Rhonda's Doings !

My review of "The  Christmas S inging" by Cindy Woodsmall                Mattie Lane (Gideon's special nickname for her) has dated Gideon Bieler and they plan to get married, but she goes to see him on Christmas to take a gift (a special cake she has baked for him and a love letter) and discovers him in the arms of an English girl!!   She demands an explanation and he tells her they need to see other people.  So she leaves the family she loves in Apple Ridge and her sick, elderly mamm to move to Ohio to live with her brother.  Her brother helps her to establish a bakery for her cakes and she finds a new boyfriend there in Sol.   She is enjoying Amish life in Ohio and talks to her mamm every day by telephone (Mamm has one in a shed outside).                 Sol loves to hunt and spends ...

Yes, God has fearfully and wonderfully made me and YOU,  He knit us together in our mother's wombs.   Wow! I was reading in Calm My Anxious Heart about being content with ourselves and our role in life.   Linda spoke about the fact that so many women are dissatisfied with their bodies, their lives, their jobs, their families, and more.   She's right.  I'm guilty too.  But it really made me stop and think.   God made me unique.  He wanted me to be different.  He loves our inner heart and soul.  He doesn't look at the outer wrappings.  He focuses on the inside and we need to do that too.   I am thanking God for my personality, my body, my roles in life, and I'm going to work on being content with where I am right now!   How about you? 

My Review of The Scent of Cherry Blossoms by Cindy Woodsmall Dear Blog Reader, I am going to break the rules, as I observe them, and do a different sort of review on this book, The Scent of Cherry Blossoms, by Cindy Woodsmall.  I am going to review it now, based on pages 1 - 82, and again, at the completion of the book.   I am so torn and enthralled so far as I read.   Aden and Annie so obviously belong together, and here they are: forced to meet secretly in Daedi Moses' cherry orchard.  Why??   Because she is Old Order Mennonite and he is Old Order Amish!   They have devised their own secret language to make up for the communication barriers (and you MUST read the book to see what these barriers are, dear reader).   Ellen, Aden's mamm, loves Annie, but is upset and discouraging them from being together anymore.  Oh, and then there is dear Roman, Aden's twin brother, who is wheelchair bound, and has lost his c...

 I am studying the book, "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow, and she suggested making a list of the positives in your life and the negatives.   So I am going to do it. Positives in my life: I have a wonderful God who loves me and has an eternal home waiting for me! I have a terrific husband who spoils me and cares for me. I have 3 beautiful Christian daughters. I have 4 grown stepchildren whom I love.   I have the wonderful partners of my children and stepchildren to love and spend time with! I have 11 stepgrandchildren whom I love and adore. I have a beautiful home to live in. I have a caring church family. I have spirit-filled friends on internet and in person! I am able to crochet and sew and do other crafts. I have my prayer shawl ministry. I have my "notes of love" ministry where I send cards and notes and gifts to others. I have food to eat. I have doctors to care for me. My mom is still living and a joy to me. I was able to...

Abba, Daddy,        I come to you humbled tonight by your love, by your gift of your life to us.   How precious you are!  How wondrous!    How        marvelous!   I love you and I long to know you more!   I want my husband, my children, my stepchildren, and grandchildren, and all my family to know you more....to serve       you.....to live in your perfect will.  If any that I love do not know you, I pray that you would convict them and they would bow before you and say "yes, Lord."         When I look at the ocean and the mountains, I can't help but be awed at your creation and your artwork!  Truly you taught Picasa !    You have given us inspiration to be daring as we mix our colors.   You have given us inspiration to dare to reach for the sky.  ...

I have been thinking a lot about the many prayers that have been answered lately.....a friend who needed husband to go to doctor and he has finally agreed.......my mom's heart attack and the stent they were able to place.....some new opportunities for me....money that came in the mail from anonymous "friends" at our church after Harry lost his job recently.....being able to make it to church.....a test for someone dear to me going well and things are mild in disease......snow!  for me!....birds at the feeder...bluebirds in my bluebird house....being able to make gifts and prayer shawls for others.....a warm home.....food on our table.....loving friends....encouraging friends and prayer warriors on internet.....a peer group to attend where I am accepted and encouraged....thank you, God, Abba, for answering my prayers and those of others.  Thank you, too, for the times when you protect me and others by saying no! Thank you for surrounding us with your angels of protecti...

Writer's Review of Lydia's Charm by Wanda Brunstetter I have read a lot of Wanda Brunstetter's Amish fiction books and I am never disappointed.  This one was no different.   I could hardly put it down to do other things!    Lydia king finds herself widowed, unemployed, and forced to move in with her mother and grandfather in Charm, Ohio.   She and little Josh, her son, move and meet some new friends in Menno Troyer and Levi Stutzman.   Menno is recently widowed with four active, rambunctious boys who desperately need a mamm.   Levi is kind and hardworking and the only member of his family not handicapped by dwarfism.   Tragedy strikes and someone is leaving gifts to help Lydia and her mamm, Mae, out, but they don't know who the gifts are from.   Will Lydia find love in Charm?  Will Mae discover happiness?    Read this book to find out and enjoy the charm of the little town of Ch...

Another Prayer Shawl Completed!  A sample prayer I pray before, during, and after crocheting the prayer shawl for the recipient.    Pray as the Spirit leads you.   Father, Bless my hands as I crochet for my friend.   Let the yarns be filled with the prayers I pray as I work for many hours on this prayer shawl for her.   Let her feel your peace, comfort, strength, and joy!  Give her release from anxieties, fears, insecurities.  Feel her with confidence.  Reveal your purpose to her and allow her to fulfill that purpose.   Thank you for the joy that her friendship brings to me and to others.  Keep her safe from all harm.  Heal her body of any illnesses she may have or get in the future.    Give her the desires of her heart.   Let her feel like your arms are wrapped around her in a warm embrace when she wraps this prayer shawl around her.   In Jesus' Na...

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Crochet, Sewing, Beading, Painting, Gardening, Birdfeeding, and more............. Native American beading taught to me by a friend....the daisy chain!  Made this choker version for my daughter,Erica  I actually got into some gardening and really had a blast with my flowers and herbs while watching the birds and squirrels from my swing on porch............. My birdbath Toilet tissue holders...got the patterns from Annie's Attic.com This crochet wreath pattern I found on favecrafts.com (all free and printable patterns) Melissa, my stepdaughter, chose pink and green and brown for the round ripple afghan I made her I did these colors to match Abigail's bedspread....love the mix of colors.......... Strawberry embellished crochet-trimmed t-shirt dress.....pattern from Annie's Attic loved the burgundy and black in Amanda Gayle's afghan for her first apartment (my baby girl!) ...