Two Little Words

There are two words in the american language that carry great meaning.

Thank You.

“Gracias”, “Mahalo”, “Merci”, “Grazie"....”Thank You”.  No matter how you choose to say it, I believe "thank you" is critical to understand and use in life.  I don’t think we pause to use it enough in our fast-paced society.

I want to slow down and become more thankful.

It has been said that “a grateful heart is one that finds the countless blessings of God in the seemingly mundane everyday life”.   I fail to do this almost every day.

If you have been following my blog, you know that my primary goal is to recognize and enjoy the simple things in life. I realize that to enjoy the simple things I need to identify the many blessings that I have surrounding me….and be THANKFUL.

Charles Spurgeon once said “it is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.
 

I want to enjoy life.  

I want to be thankful…in everything (1Thessalonians 5:18)

In honor of this goal, I made “thank-you” cards.  

My inspiration came from Kristi Graves (who makes and sales personal hand-made cards) and the book: Joy of Card Making

One thing I appreciated about this little project is that it was very inexpensive (almost free!).   I already had most of the supplies which I have collected throughout the years.  

Supplies:  Blank Cards or Card Stock, Scrapbook Paper, Label Holders, Brads, and Glue.

I used a few different concepts that I found in the book.  The beautiful part of this project is that you can't mess up because no one knows what it was "supposed" to look like.  :)

All you need to do is print and cut and glue.  Once you are done making the card you write your "thank you" messages and then give them away.  

Simple.

 

If you recall in my last post, I made cake pops and placed a few in bags for gifts.  These cake pops and cards will be given out as “thank yous” for some people who have really blessed me these past few years.

These cards were not difficult to make and added a personal touch to a sincere thank-you.

Cows and Cake Pops are my Passion

For those of you who know me well…you know that I have a HUGE sweet tooth. 

Seriously, it is a bad addiction.

Ever since I was a young child I have had this obsession with sweets.  I cannot resist anything that includes butter, sugar and cream. This fact is especially true if the treat contains peanut butter and/or chocolate.  If either (or, better yet…BOTH) of these ingredients are added into the sweet…I am a goner. 

Another fact about myself: I love presentation.  This desire for good presentation can be identified in how I determine if I will return to a restaurant, coffee shop or any venue for that matter.  I believe it is important for any place to possess good atmosphere. Then, it is an added bonus if the venue serves their food in a fun or interesting manner.

So, as a result of my love for sweets and my desire for good presentation, I couldn’t wait to learn how to make cake pops.  It combines my obsessions for yummy sweets (especially chocolate) and my love for fun and unique presentation. 

Thursday, I learned.

This little treat is pure goodness in your mouth…and it comes on a stick!

I made classic cake pops....

...and farm animal cake pops. 

Now, you may be thinking: “farm animals.  Why make farm animals?”  Well, despite the fact that they are adorable…they are in honor of my “simple life” goal.

Charles Dickens once said, “cows are my passion. What I have ever sighed for is to retreat to a Swiss farm and live entirely surrounded by cows – and china”.

A Swiss farm that is surrounded by cows sounds pretty simple and pretty wonderful. 

These cake pops are getting me as close to a Swiss farm and Swiss cows as I can.

Unfortunately, I am not in Switzerland…I am in Iowa.  Consequently, I will be bringing these cake pops to church with me on Sunday.  If any of you reading this blog attend my church--you can taste them at break!  I personally think these little guys are delicious!

                                                                 

 

A Fun Little Idea: I made a few extra to give as gifts for a couple friends.  These are perfect “I am thinking of you today” gifts!

So, if you have any celebration to plan, any desserts you need to provide, or anyone you want to give a simple little gift to: I highly recommend cake pops.  They are simple to make…all you need is a little time and a few ingredients. 

If anyone out there in blog-land would like Kristi Graves (my wonderful cake-pop instructor) and I to make you a batch (or two or three or more) of cake-pops…we would happily take orders. 

Thank you, Kristi, for such a perfect afternoon of cake pop making!! You are a fantastic teacher and an inspiration!

across the street & around the world

You know the old saying, “when life hands you a lemon…make some lemonade”? 

Well, today I made some lemonade.

However, it is important to note that life has not handed me sour yellow lemons.  In fact, it is the exact opposite.  My life has been truly blessed by three sweet, little girls.  These little girls are: Spongile Sbo Khumalo, Isabelle Smith and Kindra Smith.

Here is how my day of lemonade making went:

Isabelle and Kindra set out to sale some lemonade.  This was their first experience making a lemonade stand.  They were full of excitement!

First, we made the lemonade and got our supplies together.  We cheated by using kool-aid rather than squeezing a bunch of lemons.

Then, we set up the stand on the corner street.

In the end, we had a pretty successful business going on.  I believe that these little girls are going to be quite the entrepreneurs one day. They really had a booming business developing.  The girls quickly learned how to play to their strengths (which, is simply their adorable selves) and work the crowds. 

Our total profit was $5.25.

Now, this is when the story gets good:

Remember the other girl I mentioned at the beginning of this post?  Spongile Sbo Khumalo? Well, let me tell you a little about Spongile.

I sponsor this little girl through World Vision.  She is from South Africa and has had some difficult circumstances in her life.  Both her parents have died after being diagnosed with HIV.  Her grandmother is raising her and her siblings.  Spongile is living in poverty. 

Isabelle and Kindra learned that this little girl in Africa didn’t have as much food or as many toys as they have.  So, today after working hard at their lemonade stand, Isabella and Kindra are not going to use the money to purchase themselves toys.  These young girls are going to spend their hard-earned lemonade money to buy Spongile simple little gifts.  Isabella and Kindra have plans to put together a package full of headbands, jewelry and little toys for Spongile to enjoy.

It was such a beautiful day.

I once heard someone say that we need to share Jesus to world…both “across the street and around the world”.  Isabelle and Kindra did just that through their lemonade stand.  These little girls reflected Jesus to each customer that they interacted with today.  And then, they are happy to use every cent of what they earned on a young girl in Africa whom they have never met. We can learn so much from these little kiddos.

If you are ever contemplating sponsoring a child…DO!  Your sponsorship money goes to assist with their medical care, education, food and clean water. As you are providing for their physical needs the spiritual needs of the children are addressed as well. We can help the suffering in this world….one child at a time.

If you would like to consider sponsoring a child, here is the link to World Vision’s Child Sponsorship site:  http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/pages/sponsor-a-child

Spring Cleaning

Anyone who has attended Emmaus Bible College has experienced my problem.

I am consumed with Emmaus t-shirts.  I have piles of these shirts.  My closest is busting at the seams.

I own 49 Emmaus shirts to be exact.

I collected all these shirts while being at the college for eight years. First, I was a student for four years. Then, I returned as a staff member two years after I graduated. I just completed my fourth year working in Student Affairs.

You see, it is the Emmaus way to make a t-shirt for any event or activity we can.  My wardrobe increases each year I am at the college.  As a result, my closet consists of a variety of colors and prints of themed shirts and other apparel.

As I began my spring-cleaning this week, I decided I needed to downsize my closet.  I knew that this meant throwing away some of these t-shirts. 

However, there is a problem. I am a very sentimental person. 

Consequently, I couldn’t get myself to throw out any of them.  Each shirt carries different memories.  Unfortunately, I realize that these shirts are taking up a lot of space in an area that I am trying to minimize.

As a result of my inability to throw out these shirts, I decided to put them to good use. This month I am going to make an Emmaus blanket using 33 of the 49 t-shirts that I own. 

I just began this project on Wednesday.

First, I decided which shirts I could live without.  This was a very difficult process.

After agonizing over which shirts to use, I cut each shirt into 12in X 12in squares.  I used both the front and the back of each t-shirt.  This gave me 66 pieces.

I then laid the squares out on my floor to decide how I wanted the blanket to be assembled.

So far so good.

My friend, Laura Strautmann, is the brains behind this project.  These next few weeks are going to consist of her teaching me how to use a sowing machine. 

I am a little scared for this part.  I am not quite sure how I will handle this type of machine, however; I have been told that any mistake on a sowing machine can be undone.  This gives me a little re-assurance.  I imagine that there will be a lot of un-doing in the weeks to come.  I don't care though...I am determined to have an emmaus t-shirt blanket!

So, if you are in the process of spring-cleaning: don’t throw out all those un-used t-shirts or other apparel…make a blanket! 

the simple life

I remember tightening the cap on my plastic, hand-me-down, strawberry shortcake thermos. Today, mom had given me a special treat to put inside…Hawaiian punch.  I tucked the thermos neatly inside my matching red lunchbox. I happily added my peanut butter & jelly sandwich along with a few other yummy treats.  Then, after giving mom a hug, I quickly ran across the street to eat a picnic lunch with my best friend.  We had made a fort using a little table, a few chairs and some old blankets. 

Life was so simple then.

What happened?

As I think over the span of my life, I am amazed at the journey.  The Lord has brought me on some exciting adventures these past few years. However, it seems that somewhere along the journey, I began to fail at appreciating the simple moments.  The simple moments like those I often experienced as a child: playing dress-up with my sisters, performing in Christmas pageants, eating grandma’s blackberry pie, roller-skating in the garage, and catching tadpoles in the pond up the street.  I often forget to enjoy the present moments around me…I rarely have those peaceful moments with no cares in the world, like I had as a child.

Things have changed.

You see, I am now an individual who is consistently looking forward.  I fail to stop and take in the moments around me.  During times of great celebration, I am often thinking about the next accomplishment I should pursue.  When I suffer from great loss or experience grief, I find myself discontent by the circumstances the Lord has brought into my life.  I am often thinking about ways I can change or fix these unfortunate situations.

Life has become so noisy.

I want to turn the volume down.

I just finished my Masters of Education at Azusa Pacific University.  At the end of my program one of my professors asked me what PERSONAL goals I had.  This was a wise question for my professor to ask me.  You see, I think she knew I am a pretty driven individual.  She knew I would be able to clearly articulate my professional and ministry goals.   However, my personal goals were more difficult to identify.  After much thought and contemplation I have come up with my personal goal for the next year:

I want to simplify.

I want to go back to the days of dress up, tadpoles and blackberry pie.

This is the year.  Rather than focusing on the “next thing”, I am purposing to have the “next thing”….nothing.  I want to….

Simply be.

This blog is going to be a documentation of those simple experiences and simple thoughts and simple enjoyable things in life…

…much like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.