And so it is the last day of the first month! Nuts! And how exciting at the same time. So much fun to look forward to this year.
...anyways, I thought I should jot something down before the opportunity has escaped me.
Tomorrow is my brother Isaac's birthday. He'll be 19. Which is actually good because up to this moment I seriously thought he was turning 20... which is impossible considering he's two years younger than me.
OH, of course, how could I forget?! I turned 21!!! .....legal to buy alcohol and hand guns! Haha! I did NOT go out and party, or get wasted or any such retarded thing. I did have a small glass of Merlot with my parents. (Psalm 104:14-15)
I went skiing and snowboarding the other day. Skiing was a cinch! So much fun! Snowboarding? ....I cannot wait till I get it down. I'll be lucky if all my bones aren't broken before I get to that point! It's quite the humiliating sport to learn.
Whether has been very ridiculous. In the 30's one week and -0 the next..... and back and forth again! Such extremes! As I always say..... this is Wisconsin. Anything can happen.
Anyways... that's all for now. I'll write again next month, Lord willing!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Billy & Eliya Elmquist's Wedding
What a wedding!! On January 12th, 2013 Billy and Eliya were married. The wedding was beautiful, sweet and sincere. I don't think I've been to a more God honoring wedding. The congregation joined with the families in singing hymns during the ceremony, Billy gave an incredible salvation message and Eliya's grandpa said the most precious prayer.
It was a wedding to be remembered.
Here's a little video I took at the beginning of the day... on my way to Eliya's house to do her hair.
It was a wedding to be remembered.
All but one of the Forster sisters, just before taking pictures.
They took all of their family pictures before the wedding.
It is a very smart thing to do while everyone is still fresh and awake!
What a beautiful bride!
In front of the incredible lodge where they had their pictures taken.
I was putting a corsage on Eliya's grandma....
one of the many little tasks I had the privilege of doing throughout the day.
Eliya's sisters made and decorated the wedding cake
and the gingerbread bride and groom cake topper!
Billy and Eliya had so much help from friends and church family.
It was truly enjoyable to see (and be a part of) everything be so organized
and working like a well-oiled machine! ;)
After the crowd got to clinking on their glass cups
the bride and groom shared a smooch behind the privacy of a napkin!
The boys did a good job decorating Billy's truck!
I got a picture with Billy & Eliya Elmquist
before they skedaddled at the end of the evening.
We were all quite exhausted at that point
but rather happy and joyful nevertheless!
Here's a little video I took at the beginning of the day... on my way to Eliya's house to do her hair.
2 Timothy 2:22
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace,
with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Inspirational
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that
most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a
child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s
nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel
insecure around you. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And
as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others."
- Marianne Williamson
- Marianne Williamson
Friday, January 11, 2013
Rehearsal
It's Friday night. The past few days have been busy! I've been baking and cooking and frosting up the wazoo!!! I'm quite glad that I decided to do things ahead of time because the cake turned out to be harder to make then I thought. Well, it was more of an issue of technicalities and human mistakes.... like using 1 teaspoon of baking powder instead of 1 Tablespoon. It really pays to read the instructions thoroughly before baking!!!! Nevertheless, I'm sort of glad I ended up making 5 sheet cakes instead of 2 because I got to make a crazy, triple-decker, frilly cake for church on Sunday!
Needless to say, I got a little wild with my new Wilton piping supplies!
I frosted the fancy cake first and that came in handy because I was able to determine what not to do on the two white sheet cakes I made for my friend's wedding. I didn't take pictures, but the wedding cakes were simple with a small trim on the bottom. Boy, does it kill the hands to frost cake!!!
Summery: I have a new appreciation for bakers.
As I have mentioned, my lovely friend Eliya is getting married tomorrow to charming Billy! ;) QUITE exciting!!! I feel very blessed to help out in the wedding. Tonight was the rehearsal. Rehearsals are soooo essential. I don't understand folks who don't have rehearsals... or who have a rehearsal an hour before the wedding. NUTS!!! It all went well though and everyone had a lovely time (though I think a lot of us were frazzled).
Billy and Eliya have set a wonderful example of purity, honoring their parents, and are officially excellent courtship role models. 2 Timothy 2:22
....but more on that after the wedding in the 'official' post!!
Needless to say, I got a little wild with my new Wilton piping supplies!
I frosted the fancy cake first and that came in handy because I was able to determine what not to do on the two white sheet cakes I made for my friend's wedding. I didn't take pictures, but the wedding cakes were simple with a small trim on the bottom. Boy, does it kill the hands to frost cake!!!
Summery: I have a new appreciation for bakers.
As I have mentioned, my lovely friend Eliya is getting married tomorrow to charming Billy! ;) QUITE exciting!!! I feel very blessed to help out in the wedding. Tonight was the rehearsal. Rehearsals are soooo essential. I don't understand folks who don't have rehearsals... or who have a rehearsal an hour before the wedding. NUTS!!! It all went well though and everyone had a lovely time (though I think a lot of us were frazzled).
Billy and Eliya have set a wonderful example of purity, honoring their parents, and are officially excellent courtship role models. 2 Timothy 2:22
....but more on that after the wedding in the 'official' post!!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Skiing Into A New Year
Happy New Year!!! It is finally 2013. Time sure seems to fly but I do not regret that it does when the days are so full of productivity and happiness. ...then again should the days be full of unpleasantries it is also nice if the time flies for who likes to dwell in such an unfortunate state?
Time is an interesting thing. On one had you look back and think, "that happened only 5 years ago?!" and on the other hand to say, "2 years? That is a long time!" I suppose part of growing up is learning to be more moderate about the passing of time and the future to come.
On December 31st, after a fun church party and milking cows, I came in from the barn and my brothers Channing and Patrick and two church friends who were spending the night, Mark and Malachi, put on layers of clothes, strapped on our skiis and ventured out into the moonlit night with a temperature of -12 degrees! Chilly! We skied around a small block on the farm. There had been a fresh snowfall a few days before so the snow was sparkly under the glow of the moon. Our feet were FREEZING by the time we arrived home. And we got back just in time to watch the clock turn from December 31st, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. to January 1st, 2013 at 12:00 a.m.!!! It was quite exciting!!
We of course made sure to document it all:
Time is an interesting thing. On one had you look back and think, "that happened only 5 years ago?!" and on the other hand to say, "2 years? That is a long time!" I suppose part of growing up is learning to be more moderate about the passing of time and the future to come.
On December 31st, after a fun church party and milking cows, I came in from the barn and my brothers Channing and Patrick and two church friends who were spending the night, Mark and Malachi, put on layers of clothes, strapped on our skiis and ventured out into the moonlit night with a temperature of -12 degrees! Chilly! We skied around a small block on the farm. There had been a fresh snowfall a few days before so the snow was sparkly under the glow of the moon. Our feet were FREEZING by the time we arrived home. And we got back just in time to watch the clock turn from December 31st, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. to January 1st, 2013 at 12:00 a.m.!!! It was quite exciting!!
We of course made sure to document it all:
The New Year... Right on the dollar!
Ready to go on our ski!
Proof!
And so it is the new year..... which means... well, that work continues and so does the rest of life. I'm looking forward to a dear friends wedding this month. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of that too.
And now I'm off to milk the cows. =) Cheerio!
And now I'm off to milk the cows. =) Cheerio!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
My Gingerbread House
It always reminds me of a gingerbread house.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Lately I have been pondering singleness and the numerous Christian
gals (really nice gals) that I know who are unmarried. I've wanted to write
about it on facebook but I feel that most people would probably
interpret that as my "poor me" ploy to get attention or a guy. However,
as much I am interested in having a husband, my own 'singleness' was not
the motivation for this post. I have decided to write about it on my
blog because there is little to no traffic on here.
I recently went to a birthday party at which there were a number of lovely, kind, Christian ladies who were all single. We're not talking about 16-19 year old gals. We're talking about 23-28 year old gals. Three sisters in particular caught my attention. They are all smart, beautiful, kind, productive, and seemed to be Godly ladies.
I was just baffled. Why are these really nice girls still unmarried?! It was clear to me that they were interested in finding husbands, so what on earth are the guys doing that they are not interested in pursuing these incredible girls?!
Don't get me wrong. We are all sinners and we all come with our fair share of problems. However most of these women were well trained, homeschooled, brought up in Christian homes, living under their father's protection and aren't sitting around idly waiting for Prince Charming to knock on their door. The chances of them being a better-than-average-catch are high. Where have all of the men gone?!
So I was trying to think of reasons why a fella' wouldn't pursue a nice Christian girl. Are they worried that there is too much protection from fathers? Do they have a fear of rejection? Maybe a low self esteem says they'd never be good enough for such nice girls? Is bachelorhood is better than being tied down to a wife and children?
What is the matter?!
One idea really struck me as interesting:
Have you ever heard of the "messiah syndrome" or "messiah complex"?? It's sort of like the knight in shining armour idea. Some people feel the need to find a mate who needs "saving." A guy likes to come and save the damsel in distress. Maybe it's a big ego builder or maybe it gives the "knight" or "savior" a feeling of worth or purpose. So fellas run out and find women with torn apart lives, evil parents, or ugly situations... battle against the ferocious woes and come out victorious with a glorified wife. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this. In fact there are a lot damsels in distress, so "the more power to ya" should a guy choose to rescue such a woman.
But here's the thing. These nice Christian girls need rescuing too.
Not from evil parents, horrible lives or woes and misfortunes (at least hopefully this isn't the case).
These gals just need to be rescued from singleness, and maybe even from themselves...
1st Timothy 5:14
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
1st Timothy 2:15Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
...a woman cannot be saved in childbearing, guide the house, continue in the faith, etc, if she doesn't first marry. And a woman cannot marry if there isn't a man who will leave his father and mother (or his xbox, his bachelor pad, his porn, his college education or whatever the excuse may be).
It
is really that simple. Either all of the men are no where to be found
or they are hiding. Whatever the case may be you can't really blame a
gal for still living with her parents at any age if there is no man who
is going to get out from behind his boyish excuses and get himself a
woman worth having.
There are a few things girls do that I could see possibly turning eligible guys off:
-Being too desperate/needy.
What man wants a whiny, clingy girl?
-Being too spiritual.
This seems to be a sketchy reason since it's hard to follow God too much, but I could see a guy being worried about who's going to be the spiritual leader if a woman is a 'spiritual warrior.'
-Being a career woman.
A woman who can take care of herself leaves little room to be cared for by a man. Feminism has really destroyed a lot of the need for a man to be the leader and bread-winner. Still a fella should be careful to not mistake a woman being productive until Prince Charming arrives for a 'career woman.'
There could be other things but I am not a guy and those are the only possibilities I could come up with at the moment.
I simply don't understand why there are so many nice, eligible gals. You can't blame a gal for not being a helpmeet if the guys are too busy being helpless.
Genesis 2:18And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
So while we single ladies wait, watch and wonder... don't be surprised if we also keep busy with work.
1 Corinthians 7:28 and 34-35
But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
---
There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
1st Timothy 4
2nd Timothy 2:15-16 and 22
I recently went to a birthday party at which there were a number of lovely, kind, Christian ladies who were all single. We're not talking about 16-19 year old gals. We're talking about 23-28 year old gals. Three sisters in particular caught my attention. They are all smart, beautiful, kind, productive, and seemed to be Godly ladies.
I was just baffled. Why are these really nice girls still unmarried?! It was clear to me that they were interested in finding husbands, so what on earth are the guys doing that they are not interested in pursuing these incredible girls?!
Don't get me wrong. We are all sinners and we all come with our fair share of problems. However most of these women were well trained, homeschooled, brought up in Christian homes, living under their father's protection and aren't sitting around idly waiting for Prince Charming to knock on their door. The chances of them being a better-than-average-catch are high. Where have all of the men gone?!
So I was trying to think of reasons why a fella' wouldn't pursue a nice Christian girl. Are they worried that there is too much protection from fathers? Do they have a fear of rejection? Maybe a low self esteem says they'd never be good enough for such nice girls? Is bachelorhood is better than being tied down to a wife and children?
What is the matter?!
One idea really struck me as interesting:
Have you ever heard of the "messiah syndrome" or "messiah complex"?? It's sort of like the knight in shining armour idea. Some people feel the need to find a mate who needs "saving." A guy likes to come and save the damsel in distress. Maybe it's a big ego builder or maybe it gives the "knight" or "savior" a feeling of worth or purpose. So fellas run out and find women with torn apart lives, evil parents, or ugly situations... battle against the ferocious woes and come out victorious with a glorified wife. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this. In fact there are a lot damsels in distress, so "the more power to ya" should a guy choose to rescue such a woman.
But here's the thing. These nice Christian girls need rescuing too.
Not from evil parents, horrible lives or woes and misfortunes (at least hopefully this isn't the case).
These gals just need to be rescued from singleness, and maybe even from themselves...
1st Timothy 5:14
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
1st Timothy 2:15Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
...a woman cannot be saved in childbearing, guide the house, continue in the faith, etc, if she doesn't first marry. And a woman cannot marry if there isn't a man who will leave his father and mother (or his xbox, his bachelor pad, his porn, his college education or whatever the excuse may be).
There's a great quote from the movie Chariots of Fire when Harold M. Abrahams asks Sam Mussabini to coach him:
Harold M. Abrahams: [About Eric Liddel] I've never seen such drive, such devotion in a runner. He runs like a wild animal. He unnerves me.
Sam Mussabini: As well he should. He frightens the living daylights out of me. [chuckles]
Harold M. Abrahams: Yes, well, I want you to help me take him on.
Sam Mussabini: [thinks a moment] Tell me, Mr. Abrahams, are you married?
Harold M. Abrahams: No. Why?
Sam Mussabini: Well, when the right woman comes along, how would you feel if she pops the question? [quiet laugh] Ya'see, Mr. Abrahams, like the bridegroom, it's the coach should do the asking.
Harold M. Abrahams: [very serious] Mr. Mussabini...I can run fast. With your help I believe I can run even faster. I want that Olympic medal. Now I can see it there. It's waiting for me.
But I can't get it on my own.
There are a few things girls do that I could see possibly turning eligible guys off:
-Being too desperate/needy.
What man wants a whiny, clingy girl?
-Being too spiritual.
This seems to be a sketchy reason since it's hard to follow God too much, but I could see a guy being worried about who's going to be the spiritual leader if a woman is a 'spiritual warrior.'
-Being a career woman.
A woman who can take care of herself leaves little room to be cared for by a man. Feminism has really destroyed a lot of the need for a man to be the leader and bread-winner. Still a fella should be careful to not mistake a woman being productive until Prince Charming arrives for a 'career woman.'
There could be other things but I am not a guy and those are the only possibilities I could come up with at the moment.
I simply don't understand why there are so many nice, eligible gals. You can't blame a gal for not being a helpmeet if the guys are too busy being helpless.
Genesis 2:18And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
So while we single ladies wait, watch and wonder... don't be surprised if we also keep busy with work.
1 Corinthians 7:28 and 34-35
But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
---
There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
1st Timothy 4
2nd Timothy 2:15-16 and 22
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