Pillowcase Dresses (Part 2!)

   Well, only four days, two hours, fifty-two minutes and forty-five seconds until my plane leaves for Asia! Not like I'm keeping track or anything. ;) I have a countdown application on my phone that I keep checking constantly. I am so excited! I can't wait to finally meet those orphan girls and give them all a great big hug.

I took this picture one week from my departure date. :)

    

      Last Saturday me and some of the ladies from my church got together and finished the pillowcase dresses that we were making for the girls in the orphanage! In two afternoons, we finished thirty dresses! Here are a few pictures of the dresses. 

The final thirty dresses!

They are all so different and unique! 

They're packed and ready to go!
I won't be bringing them in the tubs, though. :)

     All of us ladies had so much fun making these dresses together. I can't wait to give them to the girls and share the pictures with you guys! I want to be updating my blog while I'm there, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload pictures from my camera since I'm not bringing my own computer. If I can't upload pictures while I'm there, I'll make sure to upload them once I get back!

     I'm almost done packing for the trip and I'm anticipating it more and more each day. On Sunday, my church will be commissioning me and we will also be finishing up the book of Philippians. It should be a fun day with friends and family! Of course, it will be my last Sunday with my church family before leaving for Asia, so it will be sad to say goodbye! I keep reminding my little brothers that it will only be for a month, but to them a month seems like an eternity. :) I know that it will be a life-changing experience and I'm really looking forward to making memories that will last a lifetime!   

My Prayer Requests:

Pray that I can find my way through the airports, that I'll be able to sleep on the airplane and that I'll be able to adjust to Cambodian time quickly! Please also pray that I'll adjust well to the heat. I know that I don't do well with hot weather, so I've been praying that I won't get heatstroke and that the heat and humidity won't shock my system. 

Do you have any prayer requests? If so, comment the request below and I'll be sure to keep you in my prayers!

James 1:27 (KJV)

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

In His Service,

-Hannah Boyd

Philippians 1:21

Debt-Free

     Going into college, my main priority is to graduate debt-free. For me, that means that if I don't have the money to pay for classes then I won't sign up for them. I won't buy anything that I can't afford and I won't register for classes that I don't have the money for. That seems like a pretty basic concept to me, but as I've been sharing my debt-free goal with more and more people I have been surprised to have received a couple negative responses! The negativity isn't because people oppose my goal, but it is because they think that it's impossible (especially if I won't take loans.) Despite the discouraging comments, remaining debt-free continues to be a conviction of mine.

"For with God nothing shall be impossible."

Luke 1:37

     In the height of my discouragement, I completely forgot that it wasn't just my goal to graduate debt-free... it was God's goal for me as well. I knew that He wanted me to graduate without debt, but at that point, I had no idea how he would do it. Remaining debt-free seemed impossible, but I had faith that if His will for me was to have no debt, he would provide the means for me to do so.
     The next day I had the opportunity to meet with a financial aid counselor from the college to discuss the costs for the upcoming year. I was prepared for discouraging news, but our meeting was exactly the opposite of that! The counselor told me that the aid I was going to receive would cover my tuition (all of my classes!) And since I would still be living at home, I'd be getting free room and board as well! I immediately smiled as I realized what had just happened. The Lord had provided, once again! Isn't God great?! I am thrilled to be entering into my first year of college knowing that the Lord has provided and I'll be completing it debt-free!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 

in all your ways submit to Him, and he will make your paths straight." 

Proverbs 3:5-6

I'm a high-school graduate! What?!

     Well, I am officially a high-school graduate and I am so proud to say that I was home-schooled through all twelve of those years! I doubled up my schoolwork during my last year of high-school and ended up graduating in three years instead of four! So, technically it's been eleven years, not twelve. :) But, anyway, now I'm a year ahead and just super excited to see what God has in store for this next season of my life! 

My favorite cap and gown picture!

Me with my brothers!
Left to right: James, Joshua, Me, Grant and Ethan.

Me with my family and my grandparents.
Top row: Joshua, G'ma Sharon, G'pa Bill and Grant.
Bottom row: James, Mom, Me, Dad and Ethan.

My daddy bought my mom and I roses!
I am so privileged to say that I was educated and discipled by such an admirable woman. There were afternoons when we wanted to give up (I'm thinking of tears over math pages,) but there were so many more beautiful moments that made everything worthwhile. I couldn't feel more proud of my mom and dad for sacrificing such a big portion of their lives to home-school my brothers and I. My mom's a Proverbs 31 woman! I wanna' be like her when I grow up!

 

     The graduation ceremony was beautiful and the whole day ended up being really special and memorable. We went over to my friend's house after the ceremony and had a fun evening with close family friends!

     My parents have also offered to take me and a friend out to Palm Springs this weekend as a graduation gift. I was SO blessed and shocked when my dad told me! So, this weekend my dad has the boys at home while the girls are out vacationing in Palm Springs. I almost want to stay home just to see what happens when the girls of the house are gone. 

     Watch... we'll come back and they'll all have Mohawks. ;)

In His Service,

~Hannah Boyd

Philippians 1:21

Pillowcase Dresses (Part 1!)

     I am SO blessed to have so many people that are getting involved and helping me as I prepare for my trip! I am leaving exactly a month from today (today being June second!) Yesterday some friends of mine opened their home and hosted a fun girly sewing day! We made dresses out of pillowcases for the girls I will be ministering to at the orphanage in Thailand. As the girls grow, the dresses will grow with them and turn into shirts. We had so much fun doing this together that I'm sure we'll be making more for future trips!

Cara (top right) and Amanda (bottom right) making their pillowcase dresses for the orphan girls.

Hard at work! 

Making the dresses.

Left to right: Audrey, Mrs. Hollis & Mrs. Heidi. with their first finished dresses!

Left to right: Amanda, Cara & me with our first dresses!

Left to right: Me, Amanda & Cara with our second finished dresses!

     The dresses turned out beautifully! Each one is so different and unique, just like the sweet girls who will be wearing them. We ended up finishing thirteen in one afternoon, with each dress taking about thirty minutes to make. Altogether we need to make thirty, so we will be getting together some time soon to get the next half done. Each dress will be sent off with a picture and letter from the person that made it, to make the experience more personalized and special for the orphans! I just can't wait to watch the girls choose and enjoy their pretty dresses. It should be a beautiful experience!

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:18 

My July Journey

      For the month of July, I will be attending a four-week mission trip with Sending Hope International! The founders, Dave and Joyce Atkins, are close family friends of ours. We will be spending one week in Cambodia, working to establish a new orphanage. Next we will be spending three weeks in Chiang Mai, Thailand, ministering to the hill tribes and serving in an orphanage there. The orphanage rescues little girls (age two to fifteen) from a life of prostitution and sex trafficking. During my time there I will be doing many things with the girls, including teaching English, leading worship and sharing Christ. For years now I have really enjoyed mentoring and ministering to young girls, so I immediately fell in love with this opportunity. My heart just breaks for them and I can't wait to finally hold one of them in my arms! I will be posting in She's A Goody Two-Shoes regularly (before, during and after) with prayer requests and updates about the trip! I am really excited to see what God does in me and through me during this life changing experience.

Learn more about Sending Hope International here:

Sending Hope International

How to get involved:

Please, pray for me! If you would like to donate items to the orphanage or support me financially, please email me at hamnbacon@mac.com.

The End Of A Chapter

The End Of A Chapter

     About seven years ago my family moved to California to take care of my father's parents in their last years of life after my grandmother had a stroke and survived. My grandma passed away about two years ago and my grandpa just died about two weeks ago. They both passed away surrounded by their children and their grandchildren, in a happy, loving home. 

     My grandpa's wish was to be surrounded by his loved one's when he passed away. For those of you who don't know, my father pastor's a church that meets in our home. My grandpa passed away in his bedroom during the church service, with all of his favorite people in the same home as he breathed his last. Three years ago, when he was 88 years old, my grandpa prayed with a lady at our church and accepted Christ. It is encouraging now to know that he is in a better place and finally with my grandma again! We just had his memorial service a couple days ago (Saturday) in our home as well. It was a sweet time recalling memories and reminiscing about different things that my grandpa did during his life (like fighting in World War 2 and helping build the Apollo 13!) He was a brave man who loved his family, friends and his country. 

     For my family, this represents the end of a chapter in our lives. We spent the last seven years caring for my grandparents, but that time is now over. It was a time when our family was faced with different struggles, but as I look back, I realize that there were far more blessings we encountered during this time than hindrances. 

1 Timothy 5:8 (NIV)

Anyone who does not provide for his relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 

     This verse really convicted our family seven years ago when deciding whether or not to care for my grandparents. Today, my parents leave me in awe. They didn't care about what culture thinks of the elderly. My parents left our entire life in Canada to move to California in order to take care of my grandparents. Who does that anymore? Unfortunately, not many people. Living a Christian lifestyle calls us to be different. To love everybody. Before we start thinking about providing a home for that abandoned dog, shouldn't we start by providing a home for members of our very own family?

In His Service,

~Hannah Megan Boyd

Philippians 1:21

College Decision: One Step Closer!

     Well, I finally made a decision on what I'll be doing for college this fall! Instead of going straight to a four year Christian university, I'll be staying home and taking college classes at my local city/junior college for two years and then transfer to a Christian university. Since I'm going into full time ministry I know I won't be making a lot of money and private Christian university's are really expensive in comparison to a JC, so financially going to a JC makes more sense then heading straight to a four year. My goal with college is to graduate completely debt free. It may seem impossible, but as I've been searching for a way to do this I have met many people along the way that have successfully graduated debt free and I feel like I will be able to do this! Of course, I am looking for a job so that I will be able to pay off any college expenses as they come instead of acquiring loans.  I will also be living at home, which gives me an extra two years of training for adulthood without being on my own just yet. I have a great relationship with my family so I'm fine with still living at the house. We DO get on each other's nerves sometimes, but that's what family's are for, right? ;) Anyway, this brings me one step closer to a final college decision! It may seem like a little step, but it's a step that took me a long time to make. I really needed my family's support and confirmed affirmation from God before taking any steps forward! I feel like I have that now and I'm really excited to see what God has in store for me in the months to come!