Shocking Change in Life--Deployed

This is my gorgeous older sister, Tamara, soon to be a famous author. (her first novel, Perilous, will come out in print in August.) Teacher, business owner, currently moving out of one home and into another. Incredible mother of 2, soon to be 3 in a few months.

And that good looking guy with her is my wonderful Brother-in-Law, Mark. He's the guy that can pretty much do ANYTHING he tries his hand at. no, I mean it. ANYTHING. (history teacher, management, home remodeling, plumbing, repairs, foster care, writing, mentoring, wrestling, personal training, construction, deputy, and the list goes on...but most importantly he is an amazing husband and father) and he excells at EVERYTHING. Most likely because he puts all his trust in the Lord and never takes any of the credit for himself. He is a man of great moral courage and faith for whom I have the greatest respect.

Mark is being activated and deployed to Afghanistan for 13 months. They had less than a week after the phone call before departure this weekend. We will miss him. His sacrifice will mean he misses his baby's birth and first 10 months in addition to the special moments with his other 2 boys. We will be praying for him--and for his family--every day. This is just a small tribute for Mark's service and sacrifice for our country and for us. It cannot cover all our feelings.

Our hearts go with you, Mark. We love you.

Do you Feel there are Expectations for Christmas blog posts?

I feel like this is the time of year when I ought to be making incredibly meaningful posts about faith, service, family, memories and especially a Babe born in Bethlehem. Pressure is on, ya know?
But while I FEEL grateful for my Savior and enjoy focusing upon His birth... I don't have any inspiring thoughts to share that we all haven't already felt. My older sister had a wonderful post about finding Christ in Christmas. My younger sister had a wonderful post about acts of kindness and giving. I've got... well, I feel like the only things I have to say right now are pretty boring or mundane.

Who wants to read about the hours I've spent trying to send out Christmas cards, the corners we cut to try to make it affordable, the anxiety when we realized it was still about 100 dollars if you included stamps?

Along those lines, who wants to read about our determination to go cheap next year in all the gift, card, and package sending departments next year after the stress of realizing how much things cost this year?

Who wants to hear about the planning way back in August and September to make this year's Christmas goodies for our local friends, the time it took to label and tie ribbon on each, the joy of delivering them?

Who wants to hear about our role this year as rides to the airport since we are one of the only families here til Christmas, the stress of forgetting to pick someone up, the joy of chatting with them in the car as they prepare to reunite with loved ones for the holidays, the satisfaction and peace from serving where we can?

Who wants to read about the challenges of working out about a million different problems with paying tuition and registering for classes that begin in January, the anxiety it causes me, the insomnia, or the annoyance of being on-hold for 45 minutes only to be transferred to an answering machine of someone who doesn't call you back ever?

Who wants to know the details of my lack of computer skills, the fights I've had with technology as I'm making Christmas gifts, the frustration as hours of preparation goes down the drain when there is an error during the burning process, and another DVD joins his buddies in the trash?

Who wants to hear how grateful I am for Baby Einstein, for small distractions for the lil gal, for friends to play with, and friends to take toys from, and especially for days when she takes both her naps blissfully?

See, I haven't even made Christmas cookies. I probably won't. I haven't served in the community this year unless you count the rides to the airport. Other than that, I probably won't. I haven't bought new or donated old items to needy families. Unless you count the quilts at the beginning of the month, I probably won't. I haven't caroled. We probably won't. I just don't have anything inspiring this Christmas.

I hesitate to ask this, because I'm not sure I want to know the answer... But,
Do you think that means I'm not focusing enough on Christ?

Does anyone else feel like there is a strange pressure this time of year to be extremely inspirational in their posts?

Quilt Project from Beginning to End

I have been working on these a long time, but wanted to blog the project from beginning to end rather than in snippets. It all began when my mom (hi Mommy!) gave me a huge tupperware container of extra material last year. At the time, I was still in the very beginning stages of sewing. I wasn't sure how I would ever use all that material. Some of it was extremely nostalgic for me, however, as I recognized the purple heart material that was used for a quillow made by mom and the green puppy dog print that was my brother's. I knew I wanted to use this material for something special. But since I didn't know what, it sat. For almost a year.

At General Conference this past October (just a couple of months ago), as I listened to President Monson's address about giving freely as much as we can give, I was reminded of all that fabric. I also knew that I would (hopefully-- at that time I was not yet accepted) be starting Grad school in January and my free time to do such large projects would be significantly diminished. I decided there is no better time to act than the present. Good intentions weren't going to do a lick of good. Then I found out about the Homeless Families Foundation (a local organization that helps families transitioning from shelters to apartments) apartment that burned down and their immediate needs... and I was set with a recipient organization in mind!

I solicited help from the beginning. Erica and Carrie helped me cut squares and measure fabric.

Robyn supplied me with a ton of blue fabric to match the back for the second twin blanket. To save money, I used all the scraps rather than purchase fabric. It was a lot of work, but I loved the project. I especially loved working on the baby blanket tops since they were smaller and more manageable. The blue twin was definitely the hardest. Ellen graciously helped me do the batting and remaining material shopping with her JoAnn's coupons, and volunteered to sew the top for the purple twin. That purchase was only possible because of so many generous monetary donations from R.S. In the mean time, I put together all the blankets with top-batting-bottom in preparation for help quilting them.
Then we had a quilt club night and invited the entire Relief Society, neighbors, and friends to come help quilt one twin and several baby blankets. Jenni and Katie lent their quilting frames and we had so many people come to help! Even severely overdue pregnant ladies came to participate! People even volunteered to take blankets home to finish them.
I ended up getting help sewing the binding on all the baby blankets, plus several other blankets made at home were added to the pile for donating! It was a wonderful joy to see that stack grow!
We had a second quilting afternoon to finish up the purple twin (and this time I remembered to take a picture!). Then Jenni took the purple to do the binding and Ellen took the blue to do the binding. What angels!
Here is a picture of the two quilts and as many of the sisters who participated as possible!

Thanks everyone! They look lovely! I know those families will really appreciate them!

Biting Off More Sewing Than I Ought to Chew....

Am I allowed to say I'm growing weary of fabric? (for more than one reason. Spending 2 hours standing up ironing squares being the most current distasteful memory.) This service project is taking a lot more out of me than I anticipated. What happens when the person who is supposed to be soliciting help and encouraging others to participate stops wanting to work on things? How can I expect others to give freely of their time, talents, resources, and finances if I am not willing to do it myself? That doesn't sound too uplifting. Obviously, I don't want to give a "gift" grudgingly or with complaint. I don't want doing something for others to become a chore... That isn't very charitable at all.Perhaps, once again, I've simply bitten off more than I can easily chew? I really didn't think so when I began. I thought it was more than manageable, especially since I've been getting help along the way with cutting and tying the quilts. Even so... I think I'm gagging just a bit. Kind of like when you make a huge crock pot of soup... and then after you've been eating it for 4 days it starts to be a little bit gross to you when you serve up a bowl. I guess I've had a gutfull of sewing to last me a while. I will be quite relieved when the whole project is completed. No more piles of fabric occupying every surface in the living room. No more sewing machine on the kitchen table. No more scraps of fabrics and strings for Gwen to try to consume off of the carpet. No more quilt tops staring accusingly at me when I am doing something else besides sewing during one of Gwen's naps. *sigh*

There is still so much to be done before the quilt tying party on Tuesday, though, so I'm glad to be taking a break today til 3 by heading down to the Circleville Pumpkin Festival. Perhaps I'll feel more inclined to serve after taking some fresh air, glorious fall colors, and pumpkin joys to heart?

Serving

I think I tend to get pretty wrapped up in myself sometimes. Self-absorbed, self-pity, a lil too concerned about truly silly things like the appearance of wrinkles in our new slipcovers, or the clutter of books at the top of the stairs that still don't have a bookshelf. Yes, I allow myself to get pretty stressed about things that don't even matter. That is one reason why I am so blessed to have opportunities to serve others.

Just before Easter I went with some friends to serve lunch at the YWCA Family Center, an emergency shelter for families. It was a while ago, but I wanted to write about the experience anyway. While putting delicious food on a plate, I realized I was happy and content... and full of joy and light. Maybe it was seeing the eagerness in leaden eyes because this food is more than nutrition (which it wasn't really--so much butter!). This meal is something like hope and generosity that you can pick up with your fork. Serving lunch was serving out love and goodness to those who see so much of despair and the worst of human nature. Okay, I should serve just to help them. I should. But isn't it wonderful to feel that warmth in your chest when you are able to bring a smile to someone's face? To hear the sincere thanks for a good lunch from a father trying to get back on his feet and provide for his family? To compliment a mom on her beautiful eyes or her well-behaved kids and see her stand up a lil taller as the compliment lifts some of the weight of her housing crisis from her shoulders? To make a downcast child feel special just by the way you conspiratorially offer him his rice crispy treat?

I love serving. I feel happiest when I am giving to others. And I'm grateful for the reminder that my petty problems are not significant. I am grateful for the love that showers down on us all from our Lord, Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to serve some of my brothers and sisters at the YWCA Family Center. A small lunch. But a great experience in my heart.