There's Always Room for One More!

 Quilting Bees!! 

They happened in different homes, and sometimes with different women, but typically it was the same core group of ladies that went from home to home to work on quilts. 

They came to my home when I was a child. I had aunts who were there, neighbors, and ladies I did not know. I remember lying underneath the quilt as they worked and listening to them share stories of their families, express concerns and relay their hopes and dreams. It was a magical time for me. I didn’t know it at the time – but that was my first exposure to the Relief Society in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the sisterhood that comes when you participate in it.

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Fast-forward 40 years.

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 I returned to that little community I had grown up in on a summer day, looking for an older cousin to chat with. I was told she was at the church, quilting. My husband and I went to my home church building, and there on the stage was a beautiful quilt in progress. But even more beautiful were the women gathered around it with needles in hand. Some of them were the same women who had been in my living room those many years before.  Some were the daughters or daughters-in-law of those women.  There were grandmothers, women whose lives had taken some tragic turns, widows, those who had never married, young mothers and newlyweds.

My mother passed away a few short months before I got married, and many of these women were responsible for some of the beautiful quilts that I now enjoy.  Two were made from scratch, and another was given to me by a sweet woman in our congregation who shared with me that my mother had worked on that quilt.  She knew it would be a treasure to me.

This sisterhood had blessed their lives in so many ways throughout the years.  

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 I recognized stability there, and the feeling of being needed. 

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Strength and support from others who had already walked the path that someone else was currently traversing.

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Trust.  A physical, emotional and spiritual source for when it was needed.

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If I could go back to my younger self - one thing I would change would be to include more people in my circle.  There are so many things I could have learned from others if I had only let myself invite them in. 

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So maybe - those lessons learned from under the quilts can be applied to a time such as this...

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We need one another - there is always room for one more!

Just ONE Page.....

Last week I read an article found here.  This article shared how people of many different faiths were asked to read just one page in the Book of Mormon and share their feelings about what they read.  It showed that although people of different faiths/beliefs might worship differently, that there are similarities in those things that we do believe. 

I decided to take the challenge.  I got my copy of the book that I keep in my vehicle, randomly opened it, grabbed my highlighter so I could mark any references to deity, and I read one page.

My thoughts from what I read:

• There is a God.  Jesus Christ is a God
• He will teach us His ways - when we know what He teaches, it is easy to follow Him
• Jesus is the Lord from Jerusalem
• We're admonished to walk in the light of the Lord
• For those who choose to live a wicked life, they will be judged by their works 

I can testify that there is a power in reading the Book of Mormon - by doing so, it will answer questions you have about life - about deity - about faith, hope and charity - about grace and redemption and so much more.  

If you don't have a Book of Mormon and would  like one, if only to read one page, leave your name and address in the comments and I'll get one to you. OR - you can access a digital version by going here.

Pumpkin Bread

I've had several people ask for my pumpkin bread recipe, so thought I'd share here.  There aren't any pictures at this time because we've finished off the last of the bread that I made a couple of weeks ago.

It's yummy!   Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

• 6 eggs, beat well
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 c. vegetable/canola oil
• 3 c. pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. cloves
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 5 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin and mix well.  Add the spices and flour and combine on low speed until mixed well, then on medium speed.  Be sure to scrape the edges of the bowl to make sure the ingredients are all mixed together.

Lightly grease and flour loaf pans.  Fill 2/3 full and bake at 300 degrees for 85 minutes.  Check with a toothpick before removing from oven.  If the toothpick still has sticky batter on it after sticking it in the center of the loaf, bake an additional 5 minutes and check again.  

Remove from oven and lay pans on their sides or on a cooling rack to cool.  When completely cool, remove the bread from the pans and put in ziplock bags, or wrap in saran wrap.  

This was a recipe my mother had and I used to make it when I was living at home (LOTS of years ago).  Our house was never wired to be able to have an electric stove, so we heated our water and cooked all of our meals on the coal/wood burning stove, and it still turned out fabulous!  And hey, I'm not THAT old - but growing up certainly was an adventure!

Hope you enjoy the bread - our family loves it.

 

Prayer

 

I've been reading a new book by Emily Belle Freeman titled: The Christ Centered Home.  I've found that it can be purchased at any book store, but the one I order from online most frequently is Amazon or here.

Our family has had an interesting couple of years, and as I read the chapter that focused on having a household of prayer and really conversing with the Lord, I realized that we really have been doing that.  We've called on Him in our times of great need.  We've prayed for others, by name and for specific blessings that we know they need and/or desire.  On my way to work, I often pray to thank Him for the beautiful valley that we are blessed to be living in, for our family, for the amazing scenery - and last summer - for the abundance of rainbows!   I've prayed for calmness, and it has come.  I've prayed to know how to serve others, and thoughts have come into my mind.  I've prayed for our children, their spouses and our grand-children. 

I truly have found that as I've included my Father in Heaven in the details of my life, I have felt His presence in greater abundance.  I have been made aware of times when others have prayed specifically for us and our circumstances, and we have felt lifted up because of those prayers.  

I want to share a bit of my own testimony about prayer by quoting a short paragraph from this book.

"Making prayer a part of our daily routine may require us to set aside and turn upside down many of our original daily patterns.  We have to shift our thoughts vertically.  Inviting the Lord to be part of our lives will require us to live intentionally.  But the blessing of constant companionship is worth it.  The ongoing conversation will bless our lives in a way that we may have been missing out on previously.  Through prayer we can receive answers, comfort, and strength.  We can experience the miracles that can come only through prayer and fasting.  We can find direction.  Perhaps the most important lesson we can teach our children is the importance of regular prayer."

I hope that your life can be enriched and your relationship with your Father in Heaven and Savior will be enriched by making prayer a part of the intimate moments of your life.

It's a girl!

The grand kids got to help announce the gender of the new baby that will be joining our family in August.  That silly string is PINK!

Miss Emma is very excited that a sister is joining the family.

We are finally enjoying some amazing spring days.  There's still snow in the mountains, and we are getting rain showers.  We love living somewhere that is like a 3D postcard each and every day!