Quilting and other stuff

After being away from it for almost a year and a half, I’m finally back in the quilting game. I did a wall hanging for our daughter-in-law Jodie but neglected to take a picture of it. Our daughter-in -law, Kortney, recently had a baby, the cutie Konnor, so that called for a baby quilt. I just finished it, and it will go in the mail this weekend or early next week. It’s a disappearing nine-patch, one of the easy patterns for beginners to start with. I did use Minky for the backing and because he lives in Florida, there is no need for batting as the Minky is warm enough. Then Amanda asked for bowl cozies – great use for orphan blocks I have laying around. I hope to start them this week. A few of the blocks need some extra borders to make them big enough, but they should go together easily. I’ll post pictures of them when I finish. 

 A while ago, Amanda challenged me to make wall hangings and matching table runners – one for each month. I already have a few that go well together, but that’s a challenge that I can easily take on! Table runners and wall hangings go together fairly easily, so I should be able to accomplish it. 

 I took a couple of days to work on organizing scraps. I made decent progress, but still have a lot of them to go. Maybe I’ll start a lenders/enders quilt. For those of you who are not familiar with them, Bonnie Hunter, a quilt teacher, author, and designer, first introduced me to them through her blog at Quiltville.com. You take two pieces of whatever you want, use them to start and finish whatever pieces you are working on for your main quilt. They help prevent nests and thread jams, and in the process, you end up with enough pieces that you have a scrap quilt ready to go. I did make two quilts that way, not scrappy but using pieces that were cut for one quilt while working on another. 

 Another project that I discovered I need to start is sorting pictures and putting together photo albums/scrapbooks for the kids. I have so many pictures. Ones that I took and some that Mom took and sent me. I did do one for Amanda for her high school graduation; I need to as her if I can look at them and see if I have other pictures that would warrant another one for her. But first, I’m going to start with Chuck and get his done. That will likely be a very long-term project – making multiple albums for all four of the kids, and probably even one for Andrew, Tom’s son, as I have a lot of pictures of him as well. 

 Today, as I’m writing this, it’s Sunday. We have a football game on, but neither of us is really watching it. Our internet has been giving us fits lately – the past two days we are lucky to have an uninterrupted hour. I honestly don’t know how Cox is staying in business with this. It probably explains why their cable prices have gone through the roof. It was a rough day for my sister, who is struggling with her own personal demons. I won’t publicize what her struggle is, suffice it to say, she is in deep need of a filling of the Spirit and a full surrender to the Lord. I came home from church and needed to listen to praise music, so I put Spotify on (for the hour or so that the internet actually worked!). I usually listen to Keith and Kristen Getty, as I really like their worship songs. One of the songs that came on over their channel was by Bobbie Mason, Trust His Heart. I remember when I was going through my divorce, in the very early days. We were attending Mt. Ararat Baptist in Stafford, Virginia. Every year they did a “living Christmas tree” with drama and music. This particular year, that song was the major focal point of the musical. I went to practice on one of the lowest days, and, unbeknownst to me, that was the song we were practicing. I hadn’t listened to the tracks yet, so when we started singing it, and I let the words sink in, I could barely finish. Several people noticed and offered me comfort, for which I am still grateful. The lyrics still mean so much to me today: 

All things work for our good 

Though sometimes we don't see 

 How they could 

Struggles that break our hearts in two 

Sometimes blind us to the truth 

Our Father knows what's best for us 

His ways are not our own 

So when your pathway grows dim 

And you just don't see Him, 

Remember you're never alone 

 God is too wise to be mistaken 

God is too good to be unkind 

So when you don't understand 

When don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart 

Trust His Heart 

 He sees the master plan 

And he holds our future in His hand, 

So don't live as those who have no hope, 

All our hope is found in Him 

We see the present clearly 

But He sees the first and the last 

And like a tapestry 

He's weaving you and me, 

To someday be just like Him 

God is too wise to be mistaken 

God is too good to be unkind 

So when you don't understand 

When don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart 

He alone is faithful and true 

He alone knows what is best for you 

God is too wise to be mistaken 

God is too good to be unkind 

So when you don't understand 

When don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart When you don't understand 

When you don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart 

Trust His Heart 

 Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Babbie Y. Mason / Eddie Carswell

When I set about to restart my blog a couple of years ago, I had a list of what to do on what day. I obviously didn’t keep to it, as the events of the past year caused me to neglect “regular life” if you will, in favor of just trying to recover.  Well, recovery is nearly over for now, I’m just waiting for clearance to have my other knee surgery done, so it’s time to get back to something of a routine, and that means blogging more mundane stuff that no one reads.

Anyhow, Mondays were planned to be general topics - everything that doesn’t fall on another day.  Which means what? I have no idea right now.  And it turns out that this one is being published on Tuesday. Oh well.  I just know that I need to start writing again, and the words will come.  As James Dobson used to say, “Women have 50,000 words and men only have 25,000”.  I get the point, even if it’s an exaggeration.  It’s definitely true in our house.  Tom uses all his words communicating with people he works with - clients and co-workers.  Since I’m retired and stay at home most of the time, I simply have no one to listen to me blather on!  So I write.  Is it read by anyone or am I just writing to be writing? Honestly, I don’t know and in reality it doesn’t matter. This one may be a bit more controversial though!

One of the things I’ve been reflecting on in the past several years has been the state of the

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Union. Or should I say “dis-Union” as we are far from a united country. I think the last time we were unified about anything was on September 11, 2001. That day, the day we were attacked on our own soil and we came together as one - it didn’t matter whether you were white, black, yellow, gay, straight, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Hindu, even Muslim. If you were in the towers, had family in the towers, had family aboard any of the airlines that were used as weapons - it didn’t matter. You were part of the American family that had lost 2,996 souls that day.  We all saw the anguish. We all felt the grief. It was one of those defining moments in life. Everyone knows where they were and what they were doing that day, and it was devastating.  What followed was a show of unity that we have not seen since, and I think we are the poorer for that.  

Now, politicians and the media seem bent on destroying this country.  I’m not saying one party is more or less guilty than the other - they are both equally at fault.  The finger pointing, the blame games, the pitting one against another applies to both.  Earlier this summer, when we were in the midst of the primaries and candidates seeking our vote, we had a local politician come to the door seeking our endorsement. I told Tom to tell her that “due to the events of the past several years, if you are a politician, I don’t trust you, I don’t care who you claim to represent.” I don’t know, but I don’t think she quite got it.  

The events of the past several years has served to erode trust in multiple governmental agencies.  Politicians seem to say what they think will get votes, they make promises they not only can’t keep, but likely in reality never intend on keeping anyhow.  We have two governors coming to verbal blows daily over just about everything - right now the current hot button issues are the border crisis and abortion - both of which stir very passionate arguments on both sides. I won’t say debate, because debate involved an even handed give-and-take of ideas, listening to and responding with respect to the other opinion, then either a change of mind or agreeing to disagree. We don’t have that happening now. Not at all.  Every disagreement, every discussion about hot topic issues ends with logical fallacies - ad hominem attacks, circular reasoning, red herrings, and more - all of them in one form or another. 

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If I could actually sit down with some of them, I would ask a couple of questions. I’d love honest answers, but that is very unlikely.  What are my questions?  Well, when it comes to abortion, I am unashamedly pro-life.  I would love to know from my Republican friends and the politicians out there just what hope exactly are they giving the women who find themselves in crisis?  I’m not referring to those who choose to end a life because it interferes with their “career” or “happiness”. I have no pity for them. The ones I’m referring to are those who are victims of sexual crimes, in dire poverty, or even of youthful stupidity.  What hope, what support are they being given? If you are so pro-life, then put your money where your mouth is and do something meaningful for them. I realize there are Crisis Pregnancy Centers (Hands of Hope, locally) out there - why are they not more fully funded? Oh, right. Most of them are faith based. Ok, if you don’t want to support a faith based one, then start a non-faith based one that offers the same services! Don’t leave these women or children out in the cold.  

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

The other hot-button issue right now is the border crisis.  There has been a reluctance, ok, more like refusal, of the current administration to admit and acknowledge that there is a very real crisis on the border.  This week alone saw action by one governor who is choosing to take a very strong stand against the influx of migrants who come to this country through the back door.  I did not agree with many of the immigration policies that the previous administration put in place, but I also live in a border state and see daily reports of how porous our border is.  There has to be an answer, but to date no one is coming up with any solutions.  Agree or disagree with what Florida’s governor did this past week, but does the federal government really expect Florida, Texas, Arizona to just suck it up and support those flowing into our states with zero help? We are having enough trouble taking care of our own citizens, much less this massive influx of others. 

And I’m not lacking in compassion. Several years ago, I worked intensively with refugees. I primarily worked with helping them learn English so they could navigate this great country of ours better.  Given the opportunity, I would love to do that again. For now, I’m waiting, and praying, about just where God would use me.  I honestly don’t know. Since I left my last job, I’ve kind of been on the shelf. I don’t know what he has in store for me, ministry wise. It could be helping at Hands of Hope. It could be working with refugees again. It could be teaching ESL again.  It could be… what? I don’t know right now.  I’m waiting for the right opportunity to present itself, one that will use my gifts, which are primarily service and administrative. The past year’s physical challenges kept me away from everything but God has been working in the background, preparing me. I’m going to look into some of the options in the next few days, and who knows, maybe next week’s blog will reveal something. I want to be part of the solution, however minute that might be. I just need to be open to where God may be leading. I need to hear him. I need to listen. And then I need to act. 

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, 

to those who are called according to His purpose.   Romans 8:28 NASB

How many times have I read that verse and shook my head.  “How can you possibly say that this trial is good??”  How many times does God need to take me to the woodshed and hit me with a 2x4 before I learn?  I had several trying years that you would have thought would have driven me to God. Instead, I was tempted, so tempted, to walk away. But God wasn’t finished with me. 

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you know what I’ve dealt with, so I won’t rehash it other than a quick summary - biking accident in June 2021 with a shattered tibia plateau, wheelchair for 4 months, learning how to walk again, total knee replacement January 2022, contacting salmonella which led to septic arthritis in my toe and the subsequent amputation of it.

Mentally and spiritually, however have been a bit of a different story. It’s been rough. I’ve doubted God’s presence, doubted His goodness, doubted His love, wondered at His plans for my life. So much so, that I went into counseling to help me process everything. My wonderful counselor at The Answer, Becky Davis, assigned me two books to read this year - God Himself, A Journey Through His Attributes, by Tony Evans and Dark Clouds Deep Mercy, Discovering the Grace of Lament by Mark Vroegop.  Both of them have been challenging, yet at the same time affirming what I already know. 

I thought I knew everything there was to know about God’s attributes. HA.  Yes, I’ve written papers on them. Yes, I’ve prayed through them for months at a time. But still. Did I know and fully understand them? Nope.  Even now, I have so much to learn about just Who God is and what He does in my life. And I suspect that that is a learning process that will never be completed this side of Glory.  

So a challenge to you, dear reader.  Study God’s attributes. Really dig into them.  Find out who God is.  Learn about his character. Do it on a regular basis. It’s a never ending quest because each time you think you know it all, God will reveal even more of his character, often in an unexpected manner - like a broken leg.  

God's Grace

In Tony Evans’ book, God Himself, A Journey Through His Attributes, he poses this question in his chapter on The Grace of God:  What did you do last week, last month, or last year that only God could have pulled off? 

That question stumped me, and stopped me cold.  What indeed?  He goes on to say “If you cannot point to something in your life that only God could have done, you are not growing in grace. You still live in your own power.”  

Wow.  So I thought over the past 15 months. I haven’t done anything. After all, I’ve been pretty isolated and have had few what we would call “opportunities for ministry” since my accident last June.  I have been so busy recovering that ministering to others hasn’t been on my radar.  And that’s what I thought the question was asking. What big thing did I do for God? It was convicting as I couldn’t think of anything I’ve done in the past year besides feel sorry for myself.  I couldn’t even go on in the chapter, as that question haunted me.  Was I growing in grace? Was I living in my own power?

But this week, it hit me.  My recovery from the accident, my recovery from my surgeries, my recovery from the infection that ended in the amputation of my toe was not possible, not in the least, without the grace of God.  I’ve been so focused on myself, on my pain, on my recovery that I wasn’t thinking about anyone else, so I didn’t think I was doing anything for God. Notice how it was all about ME? 

This past 15 months I’ve learned so much about the character of God.  I’ve learned he loves me - imperfect, fallen me.  I took my eyes off of God and put them on myself. I was so busy thinking about how miserable I was, how slow my recovery was, how much pain I was in, how, when faced with the idea of losing a part of me, that I couldn’t think of anything else.  God doesn’t look at the fact that I’m now, in my eyes, less than whole. I never was whole, and never could be, outside of God’s saving grace.  He looks at me and sees a person made whole though the work of his son.  Physically, no. I’m not whole. I never will be again. But spiritually? I’m a new creation. 

So to answer that question that haunted me for several days - my recovery, both physical and spiritual, was only due to the grace of God.  I couldn’t have done it myself. Not at all.  

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