Fiber Arts for Bible Teachers & Preachers, Part 3

Here we are at the 3rd and final part of this blog post series (Part 1, Part 2).  Thank you for taking the time to read through these posts.  I hope this series has been useful for you.  :)

Next Up: Color!
Wool and other fiber sources come in mainly natural shades of white, brown, gray, and black.  To produce fabric in other colors, the fabric would need to be dyed.  While today most fabric or textiles are dyed with chemical or artificial dyes, in Biblical times textiles would have been dyed using material found in nature like plants or even snails like the one pictured above. 

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, for the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods who was a worshiper of God... Acts 16:14a

Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps.  Lamentations 4:5

She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.  Proverbs 31:22

Purple: The color of royalty.  This was not a color that came from a plant.  It came from a snail, specifically the Murex snail.  This purple is often called Tyrian Purple after the city of Tyre in the Phoenician Empire on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.  The link above provides good information on how the dye was made.  It was a stinky process but it produced an expensive dye which resulted in those who traded in purple goods being people who were not poor. 

Scarlet: This color is also mentioned in the Bible.  I can't be for certain but it is likely that scarlet dye came from scale insect in the Mediterranean area.  The madder plant could also have been used to create a red dye for coloring fiber before or after they were spun.

Next Up: Processes!

Using a Drop Spindle:  I could explain how to do this but it's much easier to show you so I will refer you to a couple good YouTube videos.  Using a Drop Spindle, Introduction to Spinning, part 1, Spinning Flax with a drop spindle, and Spinning cotton on a supported spindle.

Weaving: Again, YouTube comes to the rescue here.  Weaving is something that kids may have also done in art class at school. Remember making little potholders for your mom using that square loom that had pegs all around the edges and the colored cotton loops?  That's the basic process of weaving.  Depending on which warp threads you pick up and in which order, the pattern of the weaving will be different.  This is why the pattern of weaving on your jeans (a twill pattern) is different from the pattern of weaving on your bed sheets.   Primary Weaving, Overview - How to weave on a hand loom, Throwing the Shuttle.


Lastly: Suggested Resources
Check your local library for these books using inter-library loan if necessary.  Play around on YouTube for more videos on spinning, weaving, and dyeing.
Spinning Books:
Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont
Hands on Spinning by Lee Raven
Spindle Spinning: From Novice to Expert by Connie Delaney

Weaving Books:
Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler
The Weaving, Spinning, and Dyeing Book by Rachel Brown
Kids Weaving: Projects for Kids of All Ages by Sarah Swett, Lena Corwin, and Chris Hartlove

Dyeing Books:
Color in Spinning by Deb Menz
The Complete Guide to Natural Dyeing by Eva Lambert

I highly recommend attending a local fiber festival.  This will give you an opportunity to see many of the tools, fibers, and processes in person.  Demonstrators love to talk about their craft and will answer your questions; you just have to ask them.  :)

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I hope that this series of posts have been useful.  Please consider passing them along to your pastor or Bible teachers so everyone will have a better understanding of fiber arts in the Bible.  It may also reduce the number of times I have to cringe when someone names a fiber art tool or process incorrectly.  Remember, you WEAVE on a LOOM; you don't loom on a loom.  :)

Thank you,
Sister Jane
Romans 14:8

Fiber Arts for Bible Teachers & Preachers, Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of this blog series!  The fiber art tools talked about in the last post won't do you any good if there isn't something to use with them.  The following are fibers that are spun to create yarn or thread and then used where needed to create or embellish cloth.

Next Up: Fiber!

Wool:

She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. Proverbs 31:13

Wool is the hair on a sheep.  It is cut off - sheared - and then prepared to be used by a spinner.  Wool can be spun in-the-grease which means that it isn't washed before spinning and so it retains all of it's natural oils - lanolin - and dirt.  The yarn made in-the-grease is naturally water proof.  I've spun in-the-grease once but I prefer to have my wool washed before I spin it into yarn.  :)

Different breeds of sheep produce different textures of wool.  Not all wool scratches the skin.  Fine wools are great for use in projects that will be worn close to the skin.  Coarse wools are better for coats and rugs where durability and coarseness are best suited.

After the wool has been shorn from the sheep and washed and brushed or combed, it's ready to be spun on the spindle.
 
If you've ever had anything made from wool, you know that you have to take special care of it or it might become smaller in size than when you originally received it.   I think most people have had a story in their life when they put a wool sweater in the washer and when pulling it out of the drier discovered an end result of a sweater that fit a man before washing that could now fit a child.  Wool likes to felt, which is a process of the fibers interlocking with each other.  The interlocking is what makes that man-sized sweater now child-sized and the fabric of that sweater denser. Felted wool does have its purpose like when I knit a pair of slippers and go through the felting process to make the fabric denser and stronger.

Shearing a sheep with Electric Shears - video resource - not used in Bible times. 
Shearing a sheep with hand shears - video resource - most likely the method used in Bible times. 

Flax (Linen):

But she brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.  Joshua 2:6

She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. Proverbs 31:13 
She makes bed coverings for herself; her clothing is fine linen and purple.  Proverbs 31:22

The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. Isaiah 19:9

Flax is a plant and the inner fibers of the plant's stalk is what is processed and then spun to become linen.  Getting flax prepared to spin is not as quick as the process for prepping wool to spin.  First, plant the flax and watch it grown.  After the flowers go away, pull the plants, and then lay the plants in the sun to cure.  After curing, take the seed pods off and then ret the stalks of the plants by soaking them in water for a few weeks.  This retting process is necessary to be able to soften up the outer fibers of the flax plant. The inner fibers is what will be spun into fiber. 

After the retting process is complete, the stalks are laid out to dry.  I'm thinking that it is either this part of the process or the earlier part with the stalks being cured in the sun that is being referred to in Joshua when Rahab hid the spies under the flax on her roof.  The next step is to break the flax stalks so that the outer fibers are broken up to then allow them to be scraped off in a process called scutching.  The inner fibers are then bundled up and beaten until soft.  Hackling (or heckling depending on who is spelling it) is the next step.  This step involves pulling the fibers through iron combs.  This straightens the fibers and removes the short fibers.  The longer fibers are best for fine linen goods and the short fibers called tow were used for coarser fabric.

If you wanted whiter linen, you would then take the flax fiber that made it to this point in the process and wash it in water and lye and then lay it out in the sun to dry.  If you haven't been able to figure it out yet, producing linen fabric from flax is not a quick process.  This explanation hasn't even taken you to the spinning process!

The basic spinning process is covered in the next post but what you need to know about flax is that if the long fibers are being spun, one doesn't need to use a lot of twist in the fiber to make the linen yarn.  Flax is the fiber where a distaff is used the most as it helps arrange the long fibers so that drafting them is easier when they being spun into linen yarn.  Spinning it with wet fingers is helpful to keep the linen yarn smooth. The linen does become softer with use.

Cotton:

The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. Isaiah 19:9

Cotton is another plant fiber.  The cotton fibers to be spun are those found in the bolls that develop after the flowers have fallen off the cotton plant.  The bolls are removed from the plant then the seeds are removed before the cotton can be spun.  While we think that cotton is by nature white, it also is available in other natural colors such as green, brown, and yellow.

Cotton fibers are short in length so when they are spun they need a lot of twist to hold the fibers together in a yarn.  Light spindles or supported spindles are best to use when spinning cotton fibers to create a fine / thin yarn.  If a heavier spindle is used, the yarn will be thicker.  I prefer to use my charkha to spin cotton instead of using a spindle or my spinning wheel.  The charkha I have is smaller than the one used in this video but the parts and the process are the same. 

Camel Hair: 

 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.  Mark 1:6

I looked up the Greek on this verse to make sure that "hair" meant hair and not skin; it means hair.  Camel fiber has 2 parts: coarse outer hair and a soft undercoat called camel down.  The camel down is shed once a year in a way similar to how dogs shed their warm winter coats as the weather becomes warmer.  I can't be certain but as the Bible says that John the Baptist's clothing was made of camel hair I think it is likely that it was made of the coarse outer hair though it's possible that it could have been blended with some of the soft undercoat in the spinning process.  This would have resulted in a coarse woven fabric that would have been worn next to the skin. 

Special Fiber Notes:

You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.  Deuteronomy 22:11

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.  Matthew 9:16  

I grouped these two verses together because, well, they go together.  Remember when I earlier mentioned about wool shrinking when it isn't washed properly?  This would be a good reason not to wear cloth that is made of wool and linen mixed together.  The wool would shrink but the linen wouldn't so the fabric would get all puckered up and weird looking.  I do understand that there are spiritual implications regarding the mixing of the wool and linen but I'll leave that to those called to preach to explain.

The verse in Matthew regarding not putting a new piece of cloth on an old piece has similar principles.  Even if you properly care for wool garments, they will felt down / shrink a little with use.   If you apply a patch to the garment with new material that has not been preshrunk, as the garment continues to be used that new patch which fit perfectly at first will start to shrink down as well and the hole you were trying to patch will now become bigger.  This is definitely not the desired effect you wanted when you put the patch on in the first place. 

 

For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool;   Isaiah 51:8

Wool is great for warmth and covering for people but the moth considers wool to be a tasty treat.  Moths can and will destroy wool in whatever form it can chew.  As a crafty person with a wool stash - roving for spinning, yarn to knit, knitted and woven items - I have to be on the look out for the worms and moths to make sure that my stash, my investment, my hard work is not destroyed by these little creatures. 

 Just a note of clarification: Mohair comes from the Angora goat.  Angora comes from the Angora bunny.  Two different animals; 2 different fibers.  Neither of these animals are specifically named in the Bible but as I'd also like to educate the general public concerning fiber arts, I figured it couldn't hurt to put this information out for everyone to read.



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I hope that this post has been useful.  Don't forget to read Part 1 and then come back and read Part 3.  Remember, if you have questions, please post a comment so I can answer any questions you may have regarding this topic.  Oh, don't forget to share this post with others.  :)

Thank you,
Sister Jane
Romans 14:8


ps: The Whole Craft of Spinning by Carol Kroll and Hands on Spinning by Lee Raven were the major resources used to help me write this post.   

Fiber Arts for Bible Teachers & Preachers, Part 1

She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.  Proverbs 31:19

Fiber arts terms are found in many placed throughout the Bible.  As a person who enjoys the fiber arts, I find the mention of these terms encouraging.  What I find discouraging (though truly cringe worthy) is the lack of understanding of these terms among Bible teachers and preachers.  So, here's my effort to provide a resource for those who would like to better understand the fiber arts that are mentioned in the Bible.  If I didn't answer your questions, please comment below so I can respond with helpful answers and so all who read the post may benefit.

First up: Tools!

Distaff: a stick that can be forked or straight that is used to hold the fiber that has been prepared for spinning.  The 1st picture above has 2 distaffs that have been dressed with flax.  Dressed means that the flax has been distributed around the distaff so that it will be easier for the spinner to spin from it.  The 2nd picture looks a little more like wool on the distaff. The blue ribbon on the distaff is to help keep the fiber in place on the distaff.

Spindles: Spindles come in many different sizes and styles. The weight on a spindle is called a whorl.  If this whorl is near the top of the stick, it is called a top-whorl spindle.  If it near the bottom of the stick, it is called a bottom-whorl spindle.  I'm not going to attempt to say which exact type was used in Bible times but please know that both types have existed for many years.  I'm also not here to argue which type is better.  The weight of the whorl helps determine what kind of yarn will be spun.  The lighter the whorl, the finer the yarn.  The heavier the whorl, the thicker the yarn.  The whorl of the spindle does not have to be a round disk.  The spindle with the curved cross bars for a whorl is my favorite drop spindle to use.  It is called a Turkish drop spindle. 

Spinning Wheel: Yes, we have them today but they did not exist in Bible times.  This is where the ESV Study Bible notes for the verse above have it wrong. I'm not going to explain this tool (I love mine!) because it won't help you with the intended message of this post.  :)

Leviticus 13:48

... like a weaver I have rolled up my life; he cuts me off from the loom... Isaiah 38:12

Loom: This is a weaving tool and there are many different types and sizes of looms.  It is a structure that keeps the warp threads under tension while you pass the weft threads over and under the warp threads.  This is how cloth is created.  Take a look at your pants. You should see a bunch of threads that run up and down with threads that pass over and under them going side to side.  The cloth for your pants was made on a loom.  Look at the fabric of a t-shirt.  It looks like a bunch of 'V's in columns or interconnected loops.  Your t-shirt is made of knitted fabric and it was not created on a weaving loom.  See the pictures below.

Plain Weave Diagram - notice the separate up and down and side to side threads.

Knitted Fabric Diagram - notice the interconnected loops

The warp threads are the ones held under tension on the loom.  The weft threads are the ones that go from side to side going over and under the warp threads.  Weft threads are placed one row at a time while the warp threads are all in place before weaving begins.  The old term for weft is woof.

Cutting the project off the loom is part of the finishing process of a weaving project.  

A word of caution: Using a loom to create cloth is called "weaving" not "looming."  If you use "weaving" you sound like you know something, but if you use "looming" it sounds like you haven't learning a thing.  :(

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope.  Job 7:6

Shuttle: The shuttle is a tool used to hold the weft thread that will pass back and forth through the warp threads. The picture above is of stick shuttles ready to use on a loom.   Weaver's shuttles can move rapidly through the warp threads.  The shuttle used in this video clip is a boat shuttle but I also want you to notice how fast the shuttle can pass through the warp threads on the loom.

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Part 2 of this topic will cover Fiber while Part 3 will cover Processes and Resources.  These posts will follow over the next few days.  Please consider passing it along to your pastor or Bible teachers so everyone can have a better understanding of fiber arts in the Bible.

Don't forget: If you have questions, please ask them.  :)

Thank you,
Sister Jane
Romans 14:8

Ch Ch Changes

Dear Sisters (and brothers),

This post probably should have come before the last one but I had something pressing on my mind and so the post on distractions came out first. 

So, here's what's going on with the blog.  As you can see, the name has changed.  The blog is no longer called the "Sisters That Need No Misters Convent" but is now "Tumbling Tumbleweed".  I felt the need to close the Convent because a relationship has developed that doesn't fit with the running of a convent.  I also didn't have anyone else to pass the Convent to for blogging.  I chose to keep the blog and change the name instead of getting rid of it because I enjoy sharing what God is teaching me and I feel that the information shared can benefit many.

Tumbling Tumbleweed seemed to be the best name for the blog because that's what I've felt like over the past few years.  I'm a fan of westerns and of the Tumbleweeds comics and the song Tumbling Tumbleweeds fit my mood perfectly.  So as I tumble along God's path for my life, this blog will be me outlet for sharing what I learn along the way.

Sisters, I hope you do not think that I have abandoned you.  While the relationship that has developed is something that I have desired for a while, it did surprise me that it did happen.  God's timing is much better than mine ever could be.  So I enjoy spending time with R and seeing our relationship grow in the grace that God has provided for us.

I'm still here, I still have things that God is teaching me, I still want to share those things with you.

Sister Jane
Romans 14:8

Distractions

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?  By no means!  Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?  But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.  I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.  For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death.  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  

Romans 6:15-23

Dear Sisters (and brothers),

I'm here to confess that I have been distracted and that distraction has resulted in me neither spending time in God's Word as I ought to nor as I had planned.  I'm months behind with my Bible reading plan and world prayer plan.  I got distracted by a new devotional (it's not a bad one but I should have just added it into my Bible reading plan).  Moving has been a distraction as well.  Spending time with loved ones has also been a distraction.

God gently "kicked" me in the butt this week regarding these distractions.  He showed me that I wasn't placing Him as my top priority; I was just fitting Him in where I could.  Is this how my Savior who has poured out so much grace on me should be treated?  No!  Relationships take time and work and if I'm unwilling to put in the time and energy, what does that say about the relationship I have with God.

I'm not going to say that a person has to spend a specific amount of time at a specific time of day in the Word and in prayer.  That kind of requirement borders on legalism.  Nor should I suggest that one should not worry about being in the Word on a regular basis because that would take the concept of Christian liberty too far. 

God's grace should not be used to give me license to do whatever I want (Romans 6:15).  At the end of this verse, Paul says "By no means!"  I really like how the KJV says it: "God forbid!"  I should be so thankful and in such awe of His grace and love for me that I should desire to be in His presence through prayer and reading the Word all the time.  Think about when you were first in love with your spouse or significant other.  Did you want to hang out with that person ALL THE TIME?  I remember seeing this kind of behavior when I was in college.  I didn't understand it at the time and even thought it was funny, but through recent changes in my life I understand this behavior better now.

So I again, ask for God's forgiveness of my lack of effort and desire to be in our relationship.   I ask Him to help me to not let the distractions of this life keep me from our relationship.  Do I know that I will fail to be in His Word at many different points in the future?  Yes.  Does this mean that I should plan not to be in His Word?  NO!  I know I will fail.  I am a human being with a sinful nature.  But I know that God loves me; He chose me and covered me with His grace.  I should be seeking the fruits of righteousness which leads to sanctification which is a process.

Prayerfully yours,
Sister Jane
Romans 14:8

For everything there is a season...

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war; and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

This certainly has been an interesting weather season here where I live.  The winter was much longer and harder than the one last year and it doesn't seem to want to leave at all.  It's the middle of April and we've had at least 2 days with snow falling from the sky.  Thankfully it didn't stick around for very long but still, I didn't like to see the white fluffy stuff floating to the ground.

For the past few seasons I have been back living in my home state.  It has been a blessing and allowed me a chance to reconnect with friends and loved ones.  It allowed me a chance to work in a new job.  It has allowed me to meet new friends.  It has allowed me to develop a better understanding of Christ and His grace in my life.

The time has come for the Convent to move south, back to the town where I previously lived.  I do know that some will question this move.  Please understand that I would not make this move it wasn't in God's plans for me.  A new season awaits me in another familiar place.

I am entirely thankful that I live in an era where we have the technology that will allow me to stay in contact with friends and family even though I am moving away again.  And as this area will always be "home" I know that I have a place I can visit and be welcomed back with open arms.  Admittedly I don't look forward to packing and finding a new place to live, but I am happy to be moving and following God's will in the process.  Many adventures await me in this new season in my life, and I look forward to what God will show me through these adventures.  I look forward to sharing these adventures with you.

Sister Jane
Romans 14:8

Ps: the picture above is of the adder's tongue flowers I saw during a geocaching outing while in the woods on spring break.  They are always a sign of spring for me; a sign that the seasons are changing.

Each Moment, New

 ...wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Psalm 51:8b

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be whiter than snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  Isaiah 1:18

It's so hard to take pictures of snow as it falls.  Falling snow is just one of those things you have to experience live. On this first day of the new year the big, fluffy, white flakes started to fall in the afternoon.  They floated down to the ground in a most pleasant way.  Snow just makes everything look fresh and new again.  It reminds me of the verses that I listed at the beginning of this post.

With the new year people often make resolutions, goals to start over or begin something new.  These resolutions could be to start exercising more, to begin eating better, to begin good habits, or to get rid of bad habits.  Some people have great success with these resolutions.  Some barely make it a week before they've tossed the resolution out the window.  My personal success with new year's resolutions isn't that great.  But maybe that's because I don't see the need to make a resolution only on January 1.  A couple years ago I made a choice to read through the Bible in a year.  That decision was made in April, not January.  Every year in August or September I choose to start new habit at work that will hopefully make the job easier or at least more manageable.  Sometimes I make these choices, resolutions, with the change of seasons or to mark a significant event in my life.

While I'm not the biggest fan of new year's resolutions, I do see a purpose in resolutions, in goals to be better.  I just think that some people set some of their goals too high or have a goal that is too long term without enough strategies in place to accomplish the goal.

One of the best strategies to accomplishing something is to take small steps toward your goal. Sometimes the small steps are doing something the right way for a minute, for an hour, for a few hours, for a day.  With this in mind, I read through the following scripture passages:

But that is not the way you learned Christ! -- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Ephesians 4:20-24.

Put to death therefore what is earthly to you...On account of these the wrath of God is coming...But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, see that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you so you must also forgive.  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  Colossians 3:5-14.

The best goal any person can make is to put on your new self, the new self that is founded on Christ.  Why would we want to keep the "old self" when we know that God's grace has provided so much for us.  Jesus died on the cross so I can put on the new self and slay (put to death) the "old self."  Think about it this way: the old self is like a ratty set of clothes, the ones that were left damp at the bottom of the clothes hamper.  They stink and look awful.  The new self is a brand new set of clothes; all fresh and clean and a perfect fit for you.  This new set of clothes is just waiting there for you to accept and put on. 

As Christians we accepted this new set of clothes when we surrendered our life to God and His will for our life.  So, why are you talking about putting on the new set of clothes, you may be asking me, if as a Christian I already accepted them?  Here are my thoughts on this: just because you accepted the new clothes / new self doesn't mean that you put it on.  You may have accepted the new self but have hung it up in the closet to admire and have chosen to wear the "old self" instead.  I'm not sure of your reasons for making that choice, we all have different ones, but that doesn't make the choice to continue in our old life (wearing the "old self") the right one.  When we leave the new self on the hanger we are telling God "Thanks, but no thanks.  Having your Son die for my sins was nice but I think I really just want to live the way I was before and not make the changes in my life to follow Your will even though you have done so much for me."

Knitting is a hobby that I enjoy.  It is one in which I knit lots of things and most of them are for other people or at least their little children.  Baby items are quick knits as are hats but I'm starting to divert from the point I'm trying to make here.  When I knit things for people or their children, all I really want in return is a picture that shows them wearing the item.  Even if it's only one time.  I want to see that something I've spent time and money on will be of use for the person receiving it.  That picture, that sight of my handiwork on someone else brings me pure joy.  With God it is the same way but I know that His joy is greater than mine.  When we put on the new self we show Him that we appreciate the sacrifice, that we appreciate and accept the grace that He has chosen to place on us. 

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

Our "old self" is full of bad habits and many of those are hard to break.  This is where I want to tie back in the idea of resolutions. I'm not saying you can't choose to put on your new self for the rest of your life, what I am saying is that you can choose to wake up each morning and ask God to help you to put on the new self for that day.  Maybe you have to wake up and say that you're going to put on the new self for the next hour with God's help.  When that hour is up, you choose to put on the new self for the next hour.  You continue to do this throughout the day.  If you fail at putting on the new self during the day, please don't beat yourself up.  Confess it to God and ask Him to help you put the new self back on again.  Keep at it.  Each moment is a new opportunity for God to work in you.

I encourage you Sisters and brothers to look at each moment of your life and choose to put on your new self, your new outfit that was specially created for you by God.  It would be a shame if you chose not to wear this gracious, wonderful gift.  :)

Sister Jane
Romans 14:8

ps: some creature pictures to share with you  :)

T and S snoozing on the couch, almost nose to nose.  :)

The Franks enjoying the corn and snow