We're all human after all.

 There is no perfection in humanity. We are not equipped to get everything right the first time. As such we are imperfect, and bound to make mistakes. Some are small, some are big, some impact no one, some do. The impact these mistakes can make on our relationships depends on our ability to communicate and forgive each other.

I've seen in my own life where the inability to forgive creates anger, bitterness, distrust and dissolution of relationships, even within families. Disbelievingly, sometimes one party is not aware of the "Why?" they have been cast out.

In marriage, we are called to love each other for better or worse, and that's where these mistakes can be better, or worse. Our ability to forgive in marriage hopefully forges stronger bonds, but may not always be easy, and definitely not instantaneous. I wonder how many times in marriage, the inability to forgive, or lack of willingness to work through challenges experienced in marriage results in divorce.

As a Christian, The Bible is clear on forgiveness. Some of my favorite reminders follow. 

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18: 21-22

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. Mark 11:25

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4: 31-32

"In your anger do not sin,": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:26-27

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord are good. Palms 25:7

 There is so much freedom in forgiveness. Letting go of the bitterness, rage and anger, your heart does not carry the heavy burden of those feelings. There is lightness in the heart with forgiveness, and it makes the work of rebuilding trust - hopeful. Goodness we need more hope in this world.

 

Hello again, world.

It's the middle of the week. I've finished homeschooling my two kids, a 4th grader, and a kindergartner, for the day. I did dishes, cooked food, squandered time on a coloring app, then deleted that, and finished deleting my social media apps off my phone. Let's call the latter a soft delete. I've wanted to for a long time but FOMO. Social media, for me, became more about not being able to be as productive as other crafters, not as creative as other homeschooling mothers, not having as clean of a house as other homemakers, not cultivating real relationships with people, leaving me clinging to on-line versions of people I have never met, or have the actual phone numbers or addresses of. What a joy suck, leaving me feeling inadequate, edgy, and insecure. It only took me a worldwide pandemic and an overwhelmed life to realize it.

I'm making the most of this pandemic season. The four of us are at home together 24/7, which is both beautiful, and admittedly challenging. I am accustomed to being alone, working from home, while the kids were at pre-/school, and darling husband at the office, and I miss quiet and time to put towards my own projects. It's this season of life, too, that I try to embrace, the rearing of children, and a puppy, which are far more important than many other things, but I let doomscrolling take over a large part of that time, and that's definitely something that does me no good. I would rather put energies into something more productive.

I am hoping my blog resurrection will provide an outlet of more thoughtful reflection on those things I feel are truly important, namely family, home, and hopefully a bit of crafting.

What I am currently listening to: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist on Spotify

Latest read: The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Nancy Springer

Baking Bread

This week, my husband and I have been baking our own bread for sandwich (primarily) use. This was done as an experiment in cost savings, since the bread we normally buy, Franz Organic whatever, is over $4.69/loaf, and we normally go through 2 loaves a week (4 slices a day/5 days a week, minimum). So no, we've eliminated enriched flour and a whole host of ingredients that are not easily recognizable. The result is delicious. 

The other cost savings measure being experimented with is instead of spending $18./week on deli lunch meat, I thought maybe if we bought a turkey and baked it, it would be cheaper. I think we have 2-3 weeks of turkey on hand for lunches for the cost of one week of deli lunch meat. It's a little more effort than walking up to the counter or the shelf, but it's satisfying and makes me feel grounded.

The other news of note. We've paid off all non-house related debts! We've been following Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University for the past year and managed to shed a car payment and both student loans. Now we're on to rid ourselves of our HELOC. I'm also considering changing banks, and finally getting around to doing important things like purchasing life insurance. (Rather important and for some reason, dreaded making this purchase). But, Liam's now almost 2 years old, and we have to think of how we'd get by should one of us depart this earth.

Also need to make wills up and figure out what would happen to Liam if we died. That's difficult to determine, actually, we both have small families and don't want to be a burden on any one's financial situation either.

8 Days of Stockings - Day 2

Julie's Poinsettia Stocking, 2012

Today I switched quilting techniques, and am I ever glad I did. I started out meticulously stitching the outline of the poinsettias, but it was painstakingly slow. Then I had the thought, BSR. So I thought, why not, I need the practice, and got out my stitch regulator. I started loosely stitching along the outside of the leaves, trying to highlight the process.

I think it came out very nicely!

Detail, Julie's Stocking, 2012.

8 Days of Stockings - Introduction and Stocking 1

Like most ideas I have (e.g. last minute, high level of effort required), I had a doozy of one for Christmas 2012 - Invasion of Two Sides of the Immediate Family. Sew Christmas Stockings for all EIGHT people present for Christmas Day!!! This moment of epiphany came to me on November 30th.

(c) Thimble Blossoms, 2010.

Finding a pattern was simple, Merry Stockings by Thimble Blossoms. At first the math was simple: I'll go ahead and make two of each of the four patterns, customize the fabric for each person and voila!

By the time I made it to Keepsake Cottage Fabrics on Saturday, I already had an idea who was getting which pattern.

After spending 45 minutes with a variety of festive fat quarters, charm packs, and bolts of fabric, it slowly dawned on me. The price for this little 'project' would be, at my current rate, a little more than I could afford. Secondly, all that detail is going to take an awful lot of time that I really don't have. So I simplified my plan. Everyone, with the exception of my dear husband, who had explicitly requested a hexagon stocking, would get the simple stocking pattern, with a fabric tailored to them. Furthermore, I picked two colors of lining: red and green, and all could be stitched with the same color thread. My inner quilter nodded her head in agreement, this was feasible.

Ellen's Candy Cane Stocking, 2012

The rest of Saturday and early Sunday, I spent cutting my fabric. The first stocking up, mine, was a good way to iron out the assembly process.  By yesterday evening, after the little one had gone to bed, I was able to complete my first of eight stockings. (with the exception of machine embroidery of the name onto the cuff. Behold, my Candy Cane Stocking, with diamonds.

Quilting detail, Ellen's Stocking, 2012