Sponsor Love

I can't believe it's already February! There are a few sponsor spots available as we head into the spring. Since Febraury is a short month and I'm a bit behind in getting the word out, I'll extend a free month to new sponsors who commit to quarterly sponsorship by February 8. 

I love working with my sponsors to bring news of their businesses to my readers. My sponsors are men and women committed to integrating work and wholehearted parenting and sponsoring this blog gives them an opportunity to connect with likeminded readers.Readers benefit because they get to know some really great artists and writers and entrepeneurs. It's a win-win. If you have an Etsy shop or small business that you think might bless readers of  In the Heart of my Home, please consider becoming a sponsor.  Please contact me at intheheartofmyhome AT gmail DOT com for more information. Hurry! February is slipping away!

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

Gospel

Luke 4:21-30

Jesus began speaking in the synagogue, saying:
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. 
They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”
He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,
‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,
‘Do here in your native place
the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”
And he said, “Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you,
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But Jesus passed through the midst of them and went away.

Think:
A smile is one of nature's best means of making people happy. One of the most delightful factors in a personality is a real heartwarming smile that comes from within. Actions speak louder than words, and a smile says, "I like you. You make me happy. I am glad to see you." If you do not feel like smiling, smile anyway; make yourself smile. Fr. Lovasik

Pray:
Blessed Mother, you have been called "Our Lady of the Smile." I want that title, too! Please ask the Holy Spirit on my behalf to remind me to smile as sweetly and kindly as you would.

Act:
 In May of 1883, St. Therese of the Child Jesus was a bedridden child who was very ill. She faced a statue of the Blessed Mother that was near her bed and prayed for cure. "Suddenly," Therese writes, "Mary's face radiated kindness and love." Therese was healed and the statue has since been called Our Lady of the Smile. On Mary's face that day was an expression of beauty, bounty, tenderness, and, above all, "a charming and enchanting smile." That smile has become a simple summary of St. Therese's Marian devotion. We are all wounded, all in need of healing. A smile has such a therapeutic effect, both on the person smiling and the person receiving the smile. Challenge yourself to genuinely and tenderly smile early and often every day this week.

<<<<<  >>>>>

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.} 

Happy Birthday, Super!

{Please note, we call Stephen "Super." Story here and  here.}

Dear Super,

I love you so very much. You are a great brother because you have the greatest superheroes in the drawer under your bed. And you only let me, and Kari, and Patrick Coleman play with them. So they are very special. You play wars with us with the superheroes and you play Stratego with me and you help me beat Kari. You read me stories--even Pinkalicious--and you do the Pinkalicious puzzle with me. Especially, you let me be Supergirl. I hope you have a good birthday and I'm going to make you waffles for breakfast. But I want pancakes for breakfast, so maybe you will make them for me. 

I will wake you up for your birthday and bring you hot chocolate. Then I will kiss you.

Love,

Sarah Bear

needle & thREAD with Kristin

You met Kristin here and got to know her a little better here. Now, the bride joins us for needle & thREAD and shares some thoughts on life right now and the sweet quilt top she made with the fat quarters we gave her for Christmas.

I had plans to work on this quilt {my first quilt!} on Sunday, but Karoline batted her baby blues and tenderly persuaded me to spend most of my day playing a game called "Strategy". Last week, she taught me the rules and we played for hours in the basement. Later I found out from Stephen that her rules are very different from the real rules. Nick also enlightened me that the game is actually called "Stratego". Surprised? I wasn't. Karoline walks, often dances, to the beat of her own song {usually a compilation of Taylor Swift and something she made up}. I will have to admit that after my conversation with Stephen, I decided that I prefer Karoline's game. I've always wanted to spend a day in her brain. She finds joy in the tiniest things that I have long forgotten. She's always joyful and laughing about something. I hope that never changes. 

The quilt is still unfinished, like many of my sewing projects. I'm determined to finish this one. I want it to be the piece that I  tell my own joyful 6-year-old, "I made this quilt the first year Daddy and were married. It's very special."   

As for books, I'm finally reading This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald and toting around my Jennifer Paganelli book, Happy Home: Twenty Sewing and Crafting Projects to Pretty Up Your Home {my Christmas gift from none other than Elizabeth Foss & Co.}.  It goes everywhere with me. I like to read through instructions and tutorials in my free time and then adapt to the bumps in the road.. there are always bumps in the road with my sewing projects.  
 
As for This Side of Paradise, I’m not very far into it but I am a really big F. Scott Fitzgerald fan. I cried throughout The Great Gatsby when I was required to read it for my 11^th grade Literature class. I was Nick Carraway – wrapped up in all of the drama and a yearning for a glamorous life at sixteen. I thought hanging out with popular people and being in the center was what life was all about. The Great Gatsby put it all into perspective for me and as Nick started to realize the evils around him, I started to see my own. I climbed out of the box I trapped myself in with materialism and the notion of "right" vs. "wrong" people to associate with. Senior year, I stopped judging and learned the joy of forgiveness. It didn't matter what happened freshmen year or what colleges my classmates applied for. I made new friends and rekindled the old ones that I had become blind to. I truly found peace that year.

High school is 4 years of your life... and then there's college.. and then there's real life. The 29th was my one month anniversary of marriage {gift number 57 #1000gifts} and in so many ways, I feel like I've been alive and awake for this one, solitary month. 

I reread The Great Gatsby last year before the wedding planning picked up. It brought me back to reality and reminded me to plan the wedding based on our love and not the wedding industry’s idea of love. Sometimes we live by these silly rules and risk ourselves missing out on important big moments.

I think we should all be more like Karoline and make up our own rules. They are better to play by. 

{all photos, except this one, kindness of Michael Foss}

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

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. 

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needle & thREAD

Guest post later today;-)