April 4th: Living by Faith

" Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of Faith, not of understanding and reason--a life of knowing him who calls us to go."
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest (March 19th)


Shortly after reading the above quote, I came across Philippians 4:6-7 which says:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. "

These two paragraphs have been bouncing off each other in my mind all week.
I have thought a lot about faith and hope in the last six months. Many times, I have found myself afraid to have hope. Hope is such a risky thing--to let your heart get involved before there is any assurance of what you hope for. And yet I have not been satisfied with the alternative--to walk forward in pessimistic fear. As God's children in this very fallen world we are given many opportunities to choose between these. Faithful hope is very hard to choose, unless you remember who you are choosing to have faith in.

But I think the conclusion I have been coming to is this: I would rather present my deepest and most risky requests to my loving God and have his perfect peace that passes understanding guarding my heart, than try to protect myself from the risk of hope by guarding my own heart with fear.

What do you think?

Spring Scarves

Just thought I'd give you an update on what crafts I have been up to lately....

This one was for my friend Jen, to go with her new gray coat. This was the first for real lace scarf that I attempted...and it did get a little tricky now and then..mostly because I was really trying hard to memorize the pattern so I wouldn't have to keep looking at it. That part didn't go so well. But the scarf turned out quite well despite me.

As for this one, well, there are very few people in the world who can wear yellow, and I happen to be one of them. It matches with very little in my wardrobe. And yet it just makes me just so very happy to wear it!

Necktie Bunny Puppets

Who knew that recycled neckties could be converted into Bunny Puppets?
(You too, can try this at home--even with toddlers!)

Today I got together with some friends to make some of these and the results were even better than we expected. I know Easter is not about cute decorations, but there really is nothing that puts me in the mood to celebrate like a good craft project!

We started with a fine assortment of thrift-store ties, cut out some heart shaped noses from felt, and added yarn whiskers. And, there were indeed googly eyes...no craft is complete without googly eyes!
Here is Stella with her googly eyes.

Here is Sarah hot gluing the ears.

"Don't forget the tail, mom!"

Although they are really meant for little hands....

some bigger hands got into the excitement too!

I was so excited that my bunny actually fit on me!

Here is Ella learning how to make her puppet talk.

As you can see....It was just too much fun to handle!

First Gardening of the Year

Happy warm Saturday morning tummies.

Happy dirt.

Happy dirty me. Happy dirty Abby.

Happy hands and muddy knees!

Happy leaves with their shades of lovely green.


Happy bulbs, hiding in the dark, playing hide and seek with the sun and rain.

Happy plants with their little roots protected by the rich dirt.

Happy seeds waiting for warmth and sprout.

Happy flower faces turned up.

Tulips, Rolls and Lemon Bars

Every once in a while, baking is prayer for me. Last Wednesday, these tulips and I filled our little home with a silent symphony of praise.

It is good to meditate on hope while waiting for yeast to do its work, to be adsorbed with lemon zest, and to watch, with quiet praise for their maker, the deft movements of my hands as they shape loaves and crusts into being.

Update: Dec, Jan and Feb in Review

Well, I guess it is apparent by my lack of blogging that December, January and February have been very busy for us. I apologize to any of you that I may have disappointed along the way. It is all getting back to normal now, and I figured I would give you a quick update on our lives.

January was a whirlwind. In ten days we visited all but one member of our immediate families. We had Christmas with Jonathan's family in PA. Then we drove to see my grandparents and parents in Charlotte, NC. We made it back to Seattle for one weekend before we flew out to St. Louis, MO to visit the Covenant Theological Seminary campus, where Jonathan had applied to their masters of divinity program.

It was a lot of traveling and we barely got back into the swing of things before February hit.
Since then, we have officially accepted our acceptance to the Seminary, and are planning on moving to St. Louis in time for Jonathan to start his classes the last week of August. (The Seminary also offers free master degrees to spouses...so I am trying to decide if I want to try getting a Masters in Theology too while we are there. )

You can click on the links below to see more specific highlights and pictures of our last few months!

Marzinkes in Quaker Town (link coming soon)

Jacobsons in Charlotte (link coming soon)

St.Louis City Museum (link coming soon)

Snow Shoeing

Our Birthday

Cookbook Dinner

The Twelve Crafts of Christmas

When I was growing up in the Philippines, we never got our Christmas packages in December, or even January because the shipping took so long. Usually around June and once even as late as September, the whole family would gather in the living room around a battered box that was decorated with little holly sprigs on the mailing label.

With his exacto knife hovering above the tape, my dad would pause, look around at our expectant faces, and slowly ask if we shouldn't just wait until Christmas to open it.
"No, no, open it now!" we would shriek in response. Grinning, he would put on a sham of reluctant compliance. And out would come candy and sweatshirts or roller scates, and if we were very lucky the chocolate would not have melted over everything.
Once, someone sent us Dublin cheese, which is a great idea when you don't live in the topics. The whole box radiated a smell so strong that it kind of felt like it was vibrating inside our nostrils. We took bets on what had died in the box before we even opened it. And everything inside smelled like cheese for a very long time. As I recal, that particular box had penny whistles in it. I remember them because we each got one, and I think it was Erik who finally figured out that you could play them without gagging on the smell-- if you remembered to breathe only through your mouth.
We all look back on those times with great fondness. It has been one of the things I have had to let go of since moving to America, this land of second-day-delivery.

And so, in honor of my upbringing, I want to share with you a very special and early treat:

The Twelve Gifts of Christmas in March!

On the first day of Christmas I made and gave away...
A hand-painted clock for Cole!

On the second day of Christmas I made and gave away...
2 baby sweaters!

On the third day of Christmas I made and gave away...
3 booties (the first "practice one" not pictured!)

On the fourth day of Christmas I made and gave away...
4 leg warmers



On the fifth day of Christmas I made and gave away...
5 Cookie Tins

On the sixth day of Christmas I made and gave away...
6 adult mittens (grey ones for my Grandpa are not pictured here)


On the seventh day of Christmas, as the Lord commanded...
I rested 7 hours in a taxi... and airport.... on the plane... and a car...

On the eighth day of Christmas I made and gave away...
8 green mittens




On the ninth day of Christmas I tied and decorated...
9 seashell ornaments

On the tenth day of Christmas I made and gave away...
10 girlie mittens





On the eleventh day of Christmas I gave and gave away...
11 hubbie kisses

On the twelfth day of Christmas I made and gave away...
12 stone necklaces!

Whew! Wasn't that fun?

MALIGAYANG PASCO!!!!