Courtship - Real Life Part 1

Our (the parent's) version of courtship would have gone along the lines of - Guy and girl are friendly - guy decides an extra interest in girl, but does not yet express that to the girl - guy gets to know family, and especially dad - guy asks dad if he can court daughter - dad asks daughter if she is interested - if she says she is interested then guy and girl begin to get to know each other with a purpose to determine if they are right for each other for a future marriage.

The real life version was different. Be prepared for God to change things up.

The Princess and James had a college class together. James is a wonderful Christian young man, but he is clueless about courtship. Hannah has always promised she would accept no date with any young man unless they first talked to her dad. She was semi-clueless about courtship in spite of all our instruction. She knew step 1 (talk to my dad) and that is about it - but it was enough, thankfully, to get us headed in the right direction.

[In her defense, she later claimed that even though this was often a topic of conversation between us, and in other settings - it never directly related to her, so she barely paid it any heed. She is like that...]

So James began working on developing a friendship with Hannah. For several weeks Hannah was pretty oblivious and just thought he was a nice guy. Then there was the week he just showed up at her church service where she played in the orchestra. That was clue number 1 that something was different. What I liked was that because Hannah and I have a very good relationship she was calling me almost daily asking input on what she saw and how she should respond. I tend to not just tell her what she should do, but I hope I effectively guided her by helping to clear some of the fog. For instance when she mentioned he had just shown up at her church - what did that mean? I assured her that the only reason he would do so was because he was definitely interested in pursuing a relationship with her. Never having had a romantic relationship she was unsure of the signals.

At this point I felt that things were working a bit backwards from our expectations - and I encouraged Hannah to please explain courtship, and that James needed to be relating to us (the parents) at this time so we could get to know him as well - but alas, this was too much for Hannah to take on. She was too unsure of James intentions to mention her family's odd expectations. And then there is the fact that Hannah was 21 at this time, had lived in Italy for her college junior year, and was now a senior in college in TN. It is a bit of a tightrope to walk as a parent. We wanted to keep her close, not push her away.

To be Continued....

Courtship - What is That?

The Princess, and only daughter, is now in a courtship. Depending on who you ask, that can mean anything from just another word for dating, to something akin to an arranged marriage. It is an interesting topic to Google.

Here is what we did:
1.  You have to start early. This is not something you can impose on your children from the top down. They have to be on board or you only drive them away from you.

2.  As a family we watched and discussed the courtship series by SM Davis. We thought these to be the most balanced. Available Here and one chapter of the series is on You Tube as well. Courtship Video

3.  We want our children to determine their boundaries, with input from the parents. This will look different for each child and each family.

4.  The most visible courtships are the Duggar Family or the Bates family since they have a TV audience, though their parameters are not necessarily the only valid means.

This gives you a general overview of where we gleaned information. I have also looked over other teachings on the subject but they were not a good fit for our family, so I am not linking them here.

Having said all of this - how did it translate into real life? That will be my next post....

A Colette Pattern Sew-a-Long

  I am doing a couple sew a-longs these next few weeks. I want to get back to some serious sewing - and document it as I go. This is the Mable skirt from Colette. I prefer a more modest version - but I like the idea of a knit skirt - so I will give it a try. Mine will be View 3 in a simple black knit fabric.   

UFO Contest from Pattern Review

July 1st begins the Pattern Review UFO contest.  Un-Finished Objects! I have been waiting for 2 years for this one ~ they didn't have it last year. I don't purposefully leave projects unfinished ~ I think I just get stuck on something, or it gets tedious, or I get tired of it ~ but I do have a pile of them. For the first time I am going to try to win this contest! I have enough projects to finish to get the points, and I am motivated to finish these projects. It runs the full month of July.

PR Handbag Contest

I completed a purse entry for the Pattern Review contest. You can read my full review Here. And you can see all my photos Here. 

I went a bit out of my comfort zone by using some leather accents. I had never sewn leather before - but it was quite easy. I do wish I remembered to increase my stitch length on the top stitching - but it is a minor detail and most would never notice it. I think this is only the third bag I have ever made - if you include the messenger bag I did several years ago. I find I quite enjoy making my own - and plan to do many more. Here is my first purse project: Piney Patch Design Purse ~ and the finished review .

It is SWAP time again. I have been less than successful on my former attempts in past years, but hope rises yet again - and desperation. I have almost no clothes that fit since I have lost a significant amount of weight over the last year or so. So I will once again join the SWAP contest for 2013. All the info can be found on the Artisan's Square discussion board at the Stitcher's Guild website. I have the first skirt cut and ready to begin sewing. All fabric and patterns are here with one exception - the undetermined piece. The deadline is April 30, 2013.

My theme is titled ~ Dark Side of the Moon

The general plan is as follows:

Capsule 1 ~ The Dark Side
Black skirt (in progress) ~ DONE
Black jumper (made, but needs to be refitted)
Blue print top
Tan dot top
Purchased top (have this already) ~ DONE

Capsule 2 ~ The Bright Side
Red print skirt
White top 1
White top 2
One item yet undetermined (perhaps 2)

Bridging Piece
Either a black jacket or cardigan

Pyramid Giveaway for Sewists

Pattern lovers alert!!

There is a fun giveaway at this site: My Happy Sewing Place  It is a pyramid giveaway - you receive a selection of patterns - keep one - and then have your own giveaway. A total win/win. So hop on over by clicking the link for My Happy Sewing Place (it should be highlighted just above) and write a comment to enter. If I win - then I will do the same here!