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Remember this Monica…
“There are some words that require our laboring over them, some truths that are too weighty to be tossed lightly into the laps of friend or enemy.” Jill Carattini, in RIZM writing “Speechless”
Well, I finished the kids teachers end of the year gifts…. just need to frame them. Don’t know if I’ll be able to literally wait till the end of the school year to have the kids give them to them. Never have been too good with keeping a surprise. I get that from my mother for sure!
Also just finished what I affectionately called my momentary stitching nemesis. I think I had more un-stitching to do on this piece than I actually put in. For some reason I read the chart incorrectly and used a different color for the ferns that I was supposed to. Needless to say, I frogged them all and put in the correct color. For some reason there is something within myself that will not allow me to have it different than the chart. The other frogging I had to do was to remove part of the border… apparently I was tired, and I turned my linen and forgot which way was up, so my cross stitch went the wrong way. I am glad to have it completed. Now I just have to find someone to give it to, after-all, if I keep it, I know I’ll just grumble at what I had to go through to finish the simple thing. It really is pretty though.
After finishing up those projects, I have made progress on my Angel Song… 
I’m enjoying the pretty colors. Last night I finished the one over one in the words row, and now I’ll get to have several rows of two over two… lots of thread changes with the hillside, but it looks so pretty I can’t wait to do it!
Well, that’s it for today. Other than a picture of my kids on Easter!
A good friend reminded me today at the most perfect time of this…
“We can do no great things;
only small things with great love.”
– Mother Theresa
He is Risen… Luke 24.
Amazing and wonderful…
I don’t quite know how to fully articulate this, but there are some things floating around my head that I want to journal out. This is not profound, nor is it complete, it is mearly a glimpse into a train of thought that is atop my mind.
Recently the kids and I saw Horton Hears a Who, about an elephant in the jungle, named Horton, who heard voices coming from a speck as it floated by. He caught the tiny speck on a fuzzy looking clover and he listened, heard, and believed that there indeed was life on this speck, populated by Whos. Horton realized that the safety of the life on this speck rested solely on him, and he was determined to place it securely on the top of Mount Nool. But during his trek and journey, he was faced with great odds and opponents. In the jungle, a mother kangaroo character was set against Horton from the start. She urged Horton that it was all in his mind, on the basis of this logic, “if you can’t see it, if you can’t hear it, or if you can’t feel it, then it’s not real.” This kangaroo character goes so far as to get others to do her dirty work for her, finding a soulless old eagle to fit the bill and try to please her by managing get the fuzzy clover. The eagle is partially successful, but Horton never gives up. He tirelessly keeps his mission in mind, he stays focused on the task at hand, and he continues with his purpose of getting the Whos to safety.
The story concludes with Horton finding himself rejected by several of the animals in his community because he won’t denounce what he hears and give over the clover with the speck on it to be destroyed. The community of the jungle gang up on him (minus a trusty believing few), and they outnumber him and literally force him into a cage where he is powerless. At the last moment, the Whos make enough sound (and the Whos here… what’s happening in their world is a whole other storyline!) to be heard by someone else in the jungle… the kangaroo’s little boy who lives in her pouch. He hears the Whos, and tells everyone to quiet down, and then everyone in the jungle group hears the Whos chanting in unison “We are here, we are here, we are here!”
You cannot believe how I watched this movie drama unfold from this special and sometimes fragile place in my heart, for Horton heard the Who, and despite the fact that he couldn’t see the people on the tiny speck, or feel the people on the tiny speck… he knew what he heard, and what he continued to hear, and he just believed. He didn’t change his mind when things got difficult, he did not ask for the Whos to prove that they were real, he just believed what he heard. I was filled with joy when Horton pursued what he set out to do… his mission, and in the end rescue these precious lives.
Today… there was an awesome Slice of Infinity (to follow below). Very stirring picture she revealed… it certainly does turn my heart reflection in both directions, in and out. Many times I have paused on Jesus’ disciple Thomas and identified with him… my faith (or lack of) in certain seasons has literally prompted me to ask Jesus for a tangible feel of His hands to see if I could indeed touch holes that are noted to be there. I’ve spent many prayerful nights with the desire to be heeded and encouraged by Jesus to be faithless no longer, just as He shepherded Thomas.
(edit: I changed the title of this… after having it sit with me overnight. The sound of my son, and the sounds of my son, are not noise, they don’t ring in my head and heart that way.. at least not all the time. Sometimes what he says and does is music of the sweetest kind to my ears… other times, it’s as though it’s an echo of something that I am not taking the time to truly appriciate. I realize this. I am again realizing I need to practice the discipline of being IN the present, and all that it holds… especially the sound effects that any given day reveals.)
I have a 6 year old son, who is nearly non-stop talking or expressing various sounds that either sound like explosions, guns, flying space ships… etc. (you get the idea, boy sounds). You know, all the Star Wars sounds that we girls are just not as equipped to make. I listen and I am struck mute with his ability to shape his mouth and blow air and do whatever it is that he does. After a while of my astonishment, I will add that I usually have to say “please, NO MORE GUN SOUNDS!” to which he replied today “Mommy, it’s not a gun sound, it’s a blowing up sound.” Ohhhhhhh… I get it. I see. The noise has different degrees of expression… it’s sad that after hearing it for a while, it all sounds the same and I cannot differentiate the difference between the range of them.
He’s so loud… so continual… the Energizer Bunny wrapped up in camouflage pants. Boom. Crash. Bew-Bew-Bewwww. Over and over again. Then the addition of light saber sounds, and people talking and narrating their entire battle. Seriously, Calgon. Take me awaaaaaaaay. Please. I can’t take another gun sound… I mean I “blowing up sound.” Funny that just the other day, I tried to play along, and he literally laughed at the sounds I made and tried to correct me in the proper way to make a shooting laser beam (which he doesn’t say BEAM, he pronounces it as VEAM) sound. Why don’t girls learn these types of vocalizations?
Yesterday I saw the most interesting thing… a bunny rabbit crossing Logan’s Main Street down by 3oo South. I first spotted the bunny as I waited for my green left arrow, and the bunny was on the green strip on the side of Main Street facing me, and I thought that certainly that it was not real. But when it moved, I realized that in fact it was quite real indeed, then alarm got ahold of me… the bunny was on the side of Main Street! A five lane road, with two traveling lanes in each direction, a turning lane in the center, and nice shoulders for improved traffic flow! My next thought was “Does anyone else see this bunny?” And as I looked around at the other cars who were waiting or going, no one seemed to notice the bunny.
My next thought was fear as I realized where the bunny intended to go. ACROSS THE STREET! “No Bunny!” I screamed in my head! But it ignored the pleas of my mind and darted out into the street, fully intent on reaching the other side. “Why does the bunny want to cross the road?” I puzzled, waiting for a punchline that would not end in certain death. But there the bunny went, hopping as fast as his hind feet could move…. it was like watching the old video game ‘Frogger’ as this little hopper crossed traffic. Cars zooming, totally oblivious to it’s mission, after all, they probably couldn’t see him very well, his colors made him nearly disappear into the color of the dirty road.
He hopped and hopped, fast as he could, and I dare say I could see this look of panic on his face. He was almost there, then a blue car came buzzing along not giving a hoot of this hare, and the bunny zigged on a dime and zagged the other direction for a millisecond while the car mowed past, and after it was clear, the bunny made it to the other side. This whole time you should have heard my screams from the inside of the car, both of my arms were stretched out in a frantic maneuver to wave the bunny clear, or at least to alert other passerby to this fragile situation. The truck behind me must have noticed, because they too were looking intently on Mr. Bunny as he reached for a moment a sitting point on the green strip of our side of the road.
Why did the Bunny cross the road? Cross 5 lanes of traffic? Dare to leap out in front of speeding cars? Why did he just sit and pause when he got to the other side? Read the rest of this entry »
I recently finished this piece, called “She Gathers”, pattern by 4 My Boys… it was amazingly quick. I really love this linen, 30 ct. Flax Fields… so soft and easy to work with and hold. I worked on this while still working on the Emmanuel’s Song… some days I just needed a break, usually when it came time for me to start a words row worked over one strand… haha.
As I stitched it, I pondered what being a Proverbial wife meant, as mentioned in Proverbs 31. I have dwelled on it from time to time… back then, it really would be quite extra-ordinary. I have also contemplated the question of what it would translate to today, in our culture? Curious it leaves me, to say the least.
Regardless, there are verses that stand out to me as things that I either display or that God is growing in me the ability to give. But honestly, Read the rest of this entry »
OOO! This is pretty…Autumn Bouquet Blackbird Designs. This would be a fun one to do.
I just completed this La-D-Da pattern, Rejoice Always Rejoice… it’s so pretty. I did this with some thread changes that Shepherd’s Bush had, on a beautiful olive colored linen. This photo doesn’t do it justice. It’s so yummy. When last I was at Shepherd’s Bush I got some plum colored linen and some complimenting flosses to do this same stitchery in plums, for some reason I’m hungry to stitch on this beautiful colored linen. 
The colors I had significant help picking (read: Tina Richards Herman picked them all) are WDW Eggplant for the lettering and the border (which I’m not sure if I’ll do the border on this piece), I also have WDW Kudzu for the vine, and WDW Purple Haze and another pretty light colored lavender Limited Edition GA Thread, both to be used for the buds on the flowers… they should all be beautiful together.
Last night I began the sister to Emmanuel’s Song (see last post), titled Angel’s Song (pattern seen here)…
it is going to be fun! I wonder how long it will take me…. given that Spring is approaching and that yard work awaits. Not to mention the other little stitcheries that I’m doing in the meantime… like two of these little Wee One’s by Heart in Hand. One is for Adair’s 2nd Grade teacher, and the other is for Alec’s Kindergarten teacher. I’ve got one done already (pictured), and the other is half way… the apple is all filled in.
Anyway… I’m off to stitch… I spent the day organizing (something which I have little desire or talent to do) the kids toys and closets. Ugh. What a chore. I really must be better at this, or they will likely grow up and be just as horrible at it as I am. This was from the beginning of the sorting process… only clearing out what was found lurking under Alec’s bottom bunk. My word, it’s amazing how much stuff he can shove under there when I’m not looking.
This is my first ever post using WordPress… as you can see I’ve imported posts from days gone by, but thankfully I saved them… likely for this very moment.
I’ve changed some since I first began, and yet I also know that I have changed little. My family is so key to my existance, and I’m suprised at how much their meaning to me deepens as each minute goes by. My hobbies are growing in their significance to me, and thankfully my friendships with others are proving to be lifelines to where I didn’t realize my story needed them. Each day I am faced with the opportunity to daily see and taste the heaven that is all around me, and the places where God is alive and well and ferociously at work in my life. He’s after my heart… and I am discovering where my heart is after His.
I finally finished! I started this piece, titled Emmanuels Song, in the fall of 2006, and I just finished in Feb. of 2008, and got it back from the framer on Saturday. I haven’t worked on this non-stop mind you, it’s been a piece that I pick up and set down for weeks at a time… in the midst of it, I have started and completed other projects (photos to come), but this has been one that I have slowly and steadily made progress on.
I am giving this as a gift to my brother and his wife… it was origionally inteneded as a Christmas gift, but little did I know how long it would take me to complete. Now that I have it done, there is no way that I will wait until this next Christmas to give it to them, so I will be sending it this week! I’m so excited.
It’s interesting that when I am stitching I am transported into this realm of prayer that is unique and unmatched at other times of the day or hour. When I begin a project with someone particular in mind as it’s recipeint, it’s as though with every movement of the needle, my heart is taking them to God in prayers of both praise and petition over their lives, and over God Himself at work in them. I’m so thrilled to be done with this, and now I am looking to see what new project to begin in it’s place. I have numerous, but I seem to be taking my time in deciding.
This was a labor of love…
Stitching Kit including Linen, floss, and 18 page pattern: $68
Framing the piece: $100
Time Spent Stitching: Countless – over the span of a year and a half
Giving a handmade gift to a couple I love dearly: Priceless.
I used to blog regularly… what happened? I used to love to journal my feelings, but now I find that I don’t… so did my feelings leave me, or did I leave me, or did neither of the above happen and my ability to express myself in words just expired one day? Interesting, peculiar…. and quite frankly, sad.
Today I am here…
I’m alive and well…
still kicking and laughing, and occasionally screaming.
Sometimes I wonder if I know me anymore…
other times I feel sad that I know me all to well.
Today, I am here…
I am alive and well…
I really would like to try to express myself more here…
I don’t know quite why I don’t….
I think I forget what I could say, or what I want to say, or maybe I worry that I’m making up all that I end up saying.
But… you know what?
Today, I am here…
hi me…
hi you…
*waving inside my heart to myself that is me*
