The future is in the hearts and minds of our children. With youngsters like Gabe and Livvy Feinn the world will be a caring and compassionate place in the future. Gabe and LIvvy were inspired by a Samaritan’s Purse catalog which outlined some of the projects underwritten by Franklin Graham’s ministry. The brother and sister accepted the challenge to raise enough money to renovate a missionary hospital deep in the jungles of the Congo that had been destroyed by a brutal civil war. Wanting to stretch their faith, they committed to raising $35,000 for the project.
Their plan revolved around cupcakes. They baked cakes by the hundred and cupcakes by the thousands to sell to friends, neighbors, and family. They covered all their efforts with prayer and faith.
Remember how when we were doing our project we would ask people to just do 1%? In our case, we wanted to have a team of 100 people that would each raise $350. But how it actually worked out was we had about 160 people donate and some were able to do 1% and some could only do a little bit.
We saw children who were only 3 & 4 step up and do a whole lot for the hospital project. Campers at elementary camp gave up snack tokens and middle school students shoveled snow or went without birthday presents or Christmas presents so the money could be donated instead.
When we at least do the 1%, we make a difference! But as you know, God raised all the money!” In a little over a year they met their goal, and the maternity hospital at Nyankunde was rebuilt.
Graham’s ministries flew Gabe and Livvy to Africa for the opening of the hospital. They were there to witness the first birth, a C-section, and were able to hold the first baby of their faithfulness in their arms. The baby, a little girl, was named Gabriella in honor of Gabe. Because of the hospital, the baby’s life was saved. Her future was made possible by two young people who desired to have their faith stretched to see what God could do through them. The future is in good hands with models like Gabe and Livvy who know in whom they have believed.
One of my favorite resources for my various interests is Pinterest. The wealth of information enriches my everyday life.
Catalogue of Ideas
After signing up for this treasure trove of ideas on Pinterest, the online bulletin board presents pages of colorful pins on topics that you choose. Pin any of the topics presented by moving your computer mouse over the pin and clicking on the “pin it” icon. If you are looking for a particular subject, move your cursor to the top of the page to the space that says “Search.” Click in the search bar and type in the topic that you want to pursue.
For Christmas I did very specific searches for my grandchildren like: “most popular gifts for 11 year old girls,” “how to make lip balm,” and “Mindware catalog.” The resulting searches gave Mrs. Claus all kinds of advice and “how to” instructions for great Christmas gifts for Grandma’s pride and joys.
For my nine year-old “girly-girl” granddaughter, who loves to cook and create slime in her spare time, the ideas for lip balm seemed a sure-fire hit. The recipe had only three ingredients and was easy for a nine-year old’s skill set. She had enough to share with friends and classmates.
Lip Balm Recipe
Lip Balm Recipe:Makes enough for 10 tubes of lip balm. Just double or triple ingredients for more. Optionally, you might also add a small amount of lipstick for color to the ingredients
This homemade lip balm is SO EASY to make. It only takes 5 minutes and just three simple ingredients. It solidifies almost instantly, so you don’t even have to wait for it! It smells amazing and has a wonderful silky smooth texture to it. It’s perfect for those of us with sensitive skin!
Place the beeswax pellets in a small glass bowl and microwave on high power for 45 seconds.
Add the coconut oil to the bowl and return to the microwave for another 45 seconds.
Continue to microwave in 30 second increments until everything is completely melted.
Add the essential oils and return to the microwave for another 15 seconds.
Fill each lip balm container as full as you can without overflowing.
If it starts to harden before you’re finished filling the tubes, return the glass bowl to the microwave for 15 seconds to keep it melted.
To make the personalized labels, I used ordinary Avery address labels to which I added a picture of Bethany and what flavor of lip balm was in the tube. The address labels just fit the tubes. Avery gives instructions for creating custom labels with their product. I printed off a page of my designed custom labels and included a sheet in the lip gloss kit.
The final step was to find a container to assemble the kit which included:·
Recipe for making the lip gloss
Bethany’s custom labels that I had printed off· Ingredients
Lip gloss tubes
Grandma had fun putting this together, and Bethany enjoyed giving her personalized lip gloss to all her friends.
A volunteer hollyhock in regal maroon adorned my side yard garden. When my granddaughter Rikki came to visit, I showed her the delicate make-believe dolly a hollyhock can be. The doll takes one blossom, one seed pod, and a toothpick. Scissor the excess stem from the pod and blossom, insert a toothpick under the skirt and through the blossom cap into the seed pod head. Use a felt tip marker to draw a happy face.
When her maroon-skirted hollyhock doll was finished, Rikki asked, “Where’s the boy hollyhock doll?” Frankly, grandma had never thought about boy hollyhock dolls, and it took me a moment to resolve the quandary.
Looking at the flower, I noticed that yesterday’s blossoms were furled into a sheath before withering, so I picked the furled blossom which I labeled as “pants” and proceeded to make my first boy hollyhock doll. Rikki was satisfied.
Hollyhocks can be planted in the late fall or in early spring. Hollyhock seeds only need to be planted right below the soil, no more than 1/4-inch deep. Hollyhocks need full sun and moist, rich, well drained soil. The one benefit that comes from growing hollyhock flowers is that they easily reseed themselves. While they may be short lived, in their proper growing conditions they will continually grow more.
After your hollyhocks get going, they’ll happily reseed themselves, attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds to your garden for years to come.
Welcome to Country Parson's Wife, I'm Dr. Mary Ellen, author, teacher and wife of a country pastor for 50 years. My blog is dedicated to a lifestyle built on faith, family, simplicity and self-sufficiency that enhances the health, peace, beauty and industry of our homes and gardens.
My prayer is that you be encouraged and propelled into the abundant life God has prepared for you.
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