Worn and Weathered

 

I loved my flowers this summer. The bright colors of the Cone flowers, the Knockout Roses, and the Zinnias brought me a lot of joy when I walked outside.  I could just look at them and feel happiness.  

At their peak, they reminded me of my younger self.

Reaching for the stars - and expecting to be able to catch them!

Being involved in ALL of the stuff.  

Involved with friends, building forever relationships, working, creating a beautiful family, involved in all of the church things, teaching myself different skills and finding new hobbies...all the things.

And then one day I looked in the mirror and came to the realization that I look and feel more like this...

this is my time of life now!

A little more worn and weathered.  A lot more tired! 

  

I  have kept this vase of flowers on my kitchen countertop,

because when I look at these flowers, I don't just see dried up, dull, useless flowers 

(how I feel some days at this stage of life).

I see flowers that have fulfilled the measure of their creation.

Flowers that have brought me joy every day, just because they exist, not just when they were in their prime!

Flowers that have endured scorching sun and heat; cold, almost freezing nights; bugs that tried to destroy them; not getting enough water and at times - too much water!  oops!

When I look at these flowers I see resilience.  

I see a quiet beauty that speaks of strength that came because of all of the challenges.

I see a beauty that doesn't feel like it has to be as it was during the bright summer days - this is a beauty that reminds me that we all have to walk through this 'getting older' phase of life,

and really, what a privilege that is!

There are days when I feel like I'm not enough and I'll never be what I was intended to become.

Then I remember that I worship a God who just wants me to do my best.

On those days when I can shine and bring joy to someone else, that's wonderful!

On those days when it's a chore to just show up and exist.... 

the fact that I do show up is enough.  

Some days, the 45% that I feel I have to offer, is the 100% of what I could give on that day.

And what an incredible blessing it is to know that this is enough!

Baptism Quilt #5 (and #2!)

She was SO excited to get baptized!  Her birthday is the latest in the year of all the grands, and she always feels like she has to wait an extra long time to celebrate...but this year there was even more excitement.  She made the choice to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She told me last year at her birthday to remember that her favorite color is purple!  I hoped it wouldn't change between then and her next birthday - and it didn't!

She is such a ray of sunshine to all around her and it was fun to spend this special day with her.

Happy 8th birthday sweet Katie - we love you!

It dawned on me that I didn't post Parker's quilt!  

Sheesh!  Better late than never - right?!  I'm only 3 years late in getting it posted.  

He loves blue, so that was the base color for his quilt.  

I love how they are all similar, but are so different as they are taylored for each specific grandchild.

Oh, how we love them!

Easter Thoughts

Because of Gethsemane,

Golgatha,

and the Garden Tomb 

We have HOPE!

I am so very grateful for Jesus Christ and His desire to do all that He did for each one of us!  

I'm grateful for a Savior who doesn't expect perfection from me, but will meet me where I am and will help me to become more than I could ever imagine.

I'm so thankful to know that He loves me - even in the messiness of life.

Service Doesn't Have to be a Big Deal

When I was growing up our family lived in the country next to a gravel road. One summer they decided our gravel road needed to be blacktop. I was probably 8 or 9 and the neighbor boy a year younger. We set up camp on our front porches and were intrigued watching the men and the big equipment transform our road. There were big willow trees around our house and when they would take breaks or stop for lunch they would come sit in the shade of the willows. Mom told us not to pester them, but we would go sit with them and listen to their stories.

The next day as they moved further away from us, I remember thinking how hot they must be. There were no willow trees to provide shade for them. We enlisted the help of my mother and we made chocolate chip cookies and put some Kool-Aid in a canteen and headed out on our bikes when we saw they were taking a break. They were gracious and invited us to stay and have lunch with them. They were out of sight by the end of that day and we never saw them again.

The 2nd floor apartment I lived in that first year of school overlooked a house that was next door to us. From our living room window, we could look down into their living room window. There was, what appeared to be an older woman and her husband who lived there. She would see us watching them and would get up and close the drapes. She looked a little scary and we, not so kindly called her the witch lady.

One evening after she had pulled the drapes yet again, we got to talking and wondered how many times she’d had to sacrifice sunshine and light for her privacy from the eyes of the many girls who had lived in those dorms over the years. Our hearts were pricked and we decided that we needed to apologize. So, of course we made some chocolate chip cookies and knocked on her door. To say she was surprised to see us there would be an understatement. She did invite us in and we had a wonderful visit with she and her husband who she so lovingly cared for. Her name was Helen and after that day we would stop by often and say hello. She would invite us in and we would have the best visits. We made a new friend when we began to consider what her feelings might be. We grew to love Helen and I was sad when I left that apartment and moved to Logan, because I knew I was going to miss her.

If you have a thought that you should do something for someone – do it! Don’t wait. One such day I needed the prompting three times before I acted. When I showed up at the door of someone that I knew would be working, instead of being met with silence, the door opened to a tear-stained face and the words “I knew you would come.”

Halloween Quilt

I've had a whole pile of Halloween fabric sitting in my craft closet. Left-overs from quiet books, trick-or-treat bags and other miscellaneous projects. I decided it was time to whittle it down a bit, so I made this cute wee quilt! The blocks started out at 4 1/2". I had everthing I needed to create it except for the binding fabric and a little warm and natural. There's always a way to use fabric leftovers. I'm thinking I might need to do a wee quilt for Christmas! But I think I'll start it next spring and do something other than just the diagonal pattern I've done with all my quilts. Do you have a favorite, easy quilt design? I have so many different ones pinned, but I get a little overwhelmed. I'm not a terrific quilter - my blocks don't always line up....but sometimes the beauty can be in the mistakes, right? But seriously - if there's a quilt pattern you love that would be good for a beginner - please share!