Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer: He Goes Before Us and Stays With Us Fiber Fun, Literary Life, Finding Joy

Hello There,

Thank you for stopping by! Two weeks ago I threw all my goals out the window and enjoyed a staycation with my DH and even skipped a post last week! Our staycation turned out to be a wonderful time of spiritual renewal, sharing memories and romance. Those days became a much-needed romantic as well as spiritual retreat. He even commented we should have more staycations! 🥰

This week starts with a clean slate of gentle goals, a renewed heart and smiles on our faces. I hope you enjoy your time here with a favorite beverage and a cozy environment!

Take good care and, as Daddy used to say,

"Make memories; it's later than you think."

HERE'S A WORD

Please remember I am a simple woman regarding the Bible. I am certainly not a Bible scholar knowledgeable in the historical or cultural context of the Bible. At times I'll research more in depth, but most of the time, I take God at His Word as it is written and live it out as best as I can.

I use a variety of inspiring blessing devotionals during my time with God. I depend on the Holy Spirit as He guides me to the devotional/s for the day. Today I read Write "Fear Not On My Heart" by Alyson at Write Them On My Heart, and my heart sang as I studied Deuteronomy 31:1-8 with emphasis on verses 5-8.

1When Moses had finished speakinga these words to all Israel, 2he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’

3The LORD your God Himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross ahead of you, as the LORD has said. 4And the LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, when He destroyed them along with their land.

5The LORD will deliver them over to you, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you. 6Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”b

7Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. 8The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

In the early 1990s these verses deeply comforted me as we were preparing to leave our haven in Okinawa and move to New Mexico, where we knew we would face many challenges. This year, I am dreading this first holiday season without Daddy. Perhaps many of you feel grief, sadness, regret and other painful emotions as well? Perhaps your loved one is ill, traveling for their jobs, or estranged from you.

God's Word and His Holy Spirit can comfort us. During the celebrations to come, let us give ourselves permission to take a break from the gatherings as we draw from His strength and celebrate the joy this season offers.

When God repeats a word/phrase, I pay special attention. In this week's verses He repeats

Be strong and courageous

twice,

do not be afraid

twice,

The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you

twice.

and

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

twice.

During the holiday season, we can be strong, courageous and not be afraid

because we know that He goes before us,

will be with us

and will never leave us or forsake us.

He never has.

Please know this:
You are loved. You are not alone. You are being lovingly prayed for.

FIBER FUN

I broke down my "To Dos" into three categories: Finish, Focus, Prep/make a kit, and Be Kind = Soft Deadlines. FoF represents the Fields of Fancy BOM, which I'm doing with Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics. FBF represents the Flower Box Friends BOM

Last Week's List

1. Finish I didn't have anything planned to finish, but I prepped and made this Christmas Tree Door Hanger for Mama's birthday.

2. Focus

- Grandson's #2 ornament Not touched. I find picking up complicated (to me) cross stitch projects challenging. But I have to get with the program as Christmas is around the corner!

- FBF - the Poinsettia block: Appliqué the petals and leaves onto the background Progress made at our sit and sew

- sew embellishments on the red and white Christmas ornaments time permitting Progress made

3. Prepare/make a kit

- Nothing at all At my Colcha Embroidery Group, I prepared a new kit to stitch this bird.

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

This Week's goals

1. Finish

2. Focus

- Grandson's #2 ornament

3. Prepare/make a kit Nothing at all - I think 😉

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

LITERARY LIFE

I love how my focus has increased with the "Finish, Focus and Prep" methodology I use with my Fiber Arts. Consequently, I'm going to apply that to my reading life with a bit of a twist. The categories will be "Finish, Focus and Next".

This should help with my "Backburner Reads" which are books I started, enjoyed, but lost focus.

Finish

Next

Reviewed

**** “The Christmas Spirit” by Debbie Macomber is a heartwarming story about best friends Hank, a bartender, and Peter, a pastor, who swap jobs until Christmas Eve. Macomber’s witty and insightful writing offers profound lessons about life and the true essence of the holiday season. Highly recommend.

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

added to their shelves or eBook readers the previous week. Some of these books were recommended by you! Do you see your reads below? Thank all of you for sharing!

Here's what I've picked up this week.

ereaderiq.com

Hoopla: none

Libby Audiobooks:

NetGalley: none

Purchased:

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. Last week's prompt was: What fun board games have you've played? Do you have any games you always do when people gather at Christmas time? any funny stories about that? (I want to get a new one for us this year) It can be a card game or any kind of game, emphasis on 2 person as a gift to me since there are just the two of us...

During the various school breaks, my kids and I really enjoyed Monopoly. As a two person game, perhaps you could do as we did - clear off a table and leave it set up to play over several days.

The various versions of Uno, Scrabble can also be fun. Racko was another favorite. Here's a list of games played with a regular deck of cards. I've not heard of most of them, so perhaps they'll be new to you? Daddy and I enjoyed Crazy Eights and War. I hope this adds to your collection of games!

This week's prompt is: The holidays can be stressful...What always calms you down when you’re really stressed out and upset?

This is such a useful question! Here's my list: deep breathing, time with God, remembering that at night I'll be cozily in bed sleeping, slow stitching, cleaning and organizing, talking it over with DH or a close, supportive friend. I usually being those conversations with: "I simply need a listening ear, not necessarily a solution."