Graceful Words

Goodbye.

2011-12-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

This blog will be disappearing very soon. I enjoyed blogging here for about three years, but now it's time to move on. For the present, you can still find me at Artful Homemaking.

Three Great Giveaways This Week!

2011-12-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

I have three great giveaways at Artful Homemaking this week:

Cowgirl Dirt Organic Cosmetics

Lilla Rose Flexi Hair Clip

Sticky Words Vinyl Lettering

Come on over to Artful Homemaking and enter!

My Favorite Feminine Shoes

2011-10-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

I'd love it if you'd visit me at my new blog!

Knit Hat and Baby Pants Finished!

2011-10-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Read all about it over here {at Artful Homemaking}!

Apples and Pumpkins in Our Kitchen

2011-09-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

We're enjoying lots of fall goodness in our kitchen! {Over at Artful Homemaking, where I plan to post from now on!}

{Pumpkin Waffles Recipe at Artful Homemaking}

Fall Projects

2011-09-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Come see what I've been up to at Artful Homemaking!

I Love Learning Together

2011-09-15T21:46:00.000-07:00

Read all about our new learning adventures here!

Repurposed Skirt: Girls Skirt From a Ladies Skirt {Tutorial}

2011-09-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

I found this beautiful 100% linen Gap skirt at the thrift store. It was in perfect condition, and I loved the print. It was size 0, which would fit my older daughter, but it would have been a bit short for her. I just couldn't leave that beautiful skirt at the store, since it only cost $1.59! Suddenly, I had an idea: I could alter it to fit my younger daughter! Abigail had requested a skirt for her birthday, and pink is her favorite color--perfect!

~Head over to Artful Homemaking to see how I did it!~

Apron Giveaway!

2011-08-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm giving away this lovely apron which was handmade by my mom:

Go to Artful Homemaking and leave a comment for a chance to win it!

P.S. If you have enjoyed Graceful Words, I'd love it if you would come on over to Artful Homemaking and follow me there!

Many blessings,

Joy

Announcing My New Blog {Artful Homemaking}

2011-08-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog! I've been pondering this for a long time, so I finally just did it. I feel that Artful Homemaking is more my vision than Graceful Words ever was. When I started this blog three years ago, I didn't have a vision for it, and I couldn't even think of a name! I asked my husband, and he suggested Graceful Words. I've loved writing here, but I never felt that Graceful Words was me. Graceful Words implies really great and inspiring writing. And I'm more of a picture person. I don't mind posts just full of pictures and no words!

I love homemaking, and I love creativity and art. I hope my new blog might be a source of encouragement and inspiration to other homemakers in some way.

I don't know much about starting new blogs, and when I started this new one I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. I only wanted some of my posts from Graceful Words to be transferred over there, so I just copied and pasted some of them. I changed others. And I was not able to move the comments over. And most of the posts have the same dates, because I didn't know what I was doing! So, please forgive the little imperfections that are here and there.

I'd love it if you would come and visit me over at Artful Homemaking, and let me know what you think about it!

A Mother's Prayer

2011-03-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Lord, give me patience when wee hands

Tug at me with their small demands.

Give me gentle, smiling eyes,

Keep my lips from hasty replies.

Let not weariness, confusion, and noise

Obscure my vision of life's fleeting joys.

So when in the future my house is still,

No bitter memories its silence may fill.

~Author unknown

Be Your Own Doctor Book Review and Giveaway

2011-01-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading this wonderful book, Be Your Own Doctor, by Rachel Weaver. Mrs. Weaver is a Christian, a mother of nine, a grandmother, midwife, and a master herbalist (and a true "Titus 2 Woman") . I have read many books through the years on herbs and natural health care, but I think this one was the most enjoyable to read. Rachel writes in a warm, easy-to-read style, and I enjoyed the many interesting stories. I learned so much from this book, and it is now one of my favorites!

The book is divided into three parts:

Part 1-Essential Household Remedies, contains information on everyday things most people have in their kitchens (such as apple cider vinegar, cayenne, garlic, ginger, onion, and parsley) and how to use them for various ailments and to promote health. It also contains great information on some common herbs such as chamomile, comfrey, echinacea, lavender, red raspberry leaf, and many others!
Part 2-Working With Your Family's Health, covers First Aid and Emergencies, fever, flu, pregnancy, your new baby, and many other health topics. There is also a very valuable and informative chapter on treating burns.
Part 3-Planning Ahead, gives instruction in making medicines for your family (with lots of recipes), and a list of supplies to keep on hand. Also included is a Quick Reference Emergency Chart that you can laminate and post in a prominent place to use in emergencies.

There are also many recipes sprinkled throughout the book, with instructions for making tinctures, salves, teas, cough syrups, rubs, poultices, and tonics. With the recipes in this book, you could save a great deal of money on herbal remedies by making them yourself (not to mention the fun of making them!).

In the chapter "Caring for Your New Baby," you will find some very helpful remedies for colic (that I wish I had known years ago for my second baby who had colic her first three months!), thrush, and cradle cap. There are also some great recipes for making your own baby products, including diaper rash salve, chamomile spray, and teething oil.

Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts from the book:
"God placed plants here for the use of man and animals, and over the many years since then, man has learned much about how to use these plants. Some we use for food, some for clothes, some for medicine, and still others to make a large variety of products that we use every day. In the early days of this country, and today in Germany and England, herbs were and are used for healing. Here, and in many other places, the older women in the country and the villages were the ones who helped folks when they were ill. Folks called the doctor very rarely. These women learned the information that they knew from their mothers and grandmothers and passed it down over the years."

"Discover herbs, the plants God gave us for food, medicine, and enjoyment, and other simple things like charcoal and castor oil. Learn to know what they do and how to use them. The following pages contain exactly that kind of information." (Excerpts taken from the introduction to the book.)

As I was reading the book, I felt like I was being taught by a loving friend, encouraging me to learn and educate myself in the area of herbal and nutritional healing so that I can serve my family better and be prepared to handle emergencies and illnesses that may come my way. This book is an education, and an encouragement to keep on learning. I highly recommend it!

This book can be ordered from Dr. Mom's Herbs or Share-A-Care Publications. (At Share-A-Care Publications, you can also order the Art With a Purpose art curriculum, which I also highly recommend. We first used this art program when our oldest had just turned six, and it was such a help to me to have quick and easy art projects ready to go with minimal preparation time.)

♥You also have an opportunity to win a free copy!♥

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post, with a way to contact you. If you don't have a blog, please leave an e-mail address where you can be reached. If you have a blog, please make sure I can contact you through it. This giveaway is only open to those in the USA (sorry, but shipping can be expensive!).

For extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each entry, letting me know each thing that you did):
1. Follow this blog (1 extra entry)
2. Post about this giveaway on your blog, with a link to this post (1 extra entry)

I hope to announce the winner on January 31st.

Thank you so much to Mr. and Mrs. Weaver, who graciously agreed to give away a copy of their book to my blog readers!

Not in Vain in the Lord

2011-01-13T05:00:00.001-08:00

"We must not measure life by any earthly standard. There are lives the world crowns as successful but that Heaven rates as failures. And there are other lives some may pity, but, in God's sight, are noble successes. Earnest Christians bless others truly for Christ, but there may seem to be little result. Yet we do not know what good may come out of a true work that has at first appeared to fail. 'Your labour is not in vain in the Lord.' Results may not come immediately, but they will somewhere, sometime. Outside the mill, a waterwheel turns and seems to accomplish nothing. But inside, machinery makes flour to feed the hungry. Our lives may seem, with all their activities, to produce no result, but who knows what blessings they shall become, what impressions they leave on other lives for eternity?" ~J. R. Miller

Planning for a New Year

2010-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

I love the hope and possibility wrapped up in a new year. One of my favorite things to do in December is spend some time thinking and praying about the coming year and how I might order my life to glorify the Lord better. As I sat at my computer today to print off a new calendar and a new Bible reading plan, it seemed like it was such a short time ago that I was planning 2010. The older and busier I become, the faster the years seem to fly. That fact causes me to desire to be even more diligent with my time. It was so much easier to plan out a schedule for myself (when it was just me!), but now I have a whole household to manage and five children to direct and disciple. Every year I have several goals as I plan the new year:

1. Print off a new calendar for my organizer. I get these from Donna Young. I prefer the 2-page calendar, as it gives me more room, and there are also lines for making notes. I use these lines to jot plans and goals for each month.

2. Print off a new Bible reading plan. The past two years I have been printing one for every reader in the family. My husband also asked me to print one that he uses for our family Bible reading time at breakfast. This is the website containing printable reading plans that I use. And just this year, as I was searching for a simple reading plan for a younger child, I found this plan, which I printed for our 7-year-old. I always ask what each person's goal for Bible reading is, and this is what I ended up with for 2011:

My plan: Straight Through the whole Bible!

Morning Family Bible Reading: The Story of the Bible (A chronologically arranged reading of the story of the Bible.)

Elyse (11): Old and New Testament (Read through the Bible with something from both Testaments each day.)

Abigail (9): New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs

Ian (7): Simple Bible Reading Plan (Covers the major themes of the Bible in smaller readings of about 10-15 verses.)

3. Make a new schedule. Every year I end up making several schedules, as the seasons of our life as a family change. I already made a wonderful, beautiful, perfect schedule for us, several months ago. This schedule has everything my husband and I feel would be ideal for our family: Bible times, family worship, Bible memory, school, sewing, individual time with each child, time alone as a couple. Now, if I could just get it to work! I like to have a schedule even though it doesn't always work out exactly as it is on the paper. It gives me a framework for my day, something to aim at.

I can't wait to begin a whole new year!

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

~Ephesians 5:15-17

It's Not a Religion

2010-12-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

Years ago, I was sitting in my new friend's living room, after enjoying an afternoon of fellowship at her house. She picked up her 18-month-old daughter and began to change her diaper. I noticed that she was using cloth diapers, and I said, somewhat apologetically, "I used to use cloth diapers, but it's just been so hard to get everything done with three children four and under." My friend looked at me with a smile and said, "It's not a religion, you know." Something about her words convicted me and encouraged me at the same time. There was freedom there. I don't have to feel guilty about not doing things a certain way, and I can give grace to others as they make different choices than I might make.

I love old fashioned things, and I love doing things that are as simple and as close to nature as possible. I love:

Cloth diapers blowing in the breeze on the clothesline
Sewing clothing and other household items
Homemade soap
Making candles
Homemade bread made with freshly ground whole-wheat flour
Giving birth to my babies at home with a midwife
Cooking from scratch
Farm fresh eggs and milk
Making my own butter
Gardening
Making my own cleaning solutions
Quilting
Making gifts for others
Handmade cards and stationery
Cutting my family's hair
Growing and using herbs
Making my own vanilla and other extracts
Making herbal tinctures
Canning and preserving food

I love all these things and more. They are things that I enjoy doing and some of them (like making soap) I hope to do in the future. But none of these things contribute to my salvation. Sometimes I have put so much emphasis on doing things a certain way that I think I attached a value to them that shouldn't be there. I think these are good and profitable activities, but when we begin to feel guilty for something like buying bread from the store or using disposable diapers, then it's clear that there is a misplaced value. When we look at someone we also have no idea where they are coming from and what challenges they have in their life. Also, something that didn't fit in our lives at one point may work better later (maybe as the children get older or we have different life circumstances). Let's give each other grace!

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
~2 Thessalonians 3:18

Easy Homespun Table Runner Tutorial

2010-12-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

I just finished stitching up this table runner yesterday. I thought it was so cute and fun to make that I would take a few pictures of the process so I could share with you how easy it is!

Click Here for Tutorial {It has moved to my new blog}. Thanks!

This post is linked to Raising Homemakers.

A Joyful Mother

2010-04-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

~~The following words are excerpted from Nancy Campbell's book, The Power of Motherhood, which I am studying (I've read it before, but I was needing some encouragement!). They were such an encouragement and a balm to my heart this morning, that I thought I would share them with you here.~~1. Embrace motherhood with all your heart. Unless you embrace it fully, you will never enjoy it.

2. Realize that motherhood is a serving role. Give up your own rights. When you hang on to your own rights, you will be totally miserable. When you believe that you must have a full night's sleep every night, you will be miserable all day because you did not have one.

3. Confess that you are a joyful mother. When you get up in the morning, even if you have had a broken night's sleep with your little baby, confess, "Thank you, Lord, for your joy which fills my heart. I am full of joy because you live within me. I am a joyful mother and today our home will be filled with joy." Walk out to the kitchen to start the day and continue to confess that you are a joyful mother. Sing songs of joy to the Lord.

4. Determine to start each morning by creating a good atmosphere for your family. You, as the mother, set the atmosphere in your home. As the day continues, and the children get irritable and begin to fight with one another, instead of yelling at them, stop what you are doing. Gather them together and tell them a story, sing some songs together or read to them. It will calm the atmosphere and bring rest again to your home.

5. Make happy memories for your family. Do something special as a family at least once a week. Continually think of happy and exciting things that you can do together as a family. They do not have to cost money. The simplest things are often the most enjoyable. It is the 'togetherness' the children will remember.

6. Create lots of laughter and fun in your home. Let your walls ring with laughter. Laughter is a tonic. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A merry heart does good like a medicine."

7. Stop hurrying. Slow down. Relax and everyone will be much happier.

8. Trust God. When you try to do everything in your own strength, you will lose your joy. Trust in God's strength. You do not have to get everything done every day. Just do what is most important and realize there will be other days...When your children are little, you may not accomplish much more than just looking after them, but you are doing the most important task you could ever do. There will be years ahead to do all the projects that are on your list...Keep your heart fixed on the Lord rather than your circumstances and you will keep your joy.

I have been so blessed by Nancy's words so many times! Above Rubies is such an encouragement, and I've been enjoying their magazine for over 10 years now! When I'm stuck in bed during my pregnancies, my Above Rubies magazines are what I like to re-read. :)

A Happy Home

2010-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

"To live where God's law is the principal rule, and where you may be daily taught the mysteries of his kingdom, and have the Scriptures opened to you, and be led as by the hand in the paths of life; where the praises of God are daily celebrated, and his name is called upon, and where all do speak the heavenly language, and God, and Christ, and heaven are both their daily work and recreation; where it is the greatest honor to be most holy and heavenly, and the greatest contention is, who shall be most humble and godly, and obedient to God and their superiors; and where there is no reviling at godliness, nor any profane and scurrilous talk: what a sweet and happy life is this! Is it not likest to heaven of any thing on earth?" ~ Baxter

The quote above was taken from a very old book (published in 1882), called Home, or The Way to Make Home Happy. I was reading that book yesterday when I came across the words above. Isn't this what we are aiming for as Christian parents? And yet, how far from this heaven-like home we are!

As a mother, I am often tempted to feel that I am getting nowhere with my efforts to train my children. How many lessons need to be daily repeated, and sometimes the lesson is repeated many times in the same hour! After having been wakened many times in the night by one child or another, how many times patience is lost and such a feeling of weariness creeps in!

The book I read yesterday brought the goal before my eyes once more. How I long to have such a home where peace and love and godliness reign! It would be worth every sacrifice to have such a home. And truly, as mothers, we are called to present ourselves as a living sacrifice. Daily, we offer ourselves to the Lord to do His will in our homes as we serve our families. Keep on, sisters! If you are feeling weary today (as I am!), just remember that it is all worth it! My desire is to one day hear the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." ~Galatians 6:9

Tuscan White Bean Soup

2009-11-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

Click here for the recipe {I've moved it over to my new blog}. Thanks!

This post is linked to Hearth and Soul, Real Food Wednesdays and Passionate Homemaking's Crock-Pot Carnival.