I love our Nikon!

hey everyone!

We received our new nikon camera in the mail yesterday after much anticipation and depravity of a camera these past 2 months or so! I can't believe the quality pictures this camera takes! My old camera was a sony cyber shot and I loved it, but it was 4 years old and not the best. But it was great until it was lost. Now our family can do lots of photos and this camera is so much bigger than the old one we definately won't lose it!

I finished my civil war star quilt last month and now I can finally post pictures! We used it the last reenactment and I now am using it on my bed at home. I am so proud of it and I will be using it Lord willing till it wears out. Maybe even my grandchildren will get to use it. You see I want it to last for generations. These days people don't sew quilts, but I plan to sew many and pray they will hold memories for each new generation.

 Yes one of our cats named Oscor really loves the new quilt! :)

 Bethany has been teaching me how to knit and I am loving it! I don't know why I ever thought it was so scary or hard, but now I am knitting a knubia, which is a scarf for civil war reenacting for myself. Its made out of thread weight wool yarn I bought from a sulter at the Ceder Creek reenactment last weekend.

 The quilt! I am so excited to be able to share the finished product with you all! I am loving all the random scraps from dresses and other projects all in this quilt.

Every single start is quilted around the perimeter of each star and around the boarder of the quilt I quilted stars. It was a lot of fun and lots of time invested into this quilt, but it was well worth it. You can read about the construction of this quilt in these previous posts below. here and here and here are the older posts about how I started my quilt and what steps you have to do in order to complete a quilt by hand. It was so much fun and a great learning experience. And of course the scrap bin does not even seem as though a dent was made! :)

have a lovely rest of your day! I am off to cut out a baby quilt for a friend and start sewing the squares together, then its off to Joann to get some supplies for some modern clothing for my family.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Waiting for.....

Hello everyone,

Well my family is getting a new Nikon camera! Woohoo! It is coming in the mail from amazon by the end of the week Lord willing. We are so excited!!!

On another note I am saving my money for my own sewing machine. My sister has a Bernina and I am wanting to purchase a Janome Thread Banger. I quite like the name! It sounds smashing and sounds like it will be a sturdy machine. I researched and it was the best one for my budget. I am over half way to my goal of saving for it.

Lord willing my Christmas I will have enough money saved to get this machine. Right now I do not have a machine and I have been using my sisters Bernina, as the singer we have used for 10 years died recently. We are going to get it serviced and repaired, but its not a very good or reliable machine. So it would be nice to have a new and reliable machine. 2 friends of mine both have Janome machines and love them, so that is why I chose that brand. Bernina is too expensive for me and Singer was bought out by China. So I wanted a good quality machine for my price level.

What machine do you have? Do you love it? Is it reliable? What machine would you buy if you had $600?

In Christ,
Rebecca

The Wool dress complete

Hey everyone!
My friend just posted pictures on fb and now I good photos of my finished plaid navy blue wool dress I have been working on since August and I finished it last thursday before our big reenactment at Ceder creek.

I can't believe I finally conquered pleating the skirt! With my amazing sisters help I did! :)

 Yes it has double puff sleeved drafted by my dear sister Bethany over at diary of a seamstress. She was a huge help to me in the fitting process of the bodice and learning how to pleat as well as do puff sleeves. I love the result.
I am chatting with new and old friends below. The Lord brought so many young ladies from all over the east coast to this event that were inspiring to chat with.
                                      
 Our camp below with lots of our members of our group. You can also see my finished star quilt on the ground. I finally finished it! :) Just in time for the event!

We did quilting demonstrations on saturday and had a fun time doing a baby quilt for a friend who is expecting. All in all the event was wonderful and through the Lords providence we met a lot of great people and had a great time with friends!

have a blessed day and Lord willing more photos to come from the event.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Ceder Creek Reenactment

Hey everyone!

My family and our group of families had a lovely time at the Ceder Creek 146th reenactment this past weekend in the Shenadoah Valley. It was great! Here are some group photos to tide you over until I get more photos from my friend Lindsey.

We had a lovely time and we have even a new family that came to their first reenactment dressed up! So it was a great event! I was able to chat with lots of other reenactors as well as specatotors about the Lord. So it was great experience and really stretched me. The Lord is so good. I am also wearing in the photo my puffed sleeve finally finished wool dress. More photos coming soon of it up close! :) I have posted about it here. So I am so happy that I finally finished it! The pleating of the skirt was very difficult for more at first, but after probably 10 times of ripping I got it. Bethany my sister is a great and patient teacher. :)

All these photos are copyrighted by Lindsey photography. So please email or comment if you want to use them in any way.

God bless everyone and I have tons of projects I want to post about, but alas still no camera. I am saving my money to get a new one or the old one will Lord willing show up!

In Christ,

Rebecca

Shocking quote?!, well not really :)

Hi everyone,

Yes I know my blog has been pretty still between posts I have done about living history events and family trips, but I have been quite busy with college, family, realizing that blogging is not first priority and getting ready for another reenactment this friday as well as learning to drive. So yes I have been quite busy.

I came across this quote below today while re-reading Verses of Virtue by Elizabeth Beall Phillips. A friend of mine was reading it and did not understand what some of the quotes and poetry meant. So I wanted to re-read it so I could explain to her some of the quotes and poetry. This young lady I am not sure knows very much about femininism or what Biblical womanhood is all about. So I wanted to be able to give her my opinion of the book properly by reading it again. I also was reading Alyssa's blog post about feminism and it reminded me of the quote I read today below.

But I came across this strong quote below that I did not expect. Queen Victoria I never knew was against feminism, but in the new movie about called The Young Victoria she seems to go from relying on herself to being her husbands helpmate. So thats encouraging. This quote determined my opinion of her as being a woman again "womens rights".

photo credit

"I am most anxious to enlist everyone who can speak or write to join in checking this mad, wicked folly of "Women's Rights," with all its attending horrors, on which her poor feeble sex is bent, forgetting every sense of womanly feelings and propriety. Feminists ought to get a good whipping. Were woman to "unsex" themselves by claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, heathen and disgusting of beings and would surely perish without male protection.
I love peace and quiet, I hate politics and turmoil. We women are not made for governing, and if we are good women, we must dislike these masculine occupations." -Queen Victoria, 1870 from the book Verses of Virtue by Bealle Philips

Now just to make my opinion very clear. I do not want to slap anybody in the face and I would not go about expressing my opinion on the subject of womens roles in society and the church in the way Queen Victoria did, but I agree with her. If you asked in the comments section or in real life I would be very clear, but I would not say you must believe what I believe or all feminists should be whipped for their opinions. Frankly, all of us have fallen short of the glory of God and sinned despite our opinions on womens rights we are all sinners. Therefore I should have been killed for my sins just like any other human being on this earth, but Jesus died for all of us instead.


We can see though in Scripture that the woman will have a desire to be in the role that her husband or men are in after the fall. " Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you." Genesis 3:16. The Lord said this to the women, so me this is the first instance in history where the women as we can see would have a desire for a feminist mind set and not a godly mindset for her role in serving the Lord.

So that said, I believe that women have different roles in life and the church from men. I believe that women are not made to govern, I believe its between every father and daughter, and every husband and wife as to if the women in a family should vote or express their opinions in politics in that way. I myself do vote and I vote for whom my father is voting for to respect him. This is what my family does, I am not saying you must do what I do. But from what the Bible says and what God has told me I am abiding by His Word that women are different from men, but under God we are both sinners in need of Him as our Savior. Therefore both men and women have equal rights under God. One is not better than the other in Gods eyes. So we both can have communion with our Savior and serve Him, but we serve the Lord in different ways. I believe that men should be the pastors, elders and deacons in churches because this is a representation of the Gospel message. It represents Christ and how He sacrificed Himself for the church. This analogy sums up for me womens roles in the church and society.

Also do go and read Isaiah chapters 3 and 4 if you want to see prophesy about feminism and how it would become what it is starting to look in the 21st century all around the world. It really suprised me and I am not sure why when I realized what these two passages in the Word were about. It should not though as the Lords Word is our guide for our lives and He addresses everything we need to be able to see His Truth, even feminism and womens roles.

So this is a topic I have not expressed about before on this blog, but I felt it was a topic that is really needed to be discussed on my blog. I want to start blogging more about controversial topics and the Bible even more. I still do not have a camera, so I felt that after discussing it with my sister and good friend and other people and reading the Word about it I would post my opinion. Again this is my opinion and if you believe differently you can express that. I am not pushing anyone to believe what I believe, just sharing what the Lord has shown me in my study of the Scriptures and societys views on womens roles.

On a lighter note these verses from Philippians have really encouraged me this past week through some tough days.
" Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice, Let your reasonableness be made known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:4-7

The Lord is guarding my heart even though its been attacked and I am at peace because the Lord how knows all and surpasses all understanding is the Lord of my life. He is my sercurity and my strong hold in times of trouble. He is the way to go through this life. Praise the Lord for His comfort and peace!

May God bless you all and I pray you all would comment and express your opinions on womens roles in the Church and society. What has the Lord revealed to you about your role and how to serve Him?

In Christ,
Rebecca

Natural hair care and a birthday

Hi everyone,

I thought I would show some pictures of my sister and I after the fact of using baking soda and apple cider vinegar only to wash our hair for about 2 months. We have been doing it since August and we love it! My hair never felt so healthy or curly! :)

 We went to D.C. 2 weeks ago for Bethanys 18th birthday along with my parents and 2 of our best friends. Once again I do not have a camera and my friend has an amazing camera as she a professional photographer. So we got a lot of photos! Below all four of us together. Picture taken by my father.

 As you can see my hair is a lot longer than it used to be and its a lot curlier! I believe that the apple cider vinegar has helped my hair as well as the baking soda along with rose mary has darkened my hair as well as Bethanys hair. She is using the same thing and her red hair has gotten darker because the rose mary is supposed to be used for brunettes, but we share our shampoo. So her auburn hair is even more auburn.

 You can see both of our types of hair here. We got to see the national gardens as well as their tropical indoor rain forest in this picture. If any of you have any questions about hair care or our trip to D.C. do comment. This post will be more about my family than hair. :)

Happy birthday dear Beth and I am so thankful for such a wonderful, God fearing sister. I love you and may God continue to develope our relationship even closer to Him.

Oh and you can see the bag Bethany is carrying in the photos. I do not have better pictures of it, but I made it for her birthday. Wish I had close ups. :)

I thought this painting below was amazing! Our whole group was amazed at this painting! My family just finished reading through the book of Joshua together in our family Bible study and this painting put things into perspective. Its hard to imagine armies around Jericho, but you can in this painting.

Look how small the brush had to be to paint the soldiers. Quite amazing we thought.

The two harpists with the harpist painting.

I want to recreate this dress above someday! I love the puff sleeves and bow around the waist. No I will not recreate the scarey rug!!! :)

A painting of a 1860s lady! We were pleased as this gal reminded us of Bethanys civil war wool dress and red plaid apron.

And yes my parents came along too for the fun. I am so thankful for their love and kind words as they have mentored me these 19 years. They are a great example of trusting the Lord for our family and going against the current of our culture even when its hard. Love you Dad and Mom!

Praises and Encouragement in the Word

Hi everyone,

Yesterday the Bonnets and Bayonets second colonial event was a sucess! Praise the Lord! We had not rain except for when everyone was arriving. It was cold, but it was wonderful anyway. We stayed warm having hot cider and going in and out of doors. It was a wonderful day of encouragement. We met a lot of new friends and got to know some old ones even more. What a blessing from the Lord! These photos below are from a trip to Great Falls to see the Potomac falls and river about a month ago in August. This morning I read these verses from Isaiah and it reminded me once again how good the Lord is to us.

 "The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory!

 Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light!,
and your days of mourning shall be ended. Your people shall be righteous;

 they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands that I might be glorified.

 The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation; I am the Lord; in its time I will hasten it." -Isaiah 60:19-22

 WOW! Our mourning will be no more and we will be righteous! There will be no more sin everyone when the Lord comes back! That is such a comfort to me! He made it all, its the work of His hands and it is good. This butterfly that we saw reminded me of that too.

Yesterday at Bonnets and Bayonets talking about how the ladies would weave their own cloth for clothing, make their own bread, cook over a fire they started with flint and steal, and how they had to find their food in the wilderness in the colonies. They had to rely on the Lord for providing their clothing, food, and other provisions a lot more than we do in modern day America. We can flip a switch for a fire in our home, we can flip a switch for a stove to turn on to cook our food, and we can go to grocery to buy the food. But they had to rely on the Lord to find their food, start a fire, and make their clothing. That just amazed me how sometimes its so hard for us to see how God provides for us. It definately made me think when we were all saying that it was easier to see Gods provision when the colonists came over from England. But I still see Him even today! I might not have to start from scratch making a fire, a house, or my clothing, but I can see how He provides for my family. Having to sew our own clothing, make our own food, and do things that most modern day americans do not so that we can live frugally and healthfully.

After thinking about how the Lord is the one who provides everything we need, I read Deuteronomy chapter 28 this morning. It reminded me of when the Lord gave the Israelites the commandments for what they should do in order to serve the Lord how they fell short and how we in this modern age fall short. All the things that the Lord blessed the Israelites in doing the Israelites did not acknowledge that it was only God who blessed the kneading of their bread, their live stock, providing what they needed,etc. As it says in Deuteronomy 28:46-47, "They shall be a sign and a wonder to you and your offspring forever, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things." Because of the abundance of the things the Israelites needed they forgot to serve the Lord and acknowledge that their provisions came from Him! I forget this as well in our modern age as well as to serve the Lord with joyfulness many a time. I am posting this verse by my computer in room where I usually do school and other studying so I remember all my needs are given from the Lord. I should say that this is a wonder, that the Lord provides what I need!

May you all be blessed and may you see even in our modern society of buttons to do the work for us that God does provide our needs.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Life is not perfect but He is!

Hello everyone,

I know my blog has been quite silent as of late. I believe this time of not having a camera to document cooking, sewing, and music studies has been a really good for me. Its helped me to realize that blogging is not your life, your life should be all about our Savior Jesus Christ, not what others think about our life as seen through our blogs. I am not trying to point fingers at anyone so hear me out. I really believe that in my own life blogging has taken up many times more of my thoughts than it should. It has also taken up more of time I could spend reading the Bible and communing with my Lord than it should. It has also made me always say oh I can look so good on my blog if I post pictures or talk about such and such. So to all of you out there who read this I want you to know that my life as seen through my blog may seem perfect or amazing at times, but ladies it is not perfect or amazing.

I am writing to you because I believe that not having a camera for the past few weeks has made me realize that we serve God ultimately and it does not matter what others think of us. It matters what God thinks of us! Are we trying to please man or are we doing what is truly right in the Lords sight?!

So after pondering this today and after much conflict and hard times in my own life the past few months; I am here to admit to you all that there is no way my life is perfect and no way that I am here today without the Lord. The only way that I really can have fulfillment in this life is not to be pleased by the all the nice comments from blog land! The only way to real fulfillment is a relationship with the Savior of the world and of my life Jesus Christ! I am a sinner and I am stained crimson, but Jesus Christ became stained so I could be white as snow. He died for me and everyone else who breaths so that we would not have to die because of our corrupt and selfish and sinful selves.

So I have seen so many things I have done that are so ugly and evil. I have said mean and ugly things to my family. I have put them down and discouraged them when they needed encouragement in hard situations. I have not been a shoulder to cry on for my sister when she needed me. I have not been a good listener when others needed me to listen instead of talk only about myself.

So the Lord has helped me to see that only through His Power can I be beautiful. Only by His power and strength can I live each day and have a beautiful life. The Lord as it says in Isaiah makes darkness into light and He has done this over and over and over again in my life. When in Isaiah 58 the Lord says fasting is not only to obstain from eating, its to fast from all things that are evil and wicked.

Isaiah 58:6-10 says,"Is not this the fast that I choose; to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your hread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?" Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall cry, and he will say,' Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from the midst, the pointing finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday."

As it says in Nehemiah 9:28, " When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven. Because of Your mercy, You saved them again and again." This verse was in my prayer journal this week after a lot of hard times with needing to ask for forgiveness from my family and the Lord.

I could never learn how to sew, drive, do college exams, be a good sister who listens and does not only talk about herself, respects her parents and listens to them, or have a fulfilling life without my Lord Jesus Christ. Every day when I read my life being purpose statement that I wrote about in my last post I realize again and again how much I need the God of the universe to help me! I am so small and He is so big and powerful and mighty. So through the verses below He has taught me to trust and lean on Him alone, sometimes I do not. I am not perfect. But He says that ok Rebecca I forgive you and you can try again. Forgiveness and confessing of my sin to the Lord and my family and friends has been hard for me the past year. I am still learning. Thank God for forgiveness and others who are striving towards the goal as well of the end of the race when we will be with Him in glory.

I have been pondering this verse and trying to put it away in my heart for some time now. It sums up the areas I have difficulty with. I pray that others who struggle will see that even a sinner can trust God and change. You don't have to stay the way you are. God can make you a new creation! The sin can stop if you ask the Lord for His help.

Ephesians 4:30-32 " Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such that is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and all slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Lord willing I will be able to post pictures of my finished civil war quilt soon.  I am almost finished with it. I also plan to post pictures of some bags I have made for my sister and mother and a friend sometime when I can get pictures. We found my dads old camera and it does do photos. So I can post pictures sometime. But not blogging has been good for me as I said above. As I said this is not about other bloggers. This is about my thoughts on how blogging has made me put up fronts and try to have my life seem perfect on my blog. When in reality its not pefect.

God bless and I will have some pictures this next week after another colonial living history event on monday. I pray that you have a renewing Sabbath tomorrow.

In Christ,
Rebecca