Monday, June 29, 2015

Thankful for Love God Greatly Summer Devotions

A couple of weeks ago I started the Love God Greatly devotion plan in Psalm 119. It has been a great time to get in the bible and spend time focusing on God. I enjoy the daily blogs, the structure of the study and the asthetics of the site. But most importantly I'm emjoying time to dig into God's word and really pull out some awesome truths that I can chew on throughout the day.

The women's ministry at our church encouraged us to sign up. I was skeptical and unsure at first. But there is something cool about knowing that other ladies in the congregation are studying the same verses each day. I'm able to follow the plan easily on my phone with the YouVersion app. I'm thankful that I live in a time when hearing and learning about God's word is so very easy.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Plodding Along with Scraps

I had several bags like the one below in my sewing room closet.


 I inherited this fabric from a variety of sources and I want to use it. All of it. Someday. It came in all shapes and sizes. I couldn't leave it like that because it was in two huge black tash bags. Stored that way it would be totally unusable. 

The plan was to cut rectangles to go into my scrap user's system (which is patterned after Bonnie Hunter's scrap user's system). Little did I know that the job of "processing" all my scraps would take hours. Not a just a few hours. We're talking A LOT of hours. But...now the job is done. A few hours a day over the course of several weeks and now I have usuable fabric. From the bag above I got stacks that looked like this - 


The other bags I had got cut into strips and squares. The wad of seemingly un-cut scraps will go into my crumbs bins. These peices are small enough to use, but not worth my time to cut down any further. These piles have been stored in the appropriate containers and await life in a future quilt.

This makes me much happier. I just have a few more tasks to tackle to get my sewing room in shape. Then I'll be ready to attack one of the 50 (sadly, this is not an exaggeration) projects on my to-do list. 



Friday, June 12, 2015

Spiffing Up Lunch

So...I'm on the Weight Watchers wagon (again - for the umpteenth time). I actually like some of the Smart Ones frozen meals. One that I'm particularly fond of is the Pasta Primavera. For 5 Points Plus it's a pretty tasty lunch choice.

When I was working it was a fast choice to throw in my lunch bag on the way out the door. Since I'm not working, I haven't had a frozen meal for lunch in several weeks. I just happened to be at the store right before lunch and decided to grab one of these babies for my lunch.

After the requisite heating, here is what I had -
I know it's a little silly, but I just wasn't feeling the love. It was like I was back at work, rushing to choke down my lunch so I could attend to the plethora of tasks waiting for me. Well, I decided it was time to change things up a bit. So out of the plastic and into a bowl sitting on placemat. Much more appealing. 


I think my Weight Watchers leader would be proud. I know I was more satisfied. 

P.S. - I probably should have added a salad. 

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Learning from Death

Last week I found out that someone I knew died during a routine operation to repair broken bones in her foot. This gal was actively involved in fitness and had dropped weight recently. She was on the right track. By all accounts she was "healthy." But that didn't matter. It seems that her death was related somehow to anesthesia. That isn't really as relevant as the fact that this wife and mother of four children is no longer with us.

My initial reaction was shock. After the shock, it was time to pray for this gal's family as they dealt with all that follows a sudden death. Then a rather self-centered reaction crept into my thoughts - that could easily be me. My family could be mourning my death, due to totally unforeseen circumstances. It could be any of us. That realization is very sobering.

Life is a gift. It is to be appreciated. I was overcome with gratitude for all I have and all the potential life I have yet to live. I have been given the gift of time for this season of my life. There is a lot I want to accomplish. In addition to all my to-do lists, goals and organizational tasks, I need to remember to enjoy life and the people - yes, the people (not the things) whom God has placed on my journey.

The weight of this loss of a casual friend has been striking to me. I didn't know her well, yet I know that she was a blessing to many people. I hope to have that kind of legacy. And right now I plan to make it a priority to focus on relationships, rather than tasks. This is the best way I know to honor my friend.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Taking a Sabbatical



Dictionary.com defines sabbatical this way: any extended period of leave from one's customary work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.

Since my customary work for the last few years has been as the manager of a quilt shop, then I guess it is fair to say that I am on a sabbatical. In other words...I'm no longer the manager of a quilt shop and I'm "between jobs."

I'm allowing myself (with extreme gratitude to my husband) to take a much needed break from employment. Since my job generally didn't come with fringe benefits such as paid time off and since I've had to work the majority of Saturdays for the last 5 years, there are plenty of things around the house and in life generally that have gone undone. So, this is my time. 

I enjoy waking up to each day stretched out in front of me like a long road. There is so much potential and a very long task list. It is easy to get distracted and fill the time with things that are of no consequence like surfing the web and watching HGTV, so I am trying to be purposeful about planning tasks that bring progress to projects that I've dreamt of working on for as long as I can remember. One of those projects is blogging. I'm not making any trite promises about future performance, but I do plan to post more frequently. 

As my blog subtitle says my goal for the blog is focusing on being positive and finding the beauty in life. What's positive and beautiful in my life right now is time. And I'm thankful that I have a chunk of it to do whatever I please, at least for a little while.