women customers. I was great with little boys who were having their first hair cut. I gave my son his first hair cut and he never had anyone else cut his hair until he was in his 20’s. 
1 Corinthians 11:6
(NASB)
For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.
7. My Bucket List is getting longer and my Bucket is coming quickly. (I am running out of time to do everything on my bucket list.) In 2010 we went to The Tetons and Yellowstone for two weeks. In 2012 we went to New York City to see the sights. In 2013 we went to Hawaii and cruised four of the Islands. Check those off of my bucket list. June of 2013 we went to Rockford Illinois and took my mother in law to see her daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughters and great- grandson. My biggest bucket list item came true in 2016: We sold most all of our worldly possessions and moved to Zambia. I had wanted to do that every since the first time I went to Zambia.
8. God prepared me all my life for my true work talent. I was always told I was good with children. Children have always been attracted to me. After I went down several other paths, God finally sent me to College to get my teaching degree. I wanted to teach K, 1st, or 2nd. He had other plans for me. He put me in Early Childhood where I have been for 19 years. I still love it and I learn more from them than I teach them. I was a Pre-School Teacher for 20 years. After I retired I worked for a one and a half years with Day Cares as a mentor to the teachers. 
Matthew 19:14
but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”
8. I have lived in the same house for almost 20 years. 23 years
Matthew 6:25-34

 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? …
10. I have two wonderful nieces who are like daughters to me. One of them is my very best friend next to my husband, he is number one. Their brother, my nephew, and my sister’s only son died January 29th 2018 in a tragic head on car crash. He was 45 years old. 
Proverbs 18:24
(ESV)
24 A man of many companions may come to ruin but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
11. I love the mountains and snow skiing. That was until a snowboarder ran into me and almost broke both of my legs. I have been skiing one time since that event. I still love the mountains and the snow. 
And He *said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
12. I have been highly blessed to travel to Zambia, Africa on two mission trips and if the Lord is willing we will return this summer for my third time and Tommy’s fourth time. I asked to go to Africa one time: I went the first time in 2005, then again in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2014 and moved there in 2016. We lived there for six months and had to moved back to Texas. Broke our hearts. Five times we did medical missions and one time we visited orphanages and villages where we had drilled water wells. What a blessing that was. In 2007 we spent eight days straight in the bush with no power or running water. Slept in tents on the ground. In 2016 we six days( two at a time) in three different villages doing medical mission. I have always helped with dental. 
Matthew 28:18-20
(NASB)
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
I did return to Zambia in 2009 and again in 2012. Returned in 2014 and 2016.
My husband’s fifth time and my fourth time. My sixth time and my husbands seventh time. We had the privilege of meeting the children who had been named after us. Little Tommy and Little Shelia.  There was at least one more Shelia in 2016. What an honor. The women in the villages we visited sang to us and danced for us thanking us for giving them water. The three villages we visited our church had drilled water wells. 
John 4:12-14
(NASB)
12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
13. The first time Tommy went to Zambia without me, I stayed home and took care of 100 plus goats. If you know me at all, you know that threw me completely out of my comfort zone. My comfort zone is in the house and none of the goats come in the house.
14. Going to Africa of all places, is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It takes two to three days on planes and in airports to get there. I am a bit of a clean freak and there is nothing clean there. Nothing is easy and I like things to run smoothly. However, it was by far the best thing that I have ever done. It’s the most fun I have ever had. God is good, God is great all of the time, as the Zambian’s say. Living in Zambia Africa was probably one of the top hardest things I have ever done. But I would do it in a heartbeat again if I could.  
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
15. My life changed courses when I went to Africa. The Lord Planted my Feet on Higher Ground. This world is not my home. This world is still not my home.
2 Peter 1:2-4
(ESV)
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirm Your Calling and Election
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

16. I have driven a school bus, bulldozer and a John Deere tractor. I have ridden in a NASCAR at 140 mph at Texas Motor Speedway.

17. I got my dream sewing machine for Christmas 2008. It is a Babylock Ellegente 2 Embroidrey Machine. In 2010 I got a six needle Babylock. Which in the scheme of things does not matter. Sold them both in 2016. Bought the Ellegente 2 back in 2017 when we came back to Texas. Using it now to make dresses for little girls in Zambia and Reusable- Sanitary Pads for young ladies in Zambia.
18. I want to float down the river in the Grand Canyon. Did float down the Arkansas River through the Royal Gorge in Colorado. Class 4-5 rapids.  
19. We took a 45 minute boat trip up the Zambezi River to a village, Kavalamanga, to worship our Lord. We saw crocodile, hippos and Kudzu  and elephants on the banks. The Zambezi River is about one mile wide and it empties over Victoria Falls.
20. I have been to Victoria Falls. AWESOME- right there with the Grand Canyon and Niegra Falls.
Genesis 1:9 
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
21. We have had a Zambian Chief in our home for a meal two different times. Then we visited him and his family in his village of Mumena, Zambia. We have also met another Chief in Zambia and visited his palace.
22. I saw the Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theater in London in 2005. This was 21 hours after the tubes and the buses had been bombed there in 2005. I also saw The Phantom of the Opera in New York City in 2012.
23. I want to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
24. I experienced death for the first time at the age of five when my two year old cousin died. Then again when I was twenty-five when my twenty-two year old brother died. I was with him when he died. Then in 1982 I was with my grandmother when she died. In 1984 Tommy and I were with his Dad when he died. In 1992 I was with my Dad when he died. In 2007 I was with my beloved Mom when she left this world. 
1 Corinthians 15:54-56
(NASB)
54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
25. My number one goal is to serve the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY with all my heart, my mind, my body and my soul. It still is but I struggle in this area. Still working on this and still my #1 Goal
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, andwith all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 8:28 is my favorite verse in the Bible. We must live to obey Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus said “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

For a free Bible Study click here:
www.worldbibleschool.org

Semi-Homemade Heart Shaped Cookies Tutorial


Matthew 22:37-39
And He said to him, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOU SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.”
This is the great and foremost commandment.
The second is like it., ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
John 3:16  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

YUMMY!!!! 
Actually I cannot eat them. I am gluten free.
I made these for my husband for Valentines.
It has been a tradition for many years.
I started it when his job took him away every Valentine’s Day.
Supplies:
One roll of Sugar Cookie Dough
Two Heart shaped Cookie Cutters
One large and one small
Flour 
Wax Paper
Rolling Pen
Open the Cookie Dough
Divide the dough in half and return one half to 
the refrigerator until needed.
Sprinkle flour on wax paper.
Knead the dough lightly.
Only use as much flower as necessary. Do not use too much or 
it makes the cookies taste flowery.
Lightly spread flower on the rolling pin and roll dough to about 
1/4″ thick.
Use the large size cookie cutter.
Cut out equal number cookies
Then use the small cookie cutter to cut out a small 
heart shape in the center of half of the cookies. 
Use a knife to remove the center heart.
Be careful not to change the shape of the cookie.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degree for 8 to 10 minutes.
Be sure to not cook to long. You want them to be a little soft.
Use a pre-made soft frosting.

Stir the frosting until nice and smooth.
Spread the frosting on the cookie that does not have the 
heart shape cut out.
Place a cookie that does have the heart shape on top of the 
frosted cookie.
There you have a nice Heart Shaped Cookie Sandwich.
Let them sit out awhile to firm the frosting.
They are ready to enjoy or you may store them in an air tight
container for a few days. 
They never last long around my house.
Enjoy
For a free Bible Study click here:

Tutorial: How to Make a Shabby Chic Junk Gypsy Style Machine Emboridered Wedding Banner

Personalized Wedding Banner
If you need a personalized banner you may click this link to go to my etsy store:

Matthew 19:4-6

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”
 Pick the material for your project. 
My niece picked these four colors and they worked well together. 
We decided to use this size twine for the connecting material. 
You may use ribbon or fabric. 
I chose to embroidery two or three letters at a time. 
Actually, only one stitches at a time but it saves on 
hooping material and time.
I like to stitch the outline and then measure to 
see what size I need to cut the material.
1. I decided the pattern I would use. 
2.  I cut all of the banner material and
tagged each with the letter to be stitched.
There were ten letters in this banner. 
Five for Emily and five for Blake. 
Since I am a visual person,  I organize 
the banners this way so I do not make any mistakes.
I used a stiff interfacing on the banner triangles. 
It gives them a very nice firmness.

 Trim close to stitching trying not to cut stitches.
I cut the twine 24″ long and folded it in half.
  Measure the banner in half at the top. 
This one happened to be 2 1/2″.
Just be sure to measure in case yours is a different size.
 I used scotch tape to hold the twine down for stitching.
 Put the center of the 24″ twine on the  middle mark.
 Hold the twine in the middle and stretch it to the right 
and tape outside the stitching area.
 Stretch the twine to the left and tape outside the stitching area.
Lay the first material of the triangle on the triangle shape.
 Return the hoop to the embroidery machine and stitch.
 I used Heat n Bond Lite to keep the letter material from fraying.
Follow manufacturer directions.
 Peel the backing paper off.
 Place the letter material on top of the banner triangle.
Return hoop to the machine and stitch.
Remove the hoop from the machine.
 Trim close to the stitching without clipping.
 I like to use a Sticky Lint Roller to get all the 
loose clippings off of the banner triangle.
Tape a piece of matching material  on the back of the banner triangle. 
  I top stitched the banner triangle in a coordinating thread and at the
same time it stitches the back piece of material on the banner piece.
You may do it anyway you want.
Be sure to keep your tying string out of the stitching area.
The banner triangle is ready to be removed from the embroidery hoop 

unless you are embroidering more than one letter in a hooping.
This picture is to show the contrasting color top stitch.
I prefer to spend time stitching and then trim all at once.
So, I stitch a lot of triangles and then I trim.
Be very mindful of the string for tying when you trim the triangles.
Pull the top layer back and trim the bottom layer. 
Do the same with the top layer.
Trim all sides of the triangle.
The triangles are ready to tie together to make the banner.
I used Planet Appliques Reversible Banner Pattern.
However, I altered it a little. I chose to use pinking shears to 
trim the triangles  to give it a Shabby Chic-Junk Gypsy look.
 For a Free Bible Study Click the Link Below:













What I Have Been Up to in the Month of January 2013

The first three weeks of January I was sick for two weeks and my husband was sick for a week.
Now it is the first week of February and my husband is sick again. Ugh!!!!
The most important thing I did was an online Bible Study. The bible study was Soul Detox and it is http://www.youversion.com
In the mean time I have been listing some Vintage things to sell.
 I was having serious withdrawals from sewing so 
I cleaned up my sewing room and 
started my machine to humming for two days.
 Then I remembered that I was going through all the 
Vintage things I have in my house and 
deciding that it is time to move them on out.
So, now you know what I have been up to in January 2013.