Mar21

Joyful Celebration and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

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Today, March 20, is my birthday. I turn 67 years old today. I’m not one of those people who is afraid of getting old. I’m proud of my age because it’s proof of God’s work in my life. God has gotten me this far, and I give Him all the glory.

Today I’m going to start working on a counted cross stitch project that I purchased for my birthday. It’s a beautiful sampler from a company called Long Dog Samplers. Long Dog Samplers is based in Great Britain, and is owned by a woman named Julia Line. She’s the one who designs all the samplers, and every one of them is truly a work of art.

I actually bought three samplers from Long Dog Samplers. Originally I was going to buy five or six, but that would have been too expensive, so I whittled it down to three. The one I’m going to make first is called Plight of Fancy, and it looks like this:

Plight-of-Fancy

I was drawn to this sampler because of the vivid colors, plus samplers are my favorite kind of cross stitch. Julia (her friends call her Jools) got her inspiration for this sampler from 17th century European band samplers. I think it’s beautiful, don’t you?

I’m also going to do some reading, and I’m going to see if I can get some ice cream, which, given the current quarantine situation, should be an interesting endeavor. I’m going to see if I can order some Ben & Jerry’s pints. I have two favorite flavors: Boom Chocolatta Cookie Core, and Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Core.

Here’s a little update: there’s this company called Instacart where you can order and pay for your groceries online. Then one of their shoppers will go to one of the local markets, purchase your order for you, and deliver it to your home. So that’s what I did, and my order just arrived!

Way cool! Now I can celebrate my birthday with Ben & Jerry’s!

I think I’ll be using Instacart again. It’s so much easier than leaving and going to the store myself, especially now when everyone has to self-quarantine because of the coronavirus.

I want to end by listing what I’m grateful for. I have SOOO MUCH for which to be thankful!! First and foremost is the cross and Christ’s sacrifice for my sins. If it weren’t for Jesus dying on the cross for me, I would be dead, because one of my suicide attempts would have succeeded. I thank God that none of them did. I’m so glad to be alive that I can’t express it in words.

I’m also grateful for God’s Word. I love the Bible, and I fall more in love with it everytime I read it, because each time God shows me some new aspect of His character, or some fresh tidbit about the way different parts of it are connected to each other. He also shows me in many different ways how deeply He loves me, which is always healing to know.

The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward. ~ Psalm 19:7-11, NIV.

So on this anniversary of my birth I have much to be thankful for. I used to think my birthday was cursed because it’s usually on the first day of Spring. In the cult the first day of Spring is a fertility rite, and is celebrated as such. So I used to think that the cult planned my birthday to be on March 20th so I could be used for sexual purposes in the cult, and as a consequence I hated my birthday.

But in recent years God has shown me that He wanted me to be born on March 20th, because it is the first day of Spring, and it’s symbolic of the new birth in Christ. When I understood that I felt much better about it, and now I like the fact that my birthday is on the first day of Spring most years.

God is SOOO GOOD to me!!

God is good ALL the time!!

Filed under God Loves Me!, God's healing, God's Love, God's Word, Gratitude, Knowing God, Love, My Sinfulness, Salvation, Scripture, the Cross, The Love of God | 16 Comments

About sarahjesusnlily

My name is Sarah Abigail Kuriakos. I come from a background of extreme child abuse, and it almost destroyed my life. My mother tried to kill me while I was an infant, my father threatened to kill me if I told anyone what he was doing to me, and I tried suicide nine times as an adult. Fortunately, God had other plans, and none of the attempts on my life succeeded. The purpose of this blog is to chronicle the progress I'm making as God heals me from my childhood, while making sure that God is glorified in the process. I'm a voracious reader, and I enjoy crocheting, doing counted cross stitch, and creating art. I also enjoy playing with my cats, Solomon and Gracie, listening to Christian music, and watching movies. My favorite books are, first and foremost, The Holy Bible, then Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, The Count of Monte Cristo, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I also love Christian apologetics. The most important thing in my life is knowing and serving Jesus Christ, and telling people about His great love for them. People need to know that God loves them!

16 responses »

    • Hi Sally: Thanks for your comment. I love this particular cross stitch as well, but all the samplers from Long Dog Samplers are really lovely. There is something really elegant and beautiful about them that just delights my heart. And thank you for the birthday wishes! God is so good to me, and I had a wonderful birthday.

      Also, I love your blog! I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts. Keep on writing and please don’t stop!!

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      • I am happy you had a beautiful birthday ! I have done cross stitch in the past, and your post has inspired me to check out the samplers. I found cross stitch to be a very relaxing hobby. 🤗

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  2. Happy Birthday Sarah!
    The sampler is indeed beautiful. Love the fact you now see your birthday at the beginning of Spring as an analogy for how far God will bring the hurting. The people who have abused, trounced on, shamed, trafficked, anyone who has been shoved down in the mud by the world. A person can look to God and say “A new day is coming” “A new life” ‘A new dawn”. Just like the song. Or another song with the lyrics “Today is Friday’ but Sunday is coming soon”. I am so happy this is a your sign of the Resurrection and Sunday.
    Literally at this time and day, the whole world needs this idea. (As we are stuck or stranded in place, because of the virus and lockdowns) Its Friday, but Sunday is coming and with the new world that is going to emerge; with it may all see and respond to the revealed Glory of the Resurrection.

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  3. Thanks, Kim. I am so grateful to God for renewing my mind on the meaning of my birthday. I’d much rather see the way He sees it than the way the world ~ or worse, the cult ~ sees it. And I love your song lyrics. They go with this understanding perfectly.

    God good ALL the time!! I’m grateful for your friendship, Kim!!

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  4. Ok, I was gonna stop writing but you know how long winded I am……….Perpetual laryngitis 😉.
    Your post fits right in with Romans 6:4:

    We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death
    In order that-
    Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father
    We too may walk in the newness of life

    Then my minds eye goes to the tomb- Luke 24-6
    He is not there, He is risen!

    Back to songs, but you know Don Fransisco’s “He’s Alive” song? For me, there is a creation of a scene or Biblical imagination, which puts us in a time and place that is indicative of what God has ahead for us. Just picture them downcast coming to the tomb confused about what Mary said she saw. Scared to death. What happened? John ran ahead, believing a miracle, Peter in shame.
    Both were shown the miracle of the resurrection and Jesus appeared before them. (And Thomas was given what he needed too. )

    So sorrow becomes Joy, we all know who we are inside. Some people can hide it from themselves and others better than the average joe, but we all know. So now we come along with Peter and the resurrection relieves our pain, because now we KNOW we are forgiven and Heavens gates are open wide.

    Here is a link to the song

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  5. Ok, I was gonna stop writing but you know how long winded I am……….Perpetual laryngitis 😉.
    Your post fits right in with Romans 6:4:

    We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death
    In order that-
    Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Glory of the Father
    We too may walk in the newness of life

    Then my minds eye goes to the tomb- Luke 24-6
    He is not there, He is risen!

    Back to songs, but you know Don Fransisco’s “He’s Alive” song? For me, there is a creation of a scene or Biblical imagination, which puts us in a time and place that is indicative of what God has ahead for us. Just picture them downcast coming to the tomb confused about what Mary said she saw. Scared to death. What happened? John ran ahead, believing a miracle, Peter in shame.
    Both were shown the miracle of the resurrection and Jesus appeared before them. (And Thomas was given what he needed too. )

    So sorrow becomes Joy, we all know who we are inside. Some people can hide it from themselves and others better than the average joe, but we all know. So now we come along with Peter and the resurrection relieves our pain, because now we KNOW we are forgiven and Heavens gates are open wide.

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  6. I hope you’re able to do so, Sally! Here’s the URL for Long Dog Samplers: https://www.longdogsampler.com. Purchasing from them is pretty simple, as once you pay all you do is download a pdf of the chart for the sampler you’ve just bought onto your computer. Once you have the chart you can get the supplies you need and start cross stitching.

    There are other companies who make good samplers. Rosewood Manor is one of them, and here’s their URL: https://www.rosewoodxstitch.com/catalog.php?category=11&page=all

    I hope you’re able to start doing cross stitch again, and if you are, I’d love to see your work.

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  7. Blessings for your birthday, Sarah! My apologies that I’m a little late in sending this. May you experience God’s love to an even deeper measure this coming year and may His hand of protection and blessing be upon you always! Love, Helen.

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  8. My Dear Helen:

    I love that you commented, and it doesn’t bother me even a little bit that you’re late. I’m a firm believer in loooonnngg birthday celebrations, so I don’t think you were late at all. And thank you for your wonderful birthday blessing. While I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, with the advent of each new year, I always aim for exactly what you said here: to experience God’s love to an ever deeper measure in the coming year, and to know His hand of protection and blessing more and more deeply every day.

    I am eternally grateful to God for giving me you, my Peanuteer friends! All of you are the best gift anyone could ever have given me. Your support and encouragement mean everything to me

    So thank you for being my friend, and thank you for being you.

    Love and blessings,

    Sarah

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  9. Pingback: Of Thoughts and Knots | God's Not Through With Me Yet

    • Thank you! Can I assume from your user ID that you’re from New Zealand? If so, how cool! And I’m guessing that you’re a cross stitcher, also very cool. I’m guessing that you read my “About Me” statement. I too love cross stitch. My current passion is samplers, and especially Long Dog Samplers. Here’s the link to the website: https://www.longdogsampler.com

      Thank you for following me! I’m kind of new to the blogging world, so I don’t have many followers, but I’m thoroughly enjoying myself, and I love it when people comment. So thank you for all the likes to my posts, and thanks again for following me!

      Many blessings,

      Sarah

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