Stuff!

Too much stuff! We are planning on moving in about a week and a half to two weeks. My house feels like it is just full of piles and piles of stuff! I have been sorting and donating and packing, but I still feel like the piles have taken over the house. I am really trying to take a step forward in this battle today and get a grip on the chaos around here. I have been working like mad and I hope that by the time hubby gets home there will be a noticeable difference!

When God wants an important thing done in this world or a wrong righted,
He goes about it in a singular way.
He doesn't release thunderbolts or stir up earthquakes.
God simply has a tiny baby born,
perhaps of a very humble home,
perhaps of a very humble mother.
And God puts the idea or purpose into the mother's heart.
And she puts it in the baby's mind, and then - God waits.

The great events of this world are not battles and elections and earthquakes and thunderbolts.
The great events are babies,
for each child comes with the message
that God is not yet discouraged with humanity,
but is still expecting goodwill to become incarnate in each life.
Edmond McDonald

Art/Worship Journal

Some time ago, I happened upon Greta's blog and have really been enjoying it. She is a sister both in Christ AND scrapbooking! A couple of weeks ago, she discussed how she and some friends get together once a week and work on their art and worship journals. She says,

"we all had a passion to explore our creative interests and offer them as a form
of worship to god."

I love that! Perhaps, that's is because that is where my heart is also with the visual worship images I create for my church's services.

Anyway, they pick a word each week and each do an individual word study as to what the bible says about it. Then they create something to express this. Then they come together and discuss it. What a neat concept of a bible study! This week Greta let me (and anyone else who reads her blog) in on it and shared that this week's word was "control." I have enjoyed studying this word in the bible this week during my personal quiet time and it has given me much to think about.

When it came time to creating something, I really felt stretched to figure out how to visually represent what I have learned, but I plowed forward and you see the result here. I think Romans 8:6 makes a really important point here. It says,

"If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy
Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace."

What we all have to realize is that no matter what something controls us. We can choose to allow God's Spirit to control us which will bring us life and peace. If we don't consciously make that choice, or choose to try to be in control ourselves, then sin is what actually is in control. We need to daily be making the choice as to who is in control. Neglecting to make a choice is the same as choosing sin.

The plumb line at the right of my image represents God. He is what is straight and true no matter what is going on and what chaos surrounds me. I have listed a "line of control" down the side of this plumb line to remind me of the order of authority as set forth in scripture. At the same time that something controls me, I too, am put in authority (control) of things. For me, it is my home/household and my children.

Greta said she will be posting all of the journal pages that were shared with her in her blog soon. It will be fun and interesting to see what others have done with this.

Collage Machine 1.0

Want some fun creative play? Check out the collage machine.

Concentration

It is those who concentrates on but one thing at a time who advance in this
world. The great man or woman is the one who never steps outside his or her
specialty or foolishly dissipates his or her individuality.

The weakest living creature, by concentrating his powers on a single object, can accomplish good results while the strongest, by dispersing his effort over many chores, may fail to accomplish anything. Drops of water, by continually falling, hone their passage through the hardest of rocks but the hasty torrent rushes over it with hideous uproar and leaves no trace behind.
Mandino, Og
1923-1996 American Motivational Author Speaker

Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are the gift of your attention.
Rohn, Jim
American Businessman Author Speaker Philosopher

Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.
Sivananda, Sri Swami
1887 Indian Physician Sage

If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.
Unknown, Source

The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.
Iacocca, Lee
1924 American Businessman Former CEO of Chrysler

I happened upon this great little article that really spoke to me today, "How to Make Leaders out of Lackluster Followers." If you want to read it, just click on the image above. The first line of the article says, "Responsibility is a self-esteem steroid." The point of this is that the best way to build up someone's self-esteem and confidence is to give them responsibility. Of course, being a mother of four children, my thoughts immediately turn to them. I do give them responsibility to a certain extent, especially my oldest. The kicker is that the article continues to say that an overbearing, watchful eye is a self-esteem destroyer. I have to admit that at times I am guilty of this, especially with daughter number 2. She really needs constructive criticism, but I fear that I may be overly critical and not accomplishing my goals in helping her to improve. Wow! Something to really think on and pray for God's helpful guidance and wisdom!

Anticipation

My son, Patrick, and my nephew (shown here with my oldest daughter) just cracked me up the other day when we were together to celebrate Patrick's birthday. I told them they couldn't touch the cake. Patrick had picked it out at Marsh's and it was pretty cool. Not only did it have two real toy monster trucks driving over two matchbox cars, and 4 little flags, but it had MOUNDS of icing all air brushed to look like hills, a dirt road and water. They had to muster up every ounce of self control they had to keep their hands off of it!!! So there they both sit with their chins on hands staring!

In case you are interested, the journaling reads: "Oh! The torment! What cruelty it is to tell two four year old boys NOT to touch the birthday cake. And not just any cake! This one has mounds painted icing hills driven on by two monster trucks! The anticipation is almost too much! Elizabeth, Patrick, & Max Oct. 16, 2005"

I wanted a clean simple layout with just the right accent and Mo Jackson's birthday candles (www.mojackson.com) were just right!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my little buddy, Patrick who is a big FOUR years old today! His celebrating began on Friday when he went to storytime at the library and he got a birthday pin to wear and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. Then we went over to Gramps and Grams for a birthday celebration lunch. Sunday we celebrated with the Richhart side of the family which includes his cousins and Grandma and Grandpa. We kept telling him that although we were celebrating, his birthday wasn't until Monday. This morning I told him to stay in bed because a I had a birthday surprise for him. He asked "Is today my birthday?" I was so glad to finally say YES! He is still young enough not to truly realize that he was going to get his birthday breakfast in bed - a tradition in our house. We all sang Happy Birthday to him and he dined on M & M/chocolate chip pancakes.

A Good Word

Here's a verse that I discovered during my quiet time this morning. Something about it struck a chord with me and I found it very uplifting and encouraging. I have been feeling very weak and overwhelmed lately with all I have to do.

For this verse to have more meaning, you should probably know the context it was taken from. This is from 2 Chronicles during a time when the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were split apart. Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. At this time he got intelligence reports that large "hoards of barbarians" from several enemy countries had banded together and were coming quickly to attack. Jehoshaphat called for a nationwide time of fasting and praying to God. They claimed their helplessness and the need for God and proclaimed Him strong enough to take care of ANY enemy. God spoke to the people of Judah through a prophet saying that all they had to was march out and stand firm and God would fight their battle for them. As they were getting ready to go out and face their attackers, Jehoshaphat said this verse,

"Believe firmly in God and your lives will be firm - you will be made
strong. Trust in the men who speak for Him, and you will do well." (2
Chronicles 20:20b -a paraphrase take from combining The Message
and the New Living translations)

They marched out boldly, but before they even reached their enemy it says that God set up "ambushes" for their enemies and the different groups coming to attack got confused and ended up attacking each other. By the time Judah reached them they were ALL dead on the field of battle!

What an example of God fighting our battle for us! What a wonderful thing to keep in mind as we go throughout our daily struggles. There is nothing too tough or too big for God to handle. According to this verse, all we have to do is BELIEVE. Believe firmly in God. He will make us strong; he will give us success!

Wings. Friends. Fries.

I am still playing catch-up. Here is another birthday layout from back in February. Pictures of my daughter having fun with her friends at Buffalo Wild Wings. If you go on their website, their slogan is "Wings. Beer. Sports. All the Essentials" I changed it a bit for the title since my 11 year old wasn't drinking beer and is not really into sports. :) I snagged the logos off the web.

Journaling reads:To celebrate her 11th birthday, Elizabeth chose to go out with a few old friends, Megan, Sarah and Cara. She decided to see a movie [Are We There Yet? graphic] followed by lunch at [Buffalo Wild Wings graphic] Someone came up with the idea of everyone tying balloons in their hair giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “tie one on.” After enjoying a fine dining experience of wings and cheese fries, we completed our celebration with birthday cupcakes. 02.19.05

Scrappin' Backlog

I am trying to catch up on some back photos. I just came to the realization that I need to start putting together my annual scrapbook "magazine" for my family that includes all of the past year's layouts and there are several key events that are missing. My daughter's birthday in February was one of them. I find that I do better scrapping the day to day events and procrastinate on the bigger ones. Maybe because I want to make them special.

Anyway, this one is about my daughter's birthday breakfast in bed.
Journaling reads:It has become a family tradition for our children that they get breakfast served to them in bed complete with a candle on their birthday. We all gather round and sing “Happy Birthday” and it is fun for everyone, because they all get to picnic upstairs with their breakfast - a treat because this is one of the rare exceptions to the no food upstairs rule in our home. For Elizabeth’s 11th birthday, she got eggs decorated with an “11” made out of ham, grapes and a cherry turnover which is a special treat. Anna and Patrick picnicked on the girls' bedroom floor and Abi got her morning bottle of milk to enjoy in her crib.

The main photo was a bit blurry due to the low light, but I love the expression on my dd's face and had to use it. I didn't think I should clutter up this page with too many goodies, so I kept the backgound black and just added a few doo dads from Mo Jackson's Birthday Candles set.

Interesting Encounter

Well, I am a little bummed at blogger. I had this post nearly written, saved it as a draft and everything but the title disappeared! I guess somebody up there didn't like it the way it was written! So, I will do this again.
Take Two:
Last evening I had an interesting encounter with an Amish gentleman at Wal-Mart. Let me clarify to those of you in other regions of the world. Encountering an Amish man in Wal-Mart around here is not in itself an unusual thing. There are several good-sized Amish communities in my neck of the woods. There are enough Amish around here that both the nearby Meijer and Wal-Mart stores have put up small shed barns in their parking lots for the sole purpose of having a sheltered place to tie up the horse and buggies.

Anyway...last evening I had to break down and make a trip to the grocery store so that I could feed my family dinner. Let's just say that my cupboards could have given Old Mother Hubbard a run for her money! I had just moved beyond Produce to the Frozen Foods section and was deliberating on which frozen treats were the best buy for my family (i.e. generate that most happiness for the money) when this Amish man who was alone with his cart said, "There are just too many things to choose from, aren't there?" I had been so engrossed in my food purchasing decisions, that I had not even noticed him there among the other shoppers. I looked up at him and agreed. There are too many things to chose from. He continues on talking about how he wishes things were simpler. I started to push along my cart, but he continues talking. I am beginning to think that I have a sign on my forehead that says, "I'm nice. You can tell me your life story and I will listen." He starts asking me questions about whether I go to church and where. If I have a family and how big. He shares that he is single and has actually lived in 42 different states. So, I decide that this is certainly NOT your typical Amish man. Most are born, live, and die in the same community. You don't go too far in a horse and buggy! He shares how he has gone to various types of churches of lived in many Amish communities. He said he has been in this area about 7 months and has been going to a church he really enjoys. I asked him where and he explained that it is an Amish church that meets in various homes and has some great bible study. He went on to talk about how he believes in marriage for life and how divorce is only ok on rare occasions and that remarriage is not right. He even quoted scripture (I think it was from 2 Corinthians.) that spoke against remarriage. He asked me about my husband and children. They were questions of a personal nature (especially for a impromptu conversation in Wal-Mart) but not so personal that I felt uncomfortable standing there talking with him. I finally decide that this man would probably talk all night and my children were still at home waiting for dinner, so I shook his hand and told him my first name and that I was glad to have met him. He said that his name was Nelson something. For the life of me I cannot remember his last name other than I think it began with E. I said maybe I would run into him again at Wal-Mart. As he pushed his cart away he said something about how I should come to church sometime. I can only assume he was referring to the Amish church which I thought was very odd. I didn't see anymore after that.

In retrospect I wish I would have asked him more about himself. Was he always Amish or did he convert? Like I said, he was atypical for an Amish man. He appeared to be in his forties, claimed to be single yet had a beard which I thought was a married thing. Perhaps he was divorced himself. I can't remember for sure, but I don't think he had a hat on either which seems unusual for an Amish man out in public.

The whole thing was odd, and I woke up this morning thinking about this encounter. I tend to be of a mind that nothing happens without reason. So, what was this? I can't help feeling that this was part of the Grand Plan and this encounter served some purpose - perhaps for my benefit or his. I realize that sounds really weird. Anyway, I thought I would share this since it is on my brain. Hopefully, if you have read this far, I haven't bored you all to tears!

Catching Up

Well, since my baby girls is now closer to TWO than one, I decided to scrap this favorite photo from her first birthday. I was inspired when I saw Doris Castle's Baby Powder Pink page set. It is perfect for this!

There was lots of tweaking going on in this photo: colorization, black and white conversion, multiple plug-in filters, and a slight sepia photo filter.

Hammock Cuddle

Did a quick page this morning with a photo I had been playing with. If you want to know what I did to enhance the photo, you can read about it here: Digital Art Tips.

I created the page using Doris Castle's A Beautiful Day page set. I thought the fun reds and blues balanced the black and white photo.

This is a photo taken last Wednesday at our local zoo of two of my kids enjoying the hammocks in what is call Dr. Diversity's Lab. It is part of their Indonesian Rain Forest section and it set up like a naturalist's camp. Their are lots of hands on things to see including sleeping quarters (the hammocks) which are favorite for my family.

Sadly, the zoo closed for the season yesterday. So theier will be no more fun visits like this until next April. :( At least we have this year's memories and, of course, our photos!

Interesting

Stumbled upon this little online quiz. You answer a bunch of theological questions and it tells you what your "theological worldwiew" is. Obviously, I have been quite influenced by my Methodist church upbringing!

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 71% Fundamentalist 71% Neo orthodox 57% Reformed Evangelical 54% Roman Catholic 50% Emergent/Postmodern 50% Charismatic/Pentecostal 50% Classical Liberal 46% Modern Liberal 18% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Psalm 32:!

Guilt :(

This is the house I live in. Look carefully, because in about a month, it will be gone. Yes, you heard me right. Gone. If you are wondering why, it is because the county planning commission will not allow us to have two homes on our property and the one seen here: Rich Hearts Home Building 101 wins out over this one.

This one is a four square style farmhouse that was built in 1920 which is pretty typical for this area. We bought it on October 31, 1998 along with the 3.74 acre parcel it was sitting on as well as 5 barns/outbuildings at auction. That's an exciting method of buying a home and we were thrilled to have won our own little piece of the country right next door to where my hubby grew up. The home was not exactly what we wanted and was long overdue for some TLC, but we planned on adding on and renovating. I have a background in architecture and we set about the task of designing our remodeled home. We went through MANY ideas, and finally came up with a plan that we gave to a couple of contractors to get a price. This plan included a 20 foot two story addition, a beautiful three sided wrap around porch and completely redoing the whole interior. It did not touch our 80 year old dank, damp, shallow basement. The price the first gentleman gave us totally blew us away. I could not even believe that he could give us that price with a straight face; it was so high! We went a slightly different route for our next bid and spoke to an amish man. His price was cheaper, but did not include ANY mechanicals (heat, A/C, plumbing, electrical) because he preferred not to put those in. So, his price ended up being in the same ballpark as the first. So, we went back to the drawing board. We researched a smaller, simpler addition and renovating the basement. The price was better but still high.

Then we decided to look into building a new home on our property. New construction is cheaper than renovation construction with many less headaches. After MUCH prayerful consideration, this is route we chose. The whole process has been documented here: Rich Hearts Home Building 101

But I am feeling great pangs of guilt about tearing this place down. For one reason, it has been our home for seven years. Our children have grown up here and for 3 of the 4, it is the only home they know. There are loads of memories associated with this place. Another reason is that I love antiques and old things; I appreciate them. I think about the families that have lived here and their stories. I had on HGTV the other night and "If Walls Could Talk" and Generation renovation" and although I love those shows, I finally had to just turn the TV off. It was too depressing in light of our eminent tear-down.

I know we have chosen the right path and building new is the right decision. First of all we have prayed about it tons and received clear confirmation from God. Financially, it is the best move. And there are so many things wrong with this place. I believe it is even making the children and I sick because of all the mold issues as well as the dust. That alone is reason enough to get out of this place!

Ahhh....I feel better just getting this off my chest. I know the guilt will not go away for some time and I will CRY when this place goes. But I DO so look forward to moving into my dream house. It is truly a gift and a blessing from God. I cling to that!

Hmmmm...well I've had my first complaint about the video taking too long to download and making the blog too slow to load. Not sure that I fix it any other way, but to take it down. :( I may leave it up for just a little while longer because I am enjoying this great music.

If you are here and appreciating this music, I will note that the song "God so Loved" was chosen because my two oldest daughters and I have dancing to this. We have joined a new liturgical dance class at our church and have been learning a beautiful dance to this that we will be performing in church on December 4th. I really don't picture my self as a dancer. I decided to do this more for my daughters, but I have found that I really enjoy it. This type of dance is very relaxing and uplifting. So now, every time I hear this, I wanna get up and dance!

Playing

Playing more songs, that is. You may be listening to Nicole Mullen sing "Redeemer" (see below) or you may be listening to Stacie Orrico sing "There's Gotta Be More to Life" or Jaci Velasquez sing "God So Loved."

Blog Goodies

Okay, so I had to try this video thing. You are watching Nicole Mullen sing a song I just love called "Redeemer." Now I am just hoping I haven't messed up my dial-up friends too much!

In case you're interested, the words of this song go like this:

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
Who told the ocean you
can only come this far?
Who showed the moon where to hide 'til
evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

Well I know
my Redeemer lives.
I know my Redeemer lives.
All of creation testify
This
life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives.

The very same God
that spins things in orbit
He runs to the weary, the worn and the weak
And
the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken
They conquered death to
bring me victory

Now I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redemer
lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my
Redeemer, He lives

To take away my shame
And He lives forever
I'll proclaim
That the payment for my sin
Was the precious life He
gave
But now He's alive
And there's a new day

And I know my
Redeemer, He lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation
testify
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer
lives

(c) Word Records
I know my Redeemer lives....I spoke with Him this morning.

Country Livin'

I was born and raised a city girl, but my hubby has always been a country boy. Although his family never farmed, he has always lived out in the boonies nestled between the Indiana corn and bean fields. When we married, we lived in the city for several years. The whole time we did, he always talked about how he couldn't wait to move back out to the country where you can actually go out and see stars and the milky way at night. 7 years ago we got our chance when the farm right next to where he grew up (and where his folks still live) came up for auction. I wouldn't trade our location! It is beautiful! My 3 year old son has been fascinated with tractors and combines his whole life so this time of year is great for him. It is time to take in the beans and the combines are out in full force! Last Saturday, they were working in the field across the street and we got to meet the gentleman behind the wheel of the combine and just yesterday they were harvesting the field right behind us. Patrick and I walked out to watch the action and my oldest daughter had joined us. All of a sudden the combine stopped, backed up and the farmer got out and asked the kids if they wanted to ride along! They, of course, jumped at the chance and got to see first hand one aspect of what it is like to be a farmer. Elizabeth was impressed with the fancy GPS system that put up a map of what parts of the field had been harvested and what was left. Patrick was impressed with how fast the back of the combine filled up with soybeans. Anna just thought it was cool.

So, there's another reason that I am just lovin' the country livin'!

Get Out of MY Picture!

My sweet baby girl was showing her NOT so sweet side for the camera today! But just for a moment and she turned the charm back on. She doesn't have a large vocabulary, but her body language was clearly telling her brother to get out of HER photo! Once her brother was gone, she was all cute smiles for the camera!

The doo dads used here, are mostly from Mo Jackson's Annie's Scrapbox, but a few like the alpha and the frame are from her Primative Photo kit. The bow is from Mo's Primitive Scrapbooking and slightly recolored.

Rascal

I should really be working on other things this morning like tomorrow's graphics for church, but I just couldn't resist scrappin these photos. This is a stray barn cat that we have adopted, and he is so cute and friendly!

In case you can't read it, the journaling reads:
Just days after we said goodbye and buried our cat, Tugger, this little cutie wandered into our lives. I was standing by the new house garage when he came up and meowed at me. He looked just like a miniature Tugger and I carried him back to the house to show Anna, knowing she would be thrilled. I had barely set foot on the back porch when she came charging out of the house. Her kitty-radar had gone off and she was instantly by my side and enamored with this cute little kitten. She has named it Rascal and he has been living comfortably on our back porch with plenty of food water and attention.

This was created with a eclectic mix of doo dads. The alpha, photo frame, and aged overlay are all from Mo Jackson's Primitive Scrapbooking set. The trim is from Mo's Melissa's feast and the tin can lid at the top corner is from Mo's Michael set.TFL,Trish