Needle & thREAD

 

 

Good morning! Today, I'm so grateful to have Aimee from Living, Learning, and Loving Simply to share some sewing and good books with you. I'm up to my eyeballs in Nutcraker tutus. Look for the Nutcracker version of needle & thREAD next Friday (since Thursday is Thanksgiving). Many thanks to Aimee for a pretty great Christmas present idea!

I belong to a bi-monthly Food Swap where a group of about 30 of us get together and trade homemade, homegrown, or foraged foods.  In November, our swap included crafts!  As I thought about what I wanted to make, I found a wonderful tutorial for handmade drying mats. Perfect for those dishes that come out of the dishwasher still damp or a pretty place for the hand-washing to dry. When Edie said that these are her "go-to" Christmas gift, I figured that these were worth making!

 

I bought two coordinating fabrics for each mat at JoAnn Fabrics and Hobby Lobby.  The reverse side is white terry cloth.  I had no idea that terry was so expensive!  9.99/yard at JoAnn, but it was Veteran's Day and I found a 60% off coupon! {That is one of the NICE parts of an iPhone...standing in line at a craft store and googling their site for a coupon and VOILA: they scan your phone and you save money!}

 

These were very simple to cut and sew. They are so pretty and nice that I ended up not swapping them, but keeping them to give as Christmas presents.

 

On the reading front, I love to keep a fiction and a non-fiction book going at the same time.  After months of fiction duds, I finally read one that I really enjoyed.  What could be better than a theme of brokenness and redemption, mentions of homeschooling, gardening and also a midwife?!  Stories where Love conquers rejection and pain and isolation are always a winner. I found A Language of Flowers at our library but had to wait a short time on a waiting list to receive it. I devoured it in two days.

 

 

 

For non-fiction, I am slowly savoring A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman.  If you haven't watched the darling trailer for it, you must! After reading the first two chapters, I started texting several local friends to see if they wanted to spend our upcoming January discussing this book together and what it will mean for each of us practically. From the back cover:

 

You were born to make art. You were made to live art. You might not see yourself

as an artist, but you are--in so many unexpected ways. In what you create, whether

poetry or pie, sculpture or sand castle, calligraphy or conversation. It's time to uncover

the shape of your soul, turn down the voice of the inner critic, and move into the world

with the courage to be who you most deeply are.

Creating a life of meaning is not about finding that one great thing you were made

to do, it's about knowing the one great God you were made to glorify--

in a million little ways.

 

 

 

What have you been sewing lately? 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 and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

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Go out and make believers of all...

neighborhoods.

It was Commitment Sunday the year I had my sixth baby. I eagerly filled out the cards for ministry volunteers. The parish was new; many hands were needed to get things up and running. I was looking forward to jumping in with both feet.

No one ever called.

I asked my pastor about it and he said, “No, ma’am. I pulled your card.” Bewildered, I pressed on. He told me that he didn’t think it was wise to involve myself in anything. “Just focus on a being a really good wife, mother and neighbor. Opportunities to spread the Gospel will be plentiful.”

All around me, women are strapping on their sandals and going forth to share the good news. I have a friend who is sheltering pregnant women in Costa Rica. Nearly every month, someone I know goes abroad to travel with Compassion International. Here at home, there are committees, and classes and Bible studies, all being led by enthusiastic women. Good for them. Really. If God has called them, God has given them the grace to go out there and spread the Gospel, so that’s all good for them.

What about the rest of us? What about the mom at home with six children 12 and under? What about the young woman with the newborn and the traveling husband? What about the lady whose big family keeps her running from dawn until dark? Are they excluded in the call to make believers of all nations?

I don’t think so. I think that “all nations” includes this nation. And this nation encompasses your neighborhood. Do you want to be an evangelist? It’s hard. To evangelize in suburbia you have to do a hard thing. You have to open your door. You have to welcome other women into your home.

Women think about their houses the way they think about their bodies: never good enough, always lacking. They hesitate to invite other women in because they are afraid to let other women see the messes and imperfections of family life. The corollary is that women also are hesitant to go to another woman’s house. And there we sit, behind our own walls, not sharing even a cup of tea, never mind the love of Jesus.

We evangelize when we give a cup of water in His name. Pour it in a sippy cup, add a splash of apple juice, and serve it to the little boy down the street. Then sit on your couch with his mama, coffee and a muffin and befriend her. Meet her where she is. Share her burden. Find out that her husband is traveling and she has a new dog and the dog really needs to run every day, something she can’t do with three children in tow. Offer to watch the kids for half an hour while she gets out and runs with the dog.

Gather a couple of other women and study a book together. Invite them to come be in your home, with their children if necessary, and read and share. Here’s the thing: You don’t have to search Pinterest for the top 50 Bible study snacks. You don’t have to scrub your powder room with a toothbrush. You don’t have to melt scented wax so that it smells like autumn. Just smile. Share God.

Women tell me they are more comfortable in the home of someone who is welcoming but not perfect. There are a couple of reasons this seems to be true. First, when we let our guards down a little and let people see us as we are, we tell them we trust them and we invite them to trust us. Secondly, if we allow someone to see our imperfections, we let them know that we can love them despite their imperfections. We all are struggling; none of us is perfect. When I let someone in and they see the struggle, they also see the One who gives the strength.

Tune in to everyday needs in your everyday world. See that lady struggling to push her cart from the checkout stand while also holding and consoling her crying baby? Take the cart from her. Talk on the way to the car. Say something encouraging. Carry the cross just that small distance, but carry it as He would.

Evangelize your neighborhood. Share what God is doing in your life by allowing people into your life. Before long, they’ll bring you their heartaches, they’ll share their pain, they’ll reveal their wounds. Opportunity after opportunity to live the works of mercy will literally land on your doorstep. And you will have blessed moments to be the hands and the feet of the One who heals.

(A very kind soul sent me this after Granddad died. Like a big hug, I tell you!)

Gathering My Thoughts

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I think I need another thick layer of topsoil on the front bed. When the girls planted tulips, I'm not sure they dug deep enoough and now I'm worried they'll freeze.

::listening to 

The hum of the dryer.

::clothing myself in 

Black. Again. When my aunt died in September, my sister urged me to buy a new black dress. By the fourth death this fall, I did. Funeral again today. That makes six dear souls for whom we are praying especially this November.

::talking with my children about these books

We're all listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society together. I can't recommend it enough!

::thinking and thinking

 

::pondering 

I'm pondering the Eastern tradition of St. Philip's fast and the wisdom there. Saint Francis De Sales counseled even lay people to fast beyond the minimum; "If you are able to fast, you will do well to observe some days beyond what are ordered by the Church".) Furthermore, Pope Paul VI raised the norm even higher in regions “where economic well-being is greater”, stating that in such areas, “so much more will the witness of asceticism have to be given in order that the sons of the Church may not be involved in the spirit of the world.” 

As grocery stores explodes with the abundance of Christmas, I'm doubling down on our efforts to look at the season through a different lens. The only catalog we've kept for list making purposes is the Food for the Poor gift catalog, where each of my kids is deciding what to give. They are debating the merits of soccer balls over chickens...

::carefully cultivating rhythm

I'm grateful to have thought through a November rhythm. I expected that it would be more at-home and more peaceful. But life--and death--happen. I'm still grateful to have had the plan.

::creating by hand

I have my list of gifts to make and I really thought I'd be merrily crafting them by now. Maybe I'll get to it by Friday. It's a pretty fun list and I am excited. But first, a pause to catch the last few rays of November light.

::learning lessons in

grief. We all experience it so differently. Grieving with someone and walking someone through her own grief--all very tricky. 

::encouraging learning 

Stephen is still faithfully writing for National Novel Writing Month. November seems like a great month for national initiatives. Stephen's writing a novel. Patrick's trying to grow a beard-- or something. I like Stephen's chances;-). Fortunately, Patrick is very secure in his manhood, with or without facial hair. He's looking rather like Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

::begging prayers

For my friend Megan and her family and for the repose of the soul of her beautiful mother, Cynthia McMullen.

For our dear friend Shawn Kuykendall, who is suffering terribly, and for his family and friends.

For Elizabeth DeHority, who faces a new round of very difficult chemotherapy today.

::keeping house

The basement is clean. Really clean. And the kids are so much enjoying the space downstairs that I think they'll help me keep it so. I am definitely an autumn deep cleaner. I still have a few more things I want to get to before Advent begins. My favorite Advent hymn is "People Loook East." Honestly, I love the phrase, "Make your house fair as you are able. Trim the hearth and set the table." It's been humming in my head all month. I do this when I am expecting a baby, too. The first couple weeks, after the positive test and before I start throwing up, I put meals in the freezer and try to get everything as clean and organized as possible to withstand the storm that is the first 16 weeks. Then, after the hyperemeis subsides, I seize the second trimester (what's left of it) and I clean and organize like crazy. I know that a newborn brings its own sweet chaos, so I do things that make that postpartum period easier. But I also want to have everything "just so" for the baby. The baby, of course, never notices. Still, I persist in this theory of getting my house ready for a noble guest every single time. The third trimester, I focus on baby "decorating" and readying baby clothing and supplies. I've recognized that I nest during Advent, too--and even before. November is all about that deep cleaning. I don't like to bring the trimmings out into a mess. Advent is readying for the baby.This year, as we grieve, we've thrown ourselves into the pre-Advent purging with considerable enthusiasm.

::crafting in the kitchen 

We've been making meals to take to friends. We brought dinner and basket of goodies to Megan last week. Tomorrow, we'll bring breakfast. And on Thursday, we're bringing dinner to Ginny, to celebrate new life. I figure dinner there is my ticket for unlimited baby holding. Looking very forward to inhaling that sweet boy. I'm looking for ideas. What are your favorite meals to bring or to receive? How do you make bringing meals something special?

::loving the moments

Patrick and the rest of the UVa soccer team defeated Notre Dame on Friday night to make it to the ACC finals. They lost to Maryland in a heartbreaking finish in the finals. I have lots of pictures to share, but time's really short right now, so I'll have to put them up here tomorrow. There were lots of very cool moments. The game was fairly local for us, at a park where my youth soccer players play all the time. So, it was like coming home for Paddy. My favorite moment was sweeping the stands with my camera and seeing so very many people there for him. At the first game, our friend from high school, MaryKay and her young family came to cheer. The second game we packed the stands. There were the regulars--my dad and his wife; all our kids (except the Sugar Plum Fairy); Stephen's godfather, Bill, and Beverly; Christian's godfather Jim and his daughter Rachel; and then there were old friends: families from Stephen's and Nick's former teams; the manager's family and the photographer from Paddy's youth team;  even a dad from Michael's youth team days. Several people came from Mike's office.  My friend Lisa (who started as an online friend and is now a flesh-and-blood friend) and her husband and son were there. Usually, Lisa and I live soccer games together via text. It was such a gift to have her right there! And, Mike's sister came and brought his mom. She rarely leaves the house and, though this game felt local to us, it was wandering far afield for her. It was good to gather together.

::giving thanks 

the comfort of the liturgy--from the Liturgy of the Hours, to the liturgy of the Mass, to the liturgical year--there is comfort in knowing that some things are never changing.

living the liturgy

I'm having to reconcile myself to the fact that though we say we live the liturgical year, some of the things that "we always do" because they are part of our liturgical celebration, aren't really necessary to celebrate liturgy with the Church. I've worked super hard to establish traditions around the liturgical year. In those baby years, when everyone was little and Mike was traveling all the time, it was really hard to make sure that we did certain things on certain days. But we did it. I wanted my kids to go out into the world when they were big and know wherever they were that certain days are set aside to fast or feast and always, always to pray. I wanted the liturgical year in the domestic church to be an anchoring peg. I wanted traditions to be for them what they are for me--reliable, predictable, purposeful places of the heart when the world is turned upside down. And I was kind of passionate about it.

St. Nicholas day has always been really huge. I told you about my stocking meltdown last year. You offered great ideas in the combox. I had hoped we'd  press on better than ever. The reality is that we won't do stockings on St. Nicholas day this year, for some of the reasons I outlined last year. And for resons that never occurred to me. And we have a new reason it will be different that day. For 23 years, it's been stocking day. For 13 years, it's been Nick's Name Day. But for 90 years, it's been Granddad's birthday. It still is. But this year, our real life jolly old man won't be with us to celebrate. 

Michael and Kristin are making their own traditions. Patrick and Christian will be deep into exams. St. Nicholas day is in need of something new. Something enduring?

I've often considered the habits of celebrating the liturgical year to be the tracks upon which our family prayer life are laid.

We live an advent that is intentional and filled with meangingful activity and pockets of quiet peace. And even when they're grown and gone, I'll still live those days much the same way.

 I thought my children would travel through life, navigating twists and turns and always have the signposts of the liturgical year to keep them rooted in the faith of the Univeral Church. The reality is that academic calendars and NCAA tournament schedules don't consider the liturgical year. The reality is that they are going to choose to make new traditions in their own homes. 

So, while I don't regret a single early December scramble to ready myself for St. Nicholas day and I will always sing the candle songs for each day of Advent and I'm not one bit sorry for thorns on salt dough crosses during Lent, and by golly, someone will have to read me all the books when I'm too old to see, I urge young moms not to be so wrapped up in those traditions it rocks your world when they die or are abandoned. And please, please, don't let it all be about the cupcakes; you'd be amazed how quickly they are too old for cupcakes. Think hard about investing in traditions that at least have the potential to be adopted in the new homes of grown children. And when they don't adopt them, it's probably best to just look back fondly at the memories you created and not be terribly sad they're over, but be wonderfully glad they happened.

Really and truly, the liturgical year is much more enduring than cinnamon rolls on the Feast of St. Lucy. Those things bring great joy. They have great meaning and I still believe that they make for a childhood that is rich with wonder and reverence and joy. They are not the source and summit of handing on the faith.

::planning for the week ahead

Some visiting to do. More soccer. More Nutcracker. More later;-)..

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 week, 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

Luke 21:5-19

While some people were speaking about
how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,
Jesus said, "All that you see here--
the days will come when there will not be left
a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."

Then they asked him,
"Teacher, when will this happen?
And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" 
He answered,
"See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name, saying,
'I am he,’ and 'The time has come.’
Do not follow them! 
When you hear of wars and insurrections,
do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,
but it will not immediately be the end." 
Then he said to them,
"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 
There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place;
and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

"Before all this happens, however,
they will seize and persecute you,
they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,
and they will have you led before kings and governors
because of my name. 
It will lead to your giving testimony. 
Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand,
for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking
that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. 
You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends,
and they will put some of you to death. 
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

 

Think

In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian become a disciple of ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought...For this reason Jesus said to them: "You have taken away the key of knowledge." The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements. The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people. ~Pope Francis. more here.

Pray

Dear Lord, Please give us Grace, first: never to stop praying to never lose the faith; to remain humble, and so not to become closed, which closes the way to the Lord.

.

Act

Open the door today. Cast aside all your "requirements" for genuine friendship and open the door to someone outside your comfort zone. 

 

 

How can I pray for you this week?

needle & thREAD

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? 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 and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

Not much to show this week. I got up ridiculously early (3:30) yesterday morning, so I could sew a little. I realized that I need more fabric for my intended project. So, I put that aside. I pulled out some always inspiring Anna Maria Horner voile to make a couple more of those light and airy (but pretty warm) scarves. I have acquired quite the collection and they make fabulous Christmas presents. I think that so far it's the only successful sewing I've done for myself. But, who needs anything else? These scarves take jeans and a T-shirt into the presentable, put together realm. And they make a simple black dress look all grown up and fancy. 

So there you go. A picture of beautiful fabric.

And another picture.

Because this is as far as I got. Some life and death things happened yesterday and the sewing machine sat silent.

I intended to read for two hours straight at soccer practice last night. Those hours in the car are usually my writing hours, but I was too tired to put three words together coherently. In the end, I read a little bit and then took a nap. There's a first for everything I suppose. I think this was my first parking lot nap! I'm reading To School Through the Fields. It's a sweet, light memoir of a childhood in rural Ireland back when life was simple. Perfect for the not-so-simple day that was yesterday. 

So tell us all about your reading and stitching!