endless gifts {401}

This week, I am thankful for people. I will not list them all by name because I know there are a lot of people who know me IRL [in real life] and go to my church at the same time. I don't want to embarrass anyone or offend anyone by leaving them out. But there are so many people that have made a difference in my life. They may not even know it. But they matter to me. God has used them to bless me, encourage me, and help me develop into a stronger Christian.

The Heavenly Father knows who they are because I thank Him for them.

So #401 in my endless gifts list is an all-encompassing one -- PEOPLE.

The greatest feats of love are performed by those who have had much practice in performing daily acts of kindness. -Anonymous-

::I need one of those arm-band thingies::

Tonight, while running on the treadmill.

Wait.  Get back here.  Yes, you are reading Rebecca' blog.

Ok.

Tonight, while running on the treadmill, my ipod fell of it's perch and got pulled underneath the track.  I thought all was doomed but I was able to recover it without anyone's help.

So I am on night #2 [in a row] of running.

One of my things to do before I turn 30 is to run a half-marathon and there is no time like the present to become accustomed to running.

I have this strange abhorrence [yet infatuation] with running.  I grew up running, practicing all summer for our school's annual Cross Country.  When I crossed the great divide into 7th grade, I was assigned to one of the intramural girls' teams at my school.  It was the Panthers.  A few of my fellow Panthers read here [hello Andrea, Sharon, and Hannah....and maybe my coach, too???]

So I don't know what their remembrance of me and running is but I will tell you what my remembrance is.  I disliked it.  Christians aren't supposed to hate so I can't say that I hate running.  But I disliked it.  Greatly.  I love being active.  I love playing volleyball.  But I just disliked running.

Well, my sophomore year of college, I had decided that the PE workouts took too long if I wanted to walk for my workouts so I decided to run.  I actually experienced what people call the "runners high."  I truthfully did.  But that didn't last much longer than my sophomore year and I can't even guarantee that I ran my entire sophomore year.

However.  Running a half marathon sounds like a great challenge for me.  I would love to run on a regular basis but have never gotten up the effort to do it on my own.  Hopefully, typing this out will give me the motivation to continue to run knowing that all of you are reading this. 

I think it would be best to run a 5k and then a 10k [one or both, it doesn't matter] before attempting the half-marathon.  I don't even have any races picked out yet.  I'm just running for the present time.

Running.  I'm still trying to convince myself that I'm actually doing this!

::happy Thanksgiving::

happy

happy

happy

happy

happy

THANKSGIVING!

i am beyond excited...we are going up to my grandparents' house in michigan for a short overnight trip.

we will also get to see my aunt and cousin.


we will be eating in a restaurant on Thanksgiving Day.


a FIRST for our family EVER.


i'm not excited JUST to eat in a restaurant.


just thrilled to see extended family.

endless gifts {396-400}

Here I am barely squeaking in my Multitude Monday post.

I am keeping it simple and sweet this week.

I am so thankful for all of the people the Lord has put in my path and allowed me the opportunity to work for these families.

396. the Cohen family [nanny to the children--love, love, love this family]
397. Rusty [cute, sweet, old lady with the most adorable teeny little house]
398. Dana [sweetness]
399. Judy [hilarious; owner of a floral shop in town]
400. Kathy [daughter to the above-mentioned lady; funny]

I am so very blessed.

::six on Saturday::

To carry you over until Monday, I will highlight six things I did today [Saturday].

1. made cute pilgrim hat cookies [idea from here] for Junior Church
2. made peanut butter cookies [remember this post?] for our bus's Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow
3. went around all day without make-up [hello, crummy bummy]
4. made my first fabric rosette
5. had my third peppermint mocha of the season [s-p-l-u-r-g-e]
6. listened to Christmas music [I'm an early bird]

Until Monday, folks, have a very blessed Sunday!

::magical::

I don't post very many recipes on my blog because I do not consider myself an expert.  I love to cook and bake, though.  Last night, I made this batch of peanut butter cookies from one of Paula Deen's cookbooks.  It is truly magical because it is so easy and delicious!

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a large baking sheet.  Combine all four ingredients and stir well with a spoon.  Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts.  Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet.  With a fork, press a crisscross design on each cookie.  Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with sugar.  Cool slightly before removing from pan.

Easy.  Easy.  Easy.

Next time, I will press Hershey Kisses into the top.  Peanut butter + chocolate = my favorite!

::link love::

So this is for someone who reads my blog very faithfully [you know who you are!].

Link love to some of my favorite fabric designers!

#1 favorite...Anna Maria Horner:

You can find her blog here.

Her website is here where you can find her fabric.

#2...Amy Butler

Her website is here.

#3...Heather Bailey [recently found her products]

Website is here.

endless gifts {386-395}

386. stellar parents
387. my grandma came through surgery successfully
388. my Mom's health [The older I get, the more I am thankful for my Mom's health. She is going in for a routine check up today. This December 7th will be 12 years since she was initially diagnosed with AML. She told me today that she never thought she would live this long. Wow. God is so good!]
389. forgiveness
390. encouragement from others
391. music that lifts my soul
392. Sunday school
393. the people I work with in my ministries
394. the Holy Spirit and His working in my life
395. the family I work for

Post-edit:

I must add...
396. Andrea
and
397. Sharon

A personal side-note. These two ladies are incredible. I grew up with them. I've had a few email exchanges or comment exchanges {blog to blog} with them recently. Their mother is someone who had a profound influence on my life. I was able to help out in her Sunday school class the year and a half before the Lord took her home. She also had it arranged my freshman year for "town girls" to come to nightly devotions at the college girls dorm while I was in college. I can still hear some of her "devos" and words of admonition and encouragement. I miss her so much. And the love of the Lord that shone through her life has been passed on to her daughters. They are a Biblical example of love and friendship!

::an applicable Guide Book::

You know, I find it hard to relate to people who have a perfect life. Wait. I'm not saying that anyone has a perfect life [no problems, struggles, or trials] but some peeps [online and in real life] seem to portray their life as such.

I struggle deeply, at times. Thank the Lord for His Word which lights my steps.

Today, I was reading through chapters 3 and 4 of Exodus and it struck me afresh how many times Moses doubted himself. Moses. You know the man who is a patriarch. Okay. So I can relate to doubting myself.

Exodus 3:6...he was afraid to look upon God [God had just revealed Himself in the burning bush].
Exodus 3:11...Moses asks God, "Who am I?"
Exodus 3:13..."And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?"
Exodus 4:1...Moses argues that the Israelites will not believe him.
Exodus 4:3, 6...God turns the rod into a snake and turns Moses' hand into leprosy.
Exodus 4:10...Moses says he is not eloquent.
Exodus 4:14...God's anger was kindled against Moses.

I just love that the Bible is so applicable for each one of us in each of our own personal struggles. It gives us the answers for a victorious life but never promises that we will be perfect or that our lives will be smooth and carefree.  The Bible does command us to be perfect [Matthew 5:48] but doesn't tell us we will be sinless.  It's amazing that a hero of the Bible had struggles similar to my own. 

I don't feel like I have much to say because there is a youth conference going on at our church this week and that is taking up some of my extra time.

I am on my "slow" week of cleaning so I am able to help out in the kitchen at the church in the mornings. The first day, I feel like I am not really a help at all because I know where almost nothing is located in the kitchen. By the second day of my volunteer time, I am better at the location of things. And by the third day [tomorrow], I feel comfortable in the kitchen but it's the last day of the conference. So then I'll start over again next year. Fun times!

Today and tomorrow, the kids that I nanny have early dismissal. Hooray for extra hours at work!

And, in bloggy news...
Anna so graciously linked me today. Thank you!
...Cyndi is hosting a giveaway to Dayspring. Go check it out!

::an amazing day::

Saturday was an amazing day. In this post, I mentioned that I found a store that offered sewing classes.

W-E-L-L.

I went to a class on Saturday.  Out of all my little ventures that I have made the past few years, my instructor on Saturday was the nicest and most helpful.  She started at the very beginning [here is the "on" switch for the sewing machine] but never made one feel silly for asking a question or not knowing how to do the simplest task on the sewing machine.  Awesome.

I bought some cheap-ish fabric hurriedly Friday night at Wal-Mart.  While I was waiting for the class to start, I ended up buying new material for my project.  [I'm so glad I did.]

I'm serious, in my opinion, fabric choice is at least 50% of the success of a project.  This material is incredible.

Okay.  So here's my pillow.  I am not patting myself on the back [yet] because a)_I did this project with a helpful instructor close at hand and b)_the material is fabulous.

After class, I marched right back upstairs and purchased another 1/2 yard of the same fabric which forces me to make another one [and soon]. 

::the bigger picture::

::the zipper--not bad for a beginner::

::an up-close and personal view of the brown bird::

::the perky little corner::

I have never been so excited about sewing in my life.  So we need to get our sewing machine fixed pronto so that I can whip up another pillow before I forget what I learned.  And I plan to take another class there.  Whoop!

endless gifts {376-385}

376. new mercies every morning [if you stop to think about that....Wow!]
377. forgiveness
378. long-suffering
379. godly people in my church
380. failure [if everything goes right in my life, will I ever improve? no...]
381. busyness
382. bus riders that are faithful to church
383. new Christians added to our church
384. friends who spur me on to strengthen my Christian walk
385. provision every week, every need



PS...Another giveaway is happening for a set of cards from my Etsy shop. Please go check it out! I would love if one of ya'll won!!  Contest closes this Friday, November 5th.