Until we meet again...

Hi everyone!

It has been a while since I have written and tonight I do so with a heavy heart.  Isn’t it funny how when we are going through our own personal tragedies, the world just keeps zooming on by?  It is not that it means to do so intentionally, that is just the circle of life.  On July 5^th my mom was sick in the hospital and by August 22^nd, this time last week she was gone.  We always talked numerous times a day and during this summer there were times when I questioned if I called her too much. But then I thought “you just never know when you won’t be able to talk to her again.”  I never in a million years ever thought that this would be only a few short weeks later.

My mom was Curiosity Cottage’s biggest fan, always looking for new things that I could make or embroider, passing out business cards where ever she went.  She would be quick to say “pull yourself together” if I was upset about something, but would also defend my brother and I like a female grizzle bear when she felt it was warranted!!  :D

Like a dear friend wrote and told me this week, losing your mom is not like anything else.  We will miss her forever and can only hope that in time we learn to cope with our grief.  So tonight I am doing what she would tell me to, “pulling myself together” so I can help my own babies with their homework and then I will embroider, because I know no matter what she will always be able to see my creations and will be cheering me on from Heaven.

So take the time this evening, if you are blessed enough to still have your mom with you, give her a call from where ever you may be and tell her how much she means to you.  You will be so glad one day that you did.  We were blessed in that we did get to say these things before our mom passed away.  We love you mom!!

What happened to my yellow brick road???

Hi everyone,

Isn't it amazing how so many of us watched "The Wizard of Oz" when we were kids, but once we become adults, it becomes painfully obvious that there is no yellow brick road.  So many of use go down paths, that may be a bit rocky, but are still lined with beautiful flowers.  These flowers bloom every so often in different seasons to give us hope and make us smile.

I must say that this pretty much describes the path my life is currently on.  However, since I tend to look at the glass as being "half full" instead of "half empty," I have child-like faith that as I age and life teaches me all of the lessons she has in store, that one day my life may still have a gravel path, with dips and bumps in the road from time to time....

but this path will also be lined with majestic trees to provide beauty & shade.  See these scenes aren't just seen in movies and if I can find them while traveling down remote Louisiana highways, then God can also lead me down a beautiful, tranquil path, providing me with shade and protection.  After all when we

"Delight ourselves in the Lord 

and He will give you 

the desires of your heart." ~ Psalm 37:4

 

Back Roads, Bayous & Miracles

Hi everyone,

Well today was just one of those days, when a girl has got to do, what a girl has got to do!!  :D  Earlier this week I had a meeting at a home down on a Louisiana bayou.  

It had been many years since I had driven along this highway and I just love seeing the scenery.  On my way down there I came across this sign. 

I did not take the time then to stop and take a picture, which I regretted the minute I drove back into town.  Within minutes of me talking to one of my friends and telling her about the sign, she said “oh, how I needed to hear that today!!”  Then last night on Facebook, a childhood friend sent out a prayer request for a friend of hers, whose little boy is going to Saint Jude’s Sunday, for fear that he has cancer.  I knew at that moment that people needed to see these words of encouragement & that this precious lady and her son needed to see this sign more than ever!!  So this morning my boys & I set out on a road trip to take a picture of the sign.  I was able to show them parts of Louisiana that they had never seen before.  I was even able to show them where some of our cousins live, whom they have never met before.  So my quest for the picture of the sign turned into a learning experience for the boys.  For example, all sweeteners do not come in blue, pink, or yellow packets…some sweetener comes straight from sugar cane!!  :D

It has been a very rewarding day and I feel so very blessed that God allows me to use something as simple as a picture to give people hope.   The fact that I found this sign on an out of the way highway in Louisiana was one wonderful God Wink!!

I'm teaching my kids to dance in the rain!!

Hi everyone,

I am so excited about all of the progress I am making at my little cottage this evening.  It is so easy sometimes when life is chaotic to try and wait for things to settle down to get back to your dreams and goal.  I learned a very long time ago that if we wait until our life is "perfect" to accomplish the things we most want, we will be waiting a very long time...quite possibly forever.

This is why one of my favorite quotes is

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it is learning to dance in the rain!!!" 

After all, whether you are dancing in the rain; running in the rain; or playing with your kids in the rain, doesn't it always seem to just wash all the stress and the worry away??!!  Taking time to dance during the storms that life brings your way will not only allow you to catch your breath and face the events in your life, it also serves as a great learning experience for our kids.  Allowing our kids to see that life is not perfect, that we will have trials and tribulations, but that if we stop periodically to allow ourselves to take care of ourselves and process what we are going through, we are teaching them to do the same when they are adults.  

So when your kids start back to school in a few short weeks and they are asked to write about their summer vacations, may they all be able to write "my mom taught me that I do not have to wait for all of the storms in life to pass me by, I need to learn to dance in the rain, right in the place where God has placed me!!"

I'm climbing Mount Everest, one step at a time!!

Hi everyone,

Well this weekend “I may have lost the battle, but not the war”!!  :D  Taking care of mom meant no time for sewing, but by Sunday I was so exhausted I had no choice but to take care of me!!  :D  I have found over these past several weeks that taking care of mom is like taking care of my youngest son…both are very strong willed and determined individuals.  It so reminds me of the book, “Love You Forever”, that she bought for me when I had Sarah, almost 21 years ago.  

On my way home from exercising tonight, I could not help but think “careful what you pray for.”  At the beginning of my summer break I prayed for strength, but I was thinking in terms of physical strength with my arm on the mend; little did I know that I was going to have obstacles put in my path that would force me to gain a different kind of strength.    

While this has not been a fun process or the one that I would have chosen, the experiences of this summer have left me feeling like I am almost at the top of Mount Everest…after all I have two weeks left to finish this climb.  If for one minute anyone would think that I would not make it to the summit, which was my goal for the summer…well then they would not know me very well!!  :D

Look out world!!!