Monday, October 31, 2016

Philippians 1:22. Hand warmers.

Philippians 1:22
SCRIPTURE












OBSERVATION
For now, for always,
I choose God’s will.
As did Paul.

APPLICATION:
He knows
our broken hearts,
our healed hearts,
our despairing hearts,
our rejoicing hearts,
our hurt hearts,
our healed hearts,
our fear-filled hearts
and
our faith-filled hearts.
And He loves us all the time.

In thirteen days,
I hope to celebrate
my first year of recovery,
of new life.

In the last thirteen days,
I've learned of 
one friend with metastasized cancer, 
another with possible cancers 
and of a dear friend’s grief.

My heart has been broken
as I’ve learned of these situations.
Naturally, I pray for healing,
But also for God’s will.

And that’s a struggle.
And that’s real.
And that’s my truth.


On November 13th,
I will celebrate life
as I know these women would want me to.

I will celebrate with 
an ever deepening understanding
that every day 
is a precious gift.
I’m learning.
I’m understanding.
I’m grateful.

A missionary once told me,

“There is no safer place to be
than in the will of God.”
To my friends who are waiting, 
this is true.

PRAYER
Oh God!  
So much is happening lately! 
But guess what?  
In the midst of my fear and uncertainty,
I know You are in control.

I know You will provide
healing - 
whether on Earth or in Heaven,
strength,
compassion,
grace,
understanding
and whatever else we need!

I am not the only one hurting,
there are others.
And I lift them up to You!
And I praise you,
because 
You
Are 
Trustable!
Amen.
(P.S. God, I believe I just made up a word, and that's ok!  I know You're smiling!)


Hand warmers
It seems that every year I make some kind of hand/bed warmers.  A few years ago, I bought this fabric to make some hand warmers and a blanket.  
Then it went into the basket of UFO's in the deepest recesses of my sewing studio.  Until I decided to finish all of my UFO's.  

I cut the fabric into roughly 5" strips.

Then I attempted to fussy cut 
them into 5" squares.


After these are hand stitched closed, these will be really 
nice and soft hand warmers!
I may go ahead 
and blanket stitch around the edges 
as I Heart Nap Time suggested. 

There are many tutorials for hand warmers out there. Mine were inspired by these at I Heart Naptime - I just loved the fabric she used!  

You know, one could add essential oils to the rice such as lavender, but I chose not to because of the many allergies my family and friends suffer from.

A couple of years ago, I made some hand warmers for my family using quilter's cotton.  My daughter freezes some for the many bumps and bruises a family with four children get.  

She heats up the other hand warmers to ward off the chills from a cold/the flu. 

There are many tutorials online for various hand warmers and bed warmers.  In fact, one blogger (I wish I could remember who!  If you know, please let me know and I'll update this post!) said she keeps a bowl of them in her kitchen so her family can grab, heat and head out with warm hands.  Ahhh, talk about a hug from Mom!  :)

Besides I Heart Naps, here are a few more tutorials that I've pinned:

Sadie's Seasongoods used scrap flannel blocks to make her hand warmers.

The ladies at The Better Half made heart shaped hand warmers and essential oils.  

Over at Natasha Goes you'll find some cute owl hand warmers for those grandbabies or kiddos in your life!  She highly recommends heating them up for NO MORE THAN 30 SECONDS!  

Have you found a tutorial/ideas for hand/bed warmers?  Please feel free to mention them in the comments!

Dear Friend,
This is my truth!