The Cake

For those of you who asked or may be interested in seeing the results of my wedding cake-making efforts last week, here’s how the ol’ girl looked after being assembled on-site…

God graciously answered the prayers regarding my sanity, and I was truly grateful that He allowed me to complete the project without experiencing any major disasters during the creation or delivery of the cake (unless you count the appearance of my kitchen, of course, but fortunately, that disaster was only temporary).

The bride and groom planned a beautiful outdoor wedding and reception in a setting where they would be surrounded by the autumn colors of the Blue Ridge Mountains. To go along with their rustic decor, they wanted the cake frosted with a rough buttercream finish that would resemble tree bark. I modeled the poppy out of gumpaste to coordinate with the fall colors and added a few branches to pull everything together.

While the exterior of a cake is important, we all know that it’s what’s inside that counts, right? The flavors of the three tiers included lemon cake with cream cheese filling, chocolate bourbon cake with chocolate buttercream filling, and natural velvet cake (dye-free red velvet) with cream cheese filling.

It was a great relief to hear the bride and groom say that they loved the way the cake had turned out. They are good friends of ours, and I considered it a privilege to play a small part in their special day.

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Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

Discipline toward holiness begins with the Word of God. Paul said, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The last item he mentions is training or discipline in doing righteousness. This is what the Scriptures will do for us if we use them.

Jay Adams says, “It is by willing, prayerful and persistent obedience to the requirements of the Scriptures that godly patterns are developed and come to be a part of us.”

We read in Scripture, “You were taught…to put off your old self…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). Where are we taught these things? Only in the Word of God.

Discipline toward holiness begins then with the Scriptures—with a disciplined plan for regular intake of the Scriptures and a disciplined plan for applying them to our daily lives.

~Jerry Bridges in The Pursuit of Holiness

Photo: OBMonkey

Finding the Savior in Sorrow

My sister Niki with her family and Evangelle

If you’ve visited Precious Adornment for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with my sister Niki whom I often mention. Over the past few years, the Lord has drawn her closer to Him through her experiences with various forms of suffering. I asked if she’d be willing to share some of the lessons learned through her pain and she graciously agreed.

Today’s post is from her…

My Story

Last Saturday was supposed to have been the day.  October 6, 2012—A day filled with joy and celebration—the day we would welcome a second precious child into our loving arms. But God had other plans. Instead, He chose to take our little one home to be with Him after 11 weeks of life in my womb. 

When Melissa asked me to consider sharing what God has taught me through the pain of miscarriage, I hesitated. I felt unqualified. The suffering I’ve faced seems to pale in comparison to the burdens I’ve witnessed within my circle of friends alone—years of infertility, multiple miscarriages, childhood cancer, the death of children or a spouse. But as my due date drew nearer, I felt the Holy Spirit nudging, gently stirring me to share my story, to tell others what He has taught me through this journey.

The Beginning of Sorrow

Three years ago, my husband Taaron and I welcomed our sweet daughter, Addison Jane, into our family. That was an incredibly joyous, but difficult day. The delivery was rough, to say the least, but at the end of 18 hours of labor, we were thrilled to meet our beautiful, healthy baby girl. Shortly after Addison’s birth, though, I began to experience what I thought were thought were postpartum complications—severe anxiety, fevers, flu-like symptoms, joint pains, shooting pains throughout my body, severe headaches, fatigue… 

When the symptoms persisted for months, I began to realize that something was wrong. After several doctor’s visits and medical tests, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and Lyme disease. Thankfully, the Lord provided two Lyme disease specialists who were able to help me significantly. Still, though, the doctors informed us that we needed to wait before trying to have another baby. Lyme disease has an almost unending list of complications, including a higher rate of birth deformities, stillbirth, and miscarriage. So, we waited. 

An Unexpected Blessing

As Addison approached 3 years of age and I approached 32, I began to wonder if the Lord would ever allow me to have more children. At the beginning of this year, my husband and I were surprised and thrilled to discover that baby number two would enter our family around October 6^th. When my blood work showed drastic improvement for the first time in my almost 3 year battle with Lyme, we were overjoyed!  We felt confident that this was God’s timing. It seemed He was healing my body and allowing me to bear another child. 

During my six-week ultrasound, we saw that tiny little blip on the screen indicating that a precious life now resided inside of me. What a blessing. We decided to wait, as many couples do, until the first trimester was over before making our big announcement—just in case. At eleven weeks, we returned for the next ultrasound with plans to announce our happy news to friends and family just after the appointment.

However, as I lay on the table anxiously searching the screen for that tiny heartbeat, I knew almost immediately what had happened. Our sweet little one was with Jesus. Pain filled my heart and tears filled my eyes as I tried to hold it together until we made it out of the doctor’s office. 

Peace in the Pain

So often in my Christian walk, I’ve heard believers talk about the “peace that passes all understanding” in times of suffering. For the first time in my life, I felt that peace. Though the pain has been great, I have come to understand that God’s grace is greater. His peace is real. Jesus is enough. I think this is something you simply can’t understand until you’ve experienced it yourself. All I can say is that it was as though God was holding me in His everlasting arms while I mourned the loss of our precious child. 

As I type these words, I am so aware that many of you can relate to my story. Many of you have faced this pain. Some of you have faced far worse. Miscarriage produces a strange rollercoaster of emotions.

For the past seven months, I have been mostly ok. But then there are those days—those days when you wonder what your baby would have looked like. The days that you long to hold that sweet little one in your arms and kiss his or her face. The days when you think about the life your child would have lived. It is on those days that God has carried me and encouraged my heart through what I like to call little breadcrumbs from His Word.

Heart-Steadying Truths

Addison and I have been slowly reading through the book of John for the past few months. Never before have I noticed how much Jesus emphasized the concept that He is ALL we need. He is the bread of life. He is living water. He is the great I AM. These are truths I’ve heard for as long as I can remember, but I’m not sure I ever fully understood. 

A few weeks ago, I was having an especially difficult day with Lyme symptoms and sadness over the miscarriage. “Coincidentally,” Melissa posted this devotional from Joni Eareckson Tada on the very same morning that I had read the same passage Joni mentions from the book of John:

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26) 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to say with the psalmist, “God, I am full! I’m stuffed full of blessings and I can’t think of anything else I desire on earth besides you.” Oh, to be that satisfied.

When you become satiated in Christ, it is evidence that contentment has the definite upper hand in your heart. When Jesus says to you, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry,” he is talking about gratification of the soul (John 6:35).

To be satisfied in Christ means being full. Never wanting more. We need not ever be hungry for “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). The role of the Word of God is to feed faith’s appetite for Christ.

The All-Sufficient Savior

Jesus knew we would face times of immense suffering here on this earth because He faced the worst suffering of anyone. He knew we would sometimes feel abandoned and alone. He knew we would need to be constantly reminded that HE IS ENOUGH.

Jesus never promised us that this life would be easy.  In fact, He tells us just the opposite in John 16:33: “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” 

What a comfort! Life is hard. Suffering is real. This world brings pain, but JESUS IS ENOUGH!

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Someone has said that, “To most people, the greatest persons in the universe are themselves. Their lives are made up of endless variations on the word me.”

Our instinctive reaction to life is self-centered: How does this affect me? Will this make me happy? Why did this happen to me? It’s not enough to be the center of our own universe. We also want to be the center of everyone else’s universe—including God’s.

The apostle Paul understood that God doesn’t exist for us but that we exist for Him. We need to be reminded of these words from Colossians: “All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together…that in everything he might be preeminent” (1:16-18).

If you’re tempted to think, “me, me, me” today, would you shift your focus
to Him?

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in “Me, Me, Me”

Photo: OBMonkey

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I remember years ago when Dr. John MacArthur began a sermon with the simple question, “Where do we begin discipline? Well, we were all expecting to hear something deep and profound, but Dr. MacArthur simply said,“Begin discipline by… cleaning your room!”

Sounds kind of silly at first but, is it possible that—in all the pursuit of the disciplined life—we focus our eyes on larger-than-life goals? We take on three jobs at church. We get up at 4:00 AM every morning for devotions.

Now, all of these are worthy, but we may be overlooking the more immediate and obvious things. After all, Luke chapter 16 says that “if you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.”

Let’s be faithful in the “little” things—holding back our tongue, being on time to appointments, cleaning our messy rooms. That’s where discipline begins.

~Joni Eareckson Tada in “Where Discipline Begins“

Photo: OBMonkey

Straight Talk on Sexual Purity

This weekend, I’m looking forward to participating in what has become something of a rare event in the world today—the wedding celebration of a young man and woman who by God’s grace have saved the gift of their sexual purity for one another. 

Praise the Lord, purity is still possible!

In this video from Desiring God, Kevin DeYoung answers an age-old question about dating. I appreciate his willingness to point out the Scripture’s high call to holiness in a time when so many in the church have embraced the world’s standards for dating relationships.

This would be a good video to share with the Christian singles you know…

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What memories are you making in your domestic domain? Each home has its own distinct environment. Does yours speak of the Creator of the universe?

Are peace and beauty and comfort and welcome to be found there? Is communication clear and kind, leaving room for criticism without allowing anyone to be crushed through cruel or angry outbursts? When hurt and resentment flare up, are there legitimate ways to express it while still keeping a guard over one’s mouth (Psalm 141:3)? Can people be honest without injuring one another unfairly (Ephesians 4:25-27)?

The fearlessly feminine woman sets an example for her household to follow. She knows there are some things that must never be said no matter what the level of frustration or anger. What memories are being formed in the environment of your home? Children should learn kindness, compassion, and self-control at home. When they don’t, schools and communities are forced to pick up the pieces of their cruel, selfish, and uncontrolled behavior…

Don’t make your home just another item on your “to do” list. God calls you to devote yourself to your home above any career. If you are too busy to manage it well, who will do it?

~Jani Ortlund in Fearlessly Feminine

Photo: OBMonkey

Proverbs 31-Inspired Baking

I want to be like the noble woman of Proverbs 31, I really do, but I have to admit I’ve always felt somewhat hindered by a few of her outstanding character traits. In addition to that whole early-rising thing (although Evangelle is certainly helping me in that area!), I’ve also found her business savvy to be just a tad bit intimidating.

I don’t know anything about real estate or which fields would be worth buying. I think my sad little overgrown garden serves as sufficient proof that I lack the skills necessary for planting and tending a vineyard. And although I have taken a few sewing lessons, I’m still a long way from being able to sew linen garments or sashes that anyone would be willing to buy.

But…I have discovered in recent years that I do enjoy baking and decorating cakes. Maybe I could do something Proverbs 31-ish with that?

With that thought in mind, I’ve begun taking steps to turn my hobby into a little side business (probably very little). While I worked on getting the necessary license for selling cakes from home, I gave my friends the opportunity to help me expand my cake decorating portfolio by making their cakes at cost, and a few of them were kind enough to help me out.

Here are a few photos showing the fruits of my labor… 

Birthday cake for a young man

For a grasshopper-themed baby shower

This one was just for fun so I could try some new techniques

For a 2 year-old who loves trains

For a German Chocolate lover

A special cake for the 90th birthday of a WW2 veteran

A sweet 16 cake for a young lady who enjoys music

This week, I’m excited about having the opportunity to make a wedding cake for some dear friends who are getting married this coming Saturday. It should be fun, but a wedding cake is also a big responsibility.

Prayers for my sanity will be much appreciated!

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If you have been blessed with children, you know that gratitude—like most every other character trait—doesn’t come naturally for them. But few things are more remarkable (and unusual) in children today than when they’re known for their thankful, contented spirit. It is a quality worth every ounce of effort we make to instill it in them.

And while teaching and instruction have their place in growing gratitude in our kids, the best teacher of all (of course) is our example. Do your children hear you thank your husband when he tackles a home repair job or gets the car lubed?

Do they hear you express gratitude to the Lord and to others for both little and big things throughout the day? Do you tell them how grateful you are for their dad, for your church and your pastor, for their teachers, for the house the Lord has provided for your family, for good health, and for God’s abundant blessings to your family?

Conversely, do they hear you grumble when your husband delays dinner by needing to see one extra client or when you get a flat tire or the sun doesn’t come out for a week?

Gratitude joins many other important virtues that are more effectively caught than taught. How contagious are you, especially at home?

~Nancy Leigh DeMoss in Choosing Gratitude

Photo: OBMonkey

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Is there anyone reading this who is not faced with a perplexity of some sort? Some of you face serious dilemmas. We want to pray, “Lord, please remove the dilemma.” Usually the answer is “No, not right away.” We must face it, pray over it, think about it, wait on the Lord, make a choice. Sometimes it is an excruciating choice…

Paul said he had been “very thoroughly initiated into the human lot with all its ups and downs” (Philippians 4:12, NEB). He was hard-pressed, bewildered, persecuted, and struck down.

God in His mercy did not choose to remove the dilemmas with which he was faced (some of His greatest mercies are His refusals), but chose instead to make Himself known to Paul because of them, in ways which would strengthen his faith and make him a strengthener and an instrument of peace to the rest of us…

Paul goes on to say:

“It is for your sake that all things are ordered, so that, as the abounding grace of God is shared by more and more, the greater may be the chorus of thanksgiving that ascends to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15, NEB).

Maybe Paul’s testimony, which has cheered countless millions, will cheer somebody who still faces a dilemma he has begged the Lord to remove. All of Paul’s were solved, but not all of them in Paul’s way or Paul’s time, Selah.

~Elisabeth Elliot in “Lord, Please Remove the Dilemma,” September 27 Daily Devotional

Photo: OBMonkey

Working Out the Wobbles

Our little girl is turning into a big girl far too quickly!

Over the last couple of weeks, she’s been working on moving away from all fours to getting around on her own two feet.

Those are small steps for Evangelle, and a giant leap for the Griffins!

Anybody know where I can start buying energy in bulk?

Beauty Supplements

Your daily dose of true beauty advice…

One of the most comforting scriptures I know is from Psalm 56 where it says, “[God], you keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”

I love that image. Not one tear of yours has escaped the attention of your loving God. He has numbered them and collected them.

And what’s more, He’ll wipe away not just all, but every one of your tears. Because each single tear represents some different sorrow, some unique grief you’ve gone through: maybe the death of a loved one, or a divorce you weren’t expecting, or a life-altering illness.

Each grief is different, and the Bible says that God will atone for every solitary tear. Each one has meaning. So when times of weeping come your way, prepare yourself with these assurances from God’s Word. No tear will be wasted.

~Joni Eareckson Tada in “No Tear Wasted 2“

Photo: OBMonkey

Looking Back at True Woman ’12

I have to be honest. Life after True Woman ’12 is an adjustment.

After a busy and exciting weekend, I’m back home in North Carolina thinking fondly of all that occurred in Indianapolis. There, I had a Starbucks downstairs and an Einstein’s Bagels within walking distance, live worship music each morning with Keith and Kristyn Getty, inspiring teaching, and girl talk throughout the day.

Here at home, back on my gluten and dairy-free diet, listening to podcasts and Getty CDs, and trying to converse with my 16 month-old, things just aren’t the same somehow. But as I scrape bug parts out of my daughter’s mouth one more time, I’m reminded of Nancy Leigh DeMoss’s encouragement at the close of True Woman ’12, “The God of glory in the mountaintop is still the God of grace in the valley.”

True Woman ’12 was a mountaintop experience, and my life here in the everyday is better because of it.  

With the help of the True Woman photographers, I want to take a look back at some of the sweet moments we enjoyed last weekend…

On opening night, in light of the conference theme “Seeking Him Together for Spiritual Awakening,” Nancy provided us with a challenging message on what it truly means to seek the Lord.

The auditorium was filled with over 8,000 enthusiastic and eager listeners.

For me, this was one of the conference’s most powerful moments. Upon arrival, each lady at True Woman ’12 received a tote bag with conference materials and other items. As I looked through mine, I found a little strip of construction paper with a handwritten note that looked like a prayer request.

During the first night’s session, we learned that every tote bag contained one of these pieces of paper. They were links of a handmade prayer chain that had been put together by a special group of women in the McPherson Women’s Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction.

As the True Woman volunteers stretched the completed prayer chain up and down the aisles throughout the auditorium, we were told that inmates who had come to faith in Christ had spent the last few months writing out prayers by name for each woman who would attend True Woman ’12.

I doubt there were many dry eyes in the Indiana Convention Center as we thought about women who were physically behind bars praying that we would experience true spiritual freedom at True Woman.

But I know there couldn’t have been any dry eyes left when the screen overhead switched to show us that the women who created the prayer chain were actually watching True Woman ’12 via live stream at that very moment. It probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the crowd at True Woman went wild with joy at the sight. It was a sweet moment.

Prayer was a constant emphasis throughout the weekend at True Woman. The conference planners designated prayer rooms in the Convention Center so women could easily find a quiet place to respond to the teaching they’d learned and take their concerns to the Lord. Each morning also began with early morning prayer sessions which were filled with participants.

More than once during the main sessions, we were led together in corporate prayer, and it wasn’t unusual to see women stopping in the halls to pray with one another as the weekend progressed.

The reading and signing of the True Woman Manifesto is a conference tradition. 

This weekend, women were given the opportunity to affirm their belief in the biblical truths expressed in the Manifesto by coming to the front of the auditorium to add their signature to one of two enormous copies of the document.

It was wonderful to see and hear from Joni Eareckson Tada on Friday night during her message on Forgiveness. There’s never a time when Joni speaks that I’m not encouraged, challenged, and convicted. Her life is such a tremendous testimony of God’s grace in suffering!

For one of the breakout sessions, she did a Q & A interview with Nancy on a lifetime of walking with Jesus.

I wasn’t in that session, but I heard it was wonderful. I’m looking forward to listening to the audio which will be posted soon along with the other conference messages HERE.

There’s so much more that could be said about True Woman ’12, but it’s just one of those things that you really have to experience yourself to understand. 

If you didn’t make it to Indianapolis last weekend, maybe I’ll see you at True Woman ’14? I can promise you, it will be a wonderful weekend you won’t soon forget.

If you were there, I’d love to hear from you. What were your favorite moments from True Woman ’12?

Getty CD Giveaway Winner

I’m so excited that I have the chance to send a taste of True Woman ’12 worship home with one of my readers. It’s still 2 weeks until the official release date of Keith & Kristyn Getty’s new album, Hymns for the Christian Life,  but I get to give away a copy today!

According to Random.org, the winning comment was…

 

 

Comment #8 which was posted by Veronica Warden.

 

 

Congratulations, Veronica! You’ll soon have 12 new Keith & Kristyn Getty songs to add to your list of favorites.

For the rest of us, October 9th will be here soon. Don’t forget to get a copy of the album then. If you order through Amazon, you’ll get an even better deal than the price offered at True Woman!

CD Givewaway: Keith and Kristyn Getty’s Hymns for the Christian Life

In just a few minutes, my friends and I will head down to the Indiana Convention Center to enjoy the last session of True Woman ’12. What a weekend it’s been!

Undoubtedly, a major highlight of this conference for most of the women here has been having Keith and Kristyn Getty present to lead in worship through their beautiful music. True Woman just wouldn’t be the same without them!

In the following video, Paula Hendricks of Revive Our Hearts took a few moments to chat with Keith and Kristyn about True Woman conferences, music, parenthood, and their new album…

As the Gettys mentioned, their new album Hymns for the Christian Life isn’t available for purchase yet, unless you happen to be here at True Woman ’12, and as I mentioned, I am here, so…

Would you like the chance to win a copy of the album?

Of course you would! To enter for a chance to win, add a comment to this post telling me what your favorite Keith and Kristyn Getty song is before midnight tomorrow night (EST). I’ll use Random.org to choose a winning comment and announce the winner on Monday morning.

Learn more about the new album at Keith and Kristyn’s website.