Philippians 4:11. Covered In Love. 2018 Library Love Challenge.

Philippians 4:11
Scripture

Observation
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  

Whatever. 
The. 
Circumstances.
Application
To be content whatever the circumstances?  Think of Paul's life:  
flogged
imprisoned
beaten
stoned
shipwrecked
lost at sea
hunger
cold
under constant threat
(2 Cor. 11:16-30)
Yet, he learned to be content in 
WHATEVER
circumstance.
As we journey into 2018, can we 
seek at least 30 seconds of contentment every day?
joy?
gratitude?
Sometimes, even this can be so difficult to do as we are buffeted by life.
Maybe, just maybe, if we can achieve this goal every day for 30 seconds,
the next week will find us doing it for 45 seconds,
60 seconds,
15 minutes
and so on.
Baby steps 
to contentment.

Prayer
Dear LORD, You know how hard we fight to be happy, but to me, joy is more important.  For when we have Your joy, we have strength Nehimiah 8:10.  Please give us strength to spend 30 in a state of contentment every day - regardless of our circumstances.  Lead us out of darkness into Your light.
Amen, my Abba, Amen.

Covered In Love Blocks Finished
As I perusing my "drafts" in blogger I found this post!  Unbelievably, (or not so much in my case!  :D), I forgot to share this finish with you last year! 

I was able to make the 20 blocks for the August/September Covered In Love Block drive!  Yea!

For those of you new to this project, Kat is a nurse whose mission it is to help families as they say goodbye to their loved ones.  Nurses or hospital chaplains deliver a quilt to the dying patient and cover them with this gift of love.  Then family members have a transitional item to take home with them.  This quilt will provide incredible comfort in the days and years to come.  I know.  You see, when my mother-in-law was dying, my daughter bought a simple quilt from Target that, 10 years later, still brings my husband great comfort when he is feeling down.

So, to honor her memory, I make blocks for Covered in Love.  

For January and February Kat from Kat and Cat Quilts has brought back my favorite blocks for Covered In Love - string blocks!  Here is a sampling of blocks my daughter and I made last time:

 We left them at the 10.5" requested,

 played with layouts,

and I learned how pretty a constant color in each block just pops.  

I wonder if you might have some strings needing a home?

2018 Library Love Challenge

After much patience, I have finally finished a novel!  This is a huge achievement because during and after chemotherapy, reading books was such a challenge!   After much patience, perseverance and re-reading, I finished my first book, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant!

To the best of my recollection, I started it in Sept/Oct 2017 and finished it in early Dec.  It took a while, but I did it, praise God!  
To mark this special occasion, I decided to join the 2018 Library Love Challenge.  

I heard about it at Irresponsible Reader.  This challenge had me at "support your local" library.  I'm all for supporting local businesses and organizations.  

My next read is Maeve Binchy's Nights of Rain and Stars.  I'm also thoroughly enjoying this one as well!

Linking up to

Monday Making @ 
Love, Laugh, Quilt

Main Crush Mondays

@ Cooking Up Quilts

Moving It Forward Monday @ Em’s Scrapbag

Show and Tell Mondays with Bambi

It’s Monday! WhatAre You Reading? @ Book Date