Pardon the interruption,

but we have some good news:-). So the blogging schedule for the week is pre-empted.

Yesterday, a little after 4:00, I was sitting at the dance studio, merrily uploading State Cup pictures from the weekend. Sarah was dancing. Katie and Karoline were playing with the delicious baby who belongs to one of the teachers. Mary Beth was supervising my picture efforts. 

My cell phone rang (yes, it's back). Christian's name flashed on the screen. His name on my phone never fails to evoke a physical response. My heart lurches into my throat every. single. time. (1) Christian hates the phone. He'd rather starve than use the phone to order pizza. He avoids it at all costs. (2) Christian is intense, high-need, and prone to crisis. (3) When you add 1+2, it means that Christian's name on the screen propels me into crisis management more often than not.

It was Christian. He sounded like he was crying. My heart started pounding furiously.

No, wait. This is GOOD. He's calling with GOOD news!

"I got in! I got in! They WANT me!"

And about ten years of stress melted away.

He had set one goal. He considered only one college. And he took the hardest, most uphill path I have ever seen to get there. But get there he did. To tell the whole story would be to give away pieces of my heart and his. Those are not mine to give away.

But please know how grateful I am for your prayers for this boy. I am quite sure they sustained us. (And don't stop praying;-).

I did a happy dance right there in the studio and scooted out to buy balloons and a celebration dinner. It was a very happy evening.

Then, last night, I slept more soundly than I've slept in a very, very long time.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about State Cup.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

{This was supposed to auto-post yesterday. My apologies! Have a beautiful Monday. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about a crazy-happy weekend!}

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

JN 14:15-16, 23B-26

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”

Think:

 “The person who possesses Christian meekness is affectionate and tender towards everyone: he is disposed to forgive and excuse the frailties of others; the goodness of his heart appears in a sweet affability that influences his words and actions, presents every object to his view in the most charitable and pleasing light.” -St. Francis de Sales

Pray:

Infuse me with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Especially when it's hard, help me to meet the eyes of another with a genuine smile. Infuse me with sweet affability.

Act: 

Francis de Sales said it took him 20 years to conquer his quick temper. No one ever suspected he had such a problem, because his usual manner of behavior was overflowing with good nature and genuine kindness. Choose just one person in your life towards whom you will be perennially meek and sunny. When you've mastered that one, add another.

Liturgical Time Giveaway

I'm keeping step with Michelle at Liturgical Time today. Come along?

Tell us about your background. What path led you to the work you do today?

I have always felt drawn to head covering in private prayer and in worship, particularly in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.  This led naturally into creating my own veils and subsequently to creating them for others.  I feel particularly blessed to have the opportunity to create head coverings for praying women because I believe that praying women, through the power of Our Lord, can be a tremendous blessing to a broken world.

How do you come up with new designs and ideas for veils?

We try to “think outside the box” and create unique veils that will offer a variety of women choices that they love. We have been particularly inspired to create veils that women who are new to head covering can feel comfortable wearing. That was the impetus for the development of our Eternity Veil which can be worn as a scarf and then discreetly pulled up over the head to form a veil.  We also create a variety of chapel veils which have long enough sides to allow “kerchief style” tying. We find that many women feel particularly at home wearing their veils in this fashion, rather than allowing them to hang free.

You mention that your veils can be worn in everyday life. Can you tell us a little more about that?

We are blessed to have women from a variety of Christian backgrounds as customers.  Some of our ladies choose to wear head coverings on a daily basis for reasons related to modesty, and/or to augment their devotional and prayer lives. Often, those who purchase head coverings for daily wear choose from our cotton headscarves, which are similar to wide headbands, or our more casual triangle-shaped kerchief style in lovely prints.

 

How do you combine your work and your family life?

Our work is very much intertwined with our family life.  Once upon a time, we had a lovely dining room and formal living room. Now, instead, we have a former dining room table which serves as a cutting table, a sideboard which stores trims and packing materials, and a space brimming with lace and fabric.  Everyone in the family participates in responding to inquiries, managing orders, creating veils, and packaging our creations for shipment.

 

Is this contemplative work for you? Do you pray as you create?

This is absolutely contemplative work.  I find repetitive stitching to be an excellent vehicle for contemplative prayer. We also pin the name of the recipient on the each veil as soon as the lace it cut. That name follows the head covering through to completion, allowing us to pray for the recipient every time her veil is in our hands.

What’s the product you are most excited about in your shop right now?

We have enjoyed creating a variety of Eternity Veils. Finding new laces and fabrics for them is exciting. We also love making our matching child and doll veil sets. Creating special veils for little girls and their dolls is always fun.

 Click around the lovely Etsy site and find your favorite veil. Leave a comment and tell us which one you like best. You might just win it! We'll give away one up to a $42 value.

The winner is

KackyK  who said...

The Dark Chocolate Eternity Veil is my favorite...but really they are all beautiful!

This Moment

needle & thREAD

I love to sew with Oliver + S patterns. For over a year now (almost two years?), I've been telling you I learn something new every time I use an Oliver + S pattern. I've lost count of the times I've used the free Popover Sundress pattern for both girls and dolls. So, what new could there possibly be to learn?

This time, I adapted the pattern for Katie (#1 new thing: adapting a pattern to size up). The pattern stops at an 8 and she's a 10 or a 12. Then, I shortened it to make it  a tunic (#2 new thing: shortening a pattern into something else entirely). I had the new pattern all drawn and ready bright and early on sewing day. Three hours later, Katie still couldn't decide on fabric. Those straps take a deceptively large amount of fabric because they're cut on the bias. We don't have a big selection of solids. Actually, you're looking at the only solid color we have. And Katie has grown so much that a yard of main fabric isn't enough for her, even for a top. So, we must have unfolded and re-folded everything in the stash before I suggested this Ladies' Stitching Club fabric (#3 new thing: sewing with a border print). I learned that I should have eliminated the curve in the hem when using the border print, but it was easy enough to fix at hemming time. I also used French seams on this one, not a new skill, but one I haven't used since Cari thaught me 21 years ago on a christening own. I remember thinking they were so cool back then!

I really love the finished product. I think this top will be darling with capris in the dog days of summer. Katie is delighted. As I rearranged the girls' clothes for the seasonal shift this morning,  I recognized that we are coming very, very close to the end of Katie's little girl clothes days. This makes me so sad--for her and for me. I wish there were a teenaged equivalent of Oliver + S and that both mothers and daughters could love sewing clothes together well beyond the elementary years. 

I picked Kristin Lavransdatter off the shelf last night when I went down to retrieve my copies of The Great Gatsby. (Notice how suddenly it's cool to read Gatsby? It's in demand in this house and there are no copies in the library.) Several years ago, there was lots of chatter about Kristin Lavransdatter. I bought a used copy and started to read. I couldn't get into it at all. I learned that I had bought a bad translation. I bought a much better translation, but never got very far. We'll see how it goes this time.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I am eager to hear!

What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  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 theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD 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:-).