Just a statement I came across about what William Wilberforce had to say about such issues, as a follow up to my post on ‘What School?‘, and the still exploding topic brought on, this time, by Pulpit magazine.

I have seen a letter of Wilberforce, probably dating from the 1790s, in which he advises a friend that the public schools are too damaging to a boy’s faith to make it wise for a Christian father to send a son to one of them.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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A thought to chew on at Clear Vision.

Sewing Saturday is a new feature I’m adding to the musings and random ramblings ‘from me’. I’m planning on making it a monthly feature, and will try to get a graphic designed before the next one is posted.

This month I want to share with you one of the easiest sewing projects you can make. It is a good place to start with a young child wanting to learn to sew with the machine.

A baby blanket is a fun project, as it can be used as a gift to bless someone else. Therefore you can make MANY of them, and never be run over by them in your own home. If you have a serger this project is even simpler, but a regular machine is great and easy too.

You will need nice (not too flimsy) 100% cotton flannel fabric. You can make your blanket 30" sq. (for a newborn) or 36" sq or 45" sq. We prefer the little bigger sizes as they make a nice favorite "blankey" that the child can use longer. Since this fabric will shrink, you need to buy more than your final size. I like to get 2 1/4 yd. for a 36" sq. or 2 3/4 yards for the 45" if I want the front and back to be the same (1 7/8 yd for 30").

I really prefer to do coordinating patterns, different design on front and back, but the designs go together. For that, get 1 1/8 yd of 2 different fabrics for the 36", or 1 3/8 yd each of 2 different fabrics for the 45" (1 yd each for 30").

Pre-shrink (wash and dry) the fabric (and iron if needed.)

Cut 2 squares the size you want your blanket to be. (The finished blanket actually will be a little smaller, if you’re using a regular sewing machine, as I’m not adding seam allowance to these.) Be sure to cut along the grain, you want a perfect 90° corner so your blanket will be truly square and not cockeyed. I like to use a rotary cutter and mat for cutting pieces like this. (Using the full width of the fabric and making your square to match that measurement is the easiest way.)

You can leave your corners square if you like, or you can round them. I prefer rounded, especially with a serger, but with a beginner and regular sewing machine you may just want to leave them square. To round the corners, put the 2 pieces of fabric directly on top of each other, right sides together if stitching by regular sewing machine, wrong sides together if using a serger. Place a plate in the corner with the edge of the plate exactly on the edges of the blanket. With a marking pen draw around the edge of the plate, then cut on your line, to round the corners.

If using a serger, pick a "pretty" thread - I usually like to use a variegated, "wooly" thread in the needles. Just stitch the sides together, sewing right on the edge (not cutting any off,) rounding the corners, and overlapping your stitching a bit when you get clear around. After cutting your threads, pull the ends to tighten and "seal" the stitching. You’re done!

If using a regular machine, use a 1/2" seam allowance and start stitching slightly past the middle of one of the sides, sew to the corner and turn, (or round each corner if you’ve cut them this way) clear around until you get back to your first side, but NOT all the way around. Leave an opening about 8" or so. Be sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of your sewing.

Turn blanket right side out and press edges, so the seam is nice and flat, tucking in the seam allowance of the opening. Hand stitch the opening closed. Top stitch, with a pretty coordinating color thread, completely around the blanket, 1/4" in from the edge. Now You’re Done!

My dd has enjoyed making these as baby gifts for her older sisters’ babies. They are such a nice, soft and pretty and useful gift. You can make matching washies (for bath or wiping bottoms) or hankies (don’t use kleenex on a little nose, these are much softer) or burp clothes (if the mom uses them) out of properly sized pieces of fabric, by either just serging edges, or making a small hem all around. I prefer double sided for all but the hankies. To do this follow the exact same instructions as the blanket, using a glass or smaller round for the corners.

Sew much fun!

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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We love Chili! When we greatly cut back our meat eating, we found it can be just as delicious without it. A friend (who doesn’t leave meat out) had already got me on to adding rice to it. Add a pan of cornbread with honey butter and a salad - yum, yum!

Lisa’s Good for You Naturally™ Chili Non-Carne

Rinse and Cook - until just soft, not mushy:

3 c. dried pinto beans (in at least 12 c. water)

Add:

1 c. brown rice (uncooked)

1 lg. can/jar (28-32 oz.) crushed tomatoes

1 lg. can/jar (28-32 oz.) diced (or whole) tomatoes

(or you can use all of either or 3-4 1# cans)

1 med. fresh chopped onion (or about 1/4 c. dried)

1 sm. (or 1/2 lg.) chopped green pepper

2 Tbl. (or more) chili powder

1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/2 tsp. dried minced garlic (or a couple cloves fresh)

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Simmer at least an hour, until rice is soft. Adding more water if necessary.

S&P as desired.

My dh prefers more cayenne and adds hot sauce (Tapitio) at the table too.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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I finally was able to read the article that has caused so much buzz in the blogging world this week. The Pulpit magazine article on Home, Private or Public School kept freezing up my browser, but I finally got it to work in a different one. The article was full of theological and educational confusion.

After stating that the pitfalls of public schools were "humanistic philosophies taught at the expense of biblical truth, ungodly teachers and classmates seeking to influence our children, and the absence of spiritual or moral considerations", the article goes on to say that Christian schools may not be able to offer the "quality and depth of education that public schools can offer" and that schools are "vital to a child’s overall development".

The article tells us to make our decision "using biblical principles" and "knowing the Word", but also tells us those things won’t determine which is right. It is (in their words) a decision made on a "case by case basis," "knowing the schools in your area, and knowing each of your children." What? Which is it? Does the Bible speak to this or not? If it does, what else do we need to know?

The article itself doesn’t say anything in particular for or against home education, but points the reader to a "helpful" 2 part article by a noted blogger on why he doesn’t homeschool or have his children in Christian school. The article begins by telling us its an area we have "freedom" in Christ in, and it’s an areas of "weaker and stronger Christians." What happened to using those biblical principles and knowing the Word? Oh yeah, the Word can’t make those decisions for you.

When Christian parents are given this kind of "advise" from Christian leaders, no wonder so many of them "struggle in determining what’s best for their children’s education."

For a more biblical perspective here is a link to a great response to the article by Richard Jones.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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What qualities are you looking for? The more I read the more I like the candidate we’ve chose to back. We began by looking for the best constitutionalist. It led us here - to the only constitutionalist running. The more I read, the more I believe we’ve made the right decision.

My friend Miiko has a nice list to introduce you to Ron Paul, if you’re going "Who?" Click on over and take a peek.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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Announcing! Friday Food - and Health Helps! Every Friday (Lord willing) I’ll post a Good for You - Naturally! recipe for a yummy food or homemade health help.

This week’s recipe is for Corn Chowder. I promised this one long ago, but the recipe was lost, and I couldn’t remember it off the top of my head, and when we found it I forgot about the post. We usually serve this with carrot and celery strips and oatmeal muffins with butter.

Lisa’s Good for You - Naturally!™ Corn Chowder

Cook in 6 c. water - until potatoes are soft:

4 c. cubed potatoes

1 med. chopped onion

1 sm. chopped green pepper (or 1/2 large)

Blend until smooth, with hand blender - or in regular blender (be careful!)

In a separate pan, make white sauce - heat:

1/2 c. butter

1 qt. rice milk

Mix thoroughly (in separate container) - I use a shaker:

1 c. fresh ground whole wheat flour

2 (more) c. rice milk

When butter/milk comes to a boil, whisk in the flour/milk. Simmer until thickened. Stirring often.

Stir in:

8 c. frozen corn

blended potato mixture

Heat through. Adding more water if necessary. S&P to taste.

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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See here for some of our favorite Vision Forum resources, and click the banner above to go to Vision Forum and at check out use the Coupon code: Vision

Coupon good until midnight Saturday Feb. 9, 2008.

Be Blessed!

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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"Warning: Offensive post to Sunday-only Christians ahead. Proceed with caution." Thus begins Scott Head’s post today at These are the Generations of...  on The Revival that the Church Doesn’t Know About.

"We struggle with discussing the issue of sound Biblical doctrine, multi-generational vision, family worship, Biblical gender roles and the like because we know it easily offends those who also claim Christ but for some reason or another do not hold to these teachings in scripture. We struggle with how to discuss these things without being perceived as prideful or "holier than thou", or haughty. But in all honesty, we can’t cease speaking what the Bible says just so we don’t offend. Truth offends, it cuts, it bruises. If we speak the truth in love, we still offend, and that’s hard to endure. There IS a problem in the church today, it is a big, giant, trumpeting elephant in the room that everyone sees, but no one will discuss, because it will rock the boat. There ARE a vast group of people who come to church every Sunday but sit there stone faced and un-saved. There ARE preachers who do not preach the Word of God in all its convicting and edifying strength, …."

It is worth a click on over there to read the whole post.

This is cross-posted here because it truly is "For the Family".

For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
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