love – Sew Beach Life

The Kitchen Sponge

I have been blessed with awesome sisters and brothers-in-law, and love my extended family dearly. We are the kind of family that can call and say, “Hey, can I come over and…” and the answer is always yes. Dan’s brother called and asked if he could spend the night and get some help installing the new racing stripes on his car. No big deal, he often drives up and spends the night. We have a spare room, and the guys get to golf, or work on his car, and we all enjoy going to the beach.

And he did need new racing stripes on his car, since they were all cracked and bubbled when he bought the car. In fact, I’m the one who stuck a fingernail under a bubbled corner and peeled the old stripes off after he once again commented how bad they looked when he visited a month or two ago.

Dan was still at the gym and grocery store when his brother arrived, and I was in the midst of sewing. So he said he was going to go out in the garage and do some final prep work on his car while he waited. Dan gets home, we all head out to the garage and figure out how to install the new racing stripes so that they’re evenly spaced. Mind you, we are not professionals, and have no experience with car detailing. We’re just avid DIYers doing the best we can. 🙂

I helped out for a while, but decide to go inside and start making the pumpkin roll I had planned for dessert. After mixing up the cake batter and getting the jellyroll pan in the oven, I go to the sink to wash up the mixing bowl and paddle and the measuring utensils, because I’m going to need them to make the frosting.

My hands are deep in the hot soapy water when I glance over to the caddy that holds my scrubber sponge and little scrub brush and see that the brand new scrubber sponge, that I just took out of the package a few days ago no longer looks new. It is all black and stained. And the realization hits me. He used the brand new sponge, the sponge that I use to remove stuck on food from the dishes that we eat off of to clean his car!

To say that I am irritated is an understatement. I step out into the garage and say, “I’ve got a bone to pick with you Mister!” The brothers turn around to look at me, and Dan says, “What?” I say, “Not you, him!” and turn to look at brother. “You used my brand new kitchen sponge to clean your car?!?” I ask incredulously. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he stammers. I turn back into the house to finish my chores.

When the guys come inside to take a break and cool off, I fill a water bottle with ice water and take it over to brother, who is relaxing in a chair. After dinner and my shower, I return to the kitchen to make the frosting for the chilled pumpkin roll. After frosting and rolling the pumpkin roll, I really should let it chill to harden up a bit. But the kitchen is filled with the scent of pumpkin roll, and who wants to wait another hour? Brother is lounging in the spare room watching TV, so I take him a plate with a slice of pumpkin roll.

I’m an early riser, and enjoy my quiet time drinking coffee, reading emails or checking out social media. The guys sleep in until 6:30 or 7:00. Brother goes outside to look at the drizzly day. He comes in and says, “You know that scraggly plant in a pot beside the garage door? You should come out and see the beautiful flowers blooming on it.” I walk through the garage, stepping sideways between the big fan and the side view mirror of his car. The flowers on the “scraggly” cactus are indeed beautiful.

And so it is with families. You get the ugly and the beautiful. You may get frustrated or angry at times, but there is also forgiveness and understanding. There is always, always love. ❤

Thanks & Giving

2020 has been an unusual year, with plenty of challenges. (You don’t say! 😉 ) But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an abundance of things to be thankful for.

I am thankful that our son and daughter-in-law were able to have a beautiful wedding in early February. Our families and a few friends gathered together to celebrate the happy occasion.

“Uncle Jon Jon look! I threw all my petals for you!”

Getting my sweet little flower girl to exit stage right so that the bride could make her way down the aisle was a bit of a challenge!

My sweet Lila was one of the flower girls, and it’s safe to say that she truly enjoyed the experience! She made sure to toss all the rose petals, but then didn’t want to just leave them there! 🙂 Toddlers always add a bit of laughter to a wedding! On a side note, when my daughter (Lila’s Mama) was three years and two days old, she was the flower girl at my sister’s wedding. She provided the laughter when she proclaimed “I have to go potty right now!” My Dad laughed so hard! And, being the good Grandpa that he was, quickly jumped up to rush her to the bathroom. Ah, memories!

I am also very thankful for our second granddaughter. The sweet babe was born back in May, during the height of CoVid. Which means that we didn’t get to meet her until she was nearly 48 hours old. But we did get to care for Lila while Mama, Daddy and baby sister stayed at the hospital, and I really enjoyed all the one on one time. It’s hard to believe that the sweet newborn babe is already 6 months old!

You can’t help but smile at her happy grin, and I swear she can see your soul when looking at you with those dark eyes!

I’m also grateful for the ability to sew. It’s one of the things that gave me focus and joy during the stressful times of 2020. Being able to create something beautiful and useful is a wonderful gift, and I definitely thank God for blessing me with this talent.

I am thankful that the yoga studio I attend was only closed for two months during CoVid. A regular yoga practice helps burn off anxious energy, and yoga breathing is definitely calming. It’s been a great form of exercise for me. And seeing the familiar faces every week has kept a sense of normalcy in my life.

I’m very grateful to be able to live in sunny Florida, where, despite the ridiculous number of hurricanes and tropical storms this year, we haven’t suffered any damage beyond broken palm fronds and a small roof leak. We have the opportunity to visit with family who live within a few hours drive. We get to walk the beach, breathe the fresh sea air, and see beautiful sunsets over the ocean.

Dan and his brother enjoyed having a dolphin swim quite close to them during our last beach day.

In short, I have much to be thankful for. Now for the “giving”. Obviously I believe in charitable giving. Our faith calls us to share and care for others. I’m talking about a different kind of giving, more specifically giving up the things that no longer serve us.

2020 has been a very contentious year on social media. Mean-spirited attacks on people with different beliefs on everything from politics, faith, CoVid restrictions, you name it. Some people have become downright mean turning to threats and bullying. It’s just silly! Arguing and acting like a child throwing a tantrum just because someone holds a different point of view certainly isn’t going to win them over to your POV! 🙂

Hopefully we can all give up our feelings of superiority, and give others the opportunity to discuss their beliefs. Let’s give up our judgemental natures and recognize that everyone is created in the image of God, and therefore we all have value. Can we also give up the temptation to so easily wander into sin? It’s not like we don’t have a simple guide to life in the ten commandments! 🙂

I plan to work harder at giving up a grumpy attitude when things don’t go as smoothly as I’d like. To not let the small irritations in life turn into major worries. Instead I plan to give in to God. To surrender my need for control, and recognize that God loves us, and wants us to be the best possible version of ourselves. That no matter what challenges life in 2020 brings, God is and always has been there for us.

Happy Thanksgiving dear readers! I am thankful that you read, follow, and like my little blog. No matter where you are in the world, I hope that you too are giving thanks for all the good in your life. I also hope that you’ll join me in giving up the negative and give in to God’s call. ❤

Going Forth

I have felt my eyes tear up at Mass on more than one occasion, and generally it is due to the moving words and music of a beloved hymn. Sometimes it is a remark or observation during a homily that hits particularly close to home. Obviously I have cried at funeral Masses, but I don’t recall tears dripping down my face and quickly ripping off my mask while hurrying to the car so that I can cry in private. Until today.

Today was Fr. Jonathan’s last Sunday Mass at our parish. I love Fr. Jonathan, and will really miss having him here. The end of June is when Bishops transfer priests within their diocese to fill the needs in other parishes. Perhaps a priest is retiring, or the needs of a parish are greater than one priest can handle. Perhaps the gifts a priest possesses are greatly needed at another parish. This is the time of year that the transfers happen.

When we first moved to Florida, and temporarily lived in the middle of the state, we attended the local Catholic church that my parents had attended when they lived there. There wasn’t a big sense of belonging, because we knew that we were only living in that city for a short time. When we bought our home, but hadn’t closed on it yet, we began our search for a Catholic church in the area.

It may seem funny that we didn’t bother looking for a new doctor or dentist, hairstylist or barber, restaurants or stores, but rather began researching our new town by looking for a church. I guess it kind of shows how important a church family is to a Catholic. We looked up the Catholic churches in the area, and I chose our church as the first to visit because it also had a school. To me, this was a sign that the church was invested in nurturing families. So we got up early on Sunday and made the long drive over to our soon-to-be new county, and went to Mass.

Fr. Jonathan presided over that Mass, and that was it. There was no need to visit the other Catholic churches in the area, this was the one, this was home. His passion and sincerity, his homilies that make you think, that speak to your heart, that inflame you with the Holy Spirit. His reverence for the Body of Christ, all of it, and in a young man not much older than our children. His preaching is truly inspired, and even guests who have gone to Mass with us have commented on the power in his words.

This, this is why I cried after saying a quick goodbye after Mass. Because of CoVid 19 social distancing, we couldn’t hug Father, or even shake his hand.

After a particularly inspiring homily last year, I recall asking him after Mass if he had ever considered videotaping Mass, or at least his homilies. He quizzically asked me, “Why?” When I perhaps awkwardly explained that I would like to be able to share it with people on social media, he commented that there are others so much more qualified than he, who already had such things available. And that the church didn’t really have the equipment to do such a thing. Little did anyone know that just a year later everyone would have to adapt to livestreaming Mass!

Fortunately, we’ve been able to attend Mass in person this past month. It seemed so disorienting at first. As per the CDC guidelines, every other pew is blocked off. We have to wear masks, and aren’t allowed to sing, so there’s no music. We can wave or bow to others, but not shake hands for the sign of peace. There are tape marks and arrows on the floor to follow when going to Communion, and sections are color coded to guide people to separate exit doors after Mass.

It’s quite different than normal, but it is SO GOOD to be able to receive the Body of Christ again! It’s funny how something that we probably took for granted for years became so missed during the months we had to stay at home. You certainly realize how going to Mass on Sunday really sets you up for the week.

During his homily, Fr. Jonathan reflected on the apostles being sent forth on their mission. Bishops send their priests forth on new missions when they relocate them to a new parish. We have to have faith and follow God’s will to go where we are needed. Even when it feels challenging to leave self behind, we have to trust and look forward to what God has planned for us. Easier said than done, huh?

So it’s sad to have said goodbye, but I am excited for the people who will now benefit from Father Jonathan’s encouraging words. And I know that God will certainly bless him for sharing his faith. Life can feel scary with all the changes and disruptions in our lives lately. But God loves us, He has a plan, and no matter how crazy the outside world may seem, we need to focus on the big picture, share our faith, and stay on the path that leads us to our final goal- eternal life in Heaven with Jesus.

Note: this photo was taken on Easter a couple years ago, before the church was repainted, and before social distancing was a thing. Sadly, I don’t have any recent photos of our church to share.

Merry Beachy Christmas!

One of my friends in Michigan commented on Facebook yesterday that it didn’t “feel like Christmas” because it was 50*F, rather than snowy and cold. Others quickly chimed in, and were either happy that it was (comparatively speaking) so warm, or disappointed that it wasn’t expected to be a snowy white Christmas.

For those of us who live where the weather is warm this time of year, we are enjoying the beautiful sunshine and appreciating the unique ways people decorate for the season. I am frequently astounded at the fun, beautiful, and creative sand sculptures I see when walking the beach.

The nativity scene above not only includes Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus, but animals, shepherds, an angel, and the neighboring inn. I love the way that the sculptor made use of debris on the beach to create the beautiful Christmas scene. They took what was around them, what some might have ignored, or considered trash, and turned it into something beautiful, sharing their faith with others.

Holidays in general, and Christmas in particular, can sometimes feel challenging. It is a time when families and loved ones gather together to celebrate Christ’s birth. But if you’re mourning a loved one, or separated from family, or struggling financially, dealing with health issues, or feeling a little lost or overwhelmed, it might not feel like a happy time of celebration. We might think that we’re the only ones that feel this way. But I think we all have at least a few of these concerns on our minds.

I certainly miss my Dad, and his funny, sort of Bah Humbug! sense of humor (and matching Christmas hat). 🙂 I miss my grandparents, and their sweetness, and sense of fun and excitement to see and spend time with everyone.

I wish my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter didn’t live so far away. And I wish that they could be here for Christmas. Who wouldn’t want to see the excitement on their grandchild’s face at Christmas? But we’ll have to make do with Facetime and photos. (Including slightly fuzzy Facetime photos!)

I think most of us have a financial or health concern of some kind. Whether it is our own finances or health, or concern for the struggles, and mental or physical health of people we care about.

I encourage you to look beyond, and let go of your struggles and concerns. Spend some quiet time in prayer. Remember why we celebrate Christmas. Because Jesus was born into this world to save us from our sins. We do not have to struggle through life alone. In fact, life is so much easier and better when we don’t!

When we reach out in love, with kindness for others, when we look for things to be grateful for, when we open our hearts and turn to God, relying on Him for hope and help, peace and joy start trickling into our life and heart. I encourage you to go to Mass, to let the beautiful Christmas hymns wash over you, and open your heart and ears to listening for God. He is always there, waiting to welcome you into His love. Give yourself the Christmas gift of the time and opportunity to feel that love.

Whether you are knee deep in snow, or strolling the sandy shores, I wish you a Merry Christmas wherever you are!

Ice And Sunlight

When you live in the midwestern United States, you get used to snow. Generally speaking, it snows all winter long. It starts with an occasional flurry in October. A Midwesterner knows that in all probability, your children are quite likely to need to wear a coat to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. This year there was a snowstorm across much of Michigan, so family and friends there stuck to indoor Trunk-or-Treating parties and events. The snow keeps coming all through the winter, well into April. And there’s no guarantee that there won’t be a freak snowstorm in May.

Ice storms are less frequent, but often produce spectacular results. When temperatures are on the edge of freezing and a storm blows through, it’s somewhere between rain and snow, and the ice coats everything. It makes for super dangerous driving, since the roads are literally covered with a sheet of ice. If you’re trapped at home and can’t drive anywhere until road crews can salt, and the sun warms everything enough to start melting, you might as well take a walk.

My daughter Jennifer, (who happened to be up visiting us in Michigan during an ice storm) and I went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was strangely quiet, since there were very few cars on the roads, and few people out in general. But every once in a while, we would hear a strange creaking noise, followed by a loud crack, and then a loud boom as a branch, heavily laden with ice broke off a tree and crashed to the ground.

As we walked along, we admired the strange, stark beauty of the thick coating of ice on the trees, shrubs, and plants in the neighborhood.

It was interesting to see how the thick layer of ice weighed the branches, leaves and berries down. Even thick branches arced down toward the ground. Once tall bushes looked much shorter, and any dead brown leaves still clinging, became frozen in place.

Do we become like that in our lives? Especially in our faith life? Somewhat frozen in place, sort of isolated?

Near others, but kind of stuck in our own little cluster?

If we look around, we can see the sun at work. Glistening and shining, melting the layers of ice, with light shining through the layer of ice that may be upon us. Maybe the path we’ve taken seems to be the end of a forking branch.

But you’re always connected to God’s family, and there is always another direction to go. God’s love is never-ending. The sun comes to melt away the ice, and His Son, Jesus, came to take away the sins of the world. No sin is too great, no sorrow too heavy if we hand it over to Jesus.

Even when we’re bent low with the weight of our troubles upon us, we can ask God for forgiveness, and look for a new path in life. We can pray and be strengthened. We can pray for others, whose burdens look heavy. We can lighten their load with every act of kindness we share. We can let God’s light shine through us, as we share the love of the Lord.

May you open your heart this advent season, and look with joy to the coming of the Lord, and sharing that joy with others.

All The Walls

We started stripping the wallpaper in our master bedroom yesterday. We’ve never cared for the grass-cloth wallpaper, it was on the walls when we moved in. Like most people, every house we’ve ever lived in has been a “fixer upper”. As time and budget allowed, we gradually improved each place, turning them into nicer homes.

Our old home of 20 years had wallpaper in nearly every room when we bought it. From a foil print velvet floral flocked wallpaper in the bathroom, to a brown vinyl textured in the living room and kitchen (which coordinated so nicely 😉 with the brown tile countertop with an impressed grassy plant design) to the burgundy vinyl “accent wall” and plush gray, carpet-like wallpaper in the master bedroom. It took me months to strip all the old wallpaper off, scrub down the walls to remove the glue residue, and prime and paint all the walls. But gradually, working on it on nights and weekends, I got it done, and really improved the look of our home.

When we first moved to Florida and stayed at my Mom’s old house for three months while we house-hunted, we started fixing it up for her. We replaced hardware and faucets, and installed a storm door on the back door. The rotten, shredding curtains were replaced with mini-blinds. And I stripped wallpaper. The ditsy patterned wallpaper in the kitchen was the first to go.

Then I moved on to the dining room and family room. The textured wallpaper was very thoroughly stuck, and bits of drywall came off when I peeled it off bit by bit. Which meant I had to do a lot of patching after spending days scrubbing all of the glue residue off.

Eventually I was able to prime and paint, and ended up with a cute dining area in which to eat and sew. Don’t judge- I’m sure I’m not the only one who works at their dining table! Speaking of sewing, my Grandmother made the seaside picture on the right of the photo using trapunto, a form of quilting popular back in the ’90s. It’s currently hung in our guestroom, and reminds me of the long line of sewists in our family.

When we moved to our new home, as soon as I finished cleaning, I started painting. I covered up the school bus yellow kitchen walls, and painted the sunroom, living room and office poo brown ceilings white. I scraped and scrubbed the elephant wallpaper border off the walls of Dan’s office, and painted over the deep red walls. Eventually I moved on to the main bathroom. The metallic copper colored walls and gold ceiling had to go. Along with the horrible wallpaper, which, one of my friends commented, looked like mold. 🙂

They must have used super strength glue, and obviously did not properly prep the walls before installing the wallpaper, because it came off in tiny little bits. Hundreds if not thousands, of tiny little bits.

Needless to say, after that time-consuming process, I didn’t even feel like tackling the grass-cloth in the master bedroom. So here we are, a year and a half later, finally ready to face the task of removing wallpaper once again. But this time I had help! Dan helped me peel and scrape off the grass-cloth. I started scrubbing off the residue, but it was getting late and I was tired. So I’m maybe a quarter of the way through scrubbing, and then I can move on to priming and painting. Yay! And phew!

All of this talk about working on the walls got me thinking about the walls in our lives. What kind of walls do we put up to hide, to avoid, to protect? Protective walls can be good. We all need shelter from the storms. But are we putting up walls to avoid people because we’re scared? Scared to talk to them? Scared to reach out in friendship, or deal with a relationship? Do we put up a wall to “block out” God? Are we scared to have faith? To consider depending upon someone other than ourselves? Are we afraid of what that faith, and relationship with God, with Jesus, might require of us?

Are you thinking of knocking down some of those walls? Of opening your heart and your mind to new relationships and possibilities? It’s easier than you think. Take one small step forward, crack open the door, throw open the window, and invite life in. Pray. It can be nothing more than a simple conversation, talking to God. But it can mean so much more. It can be the start, or the continuation, of an everlasting relationship. Are you ready to knock down some walls?

Love You “Two” The Moon Birthday Girl!

Can you believe that my beautiful granddaughter just turned two? I planned to write a post about her birthday party, and thought I would include photos of the decorations and snacks and treats, along with her birthday dress like last year. But it was a super busy day, and somehow I didn’t take many photos! So there aren’t any close-up photos of the cute star cookies (you can barely see them on the table behind her), the astronaut ice cream, or moon cheese, chosen for her space themed birthday party.

There wasn’t much doubt that Lila would choose space as a theme, since “moon” was one of her first words, shortly after “Mama” and “Daddy”. She likes to spot airplanes and helicopters, and “Look at stars!” and “See fireflies”. Her vocabulary is out of this world, if I am allowed to brag a bit, about all the phrases and sentences she says these days. She mimics and picks up new words and phrases daily. Possibly even ones she shouldn’t, such as “OK, girlfriend”, which she learned from yours truly! 🙂 It is sort of funny though, since she inserts it appropriately into conversation!

Her birthday dress was made using the free Sew A Little Seam Birthday Dress pattern. I muslined it using some chevron foil print purple knit I found on the clearance rack at JoAnn Fabrics a couple years ago. It looked cute and proportionate, although I couldn’t try it on her since she lives in another state.

Finding fabric that looked like galaxies was a little challenging, since I didn’t have time or the budget to order a custom fabric. But I found some hand-printed cotton at my local fabric store (that has a ton of quilting fabric, and very little knit, which seems common in Florida) that looked pretty and sort of galaxy like. The pattern tutorial calls for a zipper if the dress is made with woven fabric, although it’s only supposed be in the bodice. After installing the zipper in the completely lined and finished bodice, it made no sense to me to not have it extend into the skirt. Since there isn’t a back seam in the skirt (which would have been the easiest solution) I just snipped down the center back of the skirt about 3 inches, and folded the snipped edges under. Attaching the skirt was a bit challenging, since I needed the edges to line up perfectly in order to continue sewing on the zipper. It isn’t the prettiest zipper I’ve ever done, but it was installed and worked perfectly.

To up the “space” and sparkle factor, I added some metallic trimmed satin and chiffon ribbon to the bottom edge of the tulle underskirt. A simple zig zag stitch through the chiffon layer worked perfectly, and it took every single inch of the 3 yard spool of ribbon! I also made the hair bow, by following a tutorial on YouTube. Fortunately, the dress fit perfectly, and Lila wore it all day long from playing in the garden, to learning to ride her birthday scooter.

Last year, she just leaned forward in her high chair and nibbled her cupcake. This year, she decided it was too sticky to hold herself, and wanted Mama to hold it for her! Can you tell that she only gets sugary treats on rare occasions?

The birthday party flew by, with kids, neighbors, family, friends, noise, presents, and the general bedlam that one expects at a children’s birthday party. And it really only ended after it grew dark, and all of the neighbor children finished playing with bikes, scooters, balls, being pulled in wagons, and the adults gathered them inside for their dinners and evening baths.

On her actual birthday, we tagged along on a trip to a local farm. Lila got to see all the animals, go on a wagon ride, wander through a maze, and look at pumpkins, although she didn’t pick one out to take home.

And she got a shoulder ride from Grandpa, just like her Mama used to when she was little!

She also opened her present of Grandma made clothes. She wore her Petite Stitchery Sweetie Leggings (another free pattern) made from a floral double brushed polyester scrap and her Patterns for Pirates Tiny Tulip (also a free pattern), made from pieced together scraps of rayon spandex ribbing from Phee Fabrics the next day. The leggings are a looser fit like joggers, and the 24 months size fits well. The dropped shoulders of the Tiny Tulip make the size 2 a little bit big on her. I had to roll up the sleeves to keep them out of her way.

I made the skirt out of some star printed vintage cotton woven my Mom gave me when cleaning out her house. It’s just two pieces of fabric 12″ high by 22″ wide sewn together, and gathered with swim elastic. Swim elastic works best because it’s soft, and stretches enough to gather a wide opening small enough to fit on a simple rayon spandex waistband.

I hadn’t tried the free (with code in their Facebook group) Halla Leggings pattern before, but gave them a try because the rise is higher in the front than some of the other kids leggings patterns. Toddlers have round little bellies, and I dislike low rise leggings with a baby belly and diaper sticking out of the top! There was a big enough scrap of Polartech Powerstretch left in my stash to make the size 2/3 years. The Patterns for Pirates Buried Treasure Tunic in size 2 was the basis for the other two tops I made.

The sweater knit hacci was part of a panel and I didn’t have enough scraps to make long sleeves. So I cut them as long as I could, added seam allowances, and cut the rest of the sleeves, neckband, and gathered ruffle on the bottom out of Phee Fabrics rayon spandex. The floral print was a scrap of rayon spandex from JoAnn Fabrics. Since the fabric was quite thin, and didn’t have the greatest recovery, I decided to use some white rayon spandex from Phee as the neckband.

It makes for a cute outfit that is comfortable for her to run and play in. She also likes adding the 5 Out Of 4 Girls’ Eleanor Cardigan I made her last year when she is preparing to go play outside. If Phee Fabrics gets any more Polartech Powerwool in this winter, I will definitely have to make her another cardigan!

We had so much fun hanging out with the birthday girl! The 13-1/2 hour drive each way was brutal, but worth it to be able to visit our sweet, fun, loving, adorable, hilarious granddaughter. We can’t wait to visit again for Thanksgiving, but we’ve decided we’re going to fly next time!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I may receive a small commission/credit if you purchase through my links. As always, I only give my honest opinion. After all, it is my blog, which represents me! 🙂 Thank you for reading and sharing my love of sewing, patterns, fabric, and pattern hacking. ❤

Offer It Up

Do you ever feel like you’re walking along, flowing through life, then someone says something rather profound, and you really feel it hit you? I don’t think that this is uncommon. For instance, as we are working through grief after the death of a loved one, a song, a smell, or a comment can easily transport us back to thoughts of that person. We think that we’ve bundled up that grief, packaged it tightly, and stuffed it into the back of our mind. Then that comment or thought floats across the surface, and it’s all brought back full force. Maybe slightly dulled, but definitely still there.

A few weeks ago I heard some very disturbing news from a family member. They were physically hurt, their immediate family is really struggling, and they do not see a clear path out of their problems. First of all, this breaks my heart because I love them. Secondly, I live 1,300 miles away, and can’t be there to give them a hug or try to help in some way. Other family lives nearby, so they aren’t alone or uncared for. But all I could do was call, listen, and pray for them. And of course, worry.

That worry must have been weighing on me more heavily than I realized. Sitting in Mass two weeks ago, Fr. Charles did something unusual. He paused before the consecration and asked everyone to “Place all your worries and troubles on the altar, and offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord.” Whoa! That hit me like a ton of bricks! And it was obviously the reminder I needed to quit my needless worrying. The tension in my shoulders eased and my heart felt instantly lighter. Tears sprang to my eyes and I tried desperately to blink them away.

How often does God put someone in your path to help you see things in a different way? How many reminders does it take for you to remember to pray and put your troubles in God’s hands? I can’t magically make everything better for everyone I love, no matter what I do. I can certainly do whatever I can to help, and I can definitely pray. But I need to remember that what I really need to do is to put it in God’s hands. To offer it up as a sacrifice to Him.

Look Up And Appreciate The Splendor

We’ve all experienced times in life when it seems like everything is good, maybe not perfect, but still pretty darn good. You may not be rich, but you’re rich enough, especially in the things that matter. You know that you’re loved, you’ve got a roof over your head, food in your belly, and you’re doing ok. Honestly, most of our life is probably lived like this.

Yet somehow, we become complacent, get used to the relatively smooth sailing as we go about our daily lives. We get caught up in the little problems and daily distractions of life. We forget to look up, and say thank you for this beautiful life. When is the last time you took the time to watch a beautiful sunrise?

Literally watched the sky start to light up from the horizon, with a little glow of orange and coral, until the color spreads, turning apricot into pink and purple streaks across the sky in front of you? Wow! What a beautiful way to start the day. Thank you Jesus!

No matter what stresses the day may bring, no matter what good news or bad gets brought to you today, life is good. God made it good. Appreciate the splendor, and beauty, and wonder of life. Look with the eyes of a child at every little thing, and appreciate the beautiful life you are living.

Is life completely perfect? Of course not, we won’t experience complete perfection until we’re in heaven. But we are certainly blessed, and receive gifts from God every day, in the people and world around us. Let the love into your heart, and let it shine out through the life you’re living.

Bloom Where You’re Planted

Dan and I watched a movie the other night called Passengers. It was about a guy on a spaceship that was travelling to an outpost to start a new life. He and all the other 5,000 passengers were placed in suspended animation in these special pods for the 90 year journey. Something went wrong with his pod, and he woke up on the ship with 89 years still left in the journey, rather than waking up 4 months before arriving at their destination as planned.

It was a very thought provoking movie, because I think we all go through periods where we struggle and rail against how things are versus how we thought they would be. As a child you think that adulthood will be this wonderful thing because you can do whatever you want, rather than just what your parents and teachers tell you to do. And it is a wonderful thing, but you have to deal with your responsibilities, so it’s not as easy as your childhood fantasy envisions.

As a young couple you imagine having children, and how awesome it will be to become parents. And it is awesome! But you cannot fathom just how overwhelming it can be until you’re living the reality. The complete and utter exhaustion you feel when your infant is waking up every two hours to nurse and you can only daydream about ever actually sleeping again. The unbelievably large number of times that you will have to clean pee, poo, and “spit up” off your baby, yourself, (and any and every) nearby surrounding. The utter defiance of your strong willed nearly two year old who no longer wants to wear what you picked out, but insists upon choosing her own outfits as she learns to assert her independence. Thankfully, these moments are balanced out by hearing your child excitedly exclaim “Mama!” or “Dada!” as soon as they see you. And the peace of feeling them contentedly snuggled into your arms or sitting on your lap. And the sheer delight of hearing them laugh or giggle, truly one of my favorite sounds in the world! And the overwhelming joy that fills your heart when they hug you, or give you wet, slobbery “smooches”, or say, “I love you”.

Don’t even get me started on how completely wonderful it is to experience these things as a grandparent. My heart nearly burst the first time Lila said “I love you” back to me! And the aching joy I felt when I had her giggling and laughing uproariously when we played “This little piggy” during a car ride, sustains me when we have to go months without flying up to visit.

Life can be very challenging. We all go through tough times where we worry about our family, our friends, our finances, our health, and every other situation that tests us. But constantly thinking that life would be better if only we lived, worked, had, or did something or somewhere else, robs us of the joy of loving where we are at.

Do you ever stop to consider that the trials you are going through are moments of learning? They are teaching you something, and preparing you for the next moment in life. Are you learning patience, compassion, forgiveness, and love? Are you gaining wisdom and experience so that you can deal with the next challenge in your life?

Instead of yearning for the next thing, the next place, the next person, appreciate the wonder of this moment in life. In other words, bloom where you’re planted! Don’t worry, life will keep on happening. And soon enough you’ll grow, leaves reaching toward the sun, growing stronger, and branching out.