How to Read the Bible Without Falling Asleep

I've been going to church for at least 20 years. I have believed that Jesus died on the cross for me for 18 of those years.

For 14 of those 20 years, I can't recall if I'd actually read the bible outside of church and on my own. It's not that I didn't know that I was supposed to read the bible. It's just that, when I tried, I would get two sentences in and start to yawn and my eyelids would get heavy. Not really sure WHAT to read, I would pull the "I'll just open it up and wherever it lands, that's what I'm supposed to read" card. And when that plan didn't provide me with anything that made sense at the moment, I kind of lost interest. I'd just wait for Sunday mornings or when I went to bible studies for someone to pick the passage and explain to me what things meant. For many years, I did not understand the depth of importance there was to read and know the bible for myself (And I thank God for His grace throughout all of that time!).

I knew all of the common old testament bible stories (or so I thought lol) and of course I knew about the gospel story. I think I tried doing that whole "Bible In a Year" plan, but, honestly, all of that jumping around was confusing and I really wasn't comprehending nor retaining the things I'd read. I'd rather just wait for Sundays.... Someone else would pick the scripture to read and then explain it.

I can't tell you what happened, or even when it happened, but at some point after those confusing 14 first years, I started reading the different letters of the New Testament. Most likely a desire to search for practical instruction and application, I found interest in the things Paul was saying to the different churches. I came to LOVE the New Testament over the years. Reading and re-reading different books like John and Romans, really understanding what Jesus did and how I have a brand new life, and learning how to live my new life through books like James and 1&2 Peter. I had really discovered a whole new world! The New Testament had opened up my eyes but the Old Testament still did a good job of making them close and making me snore lol.

The New Testament provided so much illumination and revelation for me, and still does. In contrast, the books of the Old Testament, namely the Historical books and the Prophets, were BORING to me. And because I thought they were so boring, I stopped trying to read them. I felt like, if I'm not under the law anymore ANYWAY I could really just focus my studying on the New Testament and be good. These days I see how flawed and flat out wrong that logic is lol (Thank God for grace!).

A little before the start of 2016, I really started to have a desire to KNOW what the Word of God says. I've sat in many sermons and classes where the teacher or preacher would link events from the New Testament to ones that happened in the Old Testament and would provide more illumination of who God is or why "this and that" is so important. And even though the Holy Spirit has graciously gave me revelation about things in the New Testament, I couldn't imagine how much I was missing out on just because I didn't KNOW what happened in the past. Being that the entire bible is about Jesus, to me, knowing Him really means knowing what happened throughout the whole thing.

When 2016 hit I decided that I was/am going to read what happened in the Old Testament. Surprisingly, it's been MUCH easier and more edifying this time around. I wanted to share some things that I did differently that could probably help someone who also feels the same way.

April Showers... but I have FLOWERS!

Happy Thursday folks! A number of weeks ago, I was trying to help my friend out with a hair photoshoot he was doing and he needed some pics that would stand out in some way. So I thought, what a better way to make natural hair more interesting than to add some bold accessory?? I got together with a friend of mine to make some flower crowns and they came out better than I could have imagined.

I thought I'd share a little about how we made them and then show you all a couple of pics from the shoot.

OMG... I sewed clothes for a baby O_O

In my last post I talked about my fabric shopping trip in Atlanta. Let me talk about my original reason for going down to ATL to begin with. My goddaughter, Brooklyn,  was born on March 8, 2015. She was turning 1 year old and I had to make sure that she had a birthday that she would never remember. Get it? 'Cause she's ONE lol. But that didn't stop me. When she gets older and looks back at pics, she'll know she was loved and she'll appreciate the effort we put into making her day awesome.

The theme was Minnie Mouse per request from her grandmother so I knew immediately that I would be making her an outfit. I asked her mom "dress or skirt?" and she replied "skirt". I went to JoAnn to find some red fabric with white polk dots that I knew I would find in the quilting cotton section. Later, I was perusing Michael's to find crafting materials for other party favors and I came across some cute golden frilled elastic on clearance and I scooped it up. I looked up a few different resources to see what the general measurements were for 12 mo and then I found a quick no seam circle skirt tutorial. These are the results:

Below are the other crafts that we put together:

7. Share the Love | #sew16in2016

You may have thought I forgot about the Sew '16 Challenge... alas, I did not. This installment is titled "Share the Love" and we are supposed to sew for someone that we never have before. Who better to pick than little humans that have just been (or will be) welcomed into the world! I made some baby blankets and I think they have become my favorite gift to give. They can be personalized so much. I had 2 girls and 2 boys on the bill. So far, 3 of them are here and one is soon to come.

If I buy another piece of fabric....

..............My mom might kick me out of the house.

I'm joking. I'm joking.... maybe.

I don't know what got into these last few months but I have been buying fabric like I don't have any sense. I think NOT buying much fabric last year left a suppressed desire in me that just exploded when the new year hit lol. My imagination has definitely been controlling my wallet but you may have noticed that the output (garment posts) has not been reflected in what I'm describing.

I'm going to share my last "few" fabric purchases and then I'll share how I feel. I know collecting fabric was a discussion the last couple of weeks and I'd like to share my opinion as well :-)

But before that! Let's talk about my most recent purchase from Fabric Mart. I really do love them. So many affordable fabrics and there's always a sale going on. I have not regretted one purchase from them in the past. This last box came as a result of a 50% all Cotton Fabrics sale. Since I would like to focus more on fit this year, I figured cottons are the right place to start (Weak justification, I know lol).

I bought 2 border print cottons. Both cotton sateen if I'm not mistaken. I have been wanting a border print fabric since my first year of sewing but couldn't find any for a long time. I noticed that Fabric Mart has been selling a bit more of them so I was happy to get my hands on some. I want to make dresses out of them and I already have some Vogue patterns in mind for the job.

These are the other fabrics I picked out with that order. From top to bottom:

Bone China Silk (buy the piece)

Red rayon fabric that I have the matching black fabric to (buy the piece)

Looks lavender in the pic but is Grey cotton shirting

Tan water-repellant cotton

Knit-backed Faux fur

My yellow embroidered eyelet was in this box but I used it already here.

These fabrics I didn't choose but I got in a 6yd mystery bundle. They are all knit fabrics. The royal blue on the bottom is either a neoprene or scuba. I wish the mystery bundles came with labels like the other fabrics. They feel really nice though. I also got a 10yd mystery bundle of linings but don't have a pic of those.

I would have stopped there but a few weeks before I had already made plans to go fabric shopping with LeJanaro when I came to Atlanta for my goddaughter's birthday. I couldn't CANCEL on her lol She took me to Fine Fabrics and when I tell you I almost walked out with NOTHING LOL and not because I didn't want anything but because I wanted EVERYTHING. I walked around the warehouse for about an hour going back and forth to the same sections and then different sections. I was so overwhelmed. I did end up making some decisions though and I am proud of them. First a small look inside:

Interviewed by Faye's Sewing Adventures!

So honored to have been chosen as one of the interviews for the Sewing Blogger Series that Faye is doing over at her blog, Faye's Sewing Adventures!


Check out my interview to learn more about me and then go back and check out the interviews of all of the other bloggers. They have definitely been interesting reads!


Thanks so much,, Faye, for including me!