Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer: Psalm 16:8 We Will NOT Be Shaken! Fiber Fun, Literary Living and Finding Joy

Hello There,

Thank you for stopping in! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the changes of weather in your part of the world. During that time, we went to San Diego. We enjoyed a quiet week with family. We actually spent most of our time at my sister's and brother-in-law's home making simple meals and occastionally eating out. I enjoyed spending two days with Mama talking and simply being together. Of course I visited my favorite independent yarn store, Apricot Yarn and Supply.

https://blog.manavaswim.com/fall-pajamas-ideas

Since returning in late October, we have hit the ground running with appointments, social committments and family time. I've had only one "pajama" day. There are various definitions of "pajama days." For me, it a chill day spent in comfy clothes relaxing at home. Do you do pajama days?

Take good care and, as Daddy used to say,

"Make memories; it's later than you think."

HERE'S A WORD

As I prepped for this study, I simply highlight all the words that describe what God does for us in my Bible and make a list of them in my journal. I'll follow the same format here.

The Presence of the LORD

(Acts 2:14–36)

A Miktama of David.

1 Preserve me, O God,

for in You I take refuge.

2I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord;

apart from You I have no good thing.”

3As for the saints in the land,

they are the excellence

in whom all my delight resides.

4 Sorrows will multiply

to those who chase other gods.

I will not pour out their libations of blood,

or speak their names with my lips.

5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

You have made my lot secure.

6The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places;

surely my inheritance is delightful.

7I will bless the LORD who counsels me;

even at night my conscience instructs me.b

8I have setc the LORD always before me.

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

9Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will dwell securely.d

10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.e

11You have made known to me the path of life;

You will fill me with joy in Your presence,f

with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

- Psalm 16

The LORD preserves us
The LORD provides and is our refuge
The LORD is our chosen portion and cup
The LORD makes our lots (boundaries) secure
The LORD counsels us
The LORD instructs us
The LORD remains at our right hand
The LORD will not abandon us
The LORD will not let us see decay
The LORD makes known to us the path of life
The LORD fills us with joy in His prescense
The LORD fills us with eternal pleasures at His right hand

Just look at what God does for us! Words cannot capture all He does for us, but David sure captured quite a bit!

Let's thoughtfully re-read verses one through seven. You will see that they all build up to verse eight! Some weeks ago, I asked for my precious readers to share their favorite Scripture and Nancy from Grace and Peace Quilting shared Psalm 16:8:

I written before how this rocked my spiritual world. Surely I had read it before, but this time was different. I have repeatedly quoted this verse to myself. If we are going through a sudden fear, anxiety/panic attack, grief and even joy, Psalm 16:8 can bring us great comfort. We can say to the defeated one,

"I will keep my eyes on the LORD,

Because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken!"

Why was David so confident? God was already there, because David always set the LORD before him! Remember, in ancient times the right hand represented "someone's ultimate strength and power" David had ultimate strength and power, so he knew he would not be shaken.

Friends, not only is it vital that we memorize Scripture so that we can keep our eyes on the LORD, but let them come to mind as we battle the defeated one. Let these Scriptures become second nature to us. I am writing to myself as much as to you.

I am writing to myself as much as to you as I have been battling anxiety and fear, but with my beloved prayer warriors support, I am once again reminded of Isaiah 43: 1- 2:

1But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

I also realize it's time to once again go into Scripture memorization. So I have begun creating another small notebook of Scriptures. I've placed these same verses on my phone in my Notepad. You can see what some of the pages look like below in the Finding Joy section. The battle is not ours, so let's keep the One who battles on our behalf before us at our right hand so we will not be shaken.

Please know this:
You are loved. You are not alone. You are being lovingly prayed for.

FIBER FUN

As I shared earlier, I'm so excited that we have a new quilt shop in our area (about 30 minute drive away). It's called Quiltfield owned by Michelle. She is carrying fabric and tools from Asia as well as the United States. Here's what I picked up thus far.

Michelle used the Japanese mini fat quarter bundle in the upper right block

to make this Villa Rosa quilt, "Gumbo".

What I love is Quiltfield is so different from from our local quilt shop, Be Sew Creative. Consequently, we have two independent quilt shops with totally different fabrics that complement each other beautifully!

I have made progress on my Jalapeño placemats. I used the Kimberbell Blue Tiles to quilt four of them and the other six are next.

Here is a video I made on a practice quilt sandwich.

This is a photo from the placemat.

15 MINUTES TO STICH

I’m joining the Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch' challenge at Life in Pieces helps us to develop the habit of daily creativity. Thanks to my creative mess that I shared last week, this week I machine stitched 6/7 days again.

Week: I've stitched every day of November!

7/7 days! 100%

Month: 7/7 days! 100%

Most of these days were spent crocheting prayer shawls

for loved ones who are going through some challenging times.

I've finished three in two weeks.

This one curved on the top, but it worked out well as a "collar"-

a clear example of "design choices"!

The pattern is Crochet Eyelet Triangle Shawl

by Robin at Hooked by Robin

These next shawl was made with

an Malabrigo Rios yarn in Piedras

using the same pattern as above,

but I varied the open and closed rows.

This pattern reminded me of

my grandmother-in-law, Dionicia.

This was her favorite pattern and she called it

"Ventanitas y puertitas"

(Little Windows and Little Doors).

To honor her, I am now using it for prayer shawls.

Thank you, Robin, for sharing your pattern.

It's here as a "baby shawl" and then the finished product.

It's amazine how the light changes the color!

The prayer shawl below is going to

a friend's elderly mother who is always cold.

I can't find the original source,

but I stitched up a granny square until I was happy with the size.

Then I folded one corner over to make the upper section thicker.

After that, I stitched the folded corner to the granny square and added my border.

The yarn is Malabrigo Rios in Archangel.

I originally purchased it from Apricot Yarns and Supply.

I ordered more of it from our local fabric/yarn shop, Thread Bear.

I also finished some some more cowls for Christmas.

I can't remember which ones I've already shared,

so here are the most recent finishes.

LITERARY LIFE

Here are some books I've picked up since my last post. Some of these books were recommended by you! Do you see your reads below? Thank all of you for sharing!

Here's the free eBooks I picked up this week from ereaderiq.com

I also checked out these audiobooks from Libby.

These are the hard copies I've picked up at the library.

This Week's Reviews:

***** Highly Recommend

The Young Will Remember by Eve J. Chung earned a definite five-star rating from me. Literature about the Korean War is hard to come by, and this book offers a rare look into the perspective of women during the war while giving an unfiltered account of the abuse they faced. While working on my degree, I chose to write about the Korean War—the one my Daddy and many of my relatives served in. To my dismay, I quickly realized there was pitifully little information on "The Forgotten War." Today, Korean products are completely in vogue, and perhaps that cultural wave is why I’m finally discovering more works by Korean authors—and this work in particular.

The protagonist, a young Chinese-American journalist named Ellie Chang, survives a plane crash only to learn she is now in North Korea. Her life is spared when an elderly woman, Hwa-Ja, mistakenly claims Ellie as her long-lost daughter. Though she looks Asian, Ellie's life is in constant danger because she does not speak the language. Although she finds temporary shelter with a local Christian family, the Paks, Ellie is well aware that she needs to make her way to safety in South Korea. She convinces Hwa-Ja and the Paks to make the dangerous journey south—both for her own safety and to look for Hwa-Ja's real daughter. Because the protagonists are female, we have the rare opportunity to experience the Korean War from a female civilian perspective.

Chung writes in a way that strips away the sanitized versions of history and calls events as they truly were. For example, when Japanese forces kidnapped young girls and women to serve as "comfort women" for their soldiers, Chung calls it what it was: the rape of girls and women who had no voice and no power.

I am so grateful that Chung shed light on the Korean War with all its atrocities and abuses. She educated me where my formal education failed to do so. She gave a voice to the women of Korea and showed how this terrible war affected them. And for that, I thank her.

**** Recommend

I thoroughly enjoyed Nancy Mehl's faith-based mystery/suspense audiobook, Mind Games. It’s Book One in a three-part series. I love how the story begins—with a poem written by a serial killer describing a series of murders that will culminate in the death of our protagonist, Kaely Quinn, an FBI behavior analyst. Add in the fact that Kaely’s own father is an infamous serial killer, plus a relentless reporter determined to write a book about her past, and you have a suspense-filled mystery.

Mehl weaves in a gentle sprinkling of prayer and faith, making this a fabulous read. My main takeaways from Mind Games were to keep praying for our first responders and crime fighters, and to go straight to Libby to find the rest of the audiobooks in the series!

FINDING JOY

LeeAnna's I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color helps me consistently find the joy in every life. I missed October 15's prompt: Do you prefer fun and festive Halloween decorations or truly terrifying haunted houses? I prefer to decorate with fall decor. I just love fall colors! To be honest, since Daddy's passing, I've not decorated for fall. Maybe next year.

Here is my Scripture Memorization notebook.