April 13: Psalm 23, Fiber Fun, Literary Life, Finding Joy

Hello There,

Thank your for stopping by!  I hope you are all doing well.  

Life has been so active with much accomplished behind the scenes!  We are gardening, deep cleaning, organizing and decluttering.  My method is simple - keep a paper grocery sack in my closet and another one in my sewing room.  The goal is for both of them to be filled ready for donation bi-weekly.  I am also culling my library.  My literary interests have changed over they years, so I am making room, or not, for books that meet my current interests.  I'm also making increasingly more use of my library.  

I hope you enjoy this weekly post!

HERE'S A WORD - Faith...broken faith...faltering faith.  Here I will share a Scripture about these topics.  No judgement, only love.  

Last month we went to the Toby Mac Hits Deep concert and I loved it!   This was my husband's first time and even he enjoyed it!  In the coming posts, I'll be sharing various songs that touched me.  This one is Eye of the Storm by Ryan Stevenson. For the video with lyrics, click here.  

Stevenson describes all kinds of trials and challenges anyone of us can face in life; war, terminal illness, prodigal children - basically the storms in life.  He says, God is with us in the storm.  He prays Psalm 23 at the end.  

He absolutely has known a "season of chaos".  For such a young man, he still called on God.  Wow...I was touched by this song and his story.  

As I am crawling out of my own spiritual desert, this song and TobyMac's concert broke my chains.  

Coincidentally, as I write this, I just finished A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.  To be honest, as I read this book, there were times when I was angry and frustrated.  My weekly time with my BookBuddy helped me navigate this anger and begin the journey back to God.  

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 23

 

My faith was weak, perhaps like yours.

These words mocked me, perhaps you as well.

As I journey back to God, I know one thing:

Every word is true,

whether we believe it or not,

whether we feel it or not.

Feelings are not fact.  

My dear reader, you are being prayed for.

You are not judged or forgotten, only loved.

FIBER FUN  

Crochet:  

Though I wanted my next finish to be the Montage quilt, it will instead be after I use this yarn to make cowls as Christmas gifts for my various doctors' staff.  I purchased it from Apricot Yarn in Liberty Station on our last visit to San Diego.  It's really beautiful yarn and so easy to work with.  

Hand Embroidery/Cross Stitch:  

English Paper Piecing:

I've been stitching up some more yellow hearts.  I had told someone my stitches showed.  My daughter said I was too hard on myself.  Perhaps she’s right. #begentlewithyourself

Here are the last of my yellow hearts, along with some that need to be glue basted and joined into hearts.

I chose jewel shapes and hearts to participate in 

the Maker's Stash Connecting Hearts Sew Along.

She provides a fabulous tutorial!

For now, for Alicia's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, 

I'm moving onto April's color, red. 

These are the ones I've joined thus far.  

Quilting:  

I've decided to break down my "To Dos" into three categories:

1.  Finishes:  I can finally show you my Secret Sewing Project!  It was started in June/July of 2024, was hand pieced by me and quilted by my beloved LAQ, Stephanie from Be Sew Creative for my daughter's birthday!  I used Camille Roskelly's Shoreline fabric line.  It took a total of seven charm square packs and background fabric from the same line.  I was so excited to finish my first large EPP quilt!  

Like I said earlier, my next finish will be the Christmas cowls.  

2.  Focus

- Catching up with the Fields of Fancy which won't be finished for a year, but I'd like to catch up This goal is still in progress.

3.   Prepare/make a kit

- Atlas Zipper Case by Center Street Quilts ✔

4. Be kind = Soft Deadlines which are good for my mental health!  ✔

LITERARY LIFE -   

CURRENT READS

FINISHED

***** The Letter Keeper by Charles Martin is a fabulous continuation of The Water Keeper.  Again, this book is filled with wisdom, insight into the trafficking of children, a bit of romance and a well-developed plot.  I am enjoying the series and am glad I had the next book, The Record Keeper checked out as The Letter Keeper ends with a cliff hanger.

In between reading sessions, I read something lite.

Note:  These books are heavy with triggers such as child abuse, sexual abuse, and violence. Highly recommend. 

***** A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller, who used to be a shepherd, was a good read that followed an easily comprehensible pattern; an explanation of the care the shepherd provides for his sheep during the various seasons, how this applies to how God cares for us and then how we can apply this new knowledge to our own lives.  As we are also God's "sheep", Keller's comparison of how a good shepherd cares for his sheep and how God takes care of us is insightful. I gave this book a four vs. a five because there are times when Keller tells us how we "should feel".  No one can tell us how we should feel; our feelings are our feelings.  It's what we do with them that's important.

Other than that, I would recommend this book.  I plan to read it annually.  

FINDING JOY - LeeAnna's I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color helps me consistently find the joy in every life.  She also provides a prompt for us to use.  

This week's prompt is: Do you remember dying easter eggs? Did you do it with your mom, or the other kids, did you have those crayons to pre mark them?  What did your family do with them?  Did your family hide them for hunts?  Any stories about hunts gone wrong or couldn't find all the eggs, etc. I have vague memories of dying Easter eggs; I do remember a scent of vinegar and a sense of wonder as they changed colors. I'm pretty sure we didn't use crayons to pre mark them.  We must of had hunts, but I don't remember them at all.  

Here's some humorous jokes my son-in-law sent me!  

Lastly, Mia and Chico are showing off

 how well they walk with their dog sitter!

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I'll be linking up to 

Deb's Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz

Sunday Slow Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Melva's Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps 

Kathryn's What Are You Reading at The Book Date

Carol's To Do Tuesday posts at Quilt Schmilt

LeeAnna's I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color

Alicia's Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

 Links are in sidebar 😉🠆