Weekly Word - Ephesians 4:1, My Reading Life, Stash Report, To Do Tuesday, Gratitude Journal, FT&BC

 Hello There, 

It was nice to begin to return to normal after COVID by attending sewing classes in person!  I learned how to make patches and am excited to make more!  I did hit the pause button on a book I'm reading and enjoyed a quiet weekend.  

I hope you had a great week!   

Here's is an index should you have a special interest you like to read first!  

The Weekly Word - is a short devotional that sometimes becomes a Bible Study series.  

My Reading Life - is filled with current, completed and upcoming reads as well as an occasional short review.      

Stash Report and To Do Tuesday is where I'll share share stats regarding my fiber usage and acquisitions, Slow Sunday Stitching projects, goals met/lack thereof and photos of my projects. 

Gratitude Journal - Sometimes I get lost in my own stinky thinking.  This digital journal reminds me to count my blessings! 

Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer -    Here you will find updates on life after Triple Negative Breast Cancer.  I was diagnosed in November of 2014 and my last day of treatment was in November 2015. 

 

The Weekly Word

Last week we talked about how Paul wrote his Epistle from Nero’s prison, but he never even mentioned Nero! Instead, he stated that he was a prisoner of Christ. Then he continues in Chapter Four, saying we who are saved are also prisoners of Christ, and he urges us to live a life worthy of that calling!

Live a life worthy of the calling to be a prisoner of Christ? 

To some that may seem counterintuitive: living a life worthy of the calling to be a prisoner. But no, my loved one! We are all prisoners of something. As Paul writes in verse 17, before we gave our lives to Christ, our very thinking was futile, our understanding was darkened, our hearts were hardened, our moral lives were insensitive to the things of God, we indulged in whatever sin we wanted, and we were greedy. We were prisoners of sin and the defeated one.

Wow. 

I had to examine my life before I started serving God, and, sadly, yes, many of these harsh statements did apply. I am also sure that I’m not alone in this realization.

Yes, once we choose—and it is a choice—to become prisoners of Christ, our thinking has more purpose, and the process begins for our understanding to be enlightened, for our hearts to become tender with compassion and empathy, for our moral lives to become more respectful of the body and mind God gave us, and for us to become more generous. At least that is the goal, right?

As I am reminded to live a life worthy of the calling of Christ, the above paragraph makes it seem overwhelming and even impossible!

Let us remember that it’s progress, not perfection, that we strive for. More often than not, the changes are slow, gentle changes as we strive to be Christlike, not Christ. God has given us the tools we need: His Holy Spirit, His Word – the Bible, Christian music, and small group Bible studies. 

I pray this devotional has been as encouraging to you as it has been to me as I’ve studied, prayed over, and written it.  Next week we'll be looking at verse two in which Paul shares a practical "list" of living a life worthy of our precious calling.  And you know how I love lists!  Blessings my precious readers!  

 

My Reading Life

 has been filled with challenges lately, which is probably why I am seeking to read lighter books.  Consequently, I'm hitting the pause button on the wonderful 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz. It is a fabulous read, but not for this time in my life.  Vivir El Dream and Corrido de amor y gloria are enough heaviness in my reading live for now.  😉   

I'm focusing on the Alphabet Soup challenge and am almost finished - seven more books/letters to go!  Luckily, some of those books cross over to other challenges as well!  Here is a link to the progress I'm making on my other challenges.  

You may also want to check out my To Do Tuesday section as I made a new bookmark!  

Currently Reading

                       

 

To Be Completed At Another Time 

 

Finished Reading

"When her grandmother’s will wrenches Sara back home, she learns more about Margaret Van Buren in the wake of her death than she ever knew in life.

After her last remaining family member dies, Sara Jenkins goes home to The Hideaway, her grandmother Mags’s ramshackle B&B in Sweet Bay, Alabama. She intends to quickly tie up loose ends then return to her busy life and thriving antique shop in New Orleans. Instead, she learns Mags has willed The Hideaway to her and charged her with renovating it—no small task considering her grandmother’s best friends, a motley crew of senior citizens, still live there.
Rather than hurrying back to New Orleans, Sara stays in Sweet Bay and begins the biggest house-rehabbing project of her career. Amid drywall dust, old memories, and a charming contractor, she discovers that slipping back into life at The Hideaway is easier than she expected.
Then she discovers a box Mags left in the attic with clues to a life Sara never imagined for her grandmother. With help from Mags’s friends, Sara begins to piece together the mysterious life of bravery, passion, and choices that changed her grandmother’s destiny in both marvelous and devastating ways.
When an opportunistic land developer threatens to seize The Hideaway, Sara is forced to make a choice—stay in Sweet Bay and fight for the house and the people she’s grown to love or leave again and return to her successful but solitary life in New Orleans."

**** I found The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton interesting as both women seek to find their way in life, seemingly to lose it and then make decisions of their own volition to create a life for themselves.  Oh, I wept for one of them and rejoiced for the other...you might do the same.  

Slow Read

Stash Report

Yarny Numbers

No change in yarny numbers, but progress continues on my Fall Granny Square Afghan!  (see below!)

Fabric numbers:  

Nothing in, and I used about 1/8 yard in a Patches class I took learning to make a cute little patch/bookmark!  (see below)

To Do Tuesday

Last Week's List

1.  Slow Stitching

Bee Humble - Hand embroider the details on Months Four and Five.  This will probably take two weeks to complete. Partially finished

2.  Crochet

- crochet and join together a third 16 patch square Done and even more accomplished!  I finished the third 16 patch square and  joined them to the rest of the afghan.  I believe I have enough of the colored yarn to make another row of 16 patch squares and a nice sized border.  Then the afghan should be a true queen size - perfect for our bed in the the fall! 

3.  Machine Sewing:  

a.  Some of the fabric that bled on my Christmas table topper is also in the cut fabrics for my Christmas Tumbler Quilt and Table Topper.  Thank God I'd only stitched up one row of my quilt!   Consequently, this week I will be replacing them.  Hopefully by next week, I’ll be ready to start stitching these projects together. Not Done as my daughter had the Accuquilt die I needed.  She was on a much needed and enjoyed vacation and I didn't want to bother her about this.  Funny thing, though.  She told me she had left it on the kitchen counter for me!  😂  I'll continue this goal for next week. 

 

b.  Prep two blocks for one of my UFO's, the Fall Into a Quilt project.  Thus far, I've made 3 out of twelve blocks.  All the information is still on Snow Days Quilting.  

 

 

 c.  “Learn and Discover” is a term I learned in this month series of Mastery Classes for my Bernina. Every month my LQS offers "Embroidery Academy" classes and this month's class was learning how to stitch up patches.  A quick online search revealed that patches are a hot new trend, I’m so excited!  This little design is from Urban Threads.  

This Week's List

1.  Slow Stitching

- Bee Humble - Complete the hand embroidery of Months Four and Five by May 15th. Month Five has a ton of beautiful details.    

2.  Crochet

- make another 16 patch row; this should take about two -three weeks

3.  Machine Sewing

- Christmas Tumbler Quilt - replace the fabric that bleeds with new fabrics

- Fall Into A Quilt - Stitch up the two prepared blocks

- Stitch up the pillowcase that's been on my design wall for a while

 4.  Machine Embroidery 

- finish this Kimberbell Lovebirds Tandem Bicycle Tote.  All it needs is the cute slogan embroidered and stitching the sides  (famous last words)  😏   UPDATE:  Here's the photo I forgot to include!  

 

 

Gratitude Journal

the song

the verse

This year, this verse has become my anthem of sorts.

LeeAnna's "I Like"  prompts for her Thursday link up are so much fun!  I giggled when I read this one:  Do you like to sing for yourself, or others? Oh, yes!  I'll sing for whoever will listen to m!   Do people recognize your ability or has anyone said you're not a singer? Most of my family say I have a terrible voice - and they're probably right!  I say this because even my Mia, as deaf as she was, would sometimes howl when I sang to her!  😀But, that doesn't stop me from singing - very loud and with great joy!  Do you judge yourself or sing for yourself? I do judge myself and I happily admit my singing could use some work - so I sing all the more!   Do you make up songs during the day?  All the time, especially when I'm alone.  My neighbors might think I'm daft!   Do you sing to babies?  Yes, though very softly.  When I used to babysit my oldest grandbabies, I would sing to them all through lunch!  Are you more comfortable singing high or low?  I love to sing in my opera voice, but I'll sing low as well.  One can find me using Alexa as a Karaoke machine and dance to the music as I sing my heart out to praise and worship music or music from the 70's!  I don't even get embarrassed anymore when my husband walks in on me!

My favorite languages are Spanish, French and English. Sadly, I don't speak French, but am bilingual (Spanish and English).   However, I love hearing people speak languages other than English in public.  It's interesting to learn which language  they are speaking and a bit of their culture.  

Moments of Gratitude this week

- The checkout clerk and the gentleman bagging my groceries were so very kind to me today giving me hugs and words of encouragement

- My husband made me this little "sharps receptacle" for my dull/bent pins and needles out of an empty prescription bottle.  It's small enough to travel with me to classes and when it's full, I simply tape over the hole in the lid and toss it in the garbage!  

- I've had a week of more laughter than tears!  Joy does indeed come in the morning!  

Did you have some moments of gratitude you'd like to share in the comments?  

Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer

I'm sure that every week we all hear of friends, loved ones and acquaintances who are diagnosed with cancer.  This breaks my heart - for the patient as well as their loved ones.  For some, they are in a fog of numbness, in denial, in "protection mode" of their loved ones, or even paralyzed by fear.

Thus far, three of my friends have been diagnosed this month.  These events have naturally caused me to reflect when and how I learned that I had breast cancer.

It was early November 2014 and I was out of town taking care of a family member who had just undergone her second mastectomy - after 20 years she had a reoccurrence of breast cancer.  As I was packing to go home, I called my dad for our nightly phone call.  

He said, "Mi hija, I know you're exhausted, but when you get home, can you meet us at the hospital?  Your aunt is having surgery for breast cancer."

Pause.

Deep breath.

"Yes, Daddy, I'll be there."  

Heart shatters into a million pieces....

Then I prayed, "LORD, that's two, who is the third one with breast cancer because we know things happen in threes."

God responded, "It's you."

So, that's how I found out I had breast cancer.  

I arrived into town, went to the hospital and then came home to call and schedule my mammogram.  My PCP called less than 24 hours  after my mammogram informing me I had an abnormal mammogram and needed more tests.  

I was calm.  After all, I already knew the results.

My precious radiologist saw me right after the imaging was done, gave me great medical advice and sent me on to begin my battle.  

My precious readers, the tumor was just a half inch from my chest wall, ready to break through.  Thank God for skilled mammogram techs!  She caught it! Please get your mammograms/ultrasounds/screenings!  They are life saving diagnostical tools!   

I was diagnosed the day before Thanksgiving 2014, less than 24 hours before hosting our huge family gathering....But, God had prepared my way, my heart, my path.  

He is also preparing the way, the hearts and the paths of all us who face challenges and trials, be them medical, emotional or traumatic.  Let us all lean into His everlasting arms and fight, knowing joy comes in the morning.  

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You can also expect a visit from me as well!

Here are some blogs I sometimes link up to!

Sunday Salon @ Readerbuzz

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Sunday Stash @ Quilt, Paint, Create

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? @ Book Date

Sew and Tell @ Melva Loves Scraps (Mondays)

To Do Tuesday @ Carol's Quilt Schmilt

I Like @ Not Afraid of Color (Thursday)

The Loop Scoop @ Moogly and Petals to Picots (Thursdays)

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict