Godzgear Girls: Aspiring Daughter

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 5 ~ Toys & Games

06:55:00

Hi everyone

Today I am back with the fifth and final part of my 'Peek Into My Hope Chest' series and this post will be looking at the toys and games that I have collected for my Hope Chest.

If you missed the first other posts in the series, you can go back and read them first if you wish.

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 1 ~ Kitchen Items

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 2 ~ Books

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 3 ~ Baby Clothes & Quilts

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 4 ~ Chinaware

Here we go...

The little plastic people at the right have quite a story to them. There are more of them, but these are just a sample to give you the idea. When I was little, we were browsing in an op shop one day and I picked out a bag full of these little plastic people which looked interesting to play with. The bagful was only a couple of dollars and my Mum liked them, so we bought them and brought them home. These simple toys became fast favorites and we spent hours playing with them as kids, creating colonies and reenacting time periods. They were tough, so they could be used outside, and they were small and quite, which made them the perfect toy to take along when we went visiting. Unfortunately, we lost our original plastic people when visiting one day and they were not seen again. Turns out they were a limited edition children's collectible set that had failed and been liquidized through op shops. A few years ago, we were reminiscing about the little people days and I went on a hunt to see if they could still be purchased. I was able to locate a used set for a reasonable price as someone was clearing out their stash. Soon these treasures were added to my hope chest.

The marbles at the back are a combination of some that my grandmother gave to me and some that were a present from my brother, both when I was little. I love the versatility of marbles and how classic they are. The little puppet dog on the right, who is missing an eye at the moment, was a craft that my Mum did with us kids when we were young as a spontaneous homeschool project.

These games are ones that I have collected in recent years. I like how playing a board game gets people together and interacting while having fun. The top two are just general board games and the bottom two are jigsaw puzzles, also another nice way to get people together. I prefer the 300-500 piece puzzles as they seem to take just the right amount of time to complete when you are working on the puzzle as a group. These two puzzles are the same size and very similar pictures so that they can be used for puzzle races.

The doll on the right is 45cm (18"), and is wearing an outfit that I made a while back. I like the idea of giving girls dolls that have the proportions of a girl, rather than the doll looking like a mini adult. The wooden plane is a biplane that I made with my Dad. The yellow yarn doll on the left is one that I made as a young girl and is nice and soft, small and quiet, making it a nice toy for younger children.

The fabric doll at the right is a traditional Russian style folk craft, which was given to me. The remaining items are traditional Dutch pieces that were my grandparents and great grandmother. I like the history they hole and want to pass that on to my kids one day.

So that's it, the final peek into my hope chest! I hope you enjoyed this series and are inspired to dig deeper into meaning practice and meaning of keeping a hope chest.

Until next time,

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If you would like to find out more about what a hope chest is, why to have one and how to start one, my ebook 'The Hope Chest List' answers all these questions and more.

‘The Hope Chest List‘ explains the purpose of the hope chest in the past historically, but also emphasises its relevance in the present and future. It inspires the young woman to think about the future but practice for it in the present. The ideas presented in this book have been carefully collected over time and are now available to inspire any young lady to be wise, resourceful and creative. Most of all, the young woman is encouraged in Godliness.

This book includes lists of items for the hope chest and lists of skills that a young lady might want to acquire. There are some great bonus extras that provide a great read and useful tips.

Download Here

Aspiring Daughter

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 4 ~ Chinaware

20:42:00

Hi everyone

Today I am back with the fourth part of my 'Peek Into My Hope Chest' series and this post will be looking at the chinaware that I have collected for my Hope Chest.

If you missed the first other posts in the series, you can go back and read them first if you wish.

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 1 ~ Kitchen Items

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 2 ~ Books

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 3 ~ Baby Clothes & Quilts

Here we go...

This set is one of my more recent additions that I got from a car boot sale that my sister and I happened to see as we were driving along on our way to meeting we had. We had some time to spare, so we stopped and were able to find some real treasures, this set being one of them. Blue and white are some of my favourite colours when it comes to china, so this was a nice find.

These cups were actually bought as two different sets from op shops (thrift stores) on opposite sides of the country. The first set I found at my local op shop for a couple of dollars and the second set I found when I was on a family holiday in another state in an op shop that we happened to drop into, also for a couple of dollars. I love the fact that they are a nice balance between being really feminine and plain. I don't mind if one of them breaks when I'm using it and they work out really well if I want to offer a tea cup to someone who is not really into 'girly' things. These cups can also make a great gift for a friend to go along with some of my yummy tea mixes.

The white plates actually came along with the blue and white set at the beginning, they just happened to be in the box when I bought the set. The pink and green rose set was a birthday present from a friend that knew that I have a hope chest and that I enjoy beautiful chinaware. The jug is especially beautiful.

Most of these blue and white chinaware items were bought when I was in Europe on holidays once and I had the opportunity to spend some time going to various local secondhand stores. Antique chinaware is so much more prevalent there and there were full sets of antique china in every shop that I went to, if not three or four sets. Although the sets were very well priced, due to weight and financial restrictions, I was only able to take home a few lovely pieces. The teapot is probably my favourite in this lot. I like the medium sized plates, as they work really well for serving afternoon teas or snacks on.

I love the idea of having lots of different teacups combined to make an eclectic sort of 'homespun' set. I was inspired by my grandmother, who kept a little collection of all different teacups that she used to let us use when we came to visit. Each teacup was different and each had a story to go with it. Well, every grandmother with teacups has to have gotten them at some time, so I guess I am getting a head start. These are the stories. The blue teacup and the red teacup at the back left, were ones that I brought home from Europe with me. The teacup with the pink rose at the back was the first teacup that I ever owned, a modern little 'made in china' version. The blue teacup at the back right and the red one at the front right were also brought home from Europe. The two floral teacups at the center front were gifts from my grandmother, passed down from her collection. They are some of my very favourites. The blue floral teacup at the front left was a birthday gift from good family friends. I love the colour and design of this teacup and it it probably one of the ones that I use the most.

The little crystal milk jug was gotten at a local market that happens monthly in our area. It was actually the result of a trade that we did with another stall holder who wanted to have one of the items we were selling. I think we both got a good swap. The silver plated sugar bowl was one that I found in the back of my mothers cupboard while tidying up one day. I polished it up and she gave it to me to add to my collection.

There are a few chinaware items in my hope chest that are not included in this post due to various reasons such as living in the kitchen rather than my actual chest or I just didn't get a chance to photograph the items before making this post.

So there you have it, another peek into my hope chest!

Until next time,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like to find out more about what a hope chest is, why to have one and how to start one, my ebook 'The Hope Chest List' answers all these questions and more.

This book includes lists of items for the hope chest and lists of skills that a young lady might want to acquire. There are some great bonus extras that provide a great read and useful tips.

Download Here

Aspiring Daughter

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 3 ~ Baby Clothes & Quilts

04:09:00

Hi everyone

Today I am back with the third part of my 'Peek Into My Hope Chest' series and this post will be looking at the baby clothes and quilts that I have collected for my Hope Chest.

If you missed the first two posts in the series, you can go back and read them first if you wish.

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 1 ~ Kitchen Items

A Peek Into My Hope Chest Part 2 ~ Books

Here we go...

The denim dress at the top left is one that I picked up at an op shop (thrift store for my US readers), and is almost identical to some of the little denim dresses that us girls used to wear when we were little. The denim is hard wearing, keeps you warm and stays looking good for a long time. The cream moleskin overalls in the top center were also picked up at an op shop and would make a lovely going out outfit for a little boy. The little denim overalls at the top right are a smaller size and made of a lighter material, perfect for summer play. They were given to me by a dear friend who knew that I had hope chest and thought of me the moment she saw them. The little pink crocheted outfit was bought when I was visiting a farm field day and saw a stall full of beautiful crocheted baby items. I had wanted something to remember the day by and this little beauty took the prize. It is a premmie size, so I am yet to know who will wear it. The little pink felt shoes are ones that I made. They are really simple to make and very light, which is nice for little feet. The navy dress at the bottom right and the little pink headband are items that I picked up from an op shop when they were on sale.

The toweling bibs at the bottom left are a gift from my grandmother. They are just like the bibs that she used on her own babies and these ones she had on had for her grandchildren. They are really soft and so easy to wash. The bibs on the right are ones that I made from recycled denim. They are very durable and are double sided, with a pretty cotton fabric on the other side. The little bundle of knitted squares are 'baby scrubbies'. I got the idea for these from this blog post. At the top of the photo is the lovely nursing cover that my sister made of me to put in my hope chest. She puts so much thought into making these and does a wonderful job.

The two blankets on the left were made by me after being inspired by one that my cousin made and then reading this blog post. Although I made mistakes on both of them, the design is very forgiving and they turned out super cute and comfortable. The crocheted blanket on the end was made for me by my grandmother when I was a child.

Quilts can be so pretty and versatile. They can be used on beds, to cover chairs, as wall hanging and as beautiful picnic rugs. I do not prefer to quilt myself, so I love it when I can pick up a beautiful quilt for a good price. The yellow patchwork quilt on the far left is one that was made for me by my grandmother, who is a quilter and made a quilt for each of her grandchildren. The blue quilt and the pink quilt next to it, were ones that I found at op shops for good prices and in great condition. The two remaining quilts on the far right are ones that I was given when a friend was passing on some of their baby things.

So that's it of the textile side of my hope chest. There may be a few other items, but they are serving their purpose in some other location in the house.

Until next time,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like to find out more about what a hope chest is, why to have one and how to start one, my ebook 'The Hope Chest List' answers all these questions and more.

This book includes lists of items for the hope chest and lists of skills that a young lady might want to acquire. There are some great bonus extras that provide a great read and useful tips.

Download Here

Aspiring Daughter

Jesus in the Boat

22:02:00

Have you heard the cliché, “Is Jesus in your Boat?” or “I pray that Jesus is in your boat?” I have.

I first heard it in a message that was preached by a pastor of a church. His message was basically that we needed to make sure that Jesus was in our boat so that we didn’t have to worry about our journey through life. He took it from the story of Jesus, with His disciples going across the Lake of Galilee in a boat. The true record of the event written in our Bibles (Mark chapter 4), tells how a terribly frightening storm blew in suddenly and the disciples, many of whom were seasoned fishermen on that particular Lake, became extremely fearful. Jesus, however, was fast asleep. The disciples awoke Him and He calmed the storm by His word of command and the water was still, the wind calmed. The disciples were astonished but Jesus said to them,

“Why are you so fearful? How is that you have no faith?”

You see, they had the Son of God with them, the Master of the Universe. They had no need to worry, because “Jesus was in the boat”.

But the saying that is going around isn’t “Jesus is in the boat”, it’s “Is Jesus in your boat?” That bothers me and this is why.

Who’s boat was it out there on the water of the Sea of Galilee? Was it the disciple’s boat or was it Jesus’ boat? Jesus was the Rabbi and the His disciples followed Him. If He said they were going across to the other side of the Lake, then they got in a boat and went across. They did what He wanted to do, when He wanted to do it, and they went where He was going. He was the Master.

I think it was Jesus’ boat. It was His plan and command to go in the boat to the other side of the Lake. The disciples were going with Him. He was not going with them. If this is the case, then we shouldn’t want Jesus in our boat but we should want to be in Jesus’ boat.

It is a common fault amongst us all, that we think we have great plans and so desperately want God to bless them. We want Jesus to be in our boat to bless our journey. But Jesus does not want this. He does not bless our journey. He is the Master and we must follow Him. We must be on His journey for our life. We must be in Jesus’ boat. Jesus never did anything of His own will but He constantly did His Father’s will. And so us, we must be doing the will of the Father.

We must be in Jesus’ boat.

Are you in Jesus’ boat? I hope so.

~~~~~~~

Written by our Dearest Mother

Aspiring Daughter

A Peek Inside My Hope Chest & An Exciting Announcement

05:29:00

Hi Everyone

Hope Chests are a favourite topic among Christian ladies of all ages. Everybody has a different view and perspective but, none the less, it's a fun topic. Today, and in the next couple of posts, I thought you might enjoy having a peek into what is in my hope chest.

I have divided the contents of my hope chest into different categories:

Kitchen Items
Baby Items
Chinaware
Toys and Games
Books
Miscellaneous Items

Today I will be showing you my Kitchen Items

I love getting into the kitchen and really appreciate a good kitchen tool. Each of the items in my collection has a story behind them. I'll show the items in groups and give their stories.

The 'Mason Cash' lookalike bowls at the back were a present from my grandmother on my 18th birthday. I love how big they are and the nice molding on the sides. The white dish in the front is a gift from my older sister and I love using the beautiful dish to make pies, peach cobblers and chocolate self-saucing pudding. The glass Pyrex pie dish is one that I found in a local thrift shop. I like the fact that it is made of clear glass which goes with everything and it was a great price.

The granite rolling pin was my grandmother's and was a present on my 20th birthday. I remember using my mother's marble rolling pin when I was younger before it broke. I love the weight of the rolling pin and how it does such a great job rolling out pastry. The egg beater, pastry cutter and potato masher were each brought from thrift stores over the year. They are all good quality and will last of years.

The two sets of cookie cutters, one set round and one set heart shaped, were again presents from my sister on another birthday. Can you see a trend here =). The cookie press was a gift from my parents and works really well with the cookie cutters. The piping bag was a gift from a good friend who wanted me to have a heavy duty one. It works really well. The digital scale was a gift from my grandmother. I use it nearly every day and it comes in so handy for everything from cooking to calculating postage.

The red oven mitts went along with the cookie cutters from my sister. The green pot holders were a gift from a friend who knew that I liked cooking and the blue pot holders were a gift from an older lady that I met on our travels overseas. The knitted dishcloth is one that I made from some nice soft wool that I had.

The tea towels were gifts from my cousin and my grandmother. The recipe box was a gift from older blind gentleman that we know that does woodworking. My sister added the stenciling and now I use it to hold my favourite recipes. I picked up the measuring cups up from a local home wares store when they had a big sale. I love how durable they are. The measuring spoons went along with the green pot holders above and are very handy.

The wooden cutting board was my mother's, but she gave it to me because I loved the 's' inscribed in it. The gray and red citrus juicer was an extra that my mum had and passed on to me. I bought the yellow citrus juicer at a local department store. The cake server was bought at a local thrift store. The spatulas were gifts from various friends and family.

That's it for the the kitchen items.

And now for the big announcement!!!

My new ebook 'The Hope Chest List' is almost ready for publication and will soon be released. It is full of great information on hope chests, what they are, where they come from and why you may or may not want to have one. More information coming soon!

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Aspiring Daughter

Homeschooling From a 15yr Old's Perspective

17:47:00

Hi all

This is an article that I wrote for a school project back when I was fifteen. I found it the other day and thought you might enjoy reading about homeschooling from a young person's perspective. If I were to write it again, I would add so much more, but to change it would spoil it I think. So here it is...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi

In the past, many people have rejected home schooling, worried that children would not receive the educational foundation needed to live in today’s world.

As a TAFE student who has been home schooled for over ten years, I can honestly testify to the immense benefits that home schooling provides. Today, not only will I be looking at the educational foundation, which was provided by the countless quality learning resources available on the internet and throughout Australia, but we will also be looking at other issues such as socialisation, emotional security and moral grounding, and see how home schooling dealt with them.

This is a student’s perspective.

Education and School Life

Although many people questioned the home schooling method, surprisingly, the quality of our education was not often the biggest problem for them. Maybe they presumed that education is education, regardless of the setting it is in, I don’t know.

Nevertheless, as a student, the benefits that home schooling gave me were huge. Firstly, with home schooling, there was no set studying time frame. You simply had an amount of work that needed to be done that day and when you got your work done, you had the rest of the day off. The time it took to get your work done was up to you, as you were the one who bore the results. This also meant that there was no huge pile of homework to come home to, certainly a good reason to study hard.

Secondly, having everything that you needed for studying right at hand was really nifty for us in that it kept Mum from having to make lunches every morning and it saved us from having to lug heavy backpacks back and forth from school. Spending so much time together as a family was great for us kids in that it strengthened our family bond and it taught us how solve our differences and how to build consistent and meaningful relationships.

Socialisation Skills

This is one of the biggest things that people tended to have against home schooling. I guess they thought that we would not get the relationship building and socialisation skills that we needed if we stayed poked up at home and were only required to communicate with the small circle of friends that we were comfortable with, becoming shy and withdrawn. In some rare cases, this can be true. But in our family, we as kids had an amazing life, full of mixing with people of all ages and from all walks of life and we, therefore, learnt how to relate to anyone and everyone we met. With the flexibility that home schooling allowed us, our family was able to go places and do things that normal schooling would have made impossible. While on our trips and excursions, we kids not only continued our schooling all the way, but we each formed a wide general knowledge. This knowledge, coupled with the respect that we learnt to have for our peers and our seniors, made us into more interesting and enjoyable children to be with.

Emotional Security

A child can only live and learn properly if they are emotionally secure, feeling safe, cared for and loved. In a traditional school, a child’s healthy desire to do their best can be undermined by the constant desire to be popular the other children who might not always think that there efforts are all that cool. This constant instability of importance with classmates can leave the child emotionally upset, fighting for attention and never feeling sure that they are loved. With home schooling, however, we knew that if we worked hard and did our best, we would be praised and not laughed at. Also, as we experienced the steady and firm guidelines, reinforced with love, we were able to rejoice in knowing that if we were patient and were responsible in our actions, we would receive the attention and appreciation that we needed.

Moral Grounding

In today’s average school, there are hundreds of kids with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs. In a world where anything goes, it is left up to the child to decide their moral beliefs and, with so many contradicting influences, the confused child often ends up opting for none, leaving you with a child that has no right or wrong and, therefore, cares nothing about what he does. With home schooling, we were taught what was right from the very beginning and we continued being taught as we grew up. Also, we had the opportunity to look into each claim and viewpoint in depth, not just hear people’s personal opinions.

In summary, home schooling provided us kids with a great education and the life skills that we needed and it did so in a way that was tailored to our individual strengths and weaknesses. Home schooling is a great alternative to the traditional schooling system. With the many home schooling aids and learning resources available, home schooling is not impossible. There are also structured curriculum guides available that correspond directly to the Australian Education Department’s requirements, making it an easy transition if, for some reason, you decide to put your children back into a normal school.

Home schooling in an amazing thing, give it a chance and you’ll be surprised at just how real these benefits are!

Aspiring Daughter

I have discovered something about honour and love

23:02:00

A husband can never earn honour from his wife, it has to be something freely given by the wife, by her choice and only with God’s enabling. Honour is not a thing, a noun, but an action. A wife must make a conscious choice to honour her husband daily, through her actions and speech, seeking God on how to do this.

A wife can never earn her husband’s love, it has to be freely given by the husband, by his choice and only with God’s enabling. Love is not a thing, a noun, but an action. A husband must make a conscious choice to love his wife each day through his actions and speech, seeking God on how to do this.

Just as our relationship to God is a daily choice and work, so is our relationship to each other. God is our no. 1 relationship which needs to be healthy in order for our no.2 relationship to work. Our no.2 relationship is the husband/wife relationship. If this relationship is sick, so will the rest of the family be sick.

The greatest gift parents can give to their children, is for the Dad to love their Mum, and for the Mum to honour their Dad. This commitment is not in word but in deed. It is not humanly possible and can only be done with the direction and enabling of their Heavenly Father.

Real love can never be earned, it is freely given. We can never earn God’s love, He gives it by His choice. God commands a husband to love his wife unconditionally, like the way He loves us.

Real honour can never be earned, it is God appointed. A husband can never earn such honour and he doesn’t have to. God has commanded the wife to honour her husband because He has made the position of husband to be over the wife.

This is all part of God’s wonderful design and order. It is such a blessed life to be able to function within this design and see God at work in the family unit.

We combat so many lies in this world, concerning submission ( honour) and love. Don’t even focus on any information other than what God is teaching us in His word. You will only detect the lie when you know the truth and when you live in the truth there is no room for the lie.

Written By Guest Blogger

Mrs Evelyn Hair

(Our Precious Mother)

Raising godly children, honour and love, respect, marriage, parents love, being a godly mother, being a godly father, a fathers love, a mothers love, family relationships, godly families, raising Christian children, serving your partner, serving your spouse, loving your husband, loving your wife, honouring your husband, family roles, god's design for family, women's submission, the issue of submission

About Us

Encouragement Through Letters

06:03:00

I remember well the Sunday I was first introduced to the idea of encouragement letter writing. At the time, I was thirteen and by no means a writer by nature. Today I couldn't tell you how or why the gentlemen sharing the message on that Sunday brought up the subject, but the idea of encouragement note writing struck accord with me and that very day a dear Christian girlfriend and myself decided we would write encouraging notes to each other on a weekly basis. We would take turns, she would write one week and I would reply the following week. God really used the little notes she sent me to encourage and challenge my walk with Him. The letters also draw us closer together as very dear friends to this day! The little notes were nothing super spiritual, we would share what Christ was teaching us and special moments that had happened that week. We would include bible verses that we had found encouraging. The was the beginning of my letter writing.

Over the years I have written these little encouragement notes to many people who God has brought into my life. Some have been dear friends, grandparents, family members and people I have been blessed by such as families that have hosted me while I travelled. These letters are sometimes just once off that received no reply, while others have sparked regular letters going back and forth. By God’s grace and guidance each letter contains encouraging words, exhorting each other in the ways of God and simply sharing the mercies and goodness of God. As each letter is read, it brings to mind precious memories causing us to rejoice in our Lord while also challenging us in obedience to Him.

The reason I am sharing this little story with you is in the hopes that you are challenged and encouraged to be an encouragement to others with God’s word and goodness through letter writing.

Letter writing is slowly fading away in our technological fast passed world. Sending encouraging notes doesn’t have to be written on paper, it could be in an email. I choose to write a physical 'ink on paper' letter because it feels personal and special to the receiver, but an email can be just as encouraging and thoughtful. I know that sending a letter is getting more expensive, but when it all boils down to it, the blessing of encouraging someone else in there walk with the Lord is priceless.

Writing letters or notes doesn’t have to be limited to those living abroad either. I have received so many beautiful notes filled with words of love, encouragement and biblical challenge from my mother over the years. I have been so blessed by her through this gesture.

One of the beautiful advantages of letter/note writing is it allows the reader time to soak in the words written without having to come up with a response right away. Sometimes when we are speaking with others and seeking to be an encouragement they may take offence thinking we are picking on them or telling them they are doing something in error. This can happen even when we seek the Lord in what and how we say things and try our best not to offend. On the contrary, when we put our words into a letter, the reader has time to think about our words in private and see how they apply to their own lives. Another beautiful thing is the letter writer has time to seek the Lord on how He would have them write to share or encourage the receiver.

This blog post is written with love and the prayer that you are blessed and encouraged to seek the Lord on how you might bless your family and those around you with letters of encouragement.

God Bless,

Written by

Letter writing, notes, journaling, diaries, encouragement, biblical encouragement, godly womanhood, biblical guidance, how to write a letter, sharing,how to share through letter writing, emailing, old fashioned letter writing, pen and paper, why I write letters, frugal living, raising a family, young ladies duties, godly daughters, mothers love,