In the Custom...

 And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.

2 Kings 17:8

And you shall not walk in the customs of the nations that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things and therefore I detested them.
Leviticus 20:23

Dear Sisters,

I came upon the above passage in 2 Kings last year during my nightly reading of Scripture.  The repeated phrase "in the customs" almost jumped out at me. 

A Quick Bit of History

A quick study of Israelite history tells you that at this point in 2 Kings, God's people weren't following His laws and commandments; again.  They were instead following after the customs of the heathen nations around them.  The 'this' in 2 Kings refers to the fact that God allowed the Assyrians to carry away Israel into Assyria as punishment for being "in the custom".  And before anyone thinks that the Israel didn't know that following the behavior of their neighbors was wrong, read the 2nd verse I listed above from Leviticus.  They had been informed ages ago that they were not to be "in the custom" of the nations around them because God detested what those nations had done.

What does "in the custom" mean?  A quick dig in the Bible dictionary pointed me to the Hebrew word huqqah (Strong's #2708).  I'm sorry that the Hebrew looks bad but I can't get all of the symbols to show up here on the blog.  The word can mean statutes, laws, ordinances, decrees, commandments, or regulations.  These are things that can be given orally or be written down.  The statutes of the Lord were taught to Israel and Judah so they could discern between what was acceptable and what was not acceptable in God's eyes.  Following the decrees of the Lord would help Israel and Judah separate themselves from the activities of their heathen neighbors.  Following God's "customs" brought blessings.  Not following God's "customs" brought curses.  History tells us that Israel and Judah stopped following God's "customs" and bad consequences followed.

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent...my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.  Proverbs 1:10, 15-16

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil.  Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.  Proverbs 4: 14-15 

The above verses in Proverbs are just a few of the warnings found in Scripture that tell us to stay away from the "customs" of the world. 

The reason the phrase "in the custom" stuck in my mind wasn't because of the history lesson.  I started to think about what I do on a day-to-day basis.  Am I doing things that are "in the custom" of the world around me? Should I be like some who avoid technology because the world uses it? If that's the case then this blog shouldn't exist and I'd need to quit my day job because all of those use technology.  Should I change my apparel because some of what I wear is worn by the rest of the world?  Are there things I shouldn't do or shouldn't say because the world does or says them?

The Three Ls

One must be careful of how these questions are answered.  If we answer them in such away that we start putting the following of rules in place of the salvation freely available through Christ, we swing towards Legalism.  Some people are extreme in their Legalism in that they follow almost no "customs" of the world.  They won't wear worldly clothing, they won't use worldly technology, they don't approve of music that sounds like what the world is making.  I know there are more examples that are not listed here.  Legalism says there are specific ways to behave and specific things to do in order to be in God's favor.  Legalism ignores Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The other extreme from this is when people answer the questions in such away that they believe salvation gives one License to do whatever one wants.  Those who choose License do not believe that there are "customs" of the world to be avoided.  They ignore the Scriptures that ask us to not follow after the "customs" of the world.  Their trust is in the world and not in Christ.  They ignore Romans 6:15: What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?  By no means!  Scripture is clear that neither Legalism nor License are acceptable ways to deal with the "customs" of the world.

If Legalism and License are not what God approves of for us, what option do we have left?  Through salvation in Christ we are called to Liberty / freedom (Greek - eleutheria, Strong's #1657).

For you were called to freedom, brother.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  Galatians 6:13 

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, 

but living as servants of God.  1 Peter 2:16

The freedom the children of God have is from the Legalism of the Old Testament.  We also have freedom from the rules that others make as they try to impose their Legalism on us.  The Liberty we have in Christ gives us the ability to decide for ourselves through Scripture and the Spirit what His will is for our lives. 

How do we apply Liberty to our lives?  I can't give a definitive list because that would border on Legalism and License.  Some examples though, I can provide.  Liberty means that for those ladies who feel led by the Spirit to wear a head covering in church or maybe at all times, they are free to choose to do that.  They are not free to tell other ladies that they too should wear a head covering in order to be in God's will.  That would be Legalism.  Music styles can be a touchy subject for some in the area of Liberty as well.  This is where I am so thankful that my parents applied Liberty when my brother and I were in our teen years.  Their personal preference was not for the up-beat, rap, and rock style of music that my brother and I enjoyed.  Instead of telling us that the music wasn't allowed, my mom asked to read the liner notes.  If the words were good, then she allowed the music to stay in the house.  She might not have wanted to hear it herself but she didn't forbid us from having it.  This is a beautiful example of Liberty.  

Liberty is in the middle of swing of the pendulum that can easily move toward Legalism or License.  Liberty must be used wisely, and Paul talks about this very thing in Romans 14:

Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.  I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anything who thinks it is unclean.  For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died...Do not for the sake of food, destroy the work of God.  Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.  It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.  The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God.  Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgement on himself for what he approves.  But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith.  For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.  Romans 14: 13-15,20-23.

My paraphrase of Paul is that he's saying "Don't use your liberty, your freedom to do an activity that would cause a fellow Christian to stumble in their walk.  In their immaturity or in their newness in Christ they may find activities unacceptable that you find acceptable.  When you are around them, don't do those activities that would cause them to stumble, to doubt.  Don't put them down for finding fault in those activities.  If there is an activity that you doubt would be acceptable in the sight of God, then don't do it.  If you do it while in doubt, it is sin because it wasn't an activity done in faith."

What To Do

Why should we follow God's "customs"?  I'll let Scripture speak for itself: 

My son, do not lose sight of these -- keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.  Proverbs 3:21-22

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12:1-2

David was in love with God's law ("customs").  I'll share part of his words regarding God's "customs" here but I suggest you take some time to study the entirety of Psalm 119.

 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! 

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart,

who also do no wrong, but walk in His ways!

You have commanded Your precepts to be kept diligently.

Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping Your statutes!

Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all Your commandments.

I will praise You with an upright heart, when I learn Your righteous rules.

I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me! 

Psalm 119: 1-8

God's "customs" are good things.  They are not meant to bring us harm.  They are meant to bring us closer to God and to what He desires for us. God's "customs" provide us a framework within which to use the Liberty He has given to us.  Legalism and License are not inside His "customs" framework for us.

Wow, we've discussed a lot so far in this post but we need some application before I close out the post.  How are we to see that God's "customs" are good things when the world is telling us they are bad things? How are we to learn to love God's "customs"?  Open your Bible and READ IT!  Study it on your own and with a friend!  I find that I learn more when I study Scripture with a friend than if I study it alone. Pray for your heart to be open to God's "customs".  Pray over what you read, asking the Spirit to show you what He would have you learn from His Word.  Put into practice what you learn as this is of utmost importance as well.  Learning is good but application is the putting of that knowledge into practice in our lives.  This is part of the wisdom and discretion mentioned in Proverbs 3:21-22 and in Romans 12:1-2.  Wisdom and discretion will help you discern the "customs" of the world that you are to avoid and there by live in the Liberty we have in Christ.

As we seek to be "in the custom" of God, may our prayer be that of the words of Nehemiah:

And I said, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Nehemiah 1:5

Sister Jane

Psalms 18:30

Randomly on a Friday

 This God -- His way is perfect;

the word of the LORD proves true;

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 18:30

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  

Romans 8:18

Dear Sisters,

I have a few random thoughts to share on this Friday evening.  At this moment they are random but who knows, maybe I'll pull all of the randomness together by the time I'm done with the post.  Or maybe not. 

1. I've been quiet on the blog for much too long.  Happy things happened and then sad things happened and now it's time to start chatting with you again.

2.  I've chosen to look at my current circumstances as something in God's control. My heartbreak is in God's hands.  If I don't look at things this way, then I loose all hope.  I've learned that I need to trust God more and to cling to Him better. 

3. Prayer has been a great comfort these past few weeks.  I found out that a dear sister in the Lord was going through a struggle much worse than mine and so when I started to feel bad for myself, I started to pray for her instead.  I prayed for her; I prayed for others who were sick and hurting.  God used prayer to help me look past my own hurt and bring the hurt and pain of others to His feet.

4. I mentally placed my concerns, dreams, and prayers for reconciliation in little boxes and put those boxes in God's extremely capable hands.  From past experience, I've learned that I have to put those boxes in God's hands or I can't function.  I also have to be sure that I leave those boxes in God's hands.  Pulling them out of His care never does me any good. 

5. The verses at the beginning of the post are verses that I have quoted to myself a lot lately.  I am thankful that God put these words in front of me.  It is comforting to know that He has a purpose for me through this suffering.  I don't know what the purpose is fully yet, but knowing that God's way is perfect and that I can take refuge in Him is good thing to cling to. 

6. While some might call me a crazy cat lady, I'm really thankful that I have my cats.  I'm not sure if it's because of their age or if it's because they know something is up with me, but they've become really good lap cats recently.

7. Lord, help me to use my gift of singleness to bring glory to You.  It wasn't the gift I thought You were going to give me but I know it is the gift I have at this time. 

Thank you,
Sister Jane
Romans14:8

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.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~

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.



~~~~~~

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.

~~~~~~~~~~

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