June 22: Psalm 22, Fiber Fun, Literary Life, Finding Joy,

Hello There, 

Thank you for visiting! We were in San Diego for Father’s Day. Life changes quickly! Daddy had a setback but is recovering. We’re home, recovering, and rebuilding routines. I hope to return to spend time with my “San Diego” family for a “normal” visit. 

  Daddy’s status is uncertain. We live day to day with suitcases packed, ready to go at any moment.  

Though we were only gone a week, my grandkids seem to have grown so much!  I do believe they go through growth spurts when we’re gone!  LOL!  I appreciate the time we have together. 

I hope you enjoy this post!  The devotional is longer than usual, but a good reminder that we are not abandoned by God.  My fiber goals were met and new goals set.  Due to this uncertain time in our lives, you'll find some changes to my literary life.  Are you reading to read about swimming memories in Finding Joy?  To this day I love being in the water.  

Take good care and as Daddy says, "Make memories, it's later than you think."  

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

While reading Psalm 22, I had an epiphany! Here’s the entire Psalm for context.

Psalm 22 ^a
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.
¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, 

so far from my cries of anguish?

² My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,  by night, but I find no rest. ^b

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; You are the one Israel praises. ^c

⁴ In You our ancestors put their trust;  they trusted and You delivered them.

⁵ To You they cried out and were saved;  in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶  But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

⁷ All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

⁸ “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let Him deliver him, since He delights in him.”

⁹ Yet You brought me out of the womb; You made me trust in You, even at my mother’s breast.

¹⁰ From birth I was cast on You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³ Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.

¹⁴  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

¹⁵ My mouth ^d is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 

You lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce ^e my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸ They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

¹⁹ But You, Lord, do not be far from me.  You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

²⁰ Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

²¹ Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²² I will declare Your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise You.

²³ You who fear the Lord, praise Him!  All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!

  Revere Him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴ For He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; 

He has not hidden His face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵From You comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear You ^f I will fulfill my vows.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise Him—may your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before Him,

²⁸ for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.
²⁹ All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust 

will kneel before Him—those who cannot keep themselves alive.
³⁰ Posterity will serve Him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

³¹ They will proclaim His righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn:  

He has done it!
 

Confused by David’s 

- words of abandonment, 

- then remembering God who He is and remembering past rescues,

- followed by telling God his situation, 

- and prayers for rescue and strength. 

- After all this he then wrote words of encouragement and hope, finally praising God and describing His victory.   

As I read on, I remembered many Psalms follow a similar pattern.  After multiple re-readings and studying my trusty Layman’s Bible Commentary, I had an epiphany. 

Please read verses 12-18 again.

¹² Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³ Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.

¹⁴  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

¹⁵ My mouth ^d is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; 

You lay me in the dust of death.
¹⁶ Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce ^e my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸ They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

 

Does this sound familiar? He describes Jesus’ crucifixion. Look at what Jesus prayed in the Garden at Gethsemane. 

⁴²He went away a second time and prayed,

“My Father, if it is not possible
for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it,
may your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42)
 
And at the cross?
⁴⁵From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.
⁴⁶About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eli, Eli, ^c lemasabachthani?”
(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). ^d

 I went to gotquestions.org where scholars much wiser than I shared possible explanations for this cry from Jesus.  From what I gleaned it was perhaps due to Him carrying the terrible weight of mankind’s sins or perhaps to fulfil Psalm 22:1. But, after further discussion with my Bible study partner, I returned to gotquestions.org for further study and the author wrote more eloquently and clearly than I could hope to do:

"In those awful moments, as evil men were allowed to do whatever they wanted to Jesus, our Lord expressed His feelings of abandonment. God placed the sins of the world on His Son, and Jesus for a time felt the desolation of being unconscious of His Father’s presence. It was at this time that “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)."  (gotquestions.org)

Let us remember, we are not abandoned because Jesus Himself no longer felt the presence of His Father!  He died on the cross and felt this so that we, through Him, would not be abandoned - ever!   

  

Though Jesus had just prayed for release from the crucifixion, He ended His prayer for God's will.

We have prayed for God’s will. So did David and Jesus.
We have felt abandoned.  So did David and Jesus. 
We know who God is. So did David and Jesus.
We know He has blessed us with answered prayers in the past. So did David and Jesus.
We have told God about our situation and our feelings of despair.  So did David and Jesus.
We have prayed for rescue and strength.  So did David and Jesus.
We hope for victory in His name. So did David and Jesus.

We will have the victory!

As did David and Jesus.

Perhaps I made mistakes in my writing today? Please correct me if needed. These are my thoughts from my devotional time, presented with fear, trembling, and a heart seeking God’s guidance. 

Oh, the epiphany I mentioned earlier?  It was a slogan from Alanon: 

FEELINGS ARE NOT FACT.

We may feel abandoned and forgotten, but God has us inscribed on His heart. As I wrote two weeks ago, He engraved us on His hands! (Isaiah 49:14–16a) 

How could He forget His creation?

These are facts. 
I finally realize that indeed, God’s Word is something we can stand on.  I pray for you to be restored, healed and know this:  

You are loved.  You are not alone.  You are being lovingly prayed for.

FIBER FUN  -I've decided to break down my "To Dos" into three categories:  Finish, Focus, Prep/make a kit, and Be Kind = Soft Deadlines.  FoF stands for the Fields of Fancy BOM I’m participating in, using Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.    

Last Week's List

1.  Finish - The quilt labels DONE ✔️ I hand stitched the Fall Into A Quilt label and machine stitched the pink label. 

2.  Focus -  Fields of Fancy (FoF) BOM by Intrepid Thread I'd like to applique and bind  this one.   I did work on a hexagon, but not this one!  DONE ✔️

3.   Prepare/make a kit -  Atlas Zipper Case #2 by Center Street Quilts DONE ✔️

 I also finished   Atlas Zipper Case #1!  This convenient kit, used on our trip, inspired me to make two more! The top right pocket holds supplies for my granddaughter’s ornament, while the rest held supplies for my grandson’s ornament with the hoop. They store so much and are versatile, suitable for hand sewing, “busy pouches” for kiddos or for E-Readers with room for stationery supplies.  The uses are only limited by our imagination!     

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

This Week's List 

1.  Finish - I have this plastic box filled with small and not so small prepped items to finish.  Every week I pull one or two out and finish them.  

This week I pulled this fabric with which I intended to make bowl cozies.  I've only made one and would like to make more!  

This finished advent embroidery bauble patterns by Liz at Bluebell Love should be a quick finish.  

2.  Focus -  Fields of Fancy (FoF) BOM by Intrepid Thread - Applique and bind another hexagon.

Atlas Zipper Case #2 - Kristina at Center Street Quilts has a five day sew along on her blog for the Atlas Zipper Pouch which I am using as my Focus.   My plan is to cut out and label the pieces this week and maybe even begin Day One.  

3.   Prepare/make a kit -  Atlas Zipper Case #3 

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

LITERARY LIFE -   As I mentioned earlier, the situation with Daddy is fluctuating.  We now have suitcases packed and ready to go on a moment's notice.  Consequently, I returned all my books to the library and am instead taking advantage of their digital libraries.   I've hit the pause button on The Body Keeps The Score, my slow read.  

I am now on Net Galley, so I'm listening to Mario Escobar's The Forgotten Names.  

CURRENT READS

FINISHED

**** The Eights by Joanna Miller is a wonderful historical fiction piece based on historical facts about fictional characters representing the first women admitted to Oxford University.  I was very conscious of the great achievement this was, but also of how far we've yet to go.  These ladies had to work harder, prove their intelligence on a higher level and endure the ridicule as well as sexual harassment of their male peers and professors.  Sound familiar?  I recommend this book.  

***** Boat Baby by Vicky Nguyen is a fantastically written memoir that reads more like having a conversation with the author.  Beginning with her family's escape from Vietnam to begin a new life in the unknown United States serves as a testament to her parent's courage and determination to provide a better life for Ms. Nguyen.  This books tells the story of their lives in the US, but also of the determination of many immigrant families to work hard, enjoy the fruit of their labor and give their descendants a future.  

I was amazed how the author was pretty much "raising herself" as her parents navigated this new land.  The proof is in the pudding, as she indeed became successful as she relied on the wisdom and example of her parents to navigate life.  

I also appreciated Ms. Nguyen's transparency as she wrote about her successes and failures as well as the lessons learned from these experiences.  Highly recommend. 

MAILBOX MONDAY - is a gathering place for readers to share books that they

added to their shelves or E-reader the previous week. Except for the Kindle version of The Girls Left Behind, these were picked up from the Friends of the Library at the Downtown San Diego Library - a must visit for us library lovers!  Can you guess with book is for one of grandkids?  :)

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:  Did you learn to swim, and how old were you? Who taught you? Were you on a swim team and what was that like? Did you go to a neighborhood pool

and what was that like?  Do you still enjoy swimming?  

I enjoyed swimming and socializing all day at the neighborhood pool.  I still go, but now I walk against the current in the channel pool. I also swim against the current for about 25 feet each round. I need to keep doing this because when I don’t, my legs feel weaker.

I love the water, be it the ocean, sea or swimming pool!  Last week, we had a romantic couple of hours on the beach.

This week's prompt is:  Did you ever go to sleep away camp? Where and what was it like? Did you enjoy it or miss home too much?

I’ve never been to a sleepaway camp, but I loved camping with my family. After I got married, my husband and children would join us. We would go to the Gila Forest in New Mexico. We had fun running in the mountains, using the trailer with showers hosted by the nearby convenience store, and exploring the area. Those trips were carefree and enjoyable.  My particular day remember my dad and I talking around the campfire after everyone had gone to sleep.

Here is my "fur niece" Holly whose companionship we enjoy 

when visiting my sister and brother-in-law.  

I've made several of these "Crochet in Public" bags and love them.  I lost the tutorial I use to line my bags.  Next time, I'll this one as I love the idea of adding stabilizer, a pocket and a snap all in one tutorial.  

Don't you love using up felt, wool or fabric scraps?  I love these easy, felt corner bookmark ideas by Homestead and Thread!  If we use a stabilizer, fabric would work as well!  This one caught my eye and I loved these suggestions on her Etsy shop. 

And who wouldn't love cute this book band by Wild Olive?  She even modified the pattern to make a reusable gift bow!  

I love the look of cornerstones on a quilt, but they are the bane of my existence!  Here is an easy way to make them  by Jo at Jo's Country Junction.  Who knew it could be so easy?

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Sundays

Oh Scrap!  @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz

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I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color

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Off the Wall Fridays at Creations Art...Quilts...Whatever

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