Christmas Ornaments 2011

Sadly, the light string on the top half of the Christmas tree went out last night, so the ole' gal (which I usually like to keep up until at least New Year's Day) will probably be coming down tonight.  :(

I don't know if this is an "upside", but it sure got my butt motivated this afternoon to actually sit down and whip out the kids' Christmas ornaments for this year.  I know . . . late much?  I blame it on the pregnancy sleepies and the fact that I churned out a boat-load of Jesse Tree ornaments over the last few months.

I went pretty simple and off the cuff . . . no patterns, just threw around some ideas with Little Miss.  She made the ultimate decisions on what to make and which colors to use.  I'm the one that decided to add some bits of bling just to make it a little less plain:

Stocking Ornament for Kee-ku 2011

They're simple and definitely not my most impressive efforts to date, but they're done and I really enjoyed the process with Little Miss (and that they only took a quick naptime to stitch up).

Heart Ornament for Little Miss 2011

Anyone else do Christmas crafting AFTER Christmas?  All of a sudden I'm getting the urge to finish all the other Christmas projects I had in mind that I never got around to this season.  :P



P.S.  I know and fully acknowledge that these photos are terrible.  It's nearly impossible to take good non-flash photos indoors this time of year.

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CRUNCH Time

You know, I really do try my best to plan out any sewing/making that needs to be done by a certain date. Christmas related sewing is especially tricky because it seems that if you don't at least *start* it by December 1st, there's no way it's going to get done.  And you stress yourself out.  And that just makes everything less fun.

Regardless of all of this, I have really gotten myself into a pickle this year with Little Miss (as I have previously alluded to here).  Let me give you a brief rundown of what NOT to do so you just don't have to ever be in this situation.

No really . . . this is what I did and I would NOT recommend  it:

1. Wait to start Christmas sewing project until . . . hmm . . . way too late.  As evidenced by the fact that it's December 21st and I still have not even selected fabric.
2. Ask for input on what said project should be by opinionated 4 year old.
3. Allow her to change her mind multiple times.
4. Suppose that you likely have enough energy/time to pull said project off in time for Christmas even though you are at home full time with 2 kids and also WORK from home with no one to come and relieve you of those responsibilities in the next 3 days.
5. Purchase pattern only to realize it is WAY more complex than what you were even wanting to make in the first place.  Curse yourself once again for #2-3.

So, here's where we're at.  I  have purchased a pattern.  A very cute pattern that under normal non-stressful circumstances I would be delighted to tackle.  Now I'm on the race against time to get it all done, and I'm still wondering if I can weasel out of it (at LEAST to talk Little Miss down to a less complicated pattern) - - which is only making me feel worse about my own lack of preparation.

Save yourself some grief next Christmas and do as I say NOT AS I DO.  :P

Oh . . . and because I have broken the cardinal rule of blogging lately and because no one really wants to read a post where there is no picture, here's the pattern that's sitting ever so patiently on my desk . . . just waiting for me to spring into action.

Kit, Chloe, and Louise - a pattern by Wee Wonderfuls

Did I mention I'm 21 weeks pregnant and don't *spring* so much anymore?

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Days 18-25: From Jonah to Jesus

I have been behind on the posting of some Jesse Tree readings as of late.  My uncle passed away recently after a battle with cancer, and I was gone this weekend to remember him and celebrate his life with my family in Chicago.

In light of the fact that I'm starting to enter the *really busy* time (only 5 days to Christmas ALREADY?!), but at the same time recognizing that there are some out there who have been following along . . . I'm going to give you some links to the remaining passages we have been/will be using through Christmas Day.

• Day 18: Jonah in the Belly of the Whale/The Great Fish (Jonah 1-4)
• Day 19: Mary - Hope for the Future (Luke 1:26-38)
• Day 20: Elizabeth - Joy (Luke 1: 39-56)
• Day 21: Joseph - Trust (Matthew 1:19-25)
• Day 22: John the Baptist - Repentance (Luke 1:57-80, 3:1-20, 7:18-30)
• Day 23: Magi - Worship (Matthew 2:1-12)
• Day 24: Jesus - the birth of the Messiah and the real reason we celebrate Christmas! (Luke 2:1-20)
• Day 25: Christ - The Son of God (John 1:1-18)

I hope that my sharing this with you has been a blessing, and I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful Christmas celebration on December 25th (and on all those other days when you get together with family and friends to do so as well!)

Much love to you and yours,


**The scripture references I used for this group of Jesse Tree readings was cobbled together using this guide HERE as well as THIS ONE.**

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Oops . . . I Missed It

So . . . Sew Mama Sew's super-fun much anticipated Giveaway Day has come and gone.  I totally missed out.  I've participated in the last couple as a person giving something away, but it just blew right by me this year.

Ok . . . I became aware of it just after it started and was able to enter a few giveaways here and there (fingers still crossed), but it's way more fun to host, I think.

Anyway, I'm bummed about it.  I was just totally unprepared.  In fact, I'm pretty unprepared for Christmas Day and some (albeit small scale) gift-giving . . . which is creeping up on me ever so stealthily.  It'd be one thing if I just had this notion in my mind that I would make my kids something for Christmas (one thing each . . . let's not get crazy with the Cheese Whiz).  The problem is that I may have possibly mentioned that little notion to Little Miss . . . who is like an elephant.

She never forgets.

So I've got to come up with something quick.  And yes.  It's stressing me out a wee bit.

Oh, sewing inspiration . . . where art thou?  Probably hanging out with *energy*.

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Day 17: Isaiah - The Call to Holiness

What a change of attitude . . . from Moses (send someone else) to Isaiah (here I am, send me).  Isn't that the internal struggle of most, if not all, Christian people?

Isaiah 1:10-20

 ¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD,
   you rulers of Sodom;
listen to the instruction of our God,
   you people of Gomorrah!
¹¹ “The multitude of your sacrifices—
   what are they to me?” says the LORD.
“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,
   of rams and the fat of fattened animals;
I have no pleasure
   in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
¹² When you come to appear before me,
   who has asked this of you,
   this trampling of my courts?
¹³ Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
   Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
   I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
¹⁴ Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals
   I hate with all my being.
They have become a burden to me;
   I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands in prayer,
   I hide my eyes from you;
even when you offer many prayers,
   I am not listening.
   Your hands are full of blood!
 ¹⁶ Wash and make yourselves clean.
   Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
   stop doing wrong.
¹⁷ Learn to do right; seek justice.
   Defend the oppressed.^[a]
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
   plead the case of the widow.
 ¹⁸ “Come now, let us settle the matter,”
   says the LORD.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
   they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
   they shall be like wool.
¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient,
   you will eat the good things of the land;
²⁰ but if you resist and rebel,
   you will be devoured by the sword.”
            For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Isaiah 6:1-13

Isaiah 6

Isaiah’s Commission

 ¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:    “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
   the whole earth is full of his glory.”
 ⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
 ⁵ “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
 ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
 ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
   And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
 ⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:
   “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
   be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people calloused;
   make their ears dull
   and close their eyes.^[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
   hear with their ears,
   understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
 ¹¹ Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”
   And he answered:
   “Until the cities lie ruined
   and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
   and the fields ruined and ravaged,
¹² until the LORD has sent everyone far away
   and the land is utterly forsaken.
¹³ And though a tenth remains in the land,
   it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
   leave stumps when they are cut down,
   so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

Isaiah 8:11-9:7

 ¹¹ This is what the LORD says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
 ¹² “Do not call conspiracy
   everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
   and do not dread it.
¹³ The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
   he is the one you are to fear,
   he is the one you are to dread.
¹⁴ He will be a holy place;
   for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
   and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
   a trap and a snare.
¹⁵ Many of them will stumble;
   they will fall and be broken,
   they will be snared and captured.”
 ¹⁶ Bind up this testimony of warning
   and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
¹⁷ I will wait for the LORD,
   who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.
 ¹⁸ Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

The Darkness Turns to Light

 ¹⁹ When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. ²¹ Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. ²² Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.

Isaiah 9

 ^{1 [a]}Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
 ² The people walking in darkness
   have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
   a light has dawned.
³ You have enlarged the nation
   and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
   as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
   when dividing the plunder.
⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
   you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
   the bar across their shoulders,
   the rod of their oppressor.
⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
   and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
   will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading was found for free RIGHT HERE.**

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Day 16: Elijah - The Threat of False Gods

1 Kings 18:16-39

Elijah on Mount Carmel

 ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”  ¹⁸ “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹ Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
 ²⁰ So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
   But the people said nothing.
 ²² Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. ²³ Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
   Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
 ²⁵ Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” ²⁶ So they took the bull given them and prepared it.
   Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
 ²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
 ³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” ³² With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs^[a] of seed. ³³ He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
 ³⁴ “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again.
   “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵ The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
 ³⁶ At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
 ³⁸ Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
 ³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!”

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading came via Why Christmas and can be found RIGHT HERE.**

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Day 15: David - The Shepherd for the People

Getting to talk about David is always fun for Little Miss.  Her favorite story in the bible is of David and Goliath . . . as a 3 year old she memorized The Jesus Storybook Bible version of it ("The Young Hero and The Horrible Giant").  The first time she "read" it to my dad, he couldn't believe it.

Well . . . ok . . . he figured out she had it memorized, but it's no simple sing-song-y retelling . . . honestly, I have no idea how she was able to pull it off.  I should have filmed her doing this . . . actually I think I tried, but she never wanted to do it when the camera came out and I was never able to sneak up on her reading it when it would occur naturally.

I guess you'll just have to trust me.

1 Samuel 16:1-3

1 Samuel 16

Samuel Anoints David

 ¹ The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”  ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
   The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading came via Why Christmas and can be found RIGHT HERE.**

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Day 14: Samuel - The Beginning of the Kingdom

No commentary today.  This is a long one.

1 Samuel 3:1-21, 7:1-8:22, 9:15-10:9

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading was found for free RIGHT HERE.**

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Mama-Made Ornaments: The Next Generation

This past weekend was a busy one.  For the first time ever, I hosted "Christmas" at my house (Christmas is only in quotations because as you all know, Christmas Day hasn't happened yet this year).  Because I live in a different state from the rest of my family, it meant more than one nice meal and some family togetherness for the evening.  It was a whole weekend with a full house, lots of helpers in the kitchen, super easy Christmas cookies and crafts, secret treats (shh . . . don't tell anyone, Leebee) and Little Miss in HEAVEN as her 2 favorite girls in the world (her cousins) were here to visit for 4 WHOLE DAYS!!

She's still talking about how sad she is that they had to leave.

Anyway, all that to say that we had some fun opening gifts together . . .mostly the gift-giving was from the older generation to the little kids . . . but that doesn't mean my mom didn't sneak in a little mama-made goodness to add to our ornament collections.

These two pieces are now hanging out on my tree.  And I couldn't be happier.

1. Father Christmas 2011, 2. Angel 2011

Thanks, Mom.  :)

Now . . . if only I could pin down what I want to make for my own kids, we'll be all set.  :P

Anyone else doing any early celebrating?  Or ornament making?

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Day 13: Ruth - Commitment

The reading for today is the book of Ruth which I won't replicate for you in its entirety in this blog post, but you may read it for free right here. 

This book is special to me in a lot of ways.  I feel very blessed to have a relationship with my mother-in-law, a woman whom I respect for her faith completely.  Reading this book always brings her to mind.

Mr. Skooks and I grew up in different cultures.  He lived the first fifteen years of his life in the Dominican Republic while I grew up on the south side of Chicago.  Not altogether the same.  When we met and got married, (among others) we chose a passage from the book of Ruth to read in our wedding . . . he read it in Spanish and I read it in English.  We felt then (and still do) that our lives were in God's hands and that wherever He might send us out in the future, we would always go together in unity.

For those of you unfamiliar, I'll share that passage with you here (it comes from Ruth 1:16b-17):

Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading came via Why Christmas and can be found RIGHT HERE.**

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Day 12: Joshua - The Fall of Jericho

I read Little Miss this story from her children's bible, which describes the shouting that the Israelites do as "ear-splitting".  Her big question of the day was, "How do you make an ear-splitting noise?"

It wasn't hard to explain.  If you've ever met Kee-ku.

Joshua 6:1-20

Joshua 6

 ¹ Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
 ² Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. ³ March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. ⁴ Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. ⁵ When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.”
 ⁶ So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” ⁷ And he ordered the army, “Advance! March around the city, with an armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD.”
 ⁸ When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them. ⁹ The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. ¹⁰ But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” ¹¹ So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there.
 ¹² Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. ¹³ The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. ¹⁴ So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
 ¹⁵ On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. ¹⁶ The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are to be devoted^[a] to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. ¹⁸ But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.”
 ²⁰ When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading came via Why Christmas and can be found RIGHT HERE.**

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Cathedral Windows Baby Mat? Yes, Please!

Just ran across this one (thanks for the heads up Pink Chalk Fabrics!) . . . as I wait in expectation for little babe #3 to arrive (we've still got a trimester and a half to go), the ole noggin keeps churning on ideas of special things I could make.  This is one that I LOVE.  Cathedral Windows is one of my favorite quilt blocks of all time, but I've yet to actually make something using the technique.

I've kinda been nervous about it.

Cathedral Window Playmat by Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock

But I love the way this is incorporated into an adorable play mat for a baby.  The instructions appear complete and sound, which means the hardest part may be picking the fabric.  Not a bad problem to have, as I haven't done any fabric shopping in ages.  ;)

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Day 11: God Gives the 10 Commandments

No commentary today.  :)

Exodus 19-20:20

Exodus 19

At Mount Sinai

 ¹ On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. ² After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.  ³ Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵ Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, ⁶ you^[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
 ⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. ⁸ The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
 ⁹ The LORD said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the LORD what the people had said.
 ¹⁰ And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹ and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. ¹³ They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”
 ¹⁴ After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.”
 ¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain^[b] trembled violently. ¹⁹ As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.^[c]
 20 The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses went up ²¹ and the LORD said to him, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. ²² Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them.”
 ²³ Moses said to the LORD, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us, ‘Put limits around the mountain and set it apart as holy.’”
 ²⁴ The LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron up with you. But the priests and the people must not force their way through to come up to the LORD, or he will break out against them.”
 ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

 ¹ And God spoke all these words:  ² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
 ³ “You shall have no other gods before^[d] me.
 ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
 ⁷ “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
 ⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
 ¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
 ¹³ “You shall not murder.
 ¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.
 ¹⁵ “You shall not steal.
 ¹⁶ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
 ¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
 ¹⁸ When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
 ²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading was found for free RIGHT HERE.**

** For those of you who may have been deterred from participating in the Jesse Tree because you don't have the ornaments . . . I just came across some coloring pages (via Our Sunday Visitor) that you could use with your kids.  Just color, cut 'em out, and join in.  If your kids are like mine, they'll want to do more than one each day anyway.  :) **

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Day 10: The Israelites - The Passover and Exodus

I have to admit . . . we did a mashup yesterday of Moses being called by God through the burning bush and continuing through the passover.  Partially because I just had not finished the ornament for the lamb.  :P

Here's another time where talking to a 4 year old about Old Testament stuff - this time the act of smearing blood on a doorway - - is kind of an uncomfortable topic.  I hope it's not bad of me to be thankful that she didn't feel the need to ask me how *exactly* that process worked.  Several days back when we talked about Abraham sacrificing the ram in Isaac's place, she got a little upset because she "didn't want anyone to die" . . . even the ram.

Exodus 12-14:31

Exodus 12

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

 ¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb^[a] for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD’s Passover.  ¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
 ¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD—a lasting ordinance. ¹⁵ For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
 ¹⁷ “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. ¹⁸ In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. ²⁰ Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
 ²¹ Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
 ²⁴ “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸ The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron.
 ²⁹ At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

The Exodus

 ³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”  ³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
 ³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.
 ⁴⁰ Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt^[b] was 430 years. ⁴¹ At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the LORD’s divisions left Egypt. ⁴² Because the LORD kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the LORD for the generations to come.

Passover Restrictions

 ⁴³ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the regulations for the Passover meal:    “No foreigner may eat it. ⁴⁴ Any slave you have bought may eat it after you have circumcised him, ⁴⁵ but a temporary resident or a hired worker may not eat it.
 ⁴⁶ “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones. ⁴⁷ The whole community of Israel must celebrate it.
 ⁴⁸ “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the LORD’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land. No uncircumcised male may eat it. ⁴⁹ The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you.”
 ⁵⁰ All the Israelites did just what the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron. ⁵¹ And on that very day the LORD brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.

Exodus 13

Consecration of the Firstborn

 ¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”  ³ Then Moses said to the people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the LORD brought you out of it with a mighty hand. Eat nothing containing yeast. ⁴ Today, in the month of Aviv, you are leaving. ⁵ When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites and Jebusites—the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey—you are to observe this ceremony in this month: ⁶ For seven days eat bread made without yeast and on the seventh day hold a festival to the LORD. ⁷ Eat unleavened bread during those seven days; nothing with yeast in it is to be seen among you, nor shall any yeast be seen anywhere within your borders. ⁸ On that day tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ ⁹ This observance will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For the LORD brought you out of Egypt with his mighty hand. ¹⁰ You must keep this ordinance at the appointed time year after year.
 ¹¹ “After the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites and gives it to you, as he promised on oath to you and your ancestors, ¹² you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD. ¹³ Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck. Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
 ¹⁴ “In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ ¹⁶ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the LORD brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.”

Crossing the Sea

 ¹⁷ When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” ¹⁸ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.^[c] The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.  ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.”^[d]
 20 After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. ²¹ By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. ²² Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

Exodus 14

 ¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. ³ Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ ⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this.
 ⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!” ⁶ So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. ⁷ He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. ⁸ The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. ⁹ The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, horsemen^[e] and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
 ¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
 ¹³ Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. ¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
 ¹⁵ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. ¹⁶ Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”
 ¹⁹ Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
 ²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
 ²³ The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. ²⁴ During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. ²⁵ He jammed^[f] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
 ²⁶ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward^[g] it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. ²⁸ The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
 ²⁹ But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. ³¹ And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading was found for free RIGHT HERE.**

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Bee Vintage Block Round-Up

So, I was AMAZED this afternoon when I realized that the sun was not only shining, it was BLAZING through the sky and putting some of that light right into the sewing room.  I thought, "YES!  I will actually be able to take a picture of the design wall and put it on the blog and it won't look like total garbage!"

But um . . . after I took the pictures (and the sun went away), I sat down to crop em and such and wouldn't you know . . . they were terrible.  Just awful.  However, the ones that I managed to take of the individual squares were decidedly less terrible.

So here's the artificial "wall" so you can actually see the awesome blocks my bee friends made for me, instead of squinting and turning your head to the side while you say something like, "I don't know what she's going on and on about . . . I guess that looks ok.  In a blurry, jumbly sort of way."

1. You Are Here by Tammie, 2. You Are Here by ??, 3. You Are Here by Heather, 4. You Are Here by ??, 5. You Are Here by Sarah, 6. You Are Here by Sarah, 7. You Are Here by Jenny, 8. You Are Here by Simple Girl, Simple Life, 9. You Are Here by Nikki, 10. You Are Here by Sarah - #1, 11. You Are Here by ??, 12. You Are Here by Sarah - #2

As you can see by some of my captions there, I don't remember all of the specifics on who made what anymore.  I put out a call for clarification on Flickr, and I'll update as soon as people start claiming their work.

This virtual pin-up is also no indication of how I'm planning on arranging them in the final layout.  I haven't gotten anywhere on what I want to do about sashing/binding/etc, but if anyone's got any suggestions I'm certainly open.

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Day 9: Moses - God's Leadership

The last few passages we've looked at have had similarities in that both Jacob and Joseph had visions that came to them in the form of dreams.  Today's reading is much more concrete . . . we've all heard of the burning bush.

Can you imagine though?  A bush bursting into flames and God's voice calling out to you from within it?  How bizarre.  How completely bizarre.  What is decidedly NOT bizarre is the litany of excuses that come from Moses in response . . . someone who has just been confronted by God himself . . . on why God should choose someone else to do his work.

How many times has that been me?  How many times has that been you?

And yet we don't go forward alone.  As God says to Moses in this very passage: "go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

Exodus 2-4:20

Exodus 2

The Birth of Moses

 ¹ Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket^[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.  ⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
 ⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
 ⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,^[b] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Moses Flees to Midian

 ¹¹ One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹² Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³ The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”  ¹⁴ The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”
 ¹⁵ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. ¹⁶ Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷ Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
 ¹⁸ When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
 ¹⁹ They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
 ²⁰ “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.”
 ²¹ Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. ²² Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,^[c] saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
 ²³ During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

Exodus 3

Moses and the Burning Bush

 ¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”  ⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
   And Moses said, “Here I am.”
 ⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father,^[d] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
 ⁷ The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
 ¹¹ But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
 ¹² And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you^[e] will worship God on this mountain.”
 ¹³ Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
 ¹⁴ God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.^[f] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
 ¹⁵ God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD,^[g] the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
   “This is my name forever,
   the name you shall call me
   from generation to generation.
 ¹⁶ “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. ¹⁷ And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
 ¹⁸ “The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.’ ¹⁹ But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. ²⁰ So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
 ²¹ “And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed. ²² Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Exodus 4

Signs for Moses

 ¹ Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”  ² Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
   “A staff,” he replied.
 ³ The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
   Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. ⁴ Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. ⁵ “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
 ⁶ Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous^[h]—it had become as white as snow.
 ⁷ “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
 ⁸ Then the LORD said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. ⁹ But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
 ¹⁰ Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
 ¹¹ The LORD said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
 ¹³ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
 ¹⁴ Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷ But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses Returns to Egypt

 ¹⁸ Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”    Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
 ¹⁹ Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

**The scripture references I used for today's Jesse Tree reading was found for free via Why Christmas and can be found RIGHT HERE.**

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Cleaning Up the Sewing Room and a Bee Vintage Update

My family is coming in from out of town in a few days and will be here for an extended weekend.  Besides the general excitement I'm getting from that, I've been running around a bit today cleaning and moving things around to accommodate the extra bodies that will need a place to sleep.  Our house has 4 bedrooms, only 2 of which actually function as bedrooms (the other 2 are currently my office/the kid's playroom and the sewing room.)  The office/playroom gets picked up fairly regularly, but sadly ye ole sewing room had not been truly cleaned up since my last big project.  Jeeps . . . I had to go back to September to find that post.  For shame, me.  For SHAME.

Actually . . . it was looking much worse than this.  Yipes.

Anyway, that was on the agenda for today.  A much needed cleaning up with a wee dose of stash and dash reorganization thrown in for good measure.  I had to disassemble the cutting table for the time being so there would be room for an air mattress on the floor in there (I kind of dream of someday having a Murphy Bed in at least one of our "extra" rooms so that guests don't have to rock the air mattress - - let's face it . . . most people don't have stellar experiences on those things).

All that to say, It's actually not a hard thing to take apart . . . the wooden piece sitting on top of the back-to-back dresser/desk combo isn't screwed in or anything.  That means, removing the cutting mat (now temporarily living on the end of the long sewing table - - note to self, the cutting mat clips are in the red spinny thingy),

pulling the wooden board off the top (it's just sanded plywood . . . nothing fancy), removing the paper doll magnet board from the side,

and relegating the dresser and desk to opposite walls.

WOAH, DOG.  There was a lot of thread and little trimmings and stuff sitting about when I moved those things to the wall.  It would definitely not be my preference to house a sewing room in a place with carpeted flooring for that very reason, but hey . . . I have my own sewing room!  I'm certainly not beefing about it.

After some vacuuming (which I will probably hear about later when Mr. Skooks comes home and has to clean out the bottom of the vacuum cleaner), things were looking kinda cluttered, but overall pretty good.  Which is when I realized that I've now got a full design wall of You Are Here squares from my Bee Vintage quilting group.  Hooray!  If I had time I'd sew em up and give them to myself for Christmas (did you think I was going to say I was going to give it to someone else?  Sorry.  That's awkward for everyone now.)

To refresh, here's what I had the last time I updated you:

So pretty, yes?!

I want to give a special shout-out and thank you kindly to the lovely Miss Sarah for angeling a few blocks for me when a few of the group members went missing in action awhile back.  I had been feeling every so slightly sour about the lack of follow through, but all of those feelings just melted away when Sarah offered to make and send me some extra blocks so I could finish my quilt.  The kindness of "strangers" never ceases to amaze me.

Here are the two pretties that came from Sarah:

1. Angel  Blocks for Skooks, 2. Angel Blocks for Skooks

I'm going to attempt to get a picture tomorrow of all of the blocks together on the design wall of awesomeness.  Bear in mind though that it is winter in west Michigan . . . and there is no guarantee of sunshine for decent photo-taking.  :P

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