It seems my desire to post more often has been just that, a desire and not action. I have thought about it often and have even sat down at the computer to make it happen, only to be taken away by something more important. We have been extremely busy lately at home and this post is to catch you all up on our home happenings. Since my dh has been home, we have moved our living room furniture into the dining room and vice versa. We have a great room that we spend most of our time in and I got to thinking that it would be nice to have more sitting room for meals as our dining room seemed cramped and hard to manage. So, we have moved our dining room furniture into the living room. At first, I did not like the idea of walking from the front door into the dining room, but I realized that this notion of what should be seen first is just something constructed from cultural norms and not from practicality for a large family. I truly like the new arrangement and now when we have guests over, we actually have a smaller round table with our larger one that we can accomodate more people comfortably. I like having the children in the same room with us and before when we had guests, because of space, we would need to put them in the kitchen as we did not have room for everyone in the small dining room space.
On the creative side, the yarn you see above are the colors Joy picked out to begin her afghan. She has done a beautiful job and we are heading to the yarn store this coming Saturday (sale day) to pick up some more colors as her work is now on hold because of running out of yarn.
This is what she accomplished with the yarn already purchased. This is her first afghan and I think she has done a beautiful job. I just adore all the pretty colors. She has not joined them yet, but was just placing them in random order to get an idea of how she might like to put them in place. She has been asking me to start an afghan as well and because of so many other things going on, I had been putting it off. But, if I do not start now, then when? I do not have the time to sit down and crochet for long periods of time, but I have been amazed at what I have been able to accomplish just here and there for 30 minutes or so in the evening while talking to the family. This is my ripple afghan that I am making to put in the great room for cuddling time with the children.
Here is a close-up. As you can see, I am on my third row. It may take me months to finish, but at least it will be finished! I have also started tackling the changing out of clothes. My dh got down all the bins from the attic and I have my give away pile, throw away pile and my consignment pile. The money I make from consigning goes to pay for spring shoes for the children. I have managed to complete Julia's section of the closest. Now, just four more to go!!! But, God is teaching me instead of looking at the task before me and dreading it, to be thankful that He has blessed us with clothes and to look at these tasks as the outpouring of His graciousness and lovingkindness.
We continue to have many moments like this, as we are soaking up all the wonderful times with Daddy. I cannot tell you what joy having him home has brought us. And yet, I see God's hand even in the hard times. He has shown us over and over again that even when we felt alone, we never were. He was always faithful. He was always with us. And it has taught us to savor the moments in this life that we have...because each moment shared with those we love is precious and should never be taken for granted. I feel as though in many respects God is teaching me so very much...in so many different areas. I do pray that I will soon be able to share them with you all. In the past little bit, there have been two very specific circumstances that have happened to us that have brought us heartache. I will not go into details, there is no need. But, we have felt the sting of what seems like injustices and it has been hard to take. It reminds me over again how much injustice Christ bore for us. And I am amazed greatly at His response and how mine has not been so gracious and forgiving. I am being taught that as a Christian, what is done to me cannot always be controlled, but how I respond to it can, and that is where God holds me accountable. It is a hard lesson to learn, but one where my Heavenly Father knows I need work! I am learning to submit to His Providence, even when it is painful. May you find peace in Christ today.
Shalom!
