Seat Covers!

So, my poor Rodeo has a very ratty driver's seat. The hole in it has been growing and growing, and I got fed up with it earlier this week. The solution was obvious, seat covers. But I am a college student and those cost big buck. So what did I do? I headed over to Good Will and found an AWESOME set of sheets! This total project cost me about $8, because I already had a sewing machine and thread, and in addition to the sheets, I bought some more pins to pin the sheets the right way. I have not yet purchased the string/rope to tighten the bottom, but that won't be too costly.

I believe the sheets are a full set, and as such have A LOT of sheet to deal with! Twin sheets may work, but I would suggest trying it out with a set you own before buying some. Most of the excess sheet was at the bottom, any way. And, I would suggest washing sheets first if you got them from a thrift store.



Step 1
Lay the sheet out on your car seat inside out. If one side is darker than the other, you want the lighter side up, so that as you sew where you pin, you're sewing the seam inside the cover. My sheet had a design, and I wanted this to be centered and straight, so I had to be very careful as I pinned the sheet. Solid sheets are probably much easier to work with. But, who wants easy when they do this the first time? With the flat sheet, I used the already hemmed edge at the top as the hole for my detachable headrest.If you have detachable headrests like I do, make sure to take this in to account when pinning. Get the top of your sheet situated before moving on. I put pins through the sheet into the seat to hold it in place, only at the top, though!



Step 2
I then pulled one edge of the sheet around the inside edge (beside the console) to the outer edge (by the door) of the seat. This got tricky at the bottom. I pulled as much around as I could and began pinning. Again, I had a design on my sheet, so this was a bit tedious to keep it straight! I also pinned the sheet in to rounded corners along the top of the seat so that it would be nice and smooth when finished!





Step 3
Once your back of the seat is covered, you can move around. I next moved to pin the outer edge (the one towards the door. I put a line of pins in the sheet where I wanted the bottom edege to be. Keep in mind, leave room for a hem that will have some string/rope for tightening the bottom and holding the cover in place.



Step 4
I then pinned along the front two corners of the seat. This is probably not neccessary, but I wanted it to look nice and neat once finished! I also pinned another hem line in the front, just so I'd know where to cut the excess sheet.

Step 5
This is the tricky part. Unless you have removed your seat, it is very hard to get to the opposite side to determine the proper length for that side. I trimmed the excess sheet off the back and front sides, then saved this side for last. I shoved the sheet down, then used a highlighter to mark where I wanted to cut, then pulled the sheet back out and cut. You could, of course take it off, turn it right side in, and pin it on the easy to access side, but I thought of this long after the fact, haha.

Step 6
Mark where you want to sew. I almost didn't do this, but I'm glad I did! I used a highlighter to mark where I planned the seams to go. This was very useful one I got the sheet inside. It's hard to envision what it looks like when it isn't held in the right shape by the seat. I followed my highlighted lines when sewing, and it worked out great!

Step 7
Lay your string out along the bottom edge, pin the hem around it. Sew the hem, careful not to sew in your string. I actually did sew in in the front middle on purpose. That way, when I wash it it won't come out!

Step 8
Remove any pins. No one wants to sit on that

Step 9
Flip right side out and place it on your car seat.

Step 10
If all went well, you have a car seat cover! If nothing went well..at least you tried! Sit back and admire your hard work. Brag to someone. I called my mom and told her.

Step 11
Think of all the wonderful crafts you can do with the left over fabric!

It's very possible to use the first cover as a pattern for the other seat. As of yet, I have not done this because I spent all afternoon on the first one :P And I'm also hoping I may be lucky enough that I cut the fabric in such a way that I'll have enough for the back seat. If not, oh well!

Here's the finished product! Well, the corners anyway. I neglected to take a full picture, and it is now dark out.

Delight Yourself in the Lord

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37:4. Ashley Peterson wrote it to me in a card sometime last year, and since then I have really cherished that verse.

Reading Sun Stand Still has made me think more and more on the dreams within my heart. There are many things I feel like I could take joy in doing for the rest of my life. I know how I would like to serve the Lord. But some days I wonder to myself, what if the Lord doesn't want that for me? What if God put this love in my heart for a purpose I have already served? I've often said "I feel like God has put this love and passion in my heart for a reason." And I believe He has for many things. But some of those things may only be temporary. They are just stepping stones to guide my path.

But like I said, sometimes I really begin to wonder if what I think I'm called to do, isn't it at all. There are some things I want very much to do in my lifetime, and it scares me that it may not be in the Lord's plan for my life. And then He reminds me of Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. It is a very encouraging verse! As I follow the Lord, and stay true to Him, He will give me the desires of my heart. I love when you stop and think about that verse and realize what it means. It's not that if you do the right things and push all the right buttons, God will give you what you want. Becaue the key part of the verse is the beginning. If you delight yourself in the Lord. If you follow His ways. If you cherish His word. If you take joy in His presence. He will give you the desires of your heart. Why will He do this? Because the more time you spend with the Lord, the more your heart becomes like His. And when your heart is like His heart, your desires become His desires. Isn't that incredible?

Matthew Henry put it: “He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.” I love it. I believe it to be so true.

I just wanted to share that with you all. I find Psalm 37:4 to be very encouraging, and I always love when the Lord brings me back to it :) And sorry my posts are all about future dreams and such, that's just the place I'm at right now in my life, haha. Everyone wants to know what I'm doing in the future, so I tend to think on it a lot.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers!

Despite some minor hiccups, life is pretty great :)

I mean, I still struggle from time to time with wanting to know the future, but who doesn't? Most of the time I'm able to take comfort in the Lord. He always reminds me of Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." His word isn't a pair of headlights looking in to the distance. He isn't showing me all the things down the road. Because none of that matter now. What matters is the next few steps. And He is lighting those steps for me. I know the next three steps of my life. Summer at Dutch Creek Trails. Fall 2011 at App and Spring 2012 at App. The Lord has yet to reveal to me the next step, but I know He will in due time. It's comforting to know that!

Last week was pretty amazing. Every day was such a blessing. And not because anything amazing happened, but because I was really spending some good time with the Lord. And not just my "quiet time." I was really talking with Him all day long. What a joy. Now, if only I could do that all day every day. I could probably fix all the world's problems, haha. But it was great. And it gave me something to strive towards every day. I know what it can be like, so I will strive for it to be like that!

I recently began reading Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick, and I love it. A good part of that is probably that I've been listening to his podcasts for a while, but it's also a great book. I would recommend it for every Christian. The basic premise of the book is to awaken you to God's will in your life. And not just for the little things. Steven says. "In short, I'm out to activate your audacious faith. To inspire you to ask God for the impossible. And in the process, to reconnect you with your God-sized purpose and potential." But it's not all about going out and starting mega-churches or leading hundreds of kids to Christ or anything so dramatic. It's about fixing a relationship you thought would be forever broken. It's about overcoming that weakness within you or breaking that addiction. And it's not about doing this and doing that. It's about getting to know the Lord. On page 26 he says "Seizing His big purpose for your life is not just about figuring out what God wants from you and getting down to business. It's also about becoming intimately acquainted with who Jesus is. It's about mining the depths of who you are in Him." How awesome is that? I want that. I want to better know the Lord so I can better know myself. Because in that, I can serve Him and bring Glory to His name.

For a long time I've felt a stirring within me, and my hope is that this book will help me to dive in and figure out what that stirring is. It's intimidating a lot of the time. I have ideas of how the Lord can use my talents and passions. Maybe this book will help to give me the courage to start praying prayers that make the Sun Stand Still. If you're interested in the book, I would also suggest listening to Steven's sermon "Sun Stand Still." I love it. I think I've listened to it 3 times, haha.

Anyway, there is homework that must be done if I want to make it to steps 2 and 3 that the Lord has shown me, haha.

I'm the world's worst at writing posts. Maybe because no one really reads this. I don't know. But I'm going to try to do better about that. I journal a lot and I think that it's important to document my life and journey so I can look back and see how the Lord has been moving.

Today I met with my advisor to talk about my last year in Undergrad. I only have to take 30 hours more before I get my degree. That is about 11 classes. It's a ridiculous thought. After speaking with her I feel very confident about next school year. I have my classes for next semester planned out and know which ones I would prefer for my last semester. It's a relief to know exactly what I'll be doing next year and to know that everything is in line.

BUT. Towards the end of our session I asked her about Grad School and my chances of getting in if I were to decide to go and the first thing she asked me was "Why?" And my answer was "Well, I don't know." I've told a few people that I'll go to Grad School because I have nothing better to do with my life. I don't think I need any further education for what I want to do, but grad school sounded like a good option. I think a lot of that decision is that I really really do not want to get a real job. I don't feel like it would be using the talents and gifts the Lord has given me. I think it wouldn't honor Him to put my passion for using my gifts on the back burner. And just because getting a real job is the smart choice doesn't mean it's the right choice. There is a lot of pressure to get a real job after graduation on any college student.

I mean, the Lord could change my heart and call me to have a normal job like everyone else. I know that He will guide me to ways that I can use that position and the personality He's given me to bring people to Him. I have faith that His Glory will be made known through me as long as I am in step with His will. But He has brought me to where I am and lit this fire within me, and I can't imagine Him leading me in a different direction. It just scares me to death some times not knowing what is next and in what direction He is leading me. I know where I'd love to be lead. There are a few possibilities I see in my future. And some of them will require me to really step out and have audacious faith. And I think I can do that. In fact, I will.

There's a song that is really speaking to me now, sung at Elevation Church. I think they may have written it, but I might have just lied to you, haha. But here are the lyrics and a video. I bolded the lyrics that are really speaking to me. Especially the last bit :)

We are the change
the world is waiting for
We've got a love
the world is desperate for
We will lead
and take to your streets


Now's the time for us to rise
and carry hope and let love shine
and show this world that mercy is alive

Now's the time for us to rise
and carry hope to hopeless eyes
and show this world that mercy is alive

We're not afraid
we will abandon all
to hear your name
on lips across the world
we will run
in the wake of your love

Now's the time for us to rise
and carry hope and let love shine
and show this world that mercy is alive

Now's the time for us to rise
and carry hope to hopeless eyes
and show this world that mercy is alive

Fill our hearts with your compassion
let our love be active here

We will go

Where You tell us to go.

We will speak out Your very Word.

We will move

when You tell us to move.

We are Yours.

We are Yours.