Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful that I can trust God in everything. I’m thankful that when things things go wrong, nothing is really out of place in his plan, and he is working in everything to conform me to the image of his Son. I’m thankful that certain annoying circumstances have given me a glimpe of my sin of pride, which is a type of idolatry, isn’t it?

I’m thankful for my cell phone, and for how much simpler it makes things when the car breaks down on the way to town.

I’m thankful for some unscheduled time that I can use to catch up on projects around the house.

Throughout this year I’m planning to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving each Thursday along with Kim at the Upward Call and others.

Hot Stuff

…or what I made this afternoon.

What is it? We call it a Bodum cozy. It wraps around a French press coffee maker (like this) to keep the coffee hot. I got one for Christmas, and it works surprisingly well, so I decided make one for a gift using the cozy I got for Christmas as a pattern.

Here’s the reverse side. I could, I think, sell it as reversible and no one would complain. (I’m not sure why the topstitching looks so crooked and bunchy in that photo. It’s neither crooked nor bunchy in real life.)

I used scraps of leftover cotton fabric and a double layer scrap of polyester quilt batting. It took less than an hour to make, including the 10 minutes it took for me to find the package of velcro in my stash of sewing stuff. The next one, of course, will take half as long, because I’ll know what I’m doing. And I’ll know where the velcro is.

Some French press coffee cozy patterns and intructions:

• sew4home French Press Cozy Tutorial
• Button-up fabric cozy at tiny happy
• Instructions for a patchwork cozy at craftstylish
• Fabric cozy with ribbon stipes at oh write!
  
• Two crochet cozy patterns at Crochet Every Day
• Pattern for knit cozy at Crisis of Praxis

Round the Sphere Again: Romans 3:21-26

Some call it “the center of the whole bible.” I’d be inclined to agree.

Arced
This week’s featured arc at BibleArc is of this passage. From a note included:

In putting Christ forth as a propitiation, God acts for the sake of his glory, i.e., he actively demonstrates inviolable allegiance to the honor of his name in order that his inexorable love of his own glory may not be weakened, i.e., in order that he might remain and be righteous.

Explained
D. A. Carson (For the Love of God) gives us a few of what he considers to be  “the more important conclusions to be drawn” from this passage. He says something similar to the note quoted above:

…God offers up Christ not only to justify ungodly sinners such as ourselves, who have faith in Jesus, but also to maintain his own justice, to be just, in the face of all the sins ever committed.