… without child and without husband… so what did i do?
Wait, before i get to that, i didn’t dump them somewhere and go off gallivanting by myself. Husband was away on work trip and son had been invited to a sleepover at his best friend’s. So there i was… all alone for a full 24 hours over Friday evening till Saturday evening!
At first i couldn’t decide what to do; should i go watch a movie? Should i do some shopping? Should i work on the computer? Maybe blog a little? Catch up on emails?
Loving my newly organised craft boxes!
Well, i decided in the end that it would be a good opportunity to catch up on emails (which i had left pretty much unread since November 2012) and i also worked on my craft stuff. After all, if i’m to start a new venture with this craft thing, i had better start making stuff so i have something to showcase and sell, right?
And that’s what i did and it was strangely satisfying to see no new emails in my inbox (at least in two of three inboxes) and it felt wonderful to finish 3 pieces of craft.
Boring! Some might say. i should have gone out and had a ball. But i have mellowed over the years (yes, admitting age here) and i’m starting to realise mellow isn’t half bad…
And who says trying to launch something new isn’t exciting! So stay tuned for news of the craft store! (Fingers crossed and working hard, it may be only a couple of months till launch!)
syc
PS: i did have some crazy fun… stayed up till 4am in the morning watching movies and slept in till almost 11am… omg, unheard of since i can’t even remember when! 😉
That’s right – our target was met – prayers answered!
What prayers? What target?
11 year old Heath, is a cutie who needs his family asap.10 year old Heather, is a sweetie who needs a family asap.
Well, our church (International Church of Luzern) Youth’s fundraising project called Angels for Orphans had a target of CHF700. And it was met!
i proposed this project to our church Youth Leaders a couple of months back, when i felt led to do something more than pray for my little Heath and my lovely Heather. i had initially decided to do the fundraising by myself, but God prompted me to ask if this would be a project for the Youths. They said yes! So planning started; ideas and materials were gathered and tested. i settled on making a few simple crafts and baking cookies.
i had also wanted the Youths to come to know the power of prayer, the joy and the blessings of praying for others (even for people we didn’t know personally) and that our Lord God is mighty in answering prayers. This was something i wished i had as a youth and i wish for them to have it in their lives now – knowing this, truly, deeply knowing this would just make their uncharted journey through life a little easier.
So with that in mind, the Youth Coordinator and myself planned for the Angels for Orphans project to be introduced during a session where the Youths were studying about prayer. i was really nervous but survived (Thank God!) the rather time-constrained presentation (i could only present the project after they finished their session, which took most of the time). After which, i followed it up with 3 weeks of handouts, about Heath and Heather, about Reece’s Rainbow, about why God would want us to help the orphans, including also prayer pointers and websites of other teens who are doing their bit for these precious ones.
Then we had a Sunday morning of making the crafts. It went slower than expected but the teachers were supportive and the youths were happy to do the work. Some took home materials to work on as we didn’t get enough done that day. The following Sunday morning was focused on putting finishing touches and baking cookies. A couple of hours after that, it was Sale Time!
The cookies went the fastest! In the picture you only see one type of cookie, the other chocolate one was gone before i could even pull out the camera. The Angel Cards were also very popular. The Finger Puppet Angels were mainly bought by mothers or grandmothers for the kids. The Bell Angels (the little cardboard angels with bells in them) were harder to sell as people didn’t think them too practical (something to consider for the next project).
We are not a huge church, we are but a small family church; still, we managed to raise CHF415 🙂 Then we had a very generous offer – a couple said they would buy up all the remaining items and give a little above that, which allowed us to hit our target of CHF700! Praise the Lord!
Below are pictures of the table display and close-ups of all the items made and sold:
Table laden with goodies to sell…All the items we sold…
We (myself and the Youths) would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this fundraising project, whether in buying something or in helping to make the crafts/cookies. We will carry on praying for little Heath and lovely Heather, praying that this small amount we raised will help the family who finds them to reach them faster.
Solothurn, the Swiss town we live in, just finished its annual Fasnacht celebrations on Wednesday.
What is Fasnacht? Well, it is simply the Swiss Carnival – the one time in the year in which the Swiss let loose and go a little lot crazy! Like carnival all over the world, it’s a time for costumes and loud music and drinking and parades and just plain good o’ fun. Of course, there is tradition to consider and tradition says that all this isn’t just fun. It has a purpose – to scare away winter. But traditions in Switzerland are very localised so here in Solothurn they may say “scare away winter”, somewhere else, they would say “Welcoming Spring” – potato, po-ta-toe 😉
i simply enjoy how people are so into this Fasnacht affair. They – the serious ones – prepare months in advance, planning costumes and rehearsing songs with their Guggen Music Bands. Then they take to the streets in the wee hours of morning and party for the next few days! However, i do not enjoy crowds so i watch from the comforts of my living room on the telly. Here are some photos (which others have taken) for you to enjoy. Also a video.
Actually, this year i did more than watch it on TV. i made a costume this year! The last costume i made was a number of years ago when we went as spectators to the Children’s Parade in Bern with a friend. i painted a cardboard box blue, added tails and wings and Tobias went as a plane.
This time at school, the 1st and 2nd grade teachers had planned a party for the kids so they were to go in costume. Guess who Tobias wanted to go as… here are a couple of pictures to help you figure it out…
Isn't he just a cutie in those poses?
That’s right – Harry Potter!
We went around town looking for pre-made costumes and found only one shop selling a Harry Potter outfit. But my oh my! The costs! If i had bought the whole set (cloak and glasses and wand), it would have set us back some CHF70/. There was no way i was going to spend so much on something which is most likely only going to be worn a couple of times. But i didn’t have time to make (we were going on ski holiday). So the compromise – we bought the cloak, i made the wand, Daddy popped the lens out of an old pair of glasses and there we have the Harry Potter look completed.
Here’s a close-up of the glasses and the home-made wand (it’s made out of paper and glue and paint – here’s how).
Homemade Harry Potter Glasses and Wand
i was really quite pleased with the whole costume. Tobias was the only Harry Potter at the party – he was chaffed 😉 He also got to actually go to the “real” parade with a friend (Mummy had to stay home and finish her overdue German homework).
trippingdifferently 