made by Rosie

Here's Fidget's busy work for a day's recuperation. I also baked cookies for her to ice, but those were not as successful. They were about as soft as ceramic tiles. So that wasn't a recipe to repeat.

We missed a couple days' schoolwork, a day of karate, and I was glad that her fever was gone by mid-morning today; that she showed an intetest in making a doll, and I encouraged her as her stitches improved with close attention. This precious doll with her hand-embroidered eyes& lashes, was her great gift to me after a day spent happily cutting and sewing snippets together.

I still have the Matrida painting to finish, fabric for renewing the sofas, and a surprise to finish for a young bride. Plenty to keep me busy, and many contemplative moments.

The more I struggle with a painful jaw condition this winter, the more my ears hurt and the more I value silence. Not only my own, but heart's silence as well. I find with joy that God does speak, if I will but listen. In silence is beauty.

Freedom to...

Sometimes there is not a whole lot going on here. Well, there is baking of course, and home schooling, and getting to karate on time. But what I am dwelling on at the moment isn't those things, it's Scripture, and my life's goal is to dwell on scripture all the time, what pastor Tim Keller calls the game of minutes; trying to think about the things of God as much of the day as possible.

God's word is so deep and richly fulfilling, I encourage you to read it today. Not all at once, :) but even a small portion can feed you for the entire day. My favorite verse from yesterday is Psalm 119:32 which says, "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." What a beautiful picture. Freedom! What could you do if your heart was set free?

Heroes for Today

 
photo from http://bostinno.streetwise.co


In the busy-ness of life we don't always feel there is time for the proper honoring a thing requires- a sacred thing; a sad memory; or a person's life or death. Today is one of those days, when we remember and yet the meals need planned, the school work needs to be directed and overseen, the karate katas need practiced. I like what Kari at Simplehomeschool posted this morning right here:

How to Homeschool Heroes


God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble- Psalm 46:1.

Comfort

Grey skies, rain and grieving here today. I was reminded last week that the tough questions, the unsolved hurts, are times we must choose to draw near to God. We can trust even when we don't understand, and God will bring redemption of even those things that we cannot reconcile. We continue to unpack. Here is a little quilt that gets broken every time we move. I am finally making a new little clay figure, a little Fidget swinging high and carefree, that I made from one of my favorite old photos of her. The quilt isn't ruined if I determine to make it better as I refashion it. Just as the hard things don't break us, but increase our faith as we offer them back to God.

Ahh, back to the desk. It's been a couple of weeks since our move. I finally have most things unpacked and put away so that I have a little time to catch up on my Bible reading and correspondence in the mornings. Yesterday I had just started to write when I needed to go downstairs and it was at least an hour before I came back. When I returned the desk was bathed in a dreamy golden light from the one open window blind. That moment said to me, I'm home. God doesn't always bring us back to the same place. But He does promise that even with the good things He gives us here, we aren't ever really home. All the good things are just whispers of the joy yet to come. This week I got word that my Grandma Wretha had died in central Florida. It was sad for the few people who still know her. Since she was about ready to have her 103rd birthday, there weren't many of her contemporaries left. But it gave me pause to think about how joyful our reunion will be, and how glorious her days are now, worshiping at the throne. Until I can do that, I am thankful for the good things God gives me here.

Christmas

Christmas has come to Train Central! And the gym downstairs is finally ready too, just in time. We aren't giving a lot of gifts this year because we don't want more stuff to move to River's Edge Bungalow in February. I always need more stationery and ink, so this is my perennial Christmas list. But what I really need, and what I want to be a giver of, is grace. Grace when I'm doing wrong. Grace when I'm bumbling. Grace when I am proud of myself if I'm doing well. Grace when I don't even know I need it. Grace for everything big and small. And fortunately, Jesus, the ultimate giver of grace, has come and showered us with grace by the sprinkling of His blood. In this season, I marvel anew that He would come to be born a baby, to die for me. But better yet, He's promised to come again.

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,' for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'" Rev.21:3-5

Wishing you a truly Merry Christmas. No matter what is going on in your heart and life, the joy Jesus gives can be yours. May His joy be in our hearts all year long, until He comes again.

Lap of Luxury

Here are a few things going on at the new place. First, the Ada Cowl from Mollie Makes Magazine. I love this yarn (M235 Wine Splash) so much that I made 2 cowls and 2 baby sweaters from it this summer. I brought this cowl project on our camping trip and finished just as we moved in at the end of the trip.

 

It's going to be a Christmas present.

 

These socks are for a little girl in California, the first daughter of a friend of mine who I last saw several years ago. She turns 4 in October. I was going to make some for Fidget as well but haven't done it yet. Still plenty of time until Christmas. 
 

These socks are from the basic pattern taught at the knit shop where I took a class with Christmas money over a year ago. Since then I've made a bunch of socks for nearly all the adults in the family. For my brothers in law I'm doing short manly socks in a luxurious yarn. This one was called denim but was a close out so it isn't available anymore. I got it because it reminded me of camouflage. 
 

We've already been at our small apartment for 2 of our 6 months' lease. I've come without my mixer, my sewing machine, most of my pots and pans, and all my art supplies. The nice side effect of living small is that I have plenty of time and attention for home schooling with few distractions. But another lovely thing is that I have time for creative writing. Yes, my big, hand-crafted desk is packed away in storage in Rhode Island, but I find my lap desk is all I need. In fact, it's the lap of luxury on a night when Fidget is sick in bed. It's quiet here if you don't count the trains going by, and after awhile they just add to the ambiance. 

Inspiration is good!

The Latest Things

Here's a look at what's developed at Harbor View Studios lately. A mohair sweater (a 6-week project), which someone liked enough on Ravelry to offer to buy it (sold!), 

 
some booties for a friend's daughter,

more booties for a friend from Bible study,

and fingerless gloves for a new friend's birthday.

 Since I slipped and fell down the stairs last Thursday at noontime, I have been recovering and it's been great to have these little projects going. I am getting around better every day, but I am not back to the gym yet and it is still painful to sit, stand or bend.

It is surprising when I found myself sidelined by pain and Fidget simultaneously getting sick I was content to be at home knitting. Even booties, which can be a sad thing to knit if they are not for you and you've always wanted more children. But God has given me real joy. I notice I am not often still to hear His voice unless I am sidelined for a time, and when I am I find Him faithful. This is how I know He is real: He gives me joy in the un-joyful of life, somehow. He makes me want to celebrate others' blessings as if they were my own. And I find that laying down what I wanted gives me a freedom I didn't have when I was so hung up in my desires. He is good.

Lately I am learning about the sacrifice of praise as God has given me several friends with new babies. I had so longed for another baby, and I thought that desire was settled and put behind me. But I am finding that desire is still there, that my heart can become restless with the thought. 

When people ask me how I know God is real, this is how I know: He can fill in where I sorely lack. He has flooded me with joy for others' new babies to the point where it has surprised me. I feel strengthened by praising Him, not only for what He has given me, but for what He hasn't. And because I have had a friend miscarry a baby this week, I also feel sympathetic and able to comfort her in a way I couldn't otherwise. God truly does know what He's doing. And He has been good to me.

Some of the greatest blessings are the unseen joys of the heart. 

Joy Along the Way

Christmas greetings to those near and far! The season is going too quickly for my liking this year. Fidget and I returned from our quick trip to Virginia delivering and varnishing paintings. Now we are both sick. Ahhhh! But there's so much to do...

This is just the time to stop and think about what Christmas is all about. Time for a walk along shore, admiring gardens and bowers along the way, finding broken pottery and pretty shells and remembering that Jesus came at Christmas time not to give us an unending list of things to scurry around doing; but to rest in Him, and His finished work when He died on the cross and rose again for our sins. 

May your Christmas be truly merry- not just the day, but may you have joy in your heart and anticipation in the days that lead up to it. If the question is of squeezing one more thing in or having time to relax with a cup of tea and meditate on God's wonders, I hope you will do the latter. May God bless you as you seek Him amidst the bustle of the season.

Nothing's Not So Bad

Today a friend called and caught me doing nothing. My family had just left the house. This was one of those times I have a list for. Of course there are the usual things like laundry, dusting, thinking up what's for dinner, and paying bills, but these were not on my list. My list is a fun list. A list of things I want to do when I have time: work on my secret Christmas presents, wrap presents, write letters, write stories, read a book, bake bread. Carefree things. But when my friend called, I was doing nothing, and I sheepishly told her so. "You're supposed to just 'be' sometimes," she said. "I think it's biblical even." 

We talked a bit more and when we hung up I got around to doing one of the fun things on my list. As I did though I kept thinking about just being. She was right, it isn't wrong to sit and think, or just sit and not necessarily think. So after working on Christmas presents awhile I went to the Bible to see what it said. I love doing this because there are many translations, and they are all interesting. 


Psalm 37 tells us to "Be still and wait for the Lord," while in Psalm 46 God tells us, "Be still and know that I am God." or, in another version, "Let go [of your concerns]! Then you will know that I am God." Still other versions began, "Cease striving," "Stop fighting," and "Step out of traffic..."


In Exodus 14, God assures His people He will take care of them, through Moses: "(verse13) Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. (14) The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.'" Looking at that one, it is comforting to know nothing was required for their survival.


A sobering verse, Zechariah 2:13 says "Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling." In all this stillness, it is good to think about the enormity of God. He is to be feared in one sense, but when you know Him, when you've pledged your life to Him because Jesus died and rose again for you, you really do need 'only to be still'.