Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer: Psalm 12, Part 1, Fiber Fun, Literary Living, Finding Joy

Hello There,

I hope you're having a blessed day with joy, peace and love! My week has been filled with writing, studying, playing with fiber arts, reading and a bit of time with friends. I did have a different kind of day on Tuesday.

Our school district honors bilingual students by offering them the opprotunity to graduate with a Bilingual Seal added to their diploma. My former student teacher invited some of my friends who are retired teachers and myself to serve on a panel that grants students the opprotunity to graduate with their Bilingual Seals! I am humbled and touched to be a part of this wonderful process!

Take good care and, as Daddy used to say,

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

HERE'S A WORD AND A SONG

As I prepped for this study, I simply highlight all the words that describe what God does for us in my Bible. Then I make a list of them. I'll follow the same format here.

The Godly Are No More

For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith.a A Psalm of David.

1 Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.

2They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips—who can be our master?”

5“For the cause of the oppressed

and for the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise,” says the LORD.

“I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

6The words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace,

like gold purified sevenfold.b

7You, O LORD, will keep us;

You will forever guard us from this generation.

8The wicked wander freely,

and vileness is exalted among men.

He helps us
the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongues
He sees the cause of the oppressed
He hears the groaning of the needy
He responds by rising up and bringing safety to him who yearns.
He speaks flawless, refined and purified words
He keeps us
He guards us forever from this generation

David's first words in this psalm are: "Help, O LORD..."

These words struck me deeply and offered such comfort. You see, sometimes we—like David—are pursued by enemies or overwhelmed by emotions like anxiety, depression, and helplessness. Then we don’t even know how or where to start praying. I read somewhere that when this happens, all we need to pray is one single word:

Help.

God will hear us.

God will respond.

Like a loving Father,

He cannot ignore the cry of His child.

He sees us.

He sees you.

He sees our cause and hears our groans. He rises up to bring us to a place of safety. Like in Psalm 11, will we chose to go to Him? to follow His lead? to choose faith over fear? Dear one, I pray you and I will continually chose faith every day of the week!

I strongly believe that when God rises, He causes others to rise. I know that I know this. How? Glad you asked. The strangest event took place this morning. I was at medical facility when an image entered my mind. It was a man, with longish dark hair, scantily clothed, crouched on a cement floor in a cell. He was soaking wet. There were fans blowing on him. He was being tortured. I clearly heard God say, "Pray for him." I stopped everything and prayed for this poor man. When I stopped praying, God said, "Don't stop. Keep praying." So I did. I prayed for him. Even now, I want to weep for him. He is a stranger to me, but it didn't matter. God told me to pray for him, so I did.

This could all be explained away I'm sure. But. But I know in my spirit, in the depths of my soul this was real. God will rise and call others to rise with Him and act.

It's not easy to share this, but I do because I've been in the valley, my faith has been tested, my heart broken. In spite of all that I chose faith over fear. I choose God. I'm not a perfect believer or super human. I simply a child of the King who is becoming more obedient to His calling despite - or inspite of - my past.

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

Finish

I found this extra block from my Snail Quilt, so, if it doesn't have a label, I'll go ahead and make use of this block. Done twice! I found a peach colored block and like it better than the blue one, so I wrote the details on it, stitched it on and then I saw the quilt already had a label! 😅 How my granddauther and I laughed when we saw this! Two lessons learned:

1. fully stretch out a quilt before adding a label

2. hand embroidered (or even machine embroidered) are my preference.

2. Focus

- 200 - 300 stitches on Darth Vader using this cross-stitch design at RinaStitchesPatterns. Done! Darth Vader is actually finished! I'm pleased with how he came out! After I have all the ornaments finished, my DH and I will turn them into ornaments.

- Begin EPP process for Fof blocks Done! Believe it or not, these tiny flowers are a bear to stitch! I actually tossed the first two, took a break and started again. My plan is to stitch all the flowers together and then appliqué them onto the background fabric.

- the table runner, hot pad, coasters and bookmarks made with scraps

I almost finished the table runner and have prepped the rest of the projects.

Prepare/make a kit

- simply to get my sewing room back in order! Almost there! My DH offered to fill my closet with Ikea bookshelves! I can hardly wait to have this room all done and pretty!

Next Week's Goals

1. Finish

- disappearing 9 patch projects

- sewing room

2. Focus

- Bella

- Fof blocks

Prepare/make a kit

- I purchased the top three fabric to make placemats, but my DH likes them so much that he suggested a table topper instead! So, after finding this Spiderweb table topper pattern and adding some more fabrics, we'll have a new table topper!

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

15 MINUTES TO STICH

I’m joining the "15 Minutes to Stitch" challenge at Kate's Life in Pieces to build the habit of machine sewing every day. It's easy to find time for prep work or hand stitching, but making it to the machine consistently is where I need the extra push.

I sewed 4/7 days! Very exciting!

The sewing room is almost, kind of done. I'm eager to show you photos next week. Meanwhile, my precious Featherweight is back home after her spa day, so we'll be humming along in no time!

LITERARY LIFE

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 I'm starting to post these titles on Instagram on the day I acquire them as the deals are short-term.

Review

Barbara Caver’s A Little Piece of Cuba is, without a doubt, a five-star read written from an open heart. She beautifully expresses the questions so many of us carry regarding our heritage, taking us along on her brave quest to discover how Cuba fits into her heart—and how she fits into Cuba’s.

Caver masterfully blends several storylines in a way that pulls the reader into her journey of self-discovery with a gentle, yet incredibly thought-provoking narrative. She melds the experiences of a five-day trip to Cuba with childhood memories and the long shadows of her family's history. She provides a moving look at how the lives of her ancestors and her parents were forever altered by Castro’s coup, tracing the ripple effect of that upheaval through multiple generations.

If you have ever had questions about your own heritage and your place within it, this is the book for you. If you want to better understand those of us who work to assimilate into a new culture while still honoring our ancestors and the homes they were forced to leave behind, this story is essential.

As Caver shared how much she discovered and the immense respect she holds for those who came before her, she shared a genuine sense of hope for future generations. I highly encourage you to welcome her story into your life. While I am currently in the process of culling my personal library, this is a book I will gratefully and humbly find a permanent place for on my shelves.
My deepest appreciation to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, She Writes Press, Barbara Caver for the gift of this eBook ARC. All opinions are my own.

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 question:

Did you ever wear Gogo boots? No, I didn't, but they looked fun!

Platform shoes? Yes! I remember those clunky shoes! How in the world did I dance in them?

Earth shoes? Again, no I didn't.

I do remember wearing three inch heels while working the Service Desk at KMart. How in the world did I pull an eight-hour-shift in them and then go dancing after work?

Have you all heard of the Garlic Knot quilt pattern? Deb at A Scrappy Quilter shared her quilt and yes, I fell in love with it! I'm sewing through my UFOs and stash (alternating between the two) and this pattern stole my heart! Thank you for sharing, Deb!

My DH and I went for a walk in a neighboring village and just look at all the new life bursting on the scene! Did you see the bee inside the flower? He/she was dancing the happy dance! My husband pointed it out to me and I had to risk taking a photo.