Well, for now anyway.

Remember when I said that I was going to take a break? Well, it hit me when Abbie said to me, “Yea, nice break there…” that I hadn’t taken one! Really, I wanted to take some time off from the blog world, but I couldn’t. You know how some people have that weekly (or even daily) “must see” show? That’s me…except my show is the blogger world. Seriously, you should see my iGoogle feed!

So I decided to take a break…and just not tell anyone

And it worked!

And I LIKE it!

I’ve gotten my ducks in a row (again) and have decided that I’m only going to post…whenever I get around to it - which around this house, with so many other things to do - is going to be quite infrequently.

Oh - my iGoogle feed now only has three feeds - and I haven’t opened them up in DAYS! (Can I get a w00t!)

But thanks for stopping by & I’ll see ya when I see ya

Lilli reciting (from memory!!!) Luke 2:8-12

Sisters on Christmas Eve:

Eleanor’s First Christmas:

Sisters:

Whoops!!

Happy Eleanor:

Hello Up There!

Lilli, Baby Eleanor, & gentle Nicki:

Lilli’s Excited for Christmas:

Clarke Girls Christmas Dance Party:

New Princess Outfits::

Making Birthday Cupcakes for Jesus:

Singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus:

Today, our German Shepherd, Nicki, is three years old!  That equates to 28 human years according to http://www.dogyears.com/

Lilli even decorated Nicki’s “House”

Here’s to many more birthdays! We love you Nicki!

So excited about a couple of things and I can’t type fast enough to even tell you about them!

1) We received a letter from 5 year old Joan, one of our sponsored children living in Uganda, and an updated picture of her!

Here’s what Joan’s letter said:

11/15/2008
Dear Brittany,

Joan says hi to you. She is so happy to write to you once again. According to her, she is happy to inform you that the birthday gifts you sent she received and she bought a number of items.

The first gift she received was a general child gift of (X) she used for buying a dress, shoes, and stockings that is showed in the photo.

Then the second gift which was a birthday gift of (X) she used for buying a mattress.

She then sends her gratitude to you and the whole family members for the wonderful work you have done in her life.

More appreciation comes from Joan’s family, especially her mother. She says may God bless you so so much. In fact, words cannot express her joy.

Joan says if she was near, she would first come and carry the baby (Eleanor). In fact, she was so happy to see the photo of the baby at the age of two months.

Conclusively, she sends her love and greetings to the whole family- the children and their dad.

May God bless you mightily.

From your child, Joan (she even wrote her own name this time!!!)

I am brought to tears each time I read a letter from my sponsored children. I am reminded of how strong they are… that their faith is so much more solid than mine…that they have so much joy despite living in poor conditions…that they are so thankful! (I was just complaining that the kids’ toys were everywhere and I couldn’t see my carpet…toys - carpeting…does Joan have these things??? ) Can you imagine being 5 years old and buying a mattress for your birthday? I’ve always had a mattress…I never had to sleep in a hammock or on the dirt floor of my house. I am even more moved by her closing: …may God bless you mightily. What a strong word that is, mightily. God has indeed blessed Joan and her family with mighty faith and courage. I am so honored to know this little girl and her family!

2) TWO children from my packet that I received from Compassion have been sponsored: Dalya, who I featured already on this blog, & Vincent, a 7 year old Ugandan boy who I had not gotten to feature yet. (big THANK YOU to Bill in Texas!) I have 8 children left from my packets who need sponsorship and will continue to feature them on my blog. Remember, if you contact me (click the little purple envelope in the bubble at the top of my blog) and sponsor a child who I feature, I will gladly knit you a one of a kind “Compassion Pal:”

Lastly, if you are still searching around for those last minute Christmas gifts, please consider giving the gift of sponsorship. It is only $32/month…could you put aside 18 cents/working hour for a hungry child?? Just think - there will be two recipients if you do: your loved one…and a child who you helped get out from living in poverty.

I’m a stay at home mom. That always cracks me up, “stay at home mom.” As if I don’t have loads of laundry to do, three kids to entertain, meals to prepare, and  I can just kick my feet up all day & eat bon bons.

Well, after making this Truffle / Bon-Bon recipe, I might just have to take some time to kick back and relax!

Here’s what you do - pay attention because this is going to resemble a run-on sentence

Just take about a pound of sandwich cookies (such as Oreos…I chose a vanilla flavor), blend it so that it resembles sand, add 8z of cream cheese, blend together extremely well, chill in the fridge for about 30 mins (or until a little more firm), roll into small balls, dip & cover with melted chocolate, let dry on wax paper, chill in the fridge, enjoy!

Of course you could decorate with sprinkles, sugar, chopped nuts, or contrasting chocolate - the possibilities are really endless!

Vaijayanthi is a six year old girl living with her mother & father, who are sometimes employed as laborers. She attends primary school and enjoys activities, such as walking, running, and listening to music. Vaijayanthi lives in a country where only 22% of people living in rural areas & 59% of people in urban areas use *tolerable* sanitation resources (in the USA, 100% of people use proper means of sanitation). In her country, only about 39% of its female students attend secondary school…click here to see why. This country is India. For only $32 a month - about 18 cents per working hour - you can sponsor Vaijayanthi and give her opportunities, such as medical assistance, food, and educational tools, that she would otherwise never receive.

Facts about the India and a comparison to the USA (information courtesy of Compassion International)

To learn more about India, including its culture, food, and history, visit Compassion International.

Please prayerfully consider sponsoring Vaijayanthi…and even check out Compassions website if you have any questions (or email me back and I can try and answer them for you. Just click my purple envelope in the bubble at the top of my blog). I have to get her packet back to Compassion by January 16th and I am praying that I don’t have to send her back unsponsored. And remember, I will be happy to give you a “Compassion Pal”  - hand knitted by yours truly - when you sponsor a Compassion International child who I feature on my blog (you may even choose your own yarn colors!):

This would be a wonderful reminder of how you came to save Vaijayanthi from poverty: the deprivation of common necessities. Your sponsorship will change Vaijayanthi’s life…forever.

When I had gone to the kitchen to get the girls their milk, both Lilli & Corinne were on opposite sides of the couch watching their morning movie, and Eleanor was playing on her floor mat. This is how I found them when I returned:

Lilli has a habit of moving Eleanor to where “she is more comfy, mommy!” Thankfully, and amazingly, my five and a half year old knows how to carefully handle Eleanor..as if she herself were a little momma.  She even has insisted that she learn how to change a diaper. If Eleanor weren’t so squirmy when getting her diaper changed, I bet Lilli would have that down…and cloth diapers aren’t the easiest thing to change in comparison to disposables, anyway!

I thank God that I am able to teach my girls how to be keepers of their home & family.

Remember when I posted the Healing Power of Forgiveness by Dr. Deborah Newman? It was about a year ago and I posted it after an incident with some family members. I’m not going to get into what happened (that time around) because it had been happening my entire life -I don’t want to spend hours sitting here typing it all out. But, you can get a clue about how I handled it from my favorite part of the article:

Forgiveness is not revictimization. Many people are afraid of forgiveness because they think it means they’ll become the victim of the person who has sinned against them. This is not what Jesus teaches. True forgiveness cleanses a heart of the damage caused by an offense. In the process of forgiveness, we realize the need for boundaries - decisions we make about our relationship to the offender that prevent the relationship from being unhealthy, that prevent us from being revictimized. When God asks you to forgive others who have offended you, He is not asking you to be a victim. Being a victim and forgiving are two totally different things.

Do I forgive  those family members? Yes, I did a long time ago. Does it mean I have to put myself out there to get hurt again? Nope

Pastor Jeremy McClung did a great sermon about forgiveness last spring. Here are two of my favorite points made by him:

“[Forgiveness] is not forgetting…forgetting is amnesia…You can’t forget and can’t change it.”
“It’s not a removal from consequences…can you imagine what our society would be like?”

I am revisiting this topic because I received an email last month from one of my family members informing me about my other family member’s poor health. (This email was from the same family member who about 13 months ago wrote me an email telling me what a horrible mother I was and that I needed to “stop being a person that you’re not, be part of this family again…you’re a stranger to me. We used get along so well, but you’ve changed and it sucks.” I responded: You’re right about me being a different person - I am a different person now - I am a person following Christ. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” ~2 Corinthians 5:17 )

Going on…

I wrestled with this news, not because I was sad and experiencing an “oh my gosh, my poor so and so” moment, but quite the opposite. I did not feel an-y-thing...I have learned to not get emotionally involved & to dig beneath the “words” to see what their motives are: why was this person REALLY writing me after all this time? Do I call them, do I not? My flesh wanted to say, “I’m tired of being the one to do the right thing…forget it!” But, the Christ follower in me knew that I had to call and offer my help and support if they wanted it. If God sat me down and gave me a choice between the two, what would I choose?

I called.

And it stunk. I got off the phone feeling that same feeling I get every time I talk to this person…what was the point?

But now I realize the point was that I extended grace because grace has been extended to me. Despite their motives, which I won’t get into, I am only responsible for my actions - not theirs. God knows my heart and His opinion on is the only one that matters.

And I forgave this person, again. However,  In the process of forgiveness, we realize the need for boundaries - decisions we make about our relationship to the offender that prevent the relationship from being unhealthy, that prevent us from being revictimized.

So, I will continue to pray for this person because I love them. But at the same time, I love me too…and I’m going to keep my distance.

I’m not going to go into details…so please don’t even ask (and I know you will respect that, right?)

In short, I had said a prayer that I would be given an opportunity to help others. Guess what? It was answered, even when the odds were stacked so insanely high against me.

This post is to give thanks to an AMAZINGLY FAITHFUL God, whom we serve. It’s one of those moments when you remember that God listens.to.you. Even when there are gazillions of people on this earth, He listens to YOU. His days are never to busy, He doesn’t have voice mail or a secretary to take a message, he doesn’t even have to put anything else on hold - He is an INCREDIBLE multi-tasker! I thank God over and over again for making this event happen. “I praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.” Psalm 91:1 (NKJV)

Perhaps one day I will be able to go into detail about this testimony, but until then, rest assured knowing that God hears you, loves you, and will watch over you…because you are so important to Him.

“And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” ~Matthew 10:30 (NIV)

My dear hubby is a HUGE peanut butter fan and I am a GINORMOUS chocolate fan. Put the two together and you have irresistible Peanut Butter Blossoms!

Lilli and I made these ever so delicious cookies today and her favorite part of course, was licking the bowl…literally.

In the words from Sally McDodd from Horton Hears a Who: “That’s one of my girls!”