needle & thREAD

Hello, there! And good morning:-). I'm slowly sinking back into east coast time. Actually, who am I kidding? East coast time has been hitting me over the head for three days now! I am determined to seize the autumn rhythm for everything it's worth. I'm trying to conquer the calendar crazies with plenty of prayer. Amanda Soule called those crazies "the September shuffle." I appreciate her peaceful optimism.

There were just a few brisk weather moments a couple days ago, enough to make me think of 3/4 sleeves and fun flannels.I love 3/4 sleeves for little girls (and for myself). That style keeps the hems of our sleeves out of the messes of the day. Karoline hasn't left my side since I walked through the door, so she got first dibs on a new fall flannel. She chose a Sandi Henderson pink floral* from the stash and I set about tracing the Class Picnic Blouse pattern. In honor of her coming birthday, I bumped her up a size from her usual Oliver + S size. She lost a front tooth while I was gone, too. Oh, how they grow...

I truly dislike tracing patterns. I keep trying to persuade myself to just enjoy the process. Whatever. Now it's finished.

And I pinned and cut yesterday, too. Today, I'll sew. 

Wasn't it fun to take a peek at Ginny and Jonny's sewing project last week? I'm so grateful to them for sharing here. I ended up ordering the book they're using to make their quilt, Patchwork Style--I've got an idea for a group quilting project and I think the quilt-as-you-go method might work for it.  And I'm reading Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts. The good folks at Mary's Shelter are going to host a craft fair on November 10 and I'd like to join them there. Quilts? Bags? I'm really not feeling confident to have craft fair items...

Does autumn call you into your sewing space? Are you thinking flannel pjs or cozy quilts? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

*a click to Sandi Henderson's blog to provide that link has me praying for her today. You, too?

Him

Twenty-five years ago he had a proposal that sounded so impossible I could scarcely envsion it. He had plans and dreams and ideas that were a world I'd never even imagined. But I said yes. 

Because I trusted him.

And, together, we brought those dreams to life and we dreamed new dreams.

Together.

Looking back over a quarter century of chances taken, every single time, I was afraid. Every single time, I could not begin to fathom that all would be well. But I said yes.

Because I trusted him.

And now, as I look at the tapestry of our lives woven together, I see the thread running bold and bright throughout. 

Trust.

I knew that he loved me intensely and forever, that I was safe with him. I knew that he was true. Real. Genuine. 

Not perfect.

But honest. 

And when he said he was giving me his whole life. He meant it.

Nothing held back. Nothing hidden. 

I took his hand. I looked at the leap we were taking.

I knew there would be curves in the road.

What? Where?

I had no idea.

But I knew--I was sure--that this was the man I wanted to lead me. This was the heart I trusted with mine. This was real. 

So I said yes.

I say it again every day.

And I always will. 

The Other Man in my Life

On the occasion of my 25th wedding anniversary, I'm thinking about the other man in my life. Please join me at MomHeart this morning.

I'll be back later today to smile about my husband:-).

Golden State Almanac

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

Oh my. I don't even know where to begin. I've spent the last week in northern California. God used a most magnificent paintbrush here. I've seen the rolling riches of Napa Valley, the wonder of San Francisco Bay, the redwood forest (and therein got Woody Guthrie stuck in my head for the rest of the week), the cliffs along the Pacific Coast Highway, and every dramatic shift in terrain and climate between those places. I'll tell you what: God is quite the artist on the west coast. 

::listening to 

My husband make a business call. Today, we fly back to reality.

::clothing myself in 

Jeans, tshirt, a sweater, and a scarf. This appears to be the standard dress code in California and I could not be happier. That's long been my happiest wardrobe place.

::thinking and thinking

We took this trip to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We've been thinking about the last 25 years and looking forward with hope and optimism to the next 25.

::pondering prayerfully

“No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.”  ~St. Francis of Assisi

::Carefully Cultivating Rhythm

My sweet teenaged daughter took the family rhythm in her capable hands and ran my household for the little girls. She had some willing help from her friends and mine and they all had a great time. The little boys (who aren't little, but will perhaps forever be referred to as such) stayed in homes of soccer friends, homeschooled with them, and loved every minute.

::creating by hand

I've begun my California Shawl, the largest version of To Eyre, and I'm so pleased to have a tangible, wearable memento of this trip. I hope to share a bit more of it with you on Wednesday for Yarn Along.

::learning lessons in

Doing things that terrify me. I have a fear of airplanes, of heights, and of natural disasters. And I am afraid in a crowd. I flew here to spend a week on cliffs and bridges and mountaintops. I noted signs that warned that old structures weren't earthquake-safe and notices on street corners of tsunami evacuation routes. The grand finale was a concert at a huge outdoor venue where the crew noted for me that one of the challenges was earthquake damage. And I had so much fun. 

 

::encouraging learning 

I return home with a new picture book, some thoughts on a St. Francis unit and one on California missions, and a photo journal of our trip to share with my children.

::begging prayers

for all the people who have joined our weekend prayer community. I carried your requests with me to Mass and I will keep a candle lit for you throughout the week.

for a dozen personal intentions--each of them precious and urgent. 

::reading

I read Interrupted on the way out and Something Beautiful for God on the way back.

::keeping house

Michael sent me a text with a picture of lots of neatly folded laundry. Here's hoping.

::towards being unplugged

I was very unplugged all week, with the exception of sending pictures to my kids. It was awesome:-). 

::crafting in the kitchen 

Mary Beth cooked all week. No one starved. On the other hand, I ate at some pretty incredible restaurants--all fresh, local, and paleo. I learned to ask servers everywhere we went about how something was prepared. And--though I was initially tenative and shy and felt like a nuisance--in more places than not, I made new friends.

::loving the moments

I'll share the moments with you this week. Fair warning: you're about to be subjected to blogging version of watching someone's vacation slides. For now, let's just say that my husband had a really great idea and I'm so glad I let him drag me out here.

::giving thanks 

for all the people who made this trip possible, and there were many of them. Homeschooling mothers of big families don't just drop everything and go off without a care the first week of school. I'm grateful for all the people who stepped in and made this possible for us. 

I'm also grateful for a new friend, here in California. She fine-tuned our itinerary at every stop and sent us out on wonderful adventures. We were able to have dinner with her and her family in a storybook restaurant in Carmel. The memories are very sweet and I look forward to staying in touch.

And I'm grateful for my husband and for 25 years of living "I do."

::living the liturgy

Saturday night, we went to Mass in this church, 3,000 miles and nearly three hundred years away from the brand new high school auditorium that is our church home. And still, the liturgy was the same. The Church is universal. Pretty cool.

::planning for the week ahead

I am flying east today, to arrive home in time to tuck my girlies in for the night. I cannot wait to wrap myself around my children!

More almanacs at Suscipio.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-filled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.}

Gospel 

Mark 7:31-37

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre
and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
into the district of the Decapolis.
And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment
and begged him to lay his hand on him.
He took him off by himself away from the crowd.
He put his finger into the man's ears
and, spitting, touched his tongue;
then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him,
"Ephphatha!"-- that is, "Be opened!" --
And immediately the man's ears were opened,
his speech impediment was removed,
and he spoke plainly.
He ordered them not to tell anyone.
But the more he ordered them not to, 
the more they proclaimed it.
They were exceedingly astonished and they said,
"He has done all things well.
He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

Think

“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that have received--only what you have given.” ~St. Francis of Assisi

Pray

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” 

~St. Francis of Assisi

Act

Have you ever noticed how Christ brought great miracles of healing out of the messiness of life? He used spittle and mud to heal. We spend a lot of time with the messy. Mom bloggers are quick to chronicle all the spit and poop and vomit...This week, don't miss the miracles that are in those messes.