Lord, Hear Our Prayer

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Think:
Many a friendship, long, loyal, and self-sacrificing, rested at first on no thicker a foundation than a kind word. The two men were not likely to be friends. Perhaps each of them
regarded the other's antecedents with somewhat of distrust. They had possibly been set against each other by the circulation of gossip. Or they had been looked upon as rivals, and the success of one was regarded as incompatible with the success of the other. But a kind word, perhaps a mere report of a kind word, has been enough to set all things straight, and to be the commencement of an enduring friendship. Fr. Faber

Pray:
Sweet Jesus, today make me very aware of every opportunity to utter kind words. Give me the courage and the sweetness of disposition to say them and to mean them.

Act:
Where are your opportunities to speak words of kindness? Begin in your own home, first thing in the morning, and then seize every opportunity in all the social spheres where you find yourself today. Look particularly to someone you don't consider a friend, someone who might even be an adversary. Speak words of genuine kindness and compassion.

And then,
As we seek to grow together, to combat comparing and competing and envy, use social media this week to spread genuine kindness.
Kindness is the virtue that snuffs out envy.
Be kind.
How can we pray for you this week?

Fast. Pray. Give.

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Fast

Don't read blogs, or message boards, or Facebook, or Twitter, or anything else today . Ask God to make you aware of how much time you have gained and to show you how He wants you to fill that time.

Pray

Prayer reveals to souls the vanity of earthly goods and pleasure. It fills them with light, strength and consolation; and gives them a foretaste of the calm bliss of our heavenly home" (St. Rose of Viterbo).

Ask God to conquer your vanity and inspire you to bring calm bliss to your home on earth so that home becomes a foretaste of heaven for your family.

Give

Go outside and play with your children. Don't just watch them. Engage.

needle & thREAD

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No sewing news from me this week. Despite my ambitious plans, the stomach bug won this round. But...

I do have some happy sewing to report! A couple weeks ago, a sweet reader offered to take the fabric already designated to the St. Lucy's -Valentine's- winter nightgowns and turn them into loveliness for my little girls. I gathered up a rather haphazard box of works in progress and works not yet begun and sent it off gratefully. A few days later, she was love-bombing my inbox with pictures that made my heart skip a beat. I'll let her tell you about it.

Please meet Tracy, who has not only graciously sewn beautiful gowns this week, but agreed to guest blog:

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I love to sew. To be able to create something beautiful and useful out of a rectangle of fabric is a gift. One that I don't take for granted, and that I thoroughly enjoy.
We live in a very tiny house (a recent addition of about 400 sq ft increased the size of our house by 40 percent). Did I mention we have 8 children? (Two of them have married and our oldest lives on his own a few hours away, but we have had as many as 9, and as few as 7, living in the house during the past 7 years.) Even in this small space, I was able to find a 20" x 56" section to set up as my sewing station. To have my sewing machine out and ready for sewing is another gift.

Elizabeth's blog was one of the first that I read regularly. I bought her book, Real Learning: Educating in the Heart of the Home, and it has become my most bookmarked book, with bits of paper sticking out in every direction.

I was tickled (and a bit jealous, if I'm honest) when she learned to knit. I was thrilled when she started learning to sew. I enjoy following her progress with her with needle and thREAD posts. When she mentioned recently that she was struggling with the nightgowns for the girls, I didn't  have to think twice. I shot off an e-mail asking her to please send me the jammies, so I could sew them up for her and she could move on to the Easter dresses. (And then I worried that she'd think I was a crazy woman.)
I got the package on Saturday and got busy. It was a pleasure working with such scrumptious fabric! My girls admired both the fabric and the pearly pink pins she'd used to pin pattern to fabric. (I sent her an e-mail suggesting that she skip that step in the future and just use butter knives or rocks as weights, which is just as effective, but a much quicker method than pins ;-)

I consider myself to be a decent seamstress, although, admittedly, I do struggle with following patterns. ( and recipes...) I had trouble making heads or tails of those directions; it was no wonder that Elizabeth was struggling! I persevered and managed to figure them out, and yesterday afternoon, too late to make it to the post office, though, I sewed on the buttons, and took a picture before packing them back in the box. Not knowing I would be guest posting here today, I didn't take any other photos along the way except for a quick phone picture to send to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, thank-you for allowing me to help you in this small way. I hope that you feel loved every time you catch a glimpse of a little girl twirling in her flannel gown.

 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. ~Galatians 6:10

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I cannot thank Tracy enough. I'm so touched by her generosity. And my girls will so love those nightgowns for a long, long time. Have you ever been unexpectedly blessed by a stranger, who then became a friend because you trusted her? Tell me about it. And tell me about your sewing and reading, too!