Happy Birthday....Clayton Coulter

Today is the day eight years ago on a beautiful afternoon that God blessed our family with this very special child.  He is special to his Mother, his Daddy, his sisters, Ava and Olivia, and to both sets of grandparents and uncles and aunts and cousins and friends and family!  

Bouquets Throughout the Year

The time of the year has come.....YEAH.....Springtime! Thoughts turn eagerly toward planting flowers and making sure every corner of the yard is beautiful.  That is, if you enjoy flowers and gardening, or at least the beauty that they bring.  A home benefits from the presence of flowers.  There is just something about a fresh bouquet of your favorite flower whether it be a rose, a peony, a tulip or countless others.  Spring is the busiest time of year in any flower garden.  Flowering trees and shrubs come back to life, crocuses, early tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and liy of the valley are all making their annual appearance and roses are not far behind.  These beautiful pink roses in the pictures above, have been in my kitchen two and a half weeks~I am not kidding!  I bought them two and half weeks ago on a Friday morning, knowing that Steven and Rebekah were coming for the weekend, and they are still just a beautiful!  I have been calling them my miracle roses.  Now, I am just waiting to see how long they last!  They remind me that God allows a moment or memory to linger that is beautiful, long after the moment is over.  Our hearts have to be ready though to recieve the miracle and the blessing that God has brought or is bringing.  He is always at work in our lives. God's covenant to us is a covenant for abundant life.  From the very beginning of time, in the first garden, Scripture shows us that God wanted us to be happy and prosperous.  In Genesis we are told that God made everything and declared it to be good.  Then He gave this beautiful, plentiful Earth to Adam.  God's plan from the beginning was for man to be enriched and to have a prosperous, abundant life.  This time of year as we approach Easter, our glorious reason to celebrate as Christians, we can see in the miracle of flowers blossoming from the soil that new life is real.  Jesus offers new life and a new birth and peace and joy!  Now that is a miracle!  A miracle that is daily being lived out in the life of countless Believers around the world! I pray that you humbly seek to live your life for HIM!  I will too..... Enjoy your day......nothing touches you or me that has not first passed through His Hands!  Psalm 42:2  declares,  "As the deer pants for water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.!"  As the life of the deer and even my roses depends upon water, so our lives depend upon God and His glory and grace!

Blessings From Above

Psalm 143:8 "Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, For in You do I trust:  Cause me to know the way in which I should walk.  For I lift up my soul to You." 

Psalm 145:1-2 "I will extol You, my God, O King:  And I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You and I will praise Your name forever and ever."

Psalm 51:15 "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare Your praise."

To bless, to thank, to praise, to kneel down in reverence to our Lord is such a privilege for a Believer.  It takes time outside of our normal routine to stop and focus on the One who causes the day to dawn and the morning to break in freshness and newness.  Every morning the sky brightens with hope for a day that we can break forth in praise to our Creator!  In the Old Testament, time and time again we are told of one who got down on his or her knees when preparing to pray or recieve words of blessing, whether to God in Heaven, or to the king on his throne.  From God's side, He is the Blesser, the One who gives the capactity for living a full, rich life.  In the garden of Eden, the first action of God the Creator to the newly created man and woman was to bless them.  Genesis 1:28.  In the beginning of your day, my hope for you is that You find the joy of knowing that God desires to bless, guide, and always love you!  When you spend time with the One who loves you unconditionally and desires to bless you in unexpected ways, you are filled to go out and be a blessing to others.

An Ocean View.......to inspire you!

Spring is just around the corner and this beautiful outdoor room should inspire us!  The designer, published in House Beautiful, used this beautiful ocean view framing it, almost like a phototgraph.  The seating arrangement creates a cozy atmosphere by placing the two sofa's so closely together!  I love it!  It's time to begin thinking about being outdoors~God gave us the four seasons and each one has its own special purpose.  The winter months give us days and evenings to be inside more..... but Spring is my favorite.  The budding flowers, beautiful green sprouts on trees, and little birds and animals coming out of winter hiding!  New life and new beginnings are offered daily to us for God has a plan for your life each and every day!  Great is Thy faithfulness......Thank you Lord for your glory and grace.

"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord.  Plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."  Jeremiah 29:11

A Butterfly Cake

What a great weekend we had celebrating Olivia's 2nd birthday! For days, she talked about her "Butterfly Cake".   Kristen and Brian decided to celebrate at the Children's Museum in Gulfport!  They loaded up the family and Kacie and Josh came with the twins, along with Steven and Rebeka from Oxford so we all had so much fun!  It is a wonderful hands on museum for children and such a wonderful way to spend a birthday!  As Kacie said, it is so refreshing to go somewhere for a birthday party that is just about being together and watching the kids have simple fun!  We then celebrated with her Butterfly Cake that Kristen made and enjoyed hamburgers with all the trimmings!  Olivia is such a happy little girl!  Bright, articulate, beautiful inside and out and already at two,  ruling the show!  (well sort of....Ava is her sister!)  Thank you Kristen and Brian for sharing your beautiful family with all of us.  May God bless her life in every way and may she come to know the Lord Jesus early in her life and lead a life filled with joy, health, and happiness.....always!

  To God be the Glory!

Christ Church Frederica

Late last May in 2009, Steve and I decided on a whim to take an extra day of a trip that we had been on and spend the night on St. Simons Island at the King and Prince Hotel.  We were early to check in so we spent a good part of the afternoon just soaking up the sun and enjoying the pool.  The pool is built right at the edge of the water so it's a very beautiful sitting!  Our room still wasn't ready at check in time so they could "up grade" us to a suite if we wanted it now at no cost!  Were they kidding, of course we would!  We enjoyed our time there so much.  Shelly and Kara and I had stayed there once before and really enjoyed it so I was happy for Steve to see it also.  The next morning after checking out we decided to take a drive to a part of the island, on Frederica Road and passed this beautiful church, Christ Church!  We parked the car and walked  onto the beautiful church grounds, peering in the windows and wishing we could go inside.  The cementery grounds are filled with saintly people, who lived on the island, now gone to be with the Lord and I cannot imagine a more peaceful place to be at rest. The history lesson continued as we drove on to the end at Fort Frederica and toured the park and the grounds of a former settlement that now only holds the foundations of the town and the homes.  We took our time, reading, and thinking about how life must have been for the settlers there.  As we drove back, past the beautiful church, we saw a prayer garden that was "Just There" in the middle of what seemed like no where!  We got out, walked up the path to pray.  We prayed for our family and others that the Lord brought to our hearts.  It was a day that is vivid in my mind as one of peace and goodness.  Fast forward to last week........I was with Kristen, our daughter, browsing an antique shop near where she lives and found a book St. Simons Memoir by Eugenia Price.  I bought it on the spot, because I love St. Simons NOW and Eugenia Price was/is one of my favorite writers.  I had no idea what the book would be about but to my suprise.....it's all about her life in finding, writing, and living on the island.  It's about the real people of Christ Church Frederica, their history, and more importantly their lives. 

Like her, my life was touched that day by this special place.  God finds a way, not to waste a single turn or event in our lives to teach us a lesson.  As she says in her book, if we stay open to His intentions, if we allow it-He will find a way not to waste a single tear (or turn).  God is able to redeem far more than sin.....He redeems all that happens and works truly, all things for our good and His glory.  Thank you Lord!!!  No matter what you go through, if you will give Him an opportunity, He will make your life beautiful.....In His Time, again and again......that's called GRACE!  How humbling........

Life's Daily Investments......

Much of my time last week was spent investing in smocking dresses for my little grandchildren!

This dress was made for Mary Isabel!  She loved it!

This  dress was made for Olivia Ann....she loves to wear her smocked dresses!   Oh.... The blessings of life!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."  James 1:17   Truly, I am thankful for the gifts of  the blessings of my life.  When I was a young mother, it never occurred to me at all that one day I would bear five children who would grow up to become adults......as a busy mother, you just never think that far ahead.  You are truly so busy just meeting the needs at hand and reading another book to a child, driving another child to school, church, gymnastics, baseball, piano lessons, art lessons, tennis lessons, or some other  very important event...like the grocery store for the fourth time in four days.  But, these are investments necessary for their lives to grow and become beautiful.  Investments of a most notable cause because, these wonderful children have the ability to grow up into the most wonderful adults full of God's love and full of the living expression of His goodness through a life that has chosen to give Him their own investment of time and love.  We invest in many things in our lives such as our health and fitness, a job, a savings account of money, relationships, but none can be more important than a marriage and a family.  If you invest in time with your husband or wife, it will show up in the faces and the lives of your children, not only today but in the years ahead of them.  They will understand that marriage is about commitment as much as it is about a great night of laughter and love!  Often as I sew for others, whether it be for their home or a garment for a child, I use the time to think about people that are important to me....people that I sense God is leading me to invest in and invest in praying and asking God to bring blessing to their lives.  If you know Christ, you live under His blessing.....think about that.....He wants to spend time with you and invest in you more of Himself.  His desire is to mold you and make you into a vessel that reflects all the love and time He has poured out for you.  Jesus came to give you life and to give you a more abundant life.  God's covenant to us is a covenant for abundant life.  John 10:10 "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
Weekend................................
      

Valentines Day has to be one of my all time favorite holidays just because it is a day all about love!

The one you love, those you love, and then those who show and share their love with you!  What a special day to just wake up with with joy, joy, joy!

I hope that your day is filled with much happiness and much love~

Fashioned in LOVE........

A Little White Dress

Our ties to our past are precious.  For me, the art of creating beautiful handsewn clothing go back three generations of watching my great grandmother, Nancy Elizabeth Balthrop Murphy, sit at her sewing machine or in her chair, sewing beautiful garments for others.  Now in my life, I realize that God did indeed allow me a special gift of spending a great deal of time with her.  She kept me for two years when I was three and again from four until I was ready to begin school.  I attended kindergarten in the morning and in the afternoon stayed with her and my great grand father, John Joseph Murphy.  She would make wonderful meals at noon and I enjoyed the love that they gave to me.  I also watched her sew.  She was an exquisite seamstress of handsewn clothing.  She worked with extra fine thread and tiny needles to create the delicate clothing for babies and children and truly her work was art.  I am so thankful that I have inherited just a little of her talent.

French handsewing brings to mind a picture of a little girl in a beautiful dress and the softness and sweetness of a baby's face is only enhanced by these garments.  Only the finest materials are used such as batiste, lawn, and organdy with lace found only abroad or in speciality shops here in the United States.

I made this little white dress over the past two weeks for one of my granddaughters who will wear it on the wedding day in May of our daughter, Kara, to her sweetheart, Philip.  The little dress is made of white swiss batiste, tulle, French lace beading, entredeux beading, and the sleeves are organdy.  It is still actually in process because I still have to travel to New Orleans to purchase the ribbon at a shop there and I plan to close the back with old fashioned antique beauty bars.  Of course the greatest stitch I am putting in this is my love.  The love that a mother, grandmother, or a great grand mother shares with a child is dramatically different from all other kinds of love.  It is a miracle working kind of love.....to have a love given so purely, freely, and unconditionally is the way God loves us.  He gave Himself totally to and for us.  His love is the kind of love that radiates upon the face and in the heart of someone who possesses it.  He used HIS finest materials in making you and then created you in HIS own image so that you could shine like a star in the universe......and all for HIS GLORY!!!!.  Do not be afraid to share HIS love because just like the story in the Old Testament where the children of Israel went out each morning to gather manna for the day according to the people within their own tent, His provision of love for you is similar.  The love you give away will indeed be returned to you in a bountiful way and it is new every morning.  "And in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord!"  Exodus 16:7  Give your love, talents, and resources that you have been blessed to recieve and it will be given unto you my friend!

His love for you is beyond your understanding.  He longs to show you His majesty.  Turn your eyes to see the beauty and glory of His creation.  Ponder the vastness of HIS abilities.  It is when we use those abilities, no matter how small, that a masterpiece is created and I might add one defined by LOVE!

At Home With White

Okay.....I admit it...."I want a white house with blue shutters and a window overlooking the water so I can paint (or sew) and a big old porch wrapped around the entire house!!!"   If you've seen the film, The Notebook, and most women have (right?) you will recognize this quote.  White calms our souls and is soothing and serene.  In interior design, shades of white are always in style and the mood stays the same in a room until a splash of color is added and in our lives often we do need that splash of color and truly, sometimes just a touch of something colorful can keep one balanced.  Okay back to white.....

Recently, while in Savannah visiting Shelly she took me to one of my favorite stores, "One Fish, Two Fish."  If you visit Savannah, you'll be inspired by the lovely array of furnishings, books, and gift items found in the store.  One book in particular caught my eye, AT HOME WITH WHITE,  by Atlanta Bartlett.  I thumbed through the book, admired it, wanted to buy it, but put it down and kept browsing.  Lucky me....at the next shop Shelly took us to, the book was on sale by 20 % so I just bought it on the spot!  It is full of ideas room by room and if you find during these winter months that you need a pick me up, you might think of white working for you.  White after all, is a perfect blank canvas with limitless possibilities!  Isn't that what our lives should be.....full of possibilities!  I hope you will enjoy just a few of these white places that you could be at home with.

 

AT HOME WITH WHITE

 

This beautiful all white bedroom!

 

This room is almost all white, except for the colorful splash of yellow, grey, and blue from fabric by Marimekko that I added to this all white bedroom for a change.  The room with the twin beds has everything white except for the pillow on the top in a shade of gray.  You can see how just a touch can change the feel of a room.  

 

This all white room, again with a splash of color, was the hotel we stayed in on our visit to Savannah,

The Mansion at Forsythe Park

 

And now a favorite.....the white chairs all in a row at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel!

Prayer

This beautiful chapel is called Faith Chapel and it located on the grounds of the very beautiful Jekyll Island Club Historic Hotel.  It was built as an inter-denominational chapel on the grounds in the early 1900's for the families who owned homes there or visited the club.  Times have changed.....to think that in building their homes, their faith was so important to them that a chapel for worship was included and of importance for the families and their lives.  Sunday worship was a way of life for families.  Praise God that places like this have been restored and preserved for families today and for others who happen along the way and find such a special place to pause, reflect on the Holiness of God, and to perhaps offer a prayer for those who the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray for.  Several years ago, I was very blessed to know a precious Godly woman, Betty, who reflected Christ in her words, her actions, her teaching of the Word, and her countenance.  Betty taught me the importance of prayer in my life and I have saved her notes for twenty years. She shared from her heart without any notes on prayer and I jotted them down that winter day long ago and still use them often and always with a reminder that God honors prayer........

 PRAYER....."Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus.  Prayer is the natural outgushing of a soul in communion with Jesus.  As the leaf and fruit come out of the vine branch without any conscious effort and simply because of its living union with the stem, so prayer buds and blossoms and fruits out of souls abiding in Jesus.  As stars shine, so do abiders pray." 
Charles Spurgeon

Prayer is trusting God will answer according to His perfect will.  There will be times when you receive an answer right away but often we wait for God to answer.  The Bible often speaks of "waiting" for God:  "We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and shield." 

1. Wait through earnest specific prayer.
2. Listen for His Voice - Pray you will hear that still small Voice.
3. Develop a love for God's Word.
4. Ask the Lord to be steadfast.
5. Read His Word, meditate upon it.
6. Memorize His Word.
7. Words of the Bible are Living.
8. Obey God's Word.
9. Overcome fear and trust in Him.  Expect intense struggle as you seek to obey.
10. When you know you are in God's will leave the results to Him.  Give Him Glory and Honor!
11. When you wait, wait expectantly, ultimately it will be good.

May peace be with you~

Very Special Birthdays.....

Two of our daughters have January birthdays!  Kara's was on the 16th and Shelly's is on the 27th and Steve and I were blessed over the weekend to share a great weekend with both of them in Savannah where Shelly is now living working toward the goal of obtaining her master's in Graphic Design.  Kara flew from New York and we picked her up for a whirlwind weekend.  We are in the process of planning Kara and Phil's wedding which will be May 22nd so it was a joy to be with both of them.  Shelly has literally just moved into her apartment but when we arrived, she had the living room filled with yellow balloons all over the place, roses for Kara in two different vases, banners declaring her birthday and a drink for toasting Kara's big year.  So much love and preparation went into her planning for Kara.  That's Shelly....sharing, giving, loving, and doing it all joyfully!  This was a picture from our dinner celebration for the girls!  Shelly is designing the save the date cards, invitations, and programs for Kara and Phil's big day! Happy Birthday to both of you.....with so much love! 

Sweet Little Smiles

These little dresses on my precious little granddaughters....Ava, Olivia, and Isabel were part of my sewing projects last week!  As I've always said...English smocking is such a fun and graceful way to make a little girl look girlie!!!  Ava's dress and the French Hand Sewn collar were made  years ago when Kristen was five years old.......It pays to keep treasures........where your heart is, there your heart is also.  I do treasure these precious little ones!

The Open Door

This beautiful room was featured  in House Beautiful Magazine.....it's one of my favorite magazines for gleaning ideas and just browsing with a cup of tea on a sunny afternoon.  I love the neutrals because they are so calming and serene!   Notice the open door in the picture........ "May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door."  An Irish Blessing......may your day be blessed and may your enjoy those God has placed in your path today! 

Prayers

Two prayers for the Weekend.......

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed by thy Name;

thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who

trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and power,

and the glory, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to

accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.  Amen.

Have a blessed and wonderful weekend! And remember.....Angels watch over you......

"For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.:  Psalm 91:11