Finished!

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My most recent cross stitch project is finally finished! This photo shows its just-finished state — I haven’t rinsed it out or ironed it yet. The pattern is “Thy Word” from the Inspired by Scripture booklet of Paula Vaughan.

The lettering was one of the hard parts because a lot of it doesn’t fall within the usual lines of cross stitch — I had started it earlier but got a little lost and frustrated and then saved it for last. Then when I got going again, thankfully I could find enough reference points to keep on track. At first I was afraid I’d have the words slanting up or down like my handwriting does on a page. 🙂 And I knew I would have to give up on that part looking as perfect as the pattern — but when I looked at the sample on the front of the pattern, those letters weren’t perfect, either.

The curtains were difficult, also, because some of the different shades were so close to each other. It was odd that when I held the piece away from me, I could see the shading, but close up, even with my reading glasses and around the neck magnifier (yes, it looks dorky to use it, but I couldn’t see to stitch without it), two or three of the colors were extremely close to each other. It was a relief to get that section done.

I love the gold detailing on the pitcher and cup.

This little pin cushion is one of my favorite parts.

The scissors there were supposed to have a metallic silver strand of floss in with the gray, but it just didn’t look right to me and seemed to draw undue attention to that section, so I ended up taking it out.

The curtains and shadowy area under the dishes and scissors came out a lot darker than the photo of the finished piece on the front of the booklet showed, and I almost ripped out the stitching and chose lighter colors when I got into those sections. But then I decided it wasn’t really worth it and I’d just stay with the colors listed even though they looked darker. It all came out okay in the end.

Thanks for looking and listening to me ramble. 🙂 I’m not sure how long I’ve been working on this — I tried to do a quick search through my blog, and I mentioned last October picking it up again after having laid it aside for a while during the move, and at that point I had the bottom quarter done. I think I laid it aside for a little through the Christmas holidays as well.

I’m linking up today to Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? (dontcha just love that name?) at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. I’ve seen my friend Susan link up to it for a few weeks, and it looked so fun. The idea is to show not necessarily the finished project but rather some progress on a craft project you’re working on. I haven’t shown progress week to week, because just working on it a few evenings a week, it didn’t seem to progress very quickly and I thought it would be boring to show this every week. But now that’s its finished I definitely want to link up!

Now I just have to wait for some decent framing coupons.

I’m also linking up to Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou.

Day of Prayer

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Today is the National Day of Prayer.

Power of Prayer

The day was long, the burden I had borne
Seemed heavier than I could longer bear,
And then it lifted – but I did not know
Some one had knelt in prayer;

Had taken me to God that very hour,
And asked the easing of the load, and He,
In infinite compassion, had stooped down
And taken it from me.

We cannot tell how often as we pray
For some bewildered one, hurt and distressed,
The answer comes, but many times those hearts
Find peace and rest.

Some one had prayed, and Faith, a reaching hand,
Took hold of God, and brought blessings down that day!
So many, many hearts have need of prayers:
Oh, let us pray!

— Author Unknown

II Chronicles 7:14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. Have you ever been served breakfast in bed? Do you enjoy that? If someone were serving you breakfast in bed what would you hope to see on the tray?

My husband and I did that for one another a couple of times in early married days, but didn’t really like getting crumbs in bed. If you’re counting eating in a hospital bed, yeah, I guess you could say one perk of being there is breakfast in bed served on a nice rolling tray so you don’t have to balance it all on your lap. Not enough of a perk to cause me to want to visit there again, though. 🙂 If I ever were served breakfast, in bed or otherwise, I think my first choice would be an omelet with ham and Cheddar cheese and some orange juice with a bit of ginger ale mixed in.

2. What is one piece of advice you would give a new mother?

Sleep whenever you can. Accept help, even if things aren’t done exactly as you would do them. Savor the moments — they pass so quickly. Keep some time with the Lord, even if it is shorter or different than it was before (see Encouragement for Mothers of Young Children for more.) Oh, wait, you said just one piece of advice….

3. When was the last time you wanted to scream? Explain.

I can remember it wasn’t too long ago but I can’t remember what it was about. It does happen more often than I’d like to admit. 😳

4. Can you hula hoop?

Probably not any more.

5. What is something people do in traffic that really bothers you?

Tailgate, change lanes too closely and recklessly, fail to use turn signals, pull in front of me and then slow down for a turn.

6. What do you do when people don’t admit they’re wrong?

Honestly? Seethe inwardly. Then hopefully before long put it in perspective. If it is some little thing that doesn’t matter in the long run, I try to just let it go — some things you have to “agree to disagree” about. But if it is something that I think will have serious consequences for them or others, I’ll pray for them, that the Lord will open their eyes and change their hearts and maybe seek another opportunity and way to bring it up again.

7. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘fun’?

Something with the family — pizza and movie night, going out to eat together, playing a game.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I frequently hear an owl in the trees around our house. I’d love to see him some time. Some years ago at a different house and state, our kids and some others were playing on the trampoline in the back yard when an owl flew out of the trees, perched and looked at them for a few minutes, and then flew away. It all happened too fast to even think about getting the camera. We probably woke him up and he came out to see what the commotion was about. We never saw him again.

Assorted stray thoughts…

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  • I don’t know if I mentioned that my son, Jason, had a second interview for one job possibility, then they called him back for paperwork, drug testing, and began a background check, which all pointed to the likelihood of being offered a job. But then the management declared a hiring freeze until they could work out some budgeting issues. 😦 The man interviewing Jason said they were just about to offer him the job and he’d put his paperwork on file to call him as soon as the hiring freeze is over — but who knows how long that will be. Its frustrating and disappointing — sometimes I think, “Can’t these kids just catch a decent break?!” But I remind myself that God knows what He has in store for them. One person Jason interviewed with for another job said they had over 70 applicants….so that’s the kind of thing he’s up against.
  • I’m having very conflicted feelings about the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death. There is relief, on one hand, but fear of retaliation on the other. But I am even more conflicted by the reaction of fellow Christians on Facebook. The first response last night was cheering.  It just didn’t seem right to me that we’d rejoice over anyone’s death. The verse that came to mind was Ezekiel 33:11: “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Then someone posted this morning Proverbs 24:17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth,” and verse 18 goes on to say: “Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” But then, I thought, there was rejoicing when Pharoah’s army was killed when they were after Israel at the Red Sea and when David killed Goliath. I don’t know how to square that with Prov. 24:17, except maybe the proverb is talking about a personal enemy, and the rejoicing in the other passages refers to God’s enemies. Then several people posted Proverbs 11:1o: “When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.” One friend said, “We don’t rejoice in death, but we rejoice in justice.” May be….some people were sure rejoicing in death! I don’t listen to talk radio, but my son said some people were saying things about being glad bin Laden was in hell. Those weren’t necessarily professing Christians, though — I haven’t seen any Christian going that far. A couple of people on FB reminded us that except for the grace of God we’d all be headed there. But it is a little hard to feel sorry for one soul going out into eternity facing not the 70 virgins he thought he’d see but rather the God of judgment when that soul was responsible for so many others going to their deaths. I’m still wrestling with all of this.
  • I still haven’t seen all the royal wedding — I taped it, but I can’t just sit and watch for four hours unless I am doing something else at the same time, and my cross stitch project is at a point that needs concentration just now. So I am watching it in biys and pieces. But overall I’ve enjoyed it so far. Gorgeous music. There was a lot of truth being presented in both what was said (that I’ve heard so far in the service, i.e., the Biblical reasons for marriage) and the music, if anyone had “ears to hear.” I think we realized with the outcome of Diana’s wedding that there is really not such a thing as a fairy tale wedding in real life. Yet because her boys have been in the public eye and suffered such tragedy, I think we all wish them well. I thought Katherine was beautiful and loved her understated elegance. I like hats, but I thought some were outlandish and/or worn at odd angles. I liked the simplicity of Queen Elizabeth’s hat, though I am not fond of yellow.  Though I wouldn’t want to live amidst such protocol personally, I did enjoy the “pomp and circumstance” involved. Ceremony is nice sometimes. I also enjoyed the deep sense of history — the commentator on the station I was listening to kept bringing up the history of various items and customs. And it was nice to have happy news for once on TV!
  • But, alas, there were naysayers for the royal wedding as well. Some griped about the privileges of royal birth, getting such an expensive wedding and a dukedom when he hadn’t done anything to earn it. I pointed out that royalty has its particular stresses and pressures as well as its rewards. but the individual didn’t want to hear it and said if the royals didn’t like their lot they could just step down from royal life. 🙄 True, I suppose, but I think that reveals a lack of understanding of what the monarchy means to Britons. The commentator I listened to pointed out how many acts of duty various ones of the royal family had performed that year, and the word “duty” came up often. Sure, I prefer democracy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the culture of other countries. Then some people commented on the young couple’s having lived together before marriage. Yes, that is fornication, and yes, that is wrong in God’s eyes. but who knows whether the prayer they wrote themselves that they “keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important” might be answered like Cornelius‘s was and lead them to know God in a real and personal way?

I probably should wait and go over this in the morning — I’ve been distracted and this isn’t as coherent or neatly written as I’d like. And I’m thinking there were a couple of other things I was going to mention, but I can’t think of them now….but I think I am going to go ahead and post it in it’s “off the top of my head.” state.

Edited to add: two other viewpoints on the rejoicing over bin Laden’s death (for the record, I don’t have a problem with war and I am not a pacifist and I appreciate our military.)

Is It Wrong To Celebrate Bin Laden’s Death? from NPR.

Some Thoughts on the Death of Bin Laden by Denny Burk.

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are some that ministered to me this past week:

From a devotional titled The Invitation by Derick Bingham. commenting on John 9:1-4:

[The blind man’s] suffering was not due to sin but was in fact a conduit for showing what God can do. He was about to become a legend for the glory of God…..Your circumstance may be dire; your health may be failing, your business may be collapsing, your plans may be wrecked, your finances stretched and your cupboard bare. You may be ready to quit. Don’t. Why? Because this circumstance you are in is not because you have done wrong but because God is about to reveal His works in you.

From Women’s Ministry in the Local Church by J. Ligon Duncan and Susan Hunt:

No matter how many bowls of soup we dish up at the soup kitchen, if we do it with rebellious hearts against those God has put in authority over us, it is not pleasing to Him (p. 90).

From a friend’s Facebook:

“Every job is a self portrait of the person who did it. Autograph you work with excellence.” ~ Unknown

This is something I wish every person could imprint on their brains! And their work!

From another friend’s Facebook:

“Keep out of your life all that will keep Christ out of your mind.”

From “Meeting God Alone” in On Asking God Why by Elisabeth Elliot:

The Bible is God’s message to everybody. We deceive ourselves if we claim to want to hear his voice but neglect the primary channel through which it comes.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

Don’t forget to leave a comment, even if you don’t have any quotes to share! 🙂

Doubting Easter

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A week after that first Easter, Thomas earned his nickname “Doubting Thomas” when he did not believe that Jesus had actually risen from the dead. The above video is a wonderfully written perspective of Thomas’s doubts and Jesus’s answers.

John 20: 19Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

20And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD.

21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.

29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

Laudable Linkage and Videos

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Here are some great reads I discovered the last couple of weeks:

Abounding Works — great post-Easter thoughts.

How an Atheist Found God, HT to Sherry — wonderful testimony.

The Communist Party Declares War on Christians. Sobering.

Talents For a Season, HT to Challies.

Loving Children When They’re Unlovable — from an adoptive parent’s point of view, but true for biological children as well.

He’ll always be my baby. Sniff, sniff…..

Don’t Be a Drama Queen, and Other Lessons in Friendship from Anne Shirley, HT to Diane.

Printable and recipe for chocolate bundt cake gifts, meant for teachers but could be adapted for other purposes.

Beginning Free Motion Quilting. I’ve been intrigued by this since discovering blog friend Wendy, who is a master at it — such beautiful stuff! But this post by Vanilla Joy is her first attempt and it gave the courage to think about trying it some day….when I have some other projects finished!

Peep Surgery. Funny! A little weird, but funny.

San Fransisco Treat: “Artist Scott Weaver has constructed a new interactive tour of San Francisco hotspots — using 100,000 toothpicks collected over the past 35 years.”

Cricut Imagine Giveaway — closes tomorrow.

I’ve seen rabbits being chased before but never saw one do a back flip:

An amazing catch:

Does that mean the batter is out?

I am SO looking forward to The Hobbit! Here is a pre-production look:

Hope you have a good Saturday!

Friday’s Fave Five

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Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week. This has been a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

I was just thinking that since we skipped FFF last week for Good Friday, I’d have two weeks of faves to choose from — but I can’t remember the week before last! Isn’t that sad?

But on to this week’s faves:

1. Easter. Though in a sense we remember Christ’s death and resurrection every week, there is just something special about Easter morning church services. Our church here just has one longer service on Easter morning with no evening service. The sermon, special music, and communion service all worked together to fill my heart with joy and worship and appreciation anew for what Jesus did for us.

And then Easter dinner is another fave part of the day. A local grocery store sells a brown sugar-glazed spiral-sliced ham that we like every bit as much as the more expensive name brands. Plus we had cheesy potatoes and I think a salad, and Chocolate Dream Pie for dessert. I had been looking for an old recipe I had for French Silk Pie that I hadn’t used in a long time, but was dismayed to see it contained raw eggs, as did every online recipe I could find of it. I just couldn’t make myself do that, but while looking around I saw a recipe in my files for Dream Pie. I didn’t know they even still made those Dream Whip packets, but they do. My husband said he liked the pie better than the frozen kind I sometimes buy. Oh, and we had Resurrection Rolls with Easter breakfast.

My husband doesn’t like not having an evening service, especially on holidays when it seems we should be doing more and not less to commemorate them, but I have to say I loved taking a nap without setting the alarm clock and having a leisurely evening.

I could have made my whole FFF about Easter. But here are a few others faves, and I’ll try to keep them shorter:

2. An annual physical is NOT a favorite, but getting it over with is. I had been thinking about putting off til summer but finally decided to just get it done.

3. Comments. A lot of blog friends were taking blog breaks last week, and even those who were around were understandably busy getting ready for the holiday. But going about four days with no comments at all was really lonely. It was good to have some people come back by this week.

4. Red Lobster. We don’t all go out to eat often due to the expense, but one day it was just three of us at home and Jim had a gift card for Red Lobster, so we went. We hadn’t been there in months, and it was really good!

5. Irises and azaleas. In the continuing unfolding of spring, these have been the newest contributors around town. I’m used to seeing azaleas, but I’m not used to seeing so many homes with irises in their yards. So pretty!

And I am abundantly thankful for safety during the awful weather this week. I forgot to mention in my post about tornadoes and thunderstorms that Jason and Mittu were driving through severe storms in Arkansas on their way back to TN from a visit in OK earlier in the week. When you see footage of the storms and the massive destruction, you realize there is really no defense against that kind of thing. My heart goes out to those affected by the storms this week.

Tornadoes and Thunderstorms

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If you’ve watched the news much this morning, in-between segments on tomorrow’s royal wedding, you’ve probably seen coverage of horrific storm system that hit the Southeast yesterday and last night. Here in eastern TN we had severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings off and on from late afternoon through the evening, but thankfully our area wasn’t hit hard. As I took Jesse to school and then went to see Jim’s mom, the usual spontaneous lakes and ponds that spring up after heavy rains here were there, but not quite as high as I’ve seen them after other storms.

But it made for a pretty tense few hours, hearing the thrumming storm and seeing nothing but storm coverage on the three major network TV stations — and Jim was away last night as well! At one point Jason said the sky was green — I didn’t look. We got out flashlights and lanterns and batteries, and the lights dimmed a few times, but thankfully we never lost power.

I had gone to see Jim’s mom around 4 yesterday afternoon, which happened to be right when things were starting up. The skies were dark and it was just starting to rain, and as I got to her assisted living place, they were bringing all the residents out of their rooms into the hallway due to the threat or tornadoes. You can imagine what that was like. Some understood what was going on and were taking it patiently, some were fidgety. They were just bringing Jim’s mom out as I came in, but they left her with her walker, and she can’t stand even with her walker for very long, so I dashed into her room and got her a chair (then she told me to have a seat in it. I convinced her I brought it for her. 🙂 ) I didn’t stay long since the weather seemed more threatening. I wondered through the evening how many times they’d had to bring the residents out. And then I thought of that kind of thing going on in assisted living places and nursing homes all across the South. One particularly poignant photo I saw in the morning’s newscast was someone pushing a lady in a wheelchair with storm debris behind them.

Of course, if you’ve seen the coverage, you’ve probably seen one of the videos of one of the massive tornadoes. I saw this one this morning on The Today Show with an interview with the man who captured it on video — wish I could get that to embed here but their code won’t cooperate with WP. The video just of the tornado is here:

I just can not imagine being near something like that. As tense as it was just with the possibility of a tornado, I can’t imagine living through that or some of the “jaw-dropping destruction.”

There are news reports of damage and even deaths here in TN as well as GA, but by far the worst is in AL. I know all involved would appreciate prayer as they try to recover from this disaster.

Often yesterday the hymn “Keep Me Safe Til the Storm Passes By” came to mind. I wouldn’t say it’s a favorite — in one church we were in it was a favorite of the song-leader’s and we sang it about every other week, and I am sad to say I got tired of it. But it certainly ministered to me yesterday.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

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Joyce From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge of questions for fun and for getting to know each other.

Here are the questions for this week:

1. What is something that bothers you if it is not done perfectly?

Oh — too many things. I hate when I am trying to put an address label or stamp on an envelope and get it crooked. I hate to send it out like that but life is too short to try to peel it off without ripping the envelope. There are plenty of things I live with less-than-perfectly (my bed, for instance. I like to make it, but it is nowhere near military or hospital precision.) Crooked wall frames bug me, too.

2. What is one of your best childhood memories?

Once when the power was out we all slept in the living room and did shadow hand puppets on the wall and such. It was a cozy moment in a not-always-so-cozy childhood.

3. Do you plan to watch the Royal Wedding and when was the last time you wore a hat?

a) I haven’t decided yet. I didn’t get up early to watch Diana’s and then kind of regretted it. Maybe I’ll tape it. b) Last Sunday.

4. Where do you fall in the birth order in your family? Do you think this has influenced your personality?

I am the oldest of six, and yes, I think I am the typical (mostly) serious, responsible firstborn.

5. Where do you think you spend most of your money?

At the grocery store!

6. When you need to confront someone would you rather communicate in person, on the phone, by email or by letter? Why?

I hate confronting people and would rather do it in writing where I can get my thoughts and tone the way I want them — and avoid eye contact. 😀 But that’s rarely as effective as communicating in person.

7. Dodge ball, freeze tag, kickball or jump rope? You have to pick one.

I’m guessing the question is which do I prefer to participate in? Well, these days, freeze tag — I’d get to stand still. 😀 But in my youth I enjoyed all of those.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am grateful for the lady at the customer service desk at W-mart who came over to check my purchases out this morning, though it earned us both a frown. I like shopping there right after I drop Jesse off at school because it is much less busy. But they usually only have one regular check-out lane and one “speedy” lane open. This morning they had two regular lanes open, but one had five people waiting in it, so I went to the other. But the guy in front of me was having some trouble buying a gift card with his corporate credit card, and I waited — and waited, and waited. The other line continued to have several people in it. The lady at the Customer Service counter was zipping over to one of the lanes limited to 20 items to check people out if she wasn’t busy at Customer Service. She saw I had been waiting for a long time and waved me over: I let her know I had more than 20 items, but she said that was ok. But wouldn’t you know right then someone came to the customer service desk who wanted help right NOW. The lady’s supervisor started fussing and the person waiting was glaring — she probably thought I hadn’t heeded the sign about 20 items or less. I felt bad that the cashier was getting some flack for trying to be helpful and wished I could do something nice for her besides just profusely thanking her. But I was also convicted by the thought that if I had been the waiting customer at the service desk with no service, I probably would have been glaring, too. 😳

And that turned into a longer story than I’d planned. But here are two more quick random thoughts:

a) Why does no food on the Biggest Loser ever look or sound appealing to me?

b) Why is it that when I start to think about the need to lose weight or my doctor mentions it, I start craving every unhealthy thing I can think of?