Blackwork Prayer Pocket

This was one of my black work projects for the month of February.

February and March have been challenging months for me.  Most of my good friends have moved on to different states and I reminded all too often that I am living in my own state of....well, loneliness.  The winter has been long and cold, and the sight of the four walls that surround me is getting old.  But on the bright side, (there is always a bright side, right?) I have had the opportunity to carve out more time for reading, studying, praying, and stitching.  This was a project that could combine them all.

This little prayer pocket started out as a bookmark but ended up being something that I keep in my purse.  The pattern reminds me that everything in my life comes from Christ.  I am the butterfly in the middle.  The cross (which represents Christ) is connected to the boarder that surrounds everything (God).  The cross (Christ) is also between me and everything else...the dark woods where the wolves are lurking (trees, peaks and valleys in the lower left corner), the beauty I see in the world (flowers in the upper left corner), my family and marriage (lower right corner), and the light of good and the dark of evil (upper right corner).  Christ comes first.  This idea (or journey) has not always been an easy one for me, and maybe it's not suppose to be.  The more I struggle with it, the more I learn.  It hasn't always been easy to let things go, and to give everything to Christ, and there are certainly times when I'd rather keep things under my own control.  But He knows best. 

I added the letters VDMA inside the cross because they are for the Latin phrase Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum, which means, "The word of the Lord endures forever".  And it really does....and that is something special.

I started with a free pattern I found on pinterest.  It looks like this.  Thank you to whoever created it.  It's a cute little pattern!  I hope it's okay that I tweaked it a little bit.

When I went to put the backing fabric on the piece, I decided to leave the top open so that I could slip a prayer inside and use it as a bookmark.  It just morphed from there. 

 

 

One prayer turned into a couple, plus some Bible verses and some sermon notes, etc, etc.  I switch them all out every once in a while.  

 

Later, I will show ya'll the felt Easter eggs that I've been embroidering.  They are happy, colorful and full of hope that Spring will soon be here!  That's all for today, until another day, have a happy Stitching day!

The Happy People by Sara Jenkins

Let me see....where do I start? 

First, it's not very often I choose a book without having any clue as to what it is about.  But I did with The Happy People because of its title, and because it was written in 1953.  For about the same price as a BK Whopper I figured I couldn't lose.  (Mmmm...Whoppers)

Second, it's not very often I purchase a book and finish it within 24 hours.  (The last time I did it was when I found a copy of Bridges of Madison County.)
The Happy People is 246 pages long and I devoured page after page of it, only stopping long enough to go to church and feed my family some pot roast. (Why not Whoppers...What happened to the Whoppers?)

The book is written by Sara Jenkins and after a bit of late-night research I discovered she also wrote another book called The Brand New Parson.  I found a used copy on Amazon and needless to say, the Fed X  man will be ringing my doorbell in 1 to 2 days.

In The Happy People, Jenkins introduces us to the small town of Kinsman GA and it's townsfolk.  The town was recently built by J.G. Kinsman, owner of the local cloth factory.  J.G. Kinsman is rich, powerful and...well he pretty much owns the town seeing as how he built it.  As I read the story I began to picture the ex-NASA millionaire from the TV series Northern Exposure, played by actor Barry Corbin lol. 


SPOILER ALERT!!!!!  
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

I can't talk about a book without actually TALKING about a book.  So if you plan to read the book, and don't want to know any more about it's juicy details, then please feel free to stop reading.   Or, if you're already bored to tears and your eyes are all glazed over like mine get when hubby tries to explain spreadsheets to me, then stop reading.   Gee-wiz, life is too short and you won't hurt my feelings.





J.G. Kinsman built the town to serve his factory.  A river runs through town and on one side J.G. has built small, but comfortable homes for his factory workers.  The other side of town boasts larger homes for other inhabitants of the community such as the factory chemist, and a few other interesting characters.  There is a large home for J.G. Kinsman himself and his family, and a parsonage for our main character, the new Methodist preacher, Stephen Elliot, who lives with his widowed sister and her son in the parsonage. 

The book revolves around the growth of Stephen Elliot as a person and as a pastor.  He is plagued by personal struggle...he is in love with his ex-collage girlfriend, Claire, who just happens to pop up in Kinsman at just the right time.  She is beautiful, stylish, a good decorator....but divorced.  Being a Methodist preacher, Stephen has no choice but to leave the ministry if he wants to marry Claire.  The author is so good because throughout the first few chapters my opinion of Claire kept changing.  At first I didn't like her at all, then just as I'd start to feel sorry for her, she'd do something or say something to tick me off again.  I kept thinking, "What does he even see in this woman, she's kinda vain, stuffy and at times a bit selfish!?"  But then again, who isn't at times.
This struggle with his love for Claire begins to weigh heavily upon Stephen.

One dark and rainy evening, his gal-pal, Joey asks him, "Where are the happy people?"  It's a key question throughout the book and a question that intrigues Stephen.  It gets him to thinking about Joey and why she is not happy.  After all, she is J.G. Kinsman's daughter...she has every material possession she could ask for.  (Ah...but material possessions aren't a replacement for a father's love are they?)  Joey is mostly ignored by her family, she lives alone in the guest house and they won't let her take a job.  Joey is different from Claire in many ways, she's about the same age but more of a free spirit, trying to find her place in the world.  She is not as beautiful as Claire and I liked her for that because I felt I could relate to her in that way.  I'm sure writing Joey in this way was no accident by the author as I would venture to guess a few of us feel we are not as beautiful as the beauty queen down the street or the woman sitting in front of us in church.  This book, through Joey, reminded me that beauty isn't everything.

After three weeks of non-stop rain, Stephen's personal struggles start to affect his work, and our pastor friend is close to a nervous breakdown.  He takes a few days off, gets into his car and drives towards the Smokey Mountains having no actual destination in mind.  (We've all been there right?  I felt like singing "Jesus Take the Wheel")

He falls asleep at the wheel and "accidentally" finds himself in a village called "City of Brothers" full of welcoming people. At first I thought to myself, "this could get creepy in a 'Children of the Corn' kind of way", but thankfully, it didn't.

These welcoming villagers left the hustle and bustle of their regular, big-city lives to live off of the land and become farmers, potters, weavers and such.  They live in 300 year old farm houses and log homes and describe themselves as "normal" people as they still read the newspaper, keep up with world views, and use modern appliances.  They are well educated, well read, and have shelves upon shelves of books in their living rooms. (sounds like my kind of place).  They are deeply religious and try to "walk with God" in everything they do.

This small village was the safe haven Stephen needed.  After a few meaningful conversations  with the villagers (worth the price of the book right there) and in only two days, Stephen thinks he's found his way back to God.

He heads back to Kinsman and preaches the most emotional, eye-opening sermon of his life...and it's a good one! (again, totally worth the price of the book right there!)  But, many of the townsfolk disapprove, especially J.G. Kinsman, and even Stephen's own beloved Claire.  But he reaches Joey and we find that his sermon was exactly what Joey needed to hear. (and apparently, that's a pretty big deal for a pastor).

Then tragedy strikes.  Four weeks of steady rain, plus a town with a river running through it...well...you do the math.  Let's just say lives are changed.  Points of view are changed, and people are seen in new ways.

I'll leave the rest to you...if you have the opportunity to read it, please do.  It is full of little life lessons about what we think we want, what God thinks we need and the ability to just let God be God.

".....He had prayed in the City of Brothers, "Thy will be done, and may I be shown the way I can do it."  He prayed it once more now, humbly, a he walked toward the parsonage, adding, "Keep her happy, Lord.  and the Kinsmans, and all of the lost, and misguided, and contrary.  All of us are so--so--"  He could think of no better words than "Stupid and weak."  He wasn't satisfied but he was sure God knew what he meant...."


Until Tomorrow,
Have a Happy Day!

Weekend Happenings and Flea Market Finds

Whew! What a weekend!  Friday afternoon my computer locked up.  I did the usual unplug, remove battery, reboot, but it wasn't rebooting properly. My DH got up early on Saturday to start working on it.  He installed Windows 7 and was able to save all of my data (except my e-mails)!  Yea!  I'm so glad he knows what he is doing as I have very little computer knowledge.  And it was just last week that my friends and I were talking about technology and I commented on how I do not store any of my business records on the computer.  This week is a perfect example of WHY.  I quickly vowed to print hard copies of anything really important if I could just get my documents back.  And truth be told, I probably will. 
But I do rely on my computer for many other things.  It's become my social link to the outside world.   It greets me in the morning with it's happy little "ding-dong" sound when I power it up, and it sits quietly on my desk like a friend who is there whenever I need help.  Sometimes it helps me to spell words like antidisestablishmentarianism or rutabaga.  It shares recipes with me and helps me to find other people out in the world with similar interests.  My computer is a friend who has sat non-judgmentally as I've typed out my vents and frustrations on it's keyboard just to see them in black and white only to delete them later, knowing it will never tell others how ticked off or frustrated I was with a situation.  I've become quite attached to it.  You know the common phrase, "you don't know what you've got until it's gone".  That's how I felt about my computer yesterday.  I'd zip into the kitchen to quickly check facebook, or turn on some happy music, but would turn to see my computer not there. 

I heard someone once say it takes 60 days to rid yourself of a bad habit.  I went through one day without my computer and it was quite bothersome.  I don't think I'd want to go 60 days without it.  I could do it, mind you, I just wouldn't want to.

Because of my computer and my all-around blue mood Saturday morning, I did not go to my Small Catechism class.  I should have, as it might have cheered me up a bit, but I just couldn't open the door to leave.  I was all ready, showered, hair done, books in hand...just couldn't force myself to go.   I sometimes wish there was a pill one could take for shyness. 

After I knew my computer was going to be okay, I perked up a bit and remembered that Autumn wanted to go to the flea market.  We found a couple of good deals.

Autumn picked up a dozen knitting needles (nice one's too) for only $1.  She wants to go with me next Saturday to my crochet and knitting group to learn to knit.

I picked up this cool little book, Yesterday's Kids written by Bob Nesbit, a man remembering his childhood in small town North Dakota during the 20's and 30's.  Autumn and I have started reading it and we like it. 

I picked up a Nesbitt's Orange Bottle with the cap for $3.50 which is a steal.  Apparently I had a thing for the Nesbitts that day.  (see authors name above).

I've wanted a Nesbitt's bottle ever since I saw this old sign on the Ghosts of North Dakota website in the town of Regan.  There is just something interesting about this sign...I don't know who took the photo but I thank them whomever they may be.  Here is a link to Ghosts of North Dakota.  It's a fantastic site about ghost towns in ND.  http://ghostsofnorthdakota.com/

I also picked up this cut little tin.  It used to hold something called cotter pins (whatever they are). I think they might have something to do with engines or automobiles?  One can never have too many cute little tins so I picked it up for a whopping 50 cents. 

What makes this little tin so darn cool is all the writing on the lid. 

Apparently this is a cotter pin.  There is one on the lid if you look closely through the words Hammer Lock.

Autumn and I each had a hot dog from the Timboe family's snack cart which is always kind of fun.  They run the flea and are always so nice.  They also own the antique store downtown that Autumn and I like to visit to look for old magazines and books. 

Have A Happy Week!

This is Most Certainly True

Whew, what a fun weekend! 

I woke up bright and early Saturday and went to a Small Catechism class at Ebeneezer's Restaurant.  What a neat little Irish place that is!  It had been awhile since I'd eaten there.  Last year it was damaged during the flood, but they have done a wonderful job of re-doing the place with it's tin ceilings, lamps and mirrors.
We are studying this book with Pastor Pancoast as our leader.

The book is available at this website. http://store.augsburgfortress.org/store/product/5185/Study-of-Luther-Small-Catechism-Participant

Here is a link to Luther's Small Catechism it if anyone in interested.  http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php

I've wanted to study the Small Catechism again for quite awhile now. Autumn will soon be in confirmation and I feel I should brush up a bit. 
I did study a little bit of the Small Catechism during my confirmation years in Jr. High, but that was a long time ago and to be honest, I was at that awkward age where Lutheranism meant very little to me.

My home church.  My father took this picture early in the morning.  The sun is shining right on the face of Jesus in the big stain glass window.

I remember disliking confirmation.  All I can remember of the Small Catechism during those days was the memorization.  I remember being so concered about getting it all memorized, that I think I lost what Luther was trying to teach us.  I'm not saying students shouldn't memorize it, I just think more emphasis should have been put on what the Small Catechism could mean for us in our everyday lives, through high school and college, no matter where life was going to take us.  Instead, it felt like something we had to "get through" section by section.  And do I still have any of it memorized? Nope.

So, why do I feel the need to participate in this particular Small Catecism study?  

Is it because of the good company?  No, even thought this group is a very cool, funny, and interesting group of people, that's not why I'm there.

Is it to win brownie points with God?  No

Do I feel my salvation hinges upon it?  No, because "There is nothing we can do". 
                                                                                         
Then why on earth do I get out of bed at the crack of 0-dark-hundred, on a Saturday morning, to go?

Because I want to learn it inside and out!  Luther's Small Catechism is the basic fundamentals of what Lutherans believe.  Every Lutheran should know it and know it well!  I want to be able to teach it with confidence to my daughter because I want her to know it well.  And I want someone to sit across the table from me and explain to me, in plain english, so that I understand it completely.  And I want to do all of this while eating hashbrowns, eggs and toast 'cause that's just how I roll.

Proof you can find a photo of just about anything on the internet!

Have a Happy Day!