Heaven In Her Arms

One of the single most fascinating people of the Bible, to me, is Mary, the mother of Jesus.  In different seasons of my life, I have thought about her life, her heart, and her willingness to forsake everything in order to partake in the plan God had for her life.  Catherine Hickem's book, Heaven in Her Arms is a fantastic, intimate look at the life and heart of Mary.  Hickem takes her readers on a journey, to the very heart of who Mary was.  We see early on, that God chose Mary as participant in his plan of Salvation based not on lofty heritage, but based on the righteous condition of her heart.  I deeply appreciate the eloquent way in which this book examines Mary's response to the angel's news that she was to give birth to the Son of God.  She was not without fear or questions- in fact, she was very honest about both of those things.  But, her fear did not consume her and her questions were an honest response to quite shocking news.  I agree with the author when she writes that she is grateful that Mary asked God questions.  "She was able to quickly comprehend the situation she was in and authentically put her concerns before God."  Oh, that I am able to do that in difficult situations, as well!  It is through asking God honest questions that we authenticate our relationship with Him, seeking deeper truths about who God is.  The book continues to examine every aspect of Mary as the mother of Jesus, including the facts that Mary knew being a mother would be difficult, she knew to be there when things got tough, she would have to let her Son fulfill his purpose, she knew to stay connected and she knew to be a woman of prayer.  

I recently read this blog post by Kelly and it has completely changed the way I pray for Gianna.  She mentions a friend who told her "Don't be the reason your kids choose comfort and safety."  Instead, pray that they will be more like Christ.  That they will have his heart for the nations, his love for all mankind and a passion to bring glory to his name.

I think about the future... where our family may go, the things we may do.  And we have been praying prayers and dreaming dreams that aren't what most would consider "safe."  In fact, most would balk at our notions for the future, and chastize us for wanting to raise children in foreign places that aren't "safe."  Right now, these are just dreams, stirrings in our hearts that we are remaining open to.  And while there is that passion in our hearts, I'm also so often tempted to pray safety over my daughter... that no harm or illness will ever come her way.  While I may still pray that to some extent (I don't necessarily think that's wrong), I'm realizing that it is not about safety or comfort or having an easy life.  If Gia has to go through something in life that may be painful, but it will ultimately make her more Christlike, and bring glory to God through that, I want to pray that she will have the strength to perservere and emerge more like Christ.  And I pray that I will have the wisdom to walk beside her and be there for her as her mother, mentor and biggest supporter.

Octopus Nigri is my favorite!

Ooooh, fire!

Cake & Ping pong:




Happy birthday honey. Hope this is the best decade yet!

I follow a fun blog by Becky called From Mrs. To Mama.  She has a weekly Show & Tell.  In efforts to get back into blogging, I'm joining in this week.  So here we go... High School round up!  Let the good times roll....!


1. Tell us what kind of student you were in high school {popular, nerd, sport obsessed, choir, etc} I was a good student and so were my friends, for the most part.  We were a small-ish class, so the lines of high school caste system were somewhat blurred.  We all kind of came from different circles to form our own "group."  I don't know really what you'd call us... one was valedictorian (and went on to Duke & Pepperdine), several were "jocks" and played multiple sports, some were "popular" with the boys, a few were into drama and the arts, I was into football players... so it all just kind of varied.  But for whatever reason, we all just clicked.  Though we live far apart now, I still really love and miss those girls/guys a lot!   
2. Share with us some high school pictures. We know you have them somewhere.


Our class's Senior Trip was to Crested Butte, CO.  Looking back, I cannot believe our school allowed 75+ seniors to roam around the snowcapped mountain town for 4 days alone.  But it was a great time.  It was the one and only time I've been skiing and to this day, I still say it was one of the best times I've ever had! 


We also did class retreats every year.  Usually they are just a one day thing, on a regular school day.  But for Seniors, it was an overnight trip.  Here I am with many of the girls in my class on that retreat.  We had lots of food and fun.  It was such a good time.  Sadly, I really don't remember a whole lot of it. My memory is waning already!


 Prom.  With girls that got me through some of the hardest days of my life!  I love them all!!



We also got to go to Jamaica on a mission trip my senior year.  It was with a class called "Evangelism Through the Arts."  SUCH an awesome time.  Here we all are at the airport before we left.  
3. Tell us about your school. Private? Public? How many in graduating class? Mascots? School colors? It was a private Christian school that had Pre-K through 12th Grade.  There were about 90 students in my graduating class.  It was a great size, in my opinion.  Small enough that I knew everyone, but not so small that you had no choice of who you hung out with.  Because of our smaller size, we were able to make some really special memories.  It was also big enough to have a good football team (on Oklahoma must) and a variety of sports options to be involved in.  (I played soccer and ran track.)  Our colors were red, white and blue, and we were the MCA Patriots! :)
4. Tell us about some of your favorite memories of high school. Or what stands out the most? Any teachers? Specific classes? Oh goodness.... so many good times.  I think I forget about High School because college was so much better, but HS really was a great time.  It had its ups and downs, but still great memories.  My BFF Kat & I would skip the last hour of class sometimes and go to Braum's for ice cream.  I was a Kindergarten teacher's aide one year and that was a great time.  I had a rough go of it and had to be in the hospital my Junior year... my entire choir came and sang Christmas carols to me.  While still in the hospital, one of my girlfriends brought me a mini Christmas tree for my room.  We had a fave teacher, Mrs. Moyer.  My group of friends ate lunch in her room every day.  She had a big screen TV in there and some gaming systems, along with couches and a ton of comfy chairs.  She was awesome.  Of course, the ski trip was great, as was Jamaica.  It was really a great time!
5. Tell us a piece of advice you would pass on to your children or any child entering high school. I'd tell my 15 year-old self to invest more in her friends at Metro, and less in that one boyfriend who went to a school 30 minutes away.  There was a time I didn't want to go to Jamaica because that boyfriend didn't want me to go.  (Hello, controlling!)  My teacher, Ms. Sharp talked some sense into and spoke truth that I wish I'd listened to sooner.  I'm forever grateful for that conversation and SO glad I went to Jamaica.  I should have done more things like that.  Don't be afraid to try new things, and give people the benefit of the doubt.  Never fall in with the "in" crowd at the expense of being true to yourself, because 15 years later, that cute guy will be 30, fat, balding and totally not worth it.  (Glad I listened to my heart and friends on that one!)  Don't be afraid to dream big for college.   
Alright... so there ya go!  What was your high school like?

My parents live in Egypt, and I have long loved all things ancient Egypt.  So when my niece decided that she wanted an Egypt-themed party for her 5th birthday, I was so excited.  My sister lives in Arizona which, sadly, is very far from Indiana.  But I told her I would help out by making a banner with my niece's name and anything else she needed.  My sister told me that the girl guests would be getting belly dancing scarves that my mom brought back on her last trip to the States.  (Yes, my mom takes belly dancing classes in Egypt.  How cool is that?!)  But my sis needed an idea for what to give the boys... something they could wear.... hmmm.... **LIGHTBULB** How about a King Tut headdress?  I thought it would be simple to find an online tutorial for the iconic striped headpiece of royalty.  I set out to Pinterest, but could not find ANY good tutorials.  I thought for days about how I could construct this headpiece so that it would stand up on both the top of the head and the sides.  I nearly abandoned the project completely.... until I finally came across a paper pattern for a Tut headdress.  From there, I just got crafty with it, and in the end, was thrilled with how these turned out.  And I think the little guy party-goers were pretty happy with them too!  So, without further ado, here is how I made the King Tut headdresses.  Please note, I've worked hard in my life to adopt the mentality that "it doesn't have to be perfect" so of course, these are not perfect by any means.  But they work, and they're fun!

First, I printed off the Nemes Crown pattern from this website and cut out the pieces.  (I used the small size, since the mini-King Tuts to be were all under the age of 5 or 6.)


Next, I started going around each piece with hot glue and foldling the extra fabric over.  (Note that for the King Tut headdress, the stripes on the side of the headdress should be horizontal.  I messed this up the first time.)

You will also notice that I used pinking shears to cut around the curves.  This helps it fold over more smoothly.  If you don't have pinking shears, you can just cut tiny triangles out along the curve of your fabric.  Trust me, this makes a big difference.  Here's a look at the front of one side piece and the back of the other side piece.


I did the same thing to the top piece.





Simly cut along these two lines ...


Finally, I just added the other pieces.  Glued each side on, then added a little avant garde "snake" crest in the middle.  You could definitely get more creative with this part of the crown, but I was crunched on time and had to get these in the mail ASAP so they'd make it for my niece's party!


I had my hubby model it for us.  What do you think?  A pretty good looking King Tut, if you ask me!  I  have seen a picture from the party, and the little guys looked so cute in their Tut headdresses!  But, I don't have permission from all of their parents to post the pic, so I'm not going to put it up.  (Internet decency rules, right?)


I tried it out on Gia, though and she loved it!  Ok, I loved it on her.  She wouldn't leave it on.  But still pretty cute, I think.