Completing the Post Below

I quickly posted the (really bad) pictures in the previous post before I left for prayer meeting. Here's the longer story:

Last year my dear, sweet friends the Girards and I went to the Greenville Conference together. It was a total blast.

UPDATE: new tradition. No doubt.

Lily was also there last year and forbade me to wear my "spazy skirt" (the one with the polka dots and stripes). The theme of the conference last year was John Calvin (wasn't every conference theme John Calvin last year? Well this one was the best.) and she said that Calvin would not approve of that very un-orthodox skirt. Ok, fine, so I didn't wear it though I was very spazed about the conference and felt a little impeded in my spaziness without the appropriate clothes.

My dear buddy, Lexi Girard, likes my spazy skirt so for her birthday (maybe you remember this post) I made her a matching "spazy skirt" and we've been planning for the past 7 months to wear them to the conference together this year. Lily still says I shouldn't because the conference is hosted by a Calvinist seminary so Calvin still wouldn't approve. But, Lily, very sadly, cannot go to the conference this year so I'm making my own conference clothing choices this year....

Well, Lexi's mom and sister, Gabby, do not like the spazy skirt. I mean, they like it. It's cute, come on, but they wouldn't wear it themselves. So last month I was going to make Mrs. Girard a skirt for her birthday. (for the past year we've all thought it would be kind-a cool to match at the conference.) So I got to the fabric store with my skirt idea in my mind. And they were having a warehouse sale. Perfect. I'll make four skirts. And thus, four matching skirts for the conference, which is in 16 hours and 18 minutes! I mean, just in case anyone was counting...

I made up the pattern myself and used myself and Ethan as the measuring guide. It's a front and back the same size and then 2 side panels that are much smaller (one size for Mrs. Girard and me, and one size for the girls) but give enough room for us to take a real sized step. Then I made the double ruffle (my favorite part of the whole skirt) and did a double drawstring. The fabric is so heavy that I couldn't pull it all on one ribbon drawstring so I had to make it two.

They were so much fun to make. I was at the Girard's on Thursday and wore my skirt so then all the girls changed their outfits to match. It turned out being really cute. So, there's the skirt story. I can't wait until tomorrow when we can all wear them to the first day of the Greenville Conference 2010. And by the way, Wednesday is Spazy Skirt Day for Lexi and me. Lord willing, I'll post some pictures soon of Lexi and me in our spazy skirts. We took some adorable pictures last summer, I just have to find them.

Have a great week!

Sarah

The Latest From My Sewing Room...

...matching skirts for me and my buddies at the Greenville Conference next week!! These pictures are awful but I'm about to leave for prayer meeting so this is as good as it's gonna get. Perhaps when I wear my skirt tomorrow I can take some pictures of it on me and post those so you get a better idea of what it really looks like. But anyway, Mrs. Girard, and her two girls and I will get to match at the conference!

The skirt:

The drawstring:

The double ruffle:

The flower ruffle fabric:
Have a great evening! Off to prayer meeting...

Book Club ~ Week Two

The Novelteatalkers Book Club, Week Two.

"...the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12

Watson is pouring our tea tonight:

"Jesus Christ went more willingly to the cross than we do to the throne of grace." ~Heaven Taken By Storm, Chapter Two

And I'll leave you with that sip of tea for the evening.

Book Club ~ Heaven Taken By Storm

"...the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12

The section from Chapter One that was most encouraging to me was when Watson discussed what this holy violence implies: 1) resolution of will 2) vigor of affection and 3) strength of endeavor.

Particularly when he talked about the vigor of affection. I have really struggled lately with the whole lack of affection – lack of feelings. Some days we're so on fire, we have all kinds of great feelings about the Gospel – about our "great God and Savior" and we're totally ready to be zealots (as Paul says in Titus 2). And then there are days when we're just wonderin' if we're a Christian. There's none of that...at all. We're so down and so lookin' inside our yucky hearts and we can't find one good affection.

Ya know what? The Gospel's not inside of us. It's just not, dear saints. You can look all day long...you're not gonna find it. You'll find all kinds of other stuff but "the one thing needful" is outside of you. And we get into this downward spiral (am I only prachin' to myself, here?) of lookin' at our heart and seein' so much rotten fruit that every time we try to look anywhere else we get overwhelmed by our hearts again and we fall back into the pit.

Here Watson says that the resolution of the will comes before any vigor of affections. The resolution of the will can conquer those downer days when there are no affections (not any good ones, at least). The affections follow upon the will. And isn't that the way it always is? We don't trust our feelings to make faith. We have faith and the feelings follow. We believe that Christ died for sinners and rose for sinners (and we believe it even on downer days) and the affections of "Christ died for SINNERS! and rose for SINNERS!" follow upon the believing of our hearts.

This was a little rambly, but it just kind-a came out of my brain onto the paper this way. All these things have been bouncin' off the walls of my mind for a while and I hope you're able to pick up the bones and chew on somethin'.

Let Watson pour your last sip of tea:

"The will proceeds upon reason; the judgment being informed of the excellency of a state of glory and will being resolved upon a voyage to that holy land, now the affections follow and they are on fire in passionate longings after heaven."

Book Club ~ Two Thousand Ten

Greetings!

I was going to write this tomorrow because I wanted to give my first post today enough "air time." But I don't have enough time tomorrow to get everything done as it is, so I figured I shouldn't add a blog post to the list of things to do tomorrow.

The Novelteatalker's Book Club is resuming on Monday, February 1st. Will you please join us? This is rather late notice, I know. Aren't you glad I'm posting this today instead of tomorrow? Our book is Heaven Taken By Storm by Thomas Watson and you can read it online here if you don't already have a copy. Lord willing we will post on a chapter each Monday (or every other Monday if there's too much goin' on).

I do hope you will join us as we learn from Thomas Watson what it is to "take Heaven by storm."

"...the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12

For the Novelteatalkers,

Sarah