Are You A Good Thing For Your Husband?

Posted by Glenys

In the book of Proverbs, it says that whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour of the Lord. I find as I read the scriptures, that the calling of being a wife is always held in esteem- and here we find a wife being called good and that her husband is actually blessed and obtains the Lord’s favour by finding her.

It never ceases to thrill me, being a wife. I love having a husband to look after and a home to keep. I cannot tell you how lonely and lost I felt in the four years between my sad divorce and subsequent remarriage. I would cry to the LORD and pray that He would bless me with a loving husband.

When finally He did bless me with Chris, I was delighted to return to wifely things. I learnt how wonderful it is to be married to someone who treated me as he himself would like to be treated. So I believe, whoever finds a husband finds a good thing, too- and obtains favour of the Lord.

To be a good thing that blesses your husband means in this context, to be a godly, loving wife. Someone whom your husband can trust implicitly with his inner secrets, doubts and ideas and dreams- to the keeping of the home, the help with budgeting and the companionship. But most importantly with the upbringing of his children.

Any woman can be a wife- it takes a woman who sees the beauty of that calling to be a good one. If she is- she has God’s promise that her husband will be blessed and will obtain favour of the LORD

Are you a good thing for your husband?

Blessings,

Glenys

” Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.” Proverbs 18:22

What Does the Bible Say About Ghosts?

Posted by Sylvia

This question was posed on the T2CHK message board recently. It is my hope that this article will be helpful if you are searching for answers to this question.

We live in an area where superstition, belief in ghosts and spirits abound and it has always been important for us to teach our children what God’s Word says about these topics. We’ve done a lot of studying and prayed for long hours about how to teach them, and now I am just so pleased that our efforts might help you, too.

Many Christians will say that they have ’seen a ghost’ or ‘felt a presence’ but they have a hard time fitting those experiences in with their Christianity. So its not an unusual thing for Christians to wonder about this topic.

God lets us know in His Word that there certainly are spirits in this world. You are probably aware of all the many references to spirits in the Bible that aren’t talking about the spirit of men. Here are just a few:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph. 6:12).

“That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.” (Matthew 8:16)

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” (1 Tim. 4:1)

What this whole topic boils down to is this…. What happens to people after they die?

Without getting into a lengthy discussion, lets say for the moment that people who have rejected Jesus Christ go to hell and people who have accepted the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and been forgiven go to heaven.

Scripture teaches that when we leave this life…… life continues either with Jesus or not with Jesus. Once we are in the place we have chosen by our acceptance or rejection of Jesus, we are there. We don’t go in and out of heaven or hell. There is no scripture that suggests that we do.

You can see that one’s concept of what happens after death has direct bearing on what happens to one’s spirit. We believe that the Bible teaches this concept:
“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
2 Cor 5:8

The Bible explicitly forbids that we attempt contact with spirits that pretend to be spirits of the dead :

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 18:11).

The Bible states that the dead do not have contact with the living (Luke 16:19-31). Therefore, if one has contact with or ’sees’ or experiences a paranormal being, you can be sure its not great aunt Mary. Rather, it is a spirit pretending to be great aunt Mary. And this is why we are warned NOT to have contact with people who claim to contact the dead. We are actually contacting fallen angels, unclean spirits or demons. These are deceitful spirits under the control of the father of lies, satan.
Even though it is tempting to think that a slpirit or ghosts is harmless, remember what they really are and remember that:

“…even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Cor 11:14)

The book of Isaiah calls these spirits ‘familiar spirits’. They are familiar with facts about deceased people and use those facts to draw other living people deep into paranormal activity and away from their relationship with God. They use signs and wonders, miracles, to draw people into experimenting with other forms of the occult like ouija boards, tarot cards, fortune telling, astrology and seances. Many times people are seeking contact with a deceased loved one and will use all these tools to find that loved one. And when they do, they are opening themselves up to influence by satan and his demons.

“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)

From experience, I can assure you that even Christians can sometimes become blinded and deceived if they are not walking in the Light as they should be.

In conjunction with the first question about ghosts, there was another question about Saul and the witch of Endor:

The scripture in question is in 1 Samuel 28.

King Saul goes to consult a medium. The problem though is that God’s law forbids contact with mediums (under penalty of death) and King Saul’s own laws have condemned it and had made all mediums leave his land. So obviously, he knew he was doing something wrong and he could be killed for it.

How does this apply to us?

What we know for sure:
If it were possible to contact the dead, it would be wrong to do so according to God’s Word. It is a radical offense to God to do so.

There are two ways of looking at this scripture:

#1 - Certainly God had the power to raise Samuel’s spirit from the place of the OT dead, but it would be against everything His Word teaches.
It is evident that satan made both the witch and King Saul believe that it was actually Samuel speaking.

#2 - God allowed the actual spirit of Samuel to appear and speak to Saul. This was a one -time occurrence used by God to carry out His will.

A Little Time To Slumber

Posted by Glenys

A little time to slumber

All my days spent in the sun,

My idle hands were folded,

My daily chores not done.

I wasn’t at all rebellious,

As into the sky I’d gaze,

I just left my daily duties

As in the sun I bathed.

I read my book for hours,

Dishes soaking in the sink,

The meat still in the freezer

For I didn’t stop to think

What I needed for dinner,

It lay frozen in a lump;

I’d serve meat of something,

Be it chops or steak or rump.

Just a minute of my surfing

Turned to hours of my day,

As I sat online chatting

To people far away.

Imagine then my panic

As at last I looked around,

To see the clock now telling

My man was homeward bound.

What a rush of my adrenaline,

Making me quickly scamper

To launder clothes still waiting

In the dirty laundry hamper.

The bed was pulled up in a hurry,

The dishes washed and left to dry,

As I boiled up some veggies

And set the meat to fry.

Which would likely take forever

For it hadn’t completely thawed

And I so wanted dinner ready

As soon as my man hit the door.

I felt so really guilty as I served our dinner late,

That I decided my many forums

Would henceforth have to wait.

 

 

© Glenys Robyn Hicks

 

 

“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man” Proverbs 24:34

Baby Doll Quilt

Posted by wardeh

My daughter Naomi (8) came up with this quilt idea herself. She wanted to make a quilt for her baby doll. I thought that was great. A baby doll quilt’s smaller size makes a quilt project very doable for an 8-year old. Including piecing the top together and machine-stitching the quilt herself, it took only two afternoons. As her mom, all I had to do was prepare and add the binding to the quilt.

Your little “mom” will be tickled to make her baby doll a quilt, too. I just know it.

Please comment below or write to me if you have questions. Happy sewing!

Baby Doll Quilt

Supplies

(5) 5-inch squares of 5 types of fabric (25 squares total)
25″ x 25″ square of back fabric
25″ x 25″ square of unbleached cotton batting
(2) 2″ x 45″ strips of fabric for the binding
matching thread for piecing and machine-quilting
safety pins and quilting pins

1. Decide on Arrangement

Arrange the fabric squares as you prefer. Leave them in place throughout the process of piecing the top. As rows are completed, return them to their original position.

Here’s Naomi, deciding on her arrangement
(which we actually changed after taking this picture).

2. Construct the Rows

Take the 1st square from the 1st row right side up and lay the 2nd square from the 1st row face down on top of it. Sew them together along the right side, using 1/4″ seam allowance. Press the seam allowance to one side.

Lay the 2 squares open and flat. Take the 3rd square from the 1st row and place it face down on top of the 2nd square. Sew these two squares together along the right side, again using 1/4″ seam allowance. Press the seam allowance to the same side.

Repeat until all the squares from the 1st row are attached together. Repeat for all rows, alternating the direction you press the seam allowances. For instance, if they are pressed to the right in Row 1, then press them to the left in Row 2, and so on.

3. Sew the Rows Together

The rows are still lined up in their original placement from Step 1, although now they are sewn together. Fold Row 1 face down on top of Row 2 (Row 2 face up underneath Row 1 being face down). Pin along the top, paying special attention to where all the seams meet. Now help the young seamstress sew the rows together, using 1/4″ seam allowance, trying to make the seams line up as best as she can. Press the seam allowance to one side.

Lay Row 1 and Row 2 (now sewn together) open and flat. Take Row 3 and fold it up on top of Row 3 (so that is face down on top of Row 2). Pin them together along the bottom, once again paying special attention to where the seams meet. Help the young seamstress sew these two rows together, using 1/4″ seam allowance, trying to make the seams line up as best as she can. Press the seam allowance in the opposite direction.

Repeat this process until all 5 rows are attached together.

4. Arrange the Layers

Lay the backing fabric face down on a clear floor or table. Lay the batting over it and follow that with the quilt top facing up. Staring from the center and radiating out, safety pin all the layers together by putting one pin in the center of each square.

Naomi’s quilt top is layered on top of the batting and backing,
ready to quilt the layers together.

5. Machine-Quilt or Hand-Quilt the Layers

Have the young seamstress either machine-quilt or hand-quilt by “stitching in the ditch” along all the seam lines of the quilt top. My Naomi opted to use the sewing machine’s wave stitch (stitch width at 3 and stitch length at 3 to 4) along all the seam lines. The wave stitch is very forgiving because it isn’t meant to go straight. In addition, it looks cute and whimsical, as a doll quilt should be.

When machine-quilting, direct your daughter to smooth the fabric outward as she stitches.

Naomi worked her hands to smooth the fabric outward
as she machine quilted along the top’s seams.

Stitch the inner seams first and radiate outward, in order to prevent lumps. For instance, start stitching along a middle seam and add parallel lines of wave stitching until she reaches the right edge of the quilt top. Then turn the quilt around 180 degrees and add parallel lines of wave stitching until she reaches the edge of the quilt top again. Then turn the quilt 90 degrees. Starting in the middle again, add parallel lines of stitching out to the right edge of the quilt top. Now she has only to turn it around 180 degrees for the last time and work her way from the middle to the other edge.

Note: If she stitches each line starting at just off the quilt top and ends just off the quilt top, there is no need to back-stitch. When the binding is added, all those seams will be crossed, securing them.

6. Create the Binding

Here’s where you, Mom, will possibly have to step in. Take the two 2″ x 45″ strips.

Note: The following two pictures reveal the process of attaching the binding to the quilt front, although the fabrics shown are from another project.

Right sides together, place the end of one strip perpendicular to the end of the other strip, with each strip set in 1/4″ from the end of the other strip. Sew a diagonal seam to join the two strips so that they are now one long continuous straight strip. (These photos are from another project.)

Trim the excess, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance.Press seams open. Fold and press the long strip in half lengthwise, with wrong sides together. This is the binding.

7. Attach the Binding

Start attaching the binding in the middle of the bottom side of the quilt, not at a corner. Align the binding strip right sides together with the edge of the quilt, raw edges even. Fold over the beginning raw edge of the binding approximately one inch. Begin sewing 1/2″ from the fold.

Note: The following five pictures reveal the process of attaching the binding to the quilt front, although the fabrics shown are from another project.

Sew the binding to the first side of the quilt, through all layers, 1/4″ from the raw edge.Stop sewing 1/4″ before the corner. Backstitch and remove the quilt from the sewing machine.

Clip threads. Fold the binding strip up away from the quilt and make a diagonal fold. Hold the diagonal fold in place with your finger, while bringing the binding down so the raw edges of the binding are aligned with the next side of the quilt and stitch this side.

Repeat this technique around all sides, until you approach the beginning of the binding. Cut the binding end so that it will overlap the beginning binding by 1/2″ to 3/4″. Sew in place.

Backstitch and remove the quilt from the sewing machine. Clip threads. Press open.

Trim away the extra backing and batting, leaving 1/4″. Turn and press the binding to the back side. You have two choices for finishing here. You may hand-stitch the binding in place, covering the machine stitches and the raw edges of all layers with the folded edge of the binding. Or, you may use the sewing machine’s wave stitch (stitch width at about 2 and stitch length at about 3 to 4) to sew it down. In this case, stitch close to the folded edge of the binding on the back side, all the way around the four sides. Remember that the wave stitch is wide, so leave enough room for the stitching to wave back and forth, all the while remaining on the binding. It can barely cross into the backing, but try to keep it primarily on the binding.

Now your daughter can give her baby doll a nice quilt of her own. Here is my Naomi with her doll and quilt. Her baby doll is so happy! (And I would add, so is the little “mommy”.)

© Copyright 2007 by Wardeh Harmon. Used with permission from the author.