The Wedding Gown

My friends, thank you for your patience while waiting for my post about the wedding gown. 
This project has been in the works since the week after the wedding and  I hope you find it worth the wait.
This slide show will take over twelve minutes, and you will want to have the audio turned on.
 

The Wedding Gown

by Sharon Castlebury

Why must you, Bride, put on this gown

On this, your wedding day?

Why go to all the effort, Dear,

And stitch our hearts away?

Although I'm sure you'd look quite smart

In some gown off the rack,

'Twould save us time and effort great

To choose that easy track.

I'll tell you Dear, this dress is more

Than just a wedding gown,

For in its folds a tale is told;

Your story in it is found.

The dress began when you were born,

For hopes and dreams inspired it.

Each pattern piece was alterred so

A robe of Heaven you'd fit.

The fabric was beyond compare-

Your heart was made clean and pure;

"Twas cut out very carefully;

God's trimming hand was sure.

The pieces we did pin and fit-

The pain you felt was real;

But as the stitches were put in

How humbly you did yield.

At time we made real mistakes

So we ripped out then re-sewed.

The new seam that we stitched back in

Was nobler far we know.

The lovely dress was almost done

Except for one more thing

To try it on . . . how does it fit?

Will it make His heart sing?

You tried it on, it fit you like

An angel had sewn for you!
It was a perfect picture frame

Of the woman God made-it's true!

As you wore it on your wedding day

It made me start to cry,

To know that every stitch we took

Was another step in your life.

So, Darling as we think upon 

the time that's traveled past,

The years we spent in joy and tears

Were fashioning you at last

To be the one to pass the torch
to daughters in your line.
My Dear, remember, construct her dress

With care as we did thine.

A Birthday Celebration For Martha

Today is my friend, Martha's birthday.

I've know her since Ashley was an infant, so we go waay back!

She is the mother of eleven children: plus me.

She has been my mentor for many years, although I exceed her in age by one.

Sawyer wanted to give her a birthday present, but all he had was his old, worn-out pair of boots.

(Daddy had just the day before gone to TSC and bought him a new pair).
Only Martha would enjoy such a gift given by a little boy!

Martha had a picnic at her house yesterday to celebrate her birthday. It was the Kendalls and us, so we were so happy to help celebrate. The boys all had a great time!

Here's Avery. Notice that Sawyer is wearing his new boots!

Aren't they cute?

These words are on the wall over Martha's dining table in her new house.
These words describe Martha's life~ strengthened. . . blessed. . . peace. . . filled.

Such feminine beauty graces Martha's soon-to-be-finished kitchen. What a memory for you, Martha.

She's everyone's Marmee.


Happy, happy birthday, my dear!

Bridal Showers

How blessed we have been with wonderful friends.
How we love the ladies that have been part of our lives.

The ladies at church were the first to give Ashley a bridal shower.
We enjoyed a lovely evening with these dear friends.

Here we are!

The second shower was given by the Kendall ladies of Greenville.

Everything was beautiful.

Christiana made most of the food. It was delicious.

Many of these ladies we hadn't seen in a loooong time.

Bethany (with Haviland peeking from behind her), Ashley, Christianna, Chelsey.

Christiana made a beautiful monogrammed pillow worked in shadow work.

Three Aprons

I've often wondered what it would be like to have a sister. I find myself wistfully studying sisters together, and notice there is often something very special between them. My poor little daughter, is also sister less, as was my Mother. It seems to run in the family! Hopefully, this trend will be broken one day!



For a family of eight, you would expect there to be more aprons hanging in the pantry than just two ~ Ashley's and my own. Now since Thelma has been visiting, we have added another one!


Speaking of aprons, I found some old ones recently at the local thrift store. The creative designs of these utilitarian garments is a testament to the resourcefulness of the homemakers who made them.

This one is made just like the one above. There is a little pocket concealed here on the sides.

This is a long border printed fabric.

Don't you love the pocket?


A pretty tie. I suspect these aprons are from the 1960's, if not a bit later.

This is a fancy one! It is ruffled with cotton organdy.

It's pink bias binding adds a special touch.

Ah cotton organdy! Nothing stands out like it!
I have a couple more to show you when time permits.

I wanted to give you a little peek at Marmee's new calendar for 2009! It is full of sweet family images that are sure to cheer you.

There is usually a receipt for the month, and some sweet poem or verse. If you have room for a very large calendar, you will like this one!

Special touches.


Thank you for visiting!

The Story of Hamlin

This past Monday, my dear little one turned three years of age. It only seems like yesterday when he was just a wee infant in my arms, helpless and vulnerable.

Now he runs about under a full head of steam! But still, he has that sweet innocence of baby-hood.



Every time I look into his sweet face, I am reminded that God DOES hear my prayers and that He delights in answering them. I'm reminded that there is nothing too hard for Him.



There is a bit of a story here, and I would like to share it with you.

There was a time in my life when I struggled with an independent rebellious spirit against God and his plan for me as a wife and mother. We can go to the book of Genesis and read how He made Eve to complete Adam~ to be his help meet. We can also read how he made her suitable
to the care and nurturing of children.



I had never given much thought to what it means to be a wife and mother. Life was OK until I decided (in my rebellion) that I was through having babies! Enough was enough! No more children! My hands were full. The End.



Soon I became aware that our family had problems, and they were bigger than I realized. I began to really seek solutions from the Lord.



But first, He began to show me even more problems; those within myself. I began reading my Bible; for the first time in my life I was looking for God.



I also began reading No Greater Joy, and of course Mike and Debbie Pearl always lay it out on the line, not sparing for any one's delicate feelings! From there I went to the only book I had ever heard of at the time regarding the role of the woman. (Me, Obey Him)

I was searching for something that I was unable to find in our feministic culture~ I needed to know how God designed my life to work. I needed Him. I was willing to do whatever it took to get on track.



He began showing me that I was trying to be in control. He showed me that I could never expect my children to be anything that I was not willing to be myself. Ouch.

I began to realize that I must spend much time with God. I must be in His word, seeking Him as for hid treasure. I confess that reading the Bible had always been difficult because I couldn't understand it. But because I had a need to understand it, I sought to understand it.

I also must be God's friend, by praying. Nothing fancy, just learning to adore Him and NOTICE the blessings. Simple things, like the lovely yellow, red and orange, in the leaves that fall; a hug from your child; the kiss of love from your husband; the headache that you don't have today but did yesterday.

It did take time. But the more time I spent with the Lord in the quiet of the morning, the more I was able to understand what I was reading!

It became joyous to open the pages and understand! Our Pastor taught us that the Bible is not hard to understand; it is hard to obey! The real test is what you do with it.

It took a lot of years for my to grow out of my cultural thinking. It has taken even longer to begin to win battles withing my own heart. Self-centered thinking isn't changed overnight, but by God's grace, He is able to transform us into the image of His own Son, Jesus.

During these years, I began to realize that children really are a gift. God is the giver of life, not us. But I have to confess that I wanted to limited these "gifts" because of all it would cost me: my strength, my interests (sewing gardening), my life (fun with the girls, oportunities to do things I enjoyed doing-alone!), my reputation (what will people think of me).

I was really afraid I couldn't handle all the demands. And the truth is, I couldn't. Especially theway I was. What I have had to learn is that God's strength is always made perfect in my weakness.

When our then youngest child was about eight, we began to realize our reasons for limiting our family size was based on our own selfishness. We realized we were not embracing the opportunity to bring up potential servants of Christ, nor had we been willing to love them and give of ourselves for their benefit as Christ gave of Himself.

The Lord gave us the opportunity to undo the decision not to have children. We then prayed for another child. After nearly a year, the Lord blessed us and we found out we were expecting!
At the age of 47, I gave birth to our sixth child, Sawyer Hamlin. I know that God answers prayer!

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree:
he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be fat and flourishing;
To shew that the Lord is upright:
he is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in him."