My Mary & Martha {MM} Moment.....

Ya'll know the story of Mary & Martha right?  Jesus and his disciples visit the house of Lazarus and his sisters Mary & Martha (their story is in Luke 10: 38-42 (NIV).

The visit is right around mealtime, and Martha is busy preparing the food for their meal in the kitchen while Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus hearing His message.  Martha then complains to our Lord about Mary and how she is not fulfilling her duties in the kitchen and making Martha do all the work!  Martha is then reprimanded (and she deserved it!) for complaning and Jesus tells her "....Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (verse 42)  I don't now much about Mary and Maratha's personalities, but I have my inclinations.  I'd like to think that maybe Martha was the older sister and was more of a leader and more hospitable than her sister?  Mary was maybe a tad bit lazy leaving all the cooking to her older sister, or maybe she was a bit shy?  I don't know, but I do know they are two complete opposites! 

That right there ladies and gents gave me a spiritual spanking, as my lovely friend Allison always says!  It woke me up!  I had my first M&M moment, and caught myself in it.......after it happened.  I am so glad to be able to share this with you because on my faith walk, I have been realizing more and more moments when the Holy Spirit has touched me, speaking to me and just being alive in my spirit!

We were at the park the other day and we had been there about 45 min and it was about time to pack it up and head home for lunch, then nap time.  Of course like any almost 2yr old would do, Holden threw a fit when I picked him up screaming and crying to head to the car.  I happened to just glance to my right and saw another mommy at the park with her little girl; and the look on the moms face just touched my heart.  She was sitting on a brick wall watching her daughter play and her face just looked somber.  I just felt like I needed to stop what I was doing and go to her.  So I did.  BUT in the back of my mind I was thinking: I need to get home!  I gotta get this boy fed, get him down for a nap and finish up the 4 baskets of laundry, vacuum, clean up the kitchen from breakfast and start prepping dinner all before he wakes up!  So I put Holden down half way out of the park and he bolted back to the play-scape.  I walked over to her and said hi and introduced myself.  She didn't even look up, just said hi and a smirk.  I started to make small talk about her little girl and Holden, commenting on the weather, ya know the usual suspects in a stranger to stranger conversation.  Then out of no where she just broke down crying, and I'm talking the ugly kind of cry; sobbing so loud both the kids looked over to see what the noise was.  I just held her, gave her a big hug and told her it was going to be alright.  I hugged on her for a few minutes, and she started to tell me that her and her longtime boyfriend broke up for good and he left for out of state a few days ago, and wants no contact with his little girl any more.  I told her my I'm sorries and how bad I felt for her, then I asked her if it would be OK if I prayed for her.  This is HUGE for me because I have never done this before, let alone to a complete stranger!  She said yes very welcoming and with a smile.  So we held hands and I said a prayer over her and her daughter and just felt the Holy Spirit in doing this.  She gave me a huge hug and said thank you.  I gave her my mommy card and told her to call/text/email whenever she need to talk or to just hang out.  

Now I know some of you may be thinking, how is this a Mary & Martha moment.  Well, it gave me an opportunity to share Jesus with someone, and it showed me that I need to have a heart/mind more like Mary, and not Martha.  I need to be more attentive to my spiritual radar and when it goes off and when to engage it.  I have been feeling my spiritual radar more and more; I'm just learning how to use it!  That moment at the park when I was about to leave, I had a mind like Martha; I gotta get home, put him down to nap and and prepare for the rest of the evening, I gotta get it all done!  But the Holy Spirit put in on me right then and there to have a heart like Mary; taking the time to stop and listen to her story and be there for her, share His message with her.  

I have yet to hear from her, and I may never hear from her. We've been back to that park twice since that's happened and I haven't seen her.  But I've prayed for her and her little girl.  I know the good Lord is gonna provide and take care of them!  They're in good hands!  I think we have Mary & Martha moments like these to become more aware of ourselves and how we look at situations.  We are challenged by these moments to grow in our faith and to not be so busy in the world, to take time to listen. 

DIY Printable {Firefighter} Chalkboard Birthday Board

It's that time again!  Holden's 2nd birthday is right around the corner (23 days to be exact!) and I'm crafting up a storm.  Last years theme was Mustache, this year is Fire Fighter!  Pretty fitting for our family!  :)

I hand drew his stat board out last year.  Not too shabby for not being an artist, crafty is an art yes, but I cannot draw like my talented brother!

Taken with my cell phone, sorry for poor image quality!

After a little Pinterest inspiration, I discovered I could go digital ya'll-- MIND BLOWN!  :)  Having said that, it was NOT easy for me in the beginning, but I figured it out none the less!

Let's just dive right in!  The chalkboard sign I made was a 16x20 Poster size.  In the Haus of Hughes, you go big or you go home!  So, just keep that in the forefront of your mind when you are making your board; as to what size you want and what size to look for in a download.  Everything I used to create this was FREE!  Major bonus in my book! 

First and foremost, I will try to make this as simple as possible, but it really isn't in reality.  Well it is, and it isn't.  You gotta do some prep work before you can just make the stat board. 

Before you Start:
 -I can't remember what blog/site I found my chalkboard background, (I wanna give credit where credit is due!) but I did bookmark the link!  So here is the link I used for a large chalkboard background   Save this photo to your computer.

-Go to PicMonkey (a FREE photo editing site) to re size the background the the size you want.  PAY ATTENTION CLOSELY HERE.  Chose the make a collage option; upload your photo.  When you start you will have three sections to chose from, delete any two, doesn't matter which ones.  Now re size your photo; at the bottom on the one section you have there is a small white box with two different numbers in it "1234x1234" Change those numbers to 2400x3000 which is equal to 16x20.  On the left side of the screen you will see your uploaded photo, drag it over into the white box and there you have your newly sized chalkboard background, be sure to save it!

-Go to DaFont and check out the basquillion different fonts they have!  Oh, did I mention they are FREE as well!  Chose to your liking what you want on your stat board.  Here are a few of my favorites.  The possibilities are endless!  ***be sure to install all your fonts you've downloaded before making your sign, otherwise, they won't be there***

- It's very helpful if you have Photoshop, but I don't have an extra $700 laying around to buy a program I don't know how to use.  What's the next best thing, Gimp!  Oh, did I again for get to mention this is FREE too!  Download Gimp 2.8 (the latest version).  Now I'm not gonna lie I spent half of my day trying to figure out how to use the program to make my sign.

So here in order is how I did mine; trust me this will save you a huge headache and time!

Open the program
Under File--choose "Open" and find your 16x20 chalkboard
Under Windows--choose "dockable dialogs"
When the drop down screen pulls up chose "layers"
Here is where you will see all the layers of your work on your project.
To start adding text to your sign on the left side there is a "T" in your toolbox box; which stands for text.  Just pick a spot on your chalkboard and start adding text where you want.  Change colors, fonts, size even rotate them if you need to. 

Doing my sign this was way easiest for me because when I have the layers box open, it showed me every single text box I used on the sign, and that is how you go back to edit/move the boxes where you want them. Take some time to get familiar with the program before you start on a project, so you will be comfortable and knowledgeable in all that it can do.

Drum roll please............................................... ta-da!  Here is Holden's Birthday Stat board in all it's glory.

I printed mine at CVS on satin paper, they are $13.99.  They have poster boards you can print on, but I wanted to be able to save these for memorabilia for Holden and I can't roll up a board and stick it in the attic. Food for thought!  ;)

If you have any questions or need some help on making your sign, please email me and I will do my best to help!  Please link my blog if you do a chalkboard birthday sign yourself, I'd LOVE to see your creativity and hard work!  :)

 Have a blessed day!