What a Song!

Every once in a while, a new song catches in my heart. This one captures so much of what's important to me. Enjoy!

The Hand Song by Nickel Creek

The boy only wanting to give mother something,
And all of her roses had bloomed.

Looking at him as he came rushing in,
without knowing her roses were doomed.

All she could see were some thorns buried deep,
And tears that he cried as she tended his wounds.

And she knew it was love, it was what she could understand.
He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands.

He still remembers that night as a child, on his mothers knee.
She held him close and she opened her Bible, and quietly started to read.

Then seeing a picture of Jesus, he cried out:
"Mama he's got some scars like me!"

And he knew it was love, it was what he could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.

(instrumental break)

Now the boy is grown and moved out on his own.
When Uncle Sam comes along.
A foreign affair, but our young men are there.
And luck had his number drawn.

It wasn't that long till our hero was gone, he gave to a friend what he learned from the cross.

But they knew it was love, it one they could understand.
He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.

It was one they could understand.

He was showing his love, and that's how he hurt his hands.

When Life gives you scraps....

I’ve been quilting a bunch today. It’s what I like to do in the winter months when it’s too cold and blowy to garden. That and scrapbook. I’m a part of this block of the month quilt club. Well, I thought it was a block a month, turns out its usually 4 or 5 blocks a month. And to top it off, I was indecisive about which color scheme to choose, the modern colors or the more traditionally, so I chose both. Now I’ve gone from 1 block a month, to 8, even 10. Why do I do this to myself? It’s something I love to do, but then I end up in overkill, and the perfectionist in me won’t let go.

Here’s the irony: I love quilting and similarly scrapbooking because of the boundaries. I usually limit myself to 3-5 colors. Might have 4-5 patterns of each color, but there is still a limit. Then there are size constraints. A quilt block or a scrap page at 12 x 12 inches is an easy finish for me. I can start and finish one in a day if all the planets align. (As a mom of three, a business owner (2 business in fact), a crazy work schedule for my husband, and one who takes seriously her call to be a minister to all, there’s not a lot of hang time.) I want to see a finished product once in a while. I’m not even thinking about the finish quilt on a bed or a whole years album done, just a single block or page.

I’m seeing some parallels here, in my approach to crafting and life. Bite off a whole lot more than you can truly handle. Then step by step, scrap by scrap, find a small accomplishment. Enjoy the process of colors and chaos. Every once in a while step back, admire where you're at, make a brief plan and keep trudging through. My challenge is to know that it’s not my great artistic ability or my amazing organizational ability that pulls the whole thing together. It’s finding and relying on boundaries. If I start throwing in a different color in each block, the chaos becomes overwhelming and the patterns get lost.

In life, it’s learning the boundaries that God has given me. Like recognizing when my body needs iron, or my spirit needs quiet or my family needs “just us” time. I need to rely on God’s boundaries while I come through each crisis with a friend, all the scraps of her life that just got jumbled up….Maybe I will even get to help her put them back in order, in the pattern God has in mind. Through stitches of prayer help her hold it together. I need God-eyes for both of us see the joy in the process. (That is so easily said, harder to do.) Sometimes, after much time, I get see the final product of that block in her life. Hang around longer, maybe we’ll see the whole life quilt together. Life blocks sure take a lot longer than those fabric 12 x 12 blocks. (I’m sure there is some great lesson about patience in there!)

Maybe today’s boundary is to rest and enjoy my quilting. Speaking of which, I’ve got 7 more blocks to finish.

Clean hands, Clean hearts

It must be getting to be summer. The kiddos wanted to do an lemonade stand. We didn't have lemonade......or lemons..... or kool-aid. "How about Ice Tea?" Whew, that idea flew. Now, lemonade, I mean ice tea, stands tend to take more work on the part of the mama, than the kiddos. I was determined to change that today.

"Go find the paper cups. Holy cow! On second thought....First go wash your hands." If you've ever had the joy of raising a son, you know what I mean. Seven year old boy hands can be nasty! Who knows what they've touched along the way throughout the day. I know I would not eat, drink or even smell, anything that those little grubby hands had touched. And I certainly was not going to be responsible for a neighborhood outbreak of samonella or e. coli.

Thoughout today I've been thinking about our first Finding the Way of Jesus gathering. (Just wait, I'll get back to the Ice Tea Stand.) We read through Matthew 4-8 and listed all the things Jesus said to do or modeled for us to do. (Quite a list, I might add) Then, from that each person chose a command to work on this week. Being in a social justice mind frame lately, I wondered why so many of us had inner actions to work on. Rather than selling all our stuff, or going out to find needs to meet, we were asking, seeking, knocking, forgiving. All inside our hearts, minds, and souls.

Then it hit me. First, go wash your hands. As I said these words, I realized our hearts, minds, and souls need to be scrubbed up before we go out feeding the world. Not that every thing must be perfect. (Think 7 year old ice tea stand vs Martha Stewart Ice Tea Stand). But, there are preliminary inner actions that must take place before our hearts are ready to bring Jesus's action to others.

First, go wash your hands. On the other (clean) hand, let's not take too much time in getting ready.