Continue reading »]]> Have you ever looked for the “perfect” hair accessory to match a particular outfit, or for a special occasion?

In my experience, I go from store to store and never quite find what I’m looking for.  So, I usually just give up and do without.  When I had short hair, this was OK but, now that I have let my hair grow, it has become a necessity.

So, I decided to make something that would work for me.  There are many barrettes and combs without decorations available at craft stores and other stores and they can be used along with ribbons and trims to make your own style of hair accessories.  You can also make hair accessories to match a particular outfit or for a special occasion.

I made some decorative combs to hold my hair back recently using some inexpensive cross stitching floss, inexpensive plastic combs and a few inches of pearl and “diamond” trim that I got at a local fabric store.

Here is how I did it:

First, find some trim that you like and cut a piece the same length as the top of the comb.

Second, choose a color of cross stitch floss (I like to use DMC Brand) and use it to attach the trim to the comb.

1) I held the trim in place along the top edge of the comb and wrapped the floss (use all strands of the floss together)  around both the trim and the comb going between each prong of the comb. (after you wrap a small area, the trim will stay in place by itself).

2) I left a short “tail” of floss in the beginning so that I could attach the floss to the comb as I wrapped  it around the trim.

3) When I got to the end, I turned the comb and wrapped the floss
between the prongs again going in the opposite direction.

4) This time, I glued the end of the floss to the backside of the comb using Super Glue.

This turned out to be a quick, inexpensive way to make some hair accessories that were “just right” for me.  Try it yourself and don’t be afraid to get creative!

Continue reading »]]> A week ago, we had the pleasure of hearing Liz Roeder speak to all of us at the Daughter’s of the King tea party. We are posting her message for all those ladies who were not able to join us that day. Please read and enjoy!

We’re here today celebrating a special day for women, Mother’s day.

We’re celebrating it as mothers, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, sisters, aunts, nieces and girlfriends. We are celebrating a gift we have all been given by God of womanhood.  Many of you have probably heard of the HGTV show, Divine Design.  As women, we are God’s Divine Design.  Passages in Genesis show that we are the beautiful handiwork of our Creator as He created us in His image. And we are the finishing design of all that He created as we were the last to be created, the finishing touch. I guess you could say that He left the best for last! Except we did eat the forbidden fruit!

Now Mother’s day may be a joyous time for many of you and for others  it may be a day you’d just soon forget, a day that is even painful.  Many of you may be blessed with wonderful mothers while some of you may not have/had a good relationship with your mother.  Some of you may be blessed with children and others may be unable to bear children, or maybe you’re grieving the loss of your mother or a child. We have all come here today with various emotions and from different places in life.

Personally, I find this day to be bittersweet. It’s bitter in that I miss my mother who died 6 years ago. But it’s also sweet as I am blessed with a wonderful family, children and now a grandchild. It’s also sweet as I was blessed with a wonderful mother. She was the kind of mother that I could talk to about anything and I have fond memories of her.

Our theme of “tea time” is personal and special to me. In my mom’s latter years after my dad died, I was pretty much her caretaker as she was quite crippled from rheumatoid arthritis. I would come over to her house weekly and help her with her cleaning and laundry and then would wash and set her hair. After our chores were done, we always took the time in the afternoon to have a cup of tea (always Lipton) and something sweet as my mom loved her sweets such as a donut or cookies. Tea was something my mom grew up with as she was of Scottish/English descent and very proud of it I might add.

My mom grew up in a time where there was a fascination with British royalty, much like there is today. Her name was Margaret Mary Robinson. She was named after Princess Margaret who was Queen Elizabeth’s sister. My name is Elizabeth Louise, which is a name affiliated with 2 of England’s most famous queens.

After my mom’s death, my sister and I decided to go to Scotland and England in honor of my mom’s heritage.  She was from the Robertson clan in Scotland and we wanted to find out more about our ancestral roots or identity as Robertson’s. Who were the Robertson’s, where did they live, could we have any royal blood? In all likelihood my chances of having royal blood were pretty slim as most of the Scottish immigrants who came to North America were very poor.

On our tour we were able to see many castles and palaces. One of our stops on the tour was the city of Edinburgh. Overlooking the city sitting on top of a hill is the Edinburgh Castle.  Within the castle was a small chapel named the “Margaret Mary Chapel” which was special to me since it carried my mom’s name.

Edinburgh is quite a majestic city. The Royal Mile, which is a mile of shops designed for tourists, connects the castle to the Palace of Holyrood–the Queen of England’s Scottish residence.

Since our theme today is that of royalty, being a Daughter of the King, I want to spend the rest of my time telling you what that means to me. You see, I am of royalty as I’m a daughter of THE King, and the name of that King is Jesus Christ. I’m also a child of God as I’ve been adopted into His Kingdom.

There was a time in my life when that wasn’t so.  I was searching for my identity, not my ancestral identity, but a spiritual one. I was struggling emotionally, with my thoughts, and suffered from anxiety and depression. You could also say I had a poor self image. I was searching for a purpose in life and also for peace of mind. I was actually pretty miserable and lost.

I believed in God but it wasn’t making a difference in my life. I felt a yearning for something to fill this hole that was inside of me. I looked to the things of the world to fill it but they never satisfied that yearning.  I  actually didn’t know what I was yearning for.  Like the U2 song goes, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

About this time in my life, a coworker befriended me and invited me to her church’s bible study. She also invited me to a women’s event at another church where I bought some books that were written by the pastor’s wife of that large church. The pastor and his wife are both from England. One of those books was ironically entitled Queen of Hearts and was about the Proverbs 31 woman.

It wasn’t until a few years later that God used that book and the preaching of the Word  from that English pastor to open my eyes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I heard the Word of God and the Gospel preached, God gave me the faith to believe that what I was hearing was true. For the first time in my life I truly understood the Gospel, that Jesus died on the cross on my behalf, for my sins, in my place so I could live in eternity with God. My eyes were opened as I saw my sins for what they were, an offense against a Holy God. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I realized His great love for me. I realized that His gift of salvation was just that, a gift. There was nothing I could do to earn it which was totally different from what I heard as a child in the church I was in. Ephesians 2:8 is an important verse to me as it says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works so that no one may boast.”

As a daughter of the King, Jesus, I have a new name, a new identity. Since I’ve been adopted into the kingdom of God, my name, Elizabeth Louise, is written in the lamb’s book of life. I have been named one of the chosen or elect by God. The bible says I’m a new creation in Christ and because of His forgiveness of sins, I can put those burdens of shame, guilt and past failures at the foot of the cross and leave them there. He has given me all the power I need  through the Holy Spirit to overcome and fight those ongoing sins in my life. He has given me a new purpose in life and that is to lead a life that honors and glorifies Him by being a servant to my King and serving His people.

When in Scotland I found out that the clan system started around the 12th century. Each clan was identified by their own colors and patterns. The weavers in each clan or regional area, developed the individual colors and patterns using the dyes available in each regional area such as plants, and berries. The Robertson clan tartan is a combination of bright red, royal blue and green.

While traveling in Scotland, I got to see the area where the Robertson clan lived. It’s in the Highlands and is absolutely beautiful with moors– rolling hills covered in purple and brown from all the heather and peat bogs; glens—a narrow and deep mountain valley and lochs or lakes. I’m sure many of you have heard of the Loch Ness monster, which by the way we didn’t see when we were there.

As a daughter of THE King, not a king, I’m royalty in God’s family. Nothing on earth, even as grand as it may be, will compare for what He is preparing for me in heaven.  And guess what, I found out that I am a descendent of Scottish royalty. One historian stated that the Robertson’s of a certain regional area, Struan in Perthshire, are the oldest family in Scotland and they are descended from Scotland’s earliest Kings.  I also found out that their claim to fame was that one of the Robertson’s captured the murderers of James I and was made royalty. He took for his motto, “Glory the reward of valour.”  Our crest is a right hand holding an Imperial crown. We also have our own castle in the area of Blair Athol.

Jesus says in John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also.”

This place He is preparing for me will be more beautiful than I could ever imagine, more beautiful than what I saw in Scotland. Instead of a castle, He is preparing a mansion for me. It says in Revelation that Heaven, the New Jerusalem, is going to be brilliant with the glory of God. The city is pure gold and the streets are pure gold—not like our gold but clear and transparent. The walls will be made out of jasper which won’t be like our jasper but it will be like a clear, perfect diamond. The foundation stones of the wall are adorned with every kind of precious stone such as jasper, sapphires, emeralds, topaz and amethysts along with many other stones.

The crown jewels won’t even compare to it’s beauty.

The city will have no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it as the glory of God will illuminate it and it’s lamp will be Jesus.  God’s glory will shine through these clear, perfect gems and stream over the new
heaven and the new earth. The presence of God will fill the entire new heaven and new earth. What a sight that will be!

As a daughter of the King, I am clothed in Jesus’ righteousness. When He saved me, He gave me His righteousness. He took my sins and declared me not guilty before the throne of God. The only thing I brought to my salvation was my sin. Instead of being clothed in my clan’s tartan, now I am clothed in dazzling white. It states in Revelation 7:9:

“After these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

In heaven, the New Jerusalem, I would like my crest to be one of God’s right hand holding me up as it states in Isaiah, Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. In my times of weakness, and there have been many, He has been my strength and holds me up. And my motto will be as I’m standing before THE King, “Glory to the King, my Lord and Savior.”

Continue reading »]]> Why were we chosen by God? Why did Jesus die for us? Were we chosen just so that we don’t have to go to hell when we die? No, God had a purpose in forgiving and saving sinners. I’d like to look at that purpose and how we can fulfill our God-given assignment as His precious children.

The short answer to why were were chosen is to glorify God. What does that mean – how do we bring Him glory? His Word gives us many ways that we can bring Him glory: we have the privilege of telling people about His Son, what He did for us on the cross, we serve Him by obeying Him, by living for Him (being busy about His business, building the kingdom). We are called to have self-control, enduring through trials, testings, and persecution. In doing this we are told to be thankful for everything, encouraging one another when we speak. We are also to correct and sometimes even rebuke one another, bearing our brothers and sisters burdens, at all times loving them and striving for unity. Wow, I don’t know about you but all this seems to be a tall order to me! That’s a lot, and quite frankly, some days seem to be packed full of just fighting my sinful nature every step of the way. Feeling overwhelmed – I know I am! But, we have a gracious and merciful Father who tells us that He requires all this of us, oh, and did I mention that we are to be perfect as He is perfect!

I am so very thankful that He doesn’t just say, “now, I’ve saved you, go and get busy doing all these things”. No, He knows we need help, that we can’t on our own live to bring Him glory. He has graciously given us His Spirit and His Word. He tells us in His word that He strengthens us with the surpassing greatness of His power, the power that was used to raise His Son from the dead! He tells us in His word that He loves us with a love that surpasses knowledge! He tells us that He is in control of all things and that He will be exalted among the nations! So, we can relax a little – we aren’t in this on our own. But we must be in the Word consistently.

We have got to have the encouragement, hope, and joy that we find in the Word of God. We need to be reminded that though we sin He still loves us and is always ready to forgive us, pick us up, dust us off, and take our hand, expecting repentance. We must be reminded that though we have this momentary light affliction, there is an eternal resting place that will far outweigh all that we will suffer here.

Those of us who are “Marthas” need to constantly remind ourselves that there is no greater joy than being with Him. Our flesh keeps running after our husbands, children, hobbies, jobs, and ministries to find joy, and despite the fact that we find time after time that all of these “joys” will let us down – that this is not where true and everlasting joy is found, we keep looking to them. We have to keep having this talk with ourselves – our Creator and Redeemer is our greatest need and satisfaction. And, being with Him is the only way to fulfill our purpose here – to bring Him glory with all our being.

Continue reading »]]> The following video premiered at our Pastor’s 15th Anniversary of service at our church, a few weeks ago. It is the handy work of a couple talented men from our congregation.  They get an A+ for capturing the heart and compelling vision our pastor, Matt Henry, has for us. So here’s our pastor, his vision, our church, and our calling:

Continue reading »]]> Coupon Jargon

Sunday Newspaper Insert Abbreviations:

GM = General Mills
PG = Procter and Gamble
RP = Red Plum
SS = SmartSource

Other Abbreviations and Money-Saving Terms:

FILLER = Item Purchased to Reach a Minimum Total in Order to Get a “Deal”
GC = Gift Card
MC or MQ = Manufacturer’s coupon
MIR = Mail In Rebate
OOP = Out of Pocket
STACKING: Using Both a Store Coupon and a Manufacturer’s Coupon on One Item

Now that you have your coupons… Let’s get started!!

Coupon Organization

Collect & organize your coupons for easy access at the store.

•  To build up your coupon stash, buy or get duplicate Sunday newspapers from friends, and checkout the internet for printable coupons.

•  Ask yourself these questions before clipping a coupon: Will my family use the product? Even if I snag it for free, will it get used? Can it be donated? Don’t save the coupon if you answer NO to all these questions.

•  Coupon organizers can be simple & economical: A standard white envelope or a homemade coupon box with index cards as dividers. A popular method and my favorite: A three-ring binder with divider pages for categories. You can purchase baseball card sleeves or they make coupon sleeves as well.

•  You can arrange your coupons alphabetically, by category, or keep your coupons unclipped and file by date of the ad circular. The only downside to the “ad circular” method is that you won’t have all your coupons on hand to snag unadvertised deals or clearance bargains.

•  Coupons have varying terms which state what items qualify for the discount, what size(s) you need to purchase, and the date the coupon expires. Some coupons say “Do not double,” but most will double automatically at the register if the store doubles coupons. Check out Hip2Save’s post “Be a Confident Shopperby Understanding Coupons”

Pick one or two stores; learn as much as you can about the store(s).
(Next week we will go through stores such as Piggly Wiggly, Pick N Save, and Target.)

• Join the store’s savings card program, if available.

• Access the store’s weekly ad circular online or in-store.

• Find out about the store’s rain-check policy and senior or military discount program, if applicable to your situation.

• Know the store’s coupon policy, if available, and keep a copy with you.

Now, you know where to get your coupons and how to organize them.  Next week, we will walk through how to best utilize these coupons at our local grocery stores.

Continue reading »]]> Why Coupon?

-To be good stewards of the resources God has given us, in order that we might be able to freely bless others.

Where can you find coupons?

1)  The Sunday Newspaper – Here is a list of the two papers we would recommend.  The Tribune will tend to have better coupons in it than the Kenosha News.  Also, getting 2-3 papers delivered would be very beneficial when it comes to being able to “stock-up” on different items.

Kenosha News Sunday paper $1.20
Chicago Tribune Sunday paper $1.00 (Use promo code X844) or $0.50 (Use promo code X443)
Call1-800-311-8500 or go online to  www.chicagotribune.com/savenow
*Dollar stores will sell newspapers from time to time, so you can always try there.  Check inside your newspaper though, to be sure the coupons are still there. (Yes… there are people who steal them.)

2)  Internet – This is a list of the most popular sites to find great internet printable coupons.

*Coupons.com
*Smartsouce.com
*Couponnetwork.com
*Redplum.com

3)  Coupon Mailers – Always be sure to check your “junk mail” for coupons.  There are great mailers from Target, Kohl’s, JC Penney, and many more stores.  You should always look through the coupons received in the ValuPak mailers.  Many times you will see coupons to local restaurants and grocery stores.

4)  Magazines – There are many magazines that have coupons in them.  One of the best magazines for finding coupons would be “All You.”  There are many high value coupons found in there.

5)  Store flyers – When looking through your store flyers, be sure to look out for coupons.  You will want to be sure to note whether a coupon is a manufacturer coupon or a store coupon.  This will be important when it comes to “stacking,” which we will talk in more detail about later.

6)  Inside boxes or on boxes of products – Believe it or not, I will actually scan the shelf of items that I am purchasing to see if there are any boxes or products with peel off coupons, coupons inside or on the box, or a hang tag with a coupon inside.  Many times these will be great high value coupons.  Keep an eye out!

7)  Loaded to your savings card – There are many stores and websites that will allow you to load coupons straight to your card.  These can be very beneficial if you have figured out a great way to keep track of what is on there.  I have yet to master this.  Stores like Jewel-Osco and Dominicks have a place on their site where you can load coupons to your card.  Another site that loads coupons to your various cards is www.savingstar.com.  On this site, you will load a coupon to your card and when you have purchased the products specified, you will receive a credit in your SavingStar account.  After you reach a certain dollar amount, you can cash out your savings straight to your bank or you can choose from many different gift cards offered.

Come back tomorrow to learn common coupon lingo, how to organize your coupons, and other helpful hints.

If you ever have questions regarding these “Clipping for His Kingdom” posts, please comment below. Thank you.

Continue reading »]]> Hello Ladies!  This segment is aimed to give you many ways to save on your grocery budget.  We want to provide ways to save for those who want nothing to do with coupons, all the way to those who would like to cut their budget in half or even more!  Our purpose is to use the income that God has given us in the most effective way possible.  We would like to teach you how to spend less so you can give more.  The giving is two-fold.  You will have extra money in your budget which can then be put to good use in God’s Kingdom.  You will also be able to be more missional by inviting others over for dinner and even make donations to different causes in the area.

We would like to give you a short bio from each of us, so you can see where we began and where we are at now.

Melanie:

My name is Melanie and I have been married to my best friend, Jason, going on twelve years now.  I’m a stay at home mom to our four kids, which prompted the stretching of a $1 as far as it would go.  We moved to Wisconsin four years ago and many things changed for us financially.  I realized very quickly that my $500 grocery budget was not enough and I knew I had to figure out a way to save more.  Its taken four years of success and failure but I have been able to cut our budget in half and then some.  I love being able to share with others these skills that God has allowed me to learn and put into practice. I’m looking forward to serving you on this blog.

Angie:

My name is Angie and I met my hubby in high school.  We have been married for almost five years now.  I am a stay at home mom to our three little girls.  When our family went from having two full time incomes down to one, there was some major budget changes needed.  I had just met Melanie when the time came where our grocery budget needed to change and she taught me the ways of couponing.  It cut our budget by about 65%.  I love being able to help others in need and I am planning to start making regular donations to places in Kenosha who are in need.  I am looking forward to sharing tips with you so that you can spend less in our current economy.

That’s just a little about us.  We hope that you will tune in next week when we will start with Couponing 101.

Continue reading »]]> I am passionate about our spiritual disciplines. First, the Word of God helps me to know the One who loves me more than anyone. Second, He has used His precious words to take a rank pagan who loved sin to one who loves Him and hopefully becomes more like His Son with each passing year.

We can’t go on, as Matt says, “being blind to our blindness’s”; We need the Word of God to point our sin out to us and then lead us to our High Priest who faithfully bore that very sin upon Himself. Most of us believe that since we are Christians we are free from sin’s enslaving power, yet we still carry the presence of sin. But in our heart of hearts, we can easily think of ourselves as really being pretty good. There is always someone to point to who looks a lot worse than we do, right? However, should we sit back, content with who we are, or should we press on to become more Christ-like? I believe that Jesus would have us press on, hard work though it may be. We have to be willing to look at what we don’t want to see and, heaven forbid, let others see. I don’t know about you, but I can go around being very happy to pat myself on the back thinking, wow I am sooo much better than I used to be. But then, I read the Bible and God shows me the sin that I must continue to put off.

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”

Ladies, we must train our minds and our hearts to look at our own sin rather than the sin of others. I was reading a blog the other day that was talking about how we, as wives, would rather point the finger at our husbands; after all, their sin is worse, right? Well to us anyway! And those of you who are single, the person whose sin is glaring to you. What we should be doing, sisters, is pointing the finger, first, at our own sin. We aren’t their Holy Spirit no matter how much we think that we are. And furthermore, despite popular belief, God does not need our help! I am not saying that from time to time, carefully choosing what we should point out,and how we should point it out, that we can’t confront our husbands/friends/family members (go easy ladies – we don’t want them confronting us on every little thing). But, I am saying that we will not be judged for their sin but for ours, therefore, our focus should be our sin that we will be judged for.

“A gospel that does not confront sin is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.” – John MacAuthur