kay morrison

a gift

2010-11-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

this week our small group was meeting for the first time in about 6 weeks. busy lives and the challenge of getting 8 calendars to match with an unscheduled friday night led us to a drought of get-togethers. so on monday i decided that instead of our usual pot luck style dinner, i wanted to cook the whole meal, a harvest feast, as a gift. i had all the recipes that i wanted to try. and i wanted everyone to just come and receive. using the good china, creating a beautiful centerpiece, lots of candles, and some of my favorite people at our table...it just sounded like a perfect idea.

and then the week began. and what felt like a gift on monday turned into a burden.

how does that happen, that the challenge, the difficulty of carrying out the plan, completely overshadows and swallows up the joy that set the whole thing in motion? as soon as i recognized the shifting in my heart i decided to fight back. to stand firm in the joy of giving the gift instead of collapsing into the earthquake of toil and hassle.

and there was some hassle. like my carrot cake mysteriously exploding in my oven. that was a huge mess. and an enormous inconvenience. but with a little perspective and gratefully having all the ingredients to make another one, i was able to chuckle about it. not a martha stewart moment. more like seinfeld which i actually like better anyway.

the dinner was wonderful. just like i hoped. fantastic food, wonderful friends, authentic and vulnerable conversation, beauty all around, a glorious harvest feast.

busy, busy

2010-11-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

i am slammed today, stuff back to back to back. and that's great. it makes me appreciate and depend on the power of the Holy Spirit and recognize how God surprises me with beauty to encourage me in the hard places of life.

like this glorious bush which reminded me of the burning bush. beautiful!

hope your day is full of His power and beauty too.

grateful...

2010-11-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

for a God who sees the orphan and for those love them. remembering last year in africa explaining halloween and trick or treating to precious orphans.

me: kids dress in costumes and go to the doors of their neighbors and say "trick or treat" and they get candy.

them: for nothing?

me: right. just for being cute kids in costumes.

them: one piece?

me: sometimes more. and then they go to the next house and do it again.

them: how much candy do they get?

me: ummm, alot.

them: wow.

wishing i was there to give them not just candy but love.

hooray for mondays #2

2010-11-01T06:13:00.000-07:00

seriously lame title. not feeling so hooray this morning. but i do have the next of my 3 music faves to tell you about.

jj heller. i listened to her cd painted red repeatedly a year ago while in africa. it was a beautiful soundtrack to an amazing trip. she has a rich, full voice and her song lyrics are thick with meaning. love it.

and now she has a new cd! hooray!

available on itunes.

hooray for mondays!

2010-10-25T10:43:00.001-07:00

ok not really. but hooray for great music! i have 3 great artists to tell you about. here's #1:

jason gray

everything sad is coming untrue

fabulous! you will love it.

love the prodigal and the golden boy

available on itunes or jasongraymusic.com

and you're welcome. more to come....

seasons of travel

2010-10-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

in life, just like in nature, there are seasons. right now it is fall, although the weather in colorado has been a little summerish. and at the morrison's we are in travel season. for 6 weekends in a row, either david or i will be gone. this creates great upset in the home ecosystem as evidenced by 2 things in david's absence:

1. light bulbs burn out. hard to reach ones. light bulbs that you didn't even know existed. applies to appliances and cars also.

2. dogs go on high alert which creates alot of gastrointestinal disturbances. ie: farting, barfing and generally being skittish and barky.

they might look relaxed but trust me. they could heave at any moment.

when david is gone i catch up on tv watching that he is uninterested in (project runway, weird indie movies), stay up even later than usual reading, and get lots of sewing done. all good.

but not as good as having him home. looking on the bright side, at least i don't barf.

beauty

2010-10-17T14:26:00.001-07:00

a summer sunset in colorado...just driving to the grocery store and the beauty of the Creator painting the sky was astounding. i had to quickly pull over and try to capture the beauty with my phone. why? why does beauty, even in the daily occurrences of life still overtake our hearts?

i think c.s. lewis describes it well:

"We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words — to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it."

we want Him. He is lavish in His beauty and in His love.

what have i been doing?

2010-07-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

besides the usual ministry activities-speaking at retreats and writing, and the usual home activities-being overwhelmed by laundry and avoiding cleaning, what have i been up to??

• thrilled to display my quilts in the art gallery at greenwood community church

• speaking with david at a marriage retreat

• welcoming annie home from africa

• making interesting art with my His to create group (more about this later)

• baseball! cheering for the rockies!!

• sending michael off to study in germany!

and basically enjoying the summer...lots of dinners on the patio, short trips to the mountains, city park jazz with friends, and keeping really random office hours. happy summer!

happy easter!

2010-04-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

as a little girl one of my favorite parts of easter was the easter outfit. this picture was taken on easter sunday 1965. i had on my new easter dress with the stiff crinoline lining, flower hat, white gloves and white patent shoes. i remember waiting for daddy to come out for this picture and twirling. and twirling. and being delighted at having a special daddy and a twirly dress.

easter is my absolute favorite holiday. i still love the easter dress. but i adore a Risen Jesus!

what a Special Daddy we have! what a shocking, crazy way to love us.

happy, happy easter!

good but hard friday, harder saturday

2010-04-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

saturday. a day of rest. the Sabbath.

the Sabbath was designed by God to remind of us on our dependence and rest in Him.

that saturday, 1 day after Jesus died, the day He lay still and cold in a tomb, must have been unbelievably hard for His family, His friends.

they must have struggled to remember each word He spoke, like sorting through a massive jigsaw puzzle and trying to understand how they go together. and then discovering this horrible shaped piece, this crucified and dead piece, how does that fit in?

the presence of His absence must have been overwhelming.

how difficult to grieve for Him but also to be so at a loss to understand.

how hard to rest and trust, to Sabbath.

and how very much like our lives. we struggle to make sense of what happens in our lives and just like the first disciples and friends of Jesus what we need is not fuller knowledge but fuller trust.

Easter is at work in the darkness, in the grave, in what appears to be dead and hopeless. the beauty of redemption lays hidden, waiting to explode in it’s Easter glory.

2010-03-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

The gospel message says,

"You don't live in a mechanistic world ruled by necessity;

you don't live in a random world ruled by chance;

you live in a world alive by the God of Exodus and Easter.

He will do things in you that neither you nor your friends would have supposed possible."

from Five Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work, by Eugene Peterson

some thoughts...

2010-03-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

outside my window... it is dark and snowy. actually not so dark cause the snow makes things brighter.

i am thinking... about getting in bed and reading.

i am thankful for...a snow day today!

i am wearing... jammies. that’s a given. i am always wearing jammies if i am at home.

i am remembering...things i forgot to do.

i am going...to get my hair cut tomorrow. that raises the proverbial question: bangs or no bangs?

from the kitchen...zip. didn’t make dinner so no dishes to deal with.

i am hoping...that we don’t get more snow on saturday that would mess up michael’s flight home.

i am wondering...what to wear tomorrow.

i am noticing...how much my dog sleeps. seriously. she is a slug.

pondering these words...”Father forgive them…”

around the house...there is a lot of clutter. which i think is a sign of life. my house looks lived in and loved.

one of my favorite things...is a snowstorm! it came so quickly with dramatic impact and beauty and completely rearranged my day. thanks for the fun change God!

austin!

2010-03-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

i am leaving tomorrow to go to austin and speak to a MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group.

i love MOPS!

i love austin. david and i lived there when we met, fell in love and got married. great memories!

i love seeing my friend reenie and staying at her house...despite her recent rodent issues. and i am not talking mickey mouse.

i love shopping on south congress and exploring new knitting and quilting stores.

and i LOVE this:

obsessed with color

2010-02-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

i know it's weird. i get a little fixated. on lots of stuff....

the ice from sonic...my converse tennies...silver bracelets...jason gray's song "the prodigal and the golden boy"...carl edwards...my crate & barrel yellow chair...my dog button...iphone apps...cake balls...lost...you get the idea.

oh and colors. i get obsessed with certain colors. i've had pink going on since i was 3 and i got to choose pink carpet for my bedroom(my parents were awesome!) now i have become fixated on these colors:

in case you've missed the almost non-stop coverage, these are the colors of the 2010 winter olympics. i can hardly focus on the events because my eye is just drawn to the athletes little bib things or to the ice rink wall. strange i know.

i must create something blue green. it's calling to me. and when something is calling to me like that, i pay attention. sometimes it is just because it is interesting to me and that's it. (like cake balls.) but sometimes, it is because the Lord has something to say to me in it and i want to hear from Him. that takes intentional listening. i don't want to miss what He is saying.

olympic fashion

2010-02-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

this is hands down my favorite olympic moment of 2010.

these guys are the norwegian curling team. fantastic!

curling is awesome. you gotta love a sport that involves a little sweeper thing and a rock with a handle. it looks a like janitorial shuffleboard on ice.

and seriously, the pants are amazing. i love a sport that you can play in jammies.

LOVE IT!

Running on Full

2010-02-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

This past month has been crazy busy. On top of my regular 3 Bible studies a week teaching schedule, I added multiple speaking engagements and retreats…I gave 8 messages in 5 days at the wackiest stretch of busyness. Add to that, the wife/mom duties, a few quilt clients, planning for fall Bible studies, support raising and an occasional shower. And then pile on Club Valentino, our 4 night staff/elder dinner theater show (which is a blast but a TON of work).

I should be morphing into the Road Runner with legs that look like a blurry wheel and I should be precariously close to a breakdown. But I am not. Why is that? Two reasons I think.

1. Wisdom…knowing what the essentials are for my survival. Here’s what I need each day:

• Jesus- time to hear from Him, tune my heart to His so my heart and my schedule becomes His not mine. My grip on my limited perspective of my life loosens and lightens when I hear from Him.

• People- connecting with those I love, David, my kids, friends, people whose path I cross.

• Creativity- just a smidge of time to doodle, sew, knit, sing, dance, to see a little beauty and celebrate Him in it!

2. Grace…God gives me freedom to say "yes" to too much or "no" to things I should say "yes" to and then He graciously forgives my goof-ups, makes beauty out of my mess and equips me to do the things He asks of me. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for His grace.

When I rest in these two things, I am at peace in the midst of a crazy busy month! (But p.s.-It is easier said than done though, for I find that I am more inclined to try too do all things through me, than to live out His grace and wisdom.)

looking back

2010-01-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

2009 highlights

began kaleidoscope ministry

created two new Bible studies

started the teacher’s lounge

gave the sermon at GCC four times

retired from long arm quilting business

switched to a mac

created art group: His to Create

celebrated 23 years with david

reorganized my studio

mike bought his first car and started second year in college

annie graduated and began work in africa

liza became our 3^rd driver

max is now taller than me

travelled to Africa

loved more, gave more, risked more, learned more, created more

my H2C group at a painting class

2009-12-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

top ten things i learned while in africa

10. i can be extremely happy with a lot less.

9. showering by candlelight while relaxing, is inefficient at removing red dirt. hot water might have helped too.

8. i prefer not to be smelly.

7. roosters crow all day, kinda ocd.

6. you can carry/hold anything while riding on the back of a boda (motorcycle taxi): goats, suitcases, sugar canes, bicycles, chickens, anything.

5. “you are most welcome here” is a beautiful greeting.

4. living in houston prepared me well for africa. three words: heat. humidity. cockroaches.

3. a real pet monkey is not at all like curious george.

2. one of my favorite activities, fabric shopping (for musana backpacks) is fun in africa too!

1. holding a child on your lap and whispering in their ear that Jesus loves them is exquisitely glorious.

the work of evil fabric elves

2009-10-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

i have been attempting to clean out and reorganize my quilting studio for months, working a little bit here and there…yet it seems more cluttered and messier than ever. what’s up with that? is this the proverbial elephant meal (one bite at a time) or are there other more subversive forces at work…messy minions who sneak in at night and undo my work…kinda like the shoemaker’s elves working for satan? this is where my childhood dream/prayer to be like samantha on Bewitched kicks in. i wish i could wiggle my nose and it would be done.

but alas, i must put in my effort, lot’s of time and decision-making and plastic crates. i know the drill: sort everything by what to keep, donate, and trash. but it is so hard when there is 10 years of fabric and projects and supplies, like a sewing tsunami rolled in. drowning seems imminent.

suddenly it occurs to me that this is quite similar to dealing with issues in my life that have threatened to drown me…control, perfectionism, people pleasing etc. as I avoided dealing with this emotional clutter, it just got harder, and eventually, it seemed insurmountable.

obedience and discipline to work at difficult tasks, is very challenging stuff. but impossible? no. i don’t approach either the character stuff or the tedium of cleaning my studio like the little engine trying to make it up the mountain repeating, “i think i can, i think i can.” instead, like my wise friend iris would tell me, i look to the One who gives me strength and encouragement and then i just do the next right thing.

so off i go to dive into the piles of fabric and swim my way to the distant shore of a clean and tidy studio. thank you Lord that You speak to me in the most unexpected of places. amen.

ps. i wrote this in august and i got it done! here are the before pictures (i swear i don't have that hoarding issue. for reals.)

it gets better. trust me.

ta da!! here come the amazing afters...

so much better!!!!

hooray!

2009-09-23T17:45:00.001-07:00

big tex

top ten things i love

10. he watches tv which is just funny (barking at animals on tv, not so much)

9. he believes he controls the backyard

8. he sports a goofy expression (see above)

7. he is sweet to my little dog button

6. he is always enthusiastic (read: he runs from room to room)

5. he has better ideas about how to use a tennis ball than for tennis

4. he is the best gift (david's) i ever gave

3. he is always happy. always.

2. he wags his tail whenever i walk in the room. just for walking in the room.

1. he happily rocks the afro

i am so glad that God created pets. thanks God!

2009-09-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

september 11, 2001

i turned on the tv that morning, not something i usually did, because we had been at the broncos game the night before and ed mccaffrey had suffered a horrific career ending broken leg right in front of us. i knew they would replay it on the sports that morning, not something they did in the stadium. but instead of that, i saw a shocking image of a plane fly into the world trade center in new york.

as soon as the news broke that it was an american airlines plane from logan in boston i began frantically trying to reach my brother, a pilot for american who flew that same route out of boston. unable to get through i finally heard from my mom that she had talked to him briefly and he was not flying that day. i knew my relief was some one else's sorrow.

that sorrow built throughout the day as i watched the wtc be struck again and then collapse to the ground, the pentagon be attacked and another plane crashing (averting more deaths through their brave sacrifice) in a pennsylvania pasture. it is still so shocking to remember. so many lives were broken that day, pain that echos still 8 years later. but there were also stories of miracles and heroism that became mixed in with the unbearable tragedy, little places of light in the darkness.

david and i sat at a table overlooking manhattan at the windows on the world restaurant in the world trade center on march 11, 1986 as he asked me to marry him. it was a magical moment of tremendous joy for me and a memory of a place i will always treasure. we love new york. and were heartbroken by the events of 9/11.

today i grieve for the tremendous losses and celebrate too that those little places of light have grown brighter.

2009-08-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

this weekend will mark the end of the third year without my mom. david asked me today how i was doing with that, the grieving and missing her. it doesn’t seem any more acute for me on the anniversary of her death. i just miss her. and i am so grateful that she was my mom. she was a great mom, even though she made many mistakes, some that wounded me deeply…because she loved me deeply too.

i love being able to extend grace to her in my memories. that is an interesting concept, huh? here’s an example of how it works. when michael (first child, like the first pancake) was a baby, i was a neurotic mess. i worried about everything. mom was a bit of a worrier too. it must be a genetic thing. (thankfully God can overcome genetics.) one spring afternoon we were going to the mall, mom michael and i. as we got out of the car the wind picked up to like a hundred miles an hour. really, it was crazy windy. and mom looked at me with a bit of panic and said “you need to run with him into the mall or” (i swear this is true) “the wind will suck his breath away.” what?? i was so bound up by fear, i believed her. as i look back at this, i know it was a silly wive’s tale that she had been taught and she was not maniacally trying to mess with me by telling me this. so i give her grace. (my brother mike died when he was 4 years old and here was her first grandchild, named in his memory...i can't imagine the mixture of joy and grief and understandably, some worry.) and thankfully, i figured out the worry stuff. at least most of it.

when i was growing up we had bright purple carpet in our living room. on purpose. mom chose it because she loved purple. she didn’t care about what was in style or even normal. she liked it so she thought it was perfect.

thanks mom. i live in a house i love with pink and yellow walls and lots and lots of color and quilts because you taught me to go with what i loved and not to worry if it was a bit different.

i miss you.

trusting for monkey bites

2009-06-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

we just talked to annie in africa for the first time since she arrived! she sounds wonderful at “home” in the place where her heart sings. she told us about her flight, the people and children at the orphanage where she will work. we talked about the challenges of time change and how much we miss her.

then she told us about their new pet, a monkey. yep. a monkey. and that the monkey was small and cute and sweet… and got a little freaked out around the kids and bit her. yep. the monkey bit her. welcome to life in africa.

monkey bites were not on my list of “bad things that could happen while living in africa.” my first thought was “do tetanus and rabies shots cover monkey bites?" michael, my 20 year old son told me, “you know aids started in monkeys.” that was helpful. :0)

i could feel the challenge to worry or to trust Him rising up inside me. what will I choose? so my new area of learning to trust God involves monkey bites. is God big enough to handle monkey bites? absolutely, yes. do I need to worry about the complications that might come from a monkey bite? absolutely not. because God can be trusted in all things. who better to trust than the One who loves me and is in complete control of all that happens, including monkey bites.

"cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 peter 5:7

letting go...

2009-06-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

today is the day that annie has been longing for…she leaves for her beloved Africa. and today is the day that I am both celebrating and mourning. what joy to see my daughter embrace who she is and how God created her and His amazing plan for her. i am thrilled for each little Ugandan child whose life she will touch, whose heart she will she love. and i am so proud of annie, how she has grown and matured and become a young woman I greatly admire.

all these tremendous feelings of celebration help with the sadness of her leaving. because I will miss her terribly. my overjoyed and full heart also aches with loss. and that is a beautiful thing. it is exactly what david and i hope and pray for each of our children, that they will grow and mature and step into all that God plans for them…even though it leaves an empty place in our hearts.

i realize that this releasing is exactly what He did for us. allowing Jesus to step out of the joy of heaven and unity of the Trinity into the brokenness of humanity and His gracious plan of redemption. what spectacular love in the loss and sacrifice of the Father and the Spirit…

so Lord here I am again, opening my hands and releasing my darling annie. i know she was never mine to hold on to, always Yours. from You and through You and to You. thank you that in this too i find Your abundant grace to to trust You.

"for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

to Him be the glory forever! amen." romans 11:36

believe it!

2009-05-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

here in denver we are more than excited about the nuggets. it is basketball mania at the morrison house! (side note: when we first moved to denver in 1998 cute 5 year old liza thought the basketball mascot was a chicken nugget.) after denver’s come-from-behind victory in game 2 of their series with the lakers, my husband david was inspired to pose a thought provoking question in our small group on friday night. “ how have you seen God orchestrate come-from-behind victories in your life?” we had lots of great conversation about both basketball and faith and seeing God at work in our lives, snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat.

later that evening i was watching the video of lebron james’ amazing 3 point shot to win the eastern conference finals game over the orlando magic and it made me think about david's question. as the game was winding down the fans were filing out, never believing in the come-from-behind last minute shot. and i wondered if i look like that to God. do i believe that He can pull victories out of the hope-is-lost places in my life? am i marching to the exit mumbling and grumbling as He is releasing a beautifully arching, hang-in-the-air-forever game winning shot? i don’t want to believe so little of Him. i want to stay in my seat and fix my eyes on Him and watch Him do the impossible....

tick tock

2009-05-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

sometimes it's like i can hear the clock ticking, time seems to move so slowly. that usually happens when i am cleaning the house or doing math or any kind of dental work. and then there are moments when time seems to have sped past me without my awareness, like when i close my eyes for a short nap and then wake up 3 hours later. (ok, that really doesn't happen to me because i almost never take a nap, but you get the idea). today was one of those moments. annie graduated from high school today.

and that shouldn't be such a big deal. mike graduated last year so i've had this experience before. it was different though because at her school they do a video tribute for each graduate. (that'd be a nightmare at her old school with almost 1000 students in the '09 class but at her new school there are only 12 in her class. much more conducive to emotional video tributes). the video included photos of her growing up and then an amazing time lapse video of painting by her art teacher lauren, which perfectly captured annie's heart and passion for africa. and that's when i lost it.

annie will leave for a year in uganda in less than a month. how did this happen? it seems like she was refusing to get into my neighbor's minivan to go to preschool just yesterday. and now she is following an amazing plan that God has planted in her heart to love the orphans of uganda half way around the world. i am thrilled for her to know her passion and purpose and so sad to see her go.

last year when i was teaching revelation i thought about time a lot. Jesus said He was coming soon but that has been over 2000 years ago. how does that work? i learned that there are 2 words used for time in the Bible, chronos (like a wrist watch, chronological) and kairos (more of seasons with deep meaning involved in the understanding). God works in both, but we are chronos bound. one commentator i read said we see ourselves moving forward in time. but He is time itself moving towards us. just think about that for second. it is a little mind bending. ok, the second is up. and He is closer to us.

i have tried to live more kairos like, aware of the weight and meaning of time, less bound by it. but today it felt different. like when the fast forward button on the vcr gets stuck. i really want to experience both the joy and difficulty of annie taking flight, leaving the nest, the kairos time. but oh how i'd love to have a wrist watch and just set it back a bit. spend one more day drawing big chalk flowers in the driveway, eating popsicles, making pb &j's, playing with polly pockets in a big bubble bath and then singing bedtimes songs.

i love you annie and i am so proud of you.

a great movie

2009-04-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

on friday night david and i went out for sushi (yum) and to see an independent movie at the denver film festival called "ink". i knew from the reviews that it was innovative and kinda scifi-y. i knew that it was shot completely in colorado. i knew it was visually "unlike anything you have seen before". i knew it had something to do with dreams and good vs. evil. i knew it would be artsy and different. and i knew it would be fun to see on a date with my boyfriend.

but what i didn't know was how profound and redemptive the story would be. i didn't know that i would wish for tivo in the climatic scene, so that i could rewind and listen to the "storyteller's" speech again. i didn't know how tremendous the acting would be. and i didn't know that 2 days later i would still be thinking about it.

if you have a chance to see it, it's worth the ticket price and even the outrageous price for a bucket of diet coke!

my perfect day

2009-02-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

why is it such a great day? just an ordinary day but full, full of so many things i cherish and love.

my sweet max has the flu. i know, that sucks. but we didn't have to rush to school, and hew woke up without an alarm (that is luxury!) and has these cute little flushed cheeks, like when he was a baby. except for the little mustache stubble above his 13 year old lips!

i taught bible study this morning. 250 smiling women there to soak up more Jesus. and my lesson was titled "zombies, bigfoot, unicorns and obstacles". no one ran out of the sanctuary when they saw that because they trust me, they believe i will make some sense of a silly title and that it will impact their lives. what a privilege.

i had this picture in my lesson.

that is my dear friend reenie holding a goat. we roomed together- reenie, the goat and i- at a retreat where i was the featured speaker. that story fell into the part about obstacles...it was the goat i was referring to. don't you love how he is sticking his tongue out? goats smell by the way.

then i had a luncheon with the 17+ ladies who serve with me in bible study leadership. we ate yummy potatoes and 3 of these women told their stories of their faith journey. amazing, beautiful, painful, redemptive, glorious stories. i love my ministry.

then off to great american quilt factory to pick up a quilt! yea! business! i also had a phone call from a new customer. hooray! 2 quilts in one day!

i made quick trip to super target and had a wonderful talk on the phone with my friend prissy. she is one of the best moms in the world. and she is a great encourager. i love her.

tonight i am waiting for the sweet mr. david to return home from a meeting so we can watch fringe and lost, 2 of our favorite shows. i am proud to confess, i like TV. liza is next to me here doing homework, max and annie goofing off in the basement, button snoozing on me and my february lady sweater knitting project is calling my name. (i'm on the sleeves now, much farther than this but this is the only pic i have.)

today was a perfect day.

thoughts on the inaguaration

2009-01-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

1. it is a really hard word to spell.

2. i would LOVE to have gotten my hands on some of that sweet event memorabilia being sold.

3. i was proud of our country and wish everyone could handle their differences as gracefully as the obamas and the bushes.

4. speaking as a knitter, it was great day for scarves.

5. to commemorate the day, i bought some red, white and blue yarn on etsy called: bombsicle.

update from the ICU

2008-12-14T08:47:00.000-08:00

my almost 18 year old daughter had her tonsils removed on monday. i have a picture of them but it is really nasty- they were 5 times the normal size. annie is such an overachiever!

since then i have been nursing my sweet annie which has been my calling all week and it looks like into next week. my life has emptied of Christmas duties and been consumed by slurpee runs, medicating every 4 hours, holding back her beautiful blonde hair as she barfs what very little she has swallowed, crying and praying over her (what is more painful in life than watching your child suffer? NOTHING. thank you Father for doing that for us.) and then repeating all these things.

it has made me grateful which has been a good thing as i have also been processing some discouraging and disappointing discoveries. cryptic i know, but that is all i can reveal.

i am also hopeful. things do change. annie is slowly recovering even though it is hard to measure and looks like she is not. and people grow, even though it is hard to discern forward movement in the visible steps in the wrong direction.

since i don't like to post without a picture, i've include this random picture of button in her santa costume.

michael, you have been warned

2008-09-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

my son michael, pictured here with the family looking goofy after his high school graduation in may, was giving me grief this weekend about having a blog. so i thought i'd write about him!

that'll teach him not to make fun of me!

here's a few things i love about mike:

courage: whether it is working as a high school student on a congressional campaign or deciding at the last minute to veer off from his friends and go to college thousands of miles away, michael bravely steps out. he is aware of the risks and goes anyway. as a leader at church he taught elementary kids that Jesus is fun and exciting by bringing truth to life through crazy costumes and role play. i guess all those hours watching rescue 911 and playing luke skywalker have paid off: he is a courageous man.

conviction: michael is rarely without opinion. he learns about and then unashamedly professes the things he believes in--politics, faith, football, poodles, nascar, halo 3 and now sigma chi. when michael believes in something, he works diligently and speaks with great intensity. (he has never been very convinced that his room should be clean.) i love his passion; he reminds me of paul the apostle.

sensitivity: i love this about mike. he is strong enough to care for the feelings of others, to admit when he is wrong and to desire to set things right. he will certainly argue with his sisters and bop his little brother on the head but he loves them dearly and is a really great big brother. he is always aware of a person in need, holding the door at the grocery store or rescuing lost dogs. he genuinely like to help people.

i miss michael so much but love that he is happy and thriving at college. i am very proud to be his mom.

and if he harasses me any more i do have a picture of him snuggling with button.

creative fun and challenge

2008-09-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

i have had two things going on in my crazy creative life: a knitting deadline and a fun new class!

the knitting deadline is the lily of the valley shawl by nancy bush from the lace style book. i am teaching this class at string boutique and have been knitting like a maniac to get it finished...which i did last night! yea! it has been fun and a little challenging (what is the deal with borders??) i love the way it has turned out in scrumptious koigu! the pic above is of me and button knitting and watching football. now that is FUN!

the fun new class is a 6 month class i am taking a the great american quilt factory, which is called the creative process. we are exploring all aspects of art quilting, from idea to completion. it is a lovely group of ladies, including my dear friend carolyn, and i am excited to see the new ideas that will be sparked in this creative community.

speaking of community, my Bible study began 2 weeks ago. we are studying acts and the emphasis is on community. the concept of individualized faith is not very prevalent in acts; it is always part of God's bigger plan and the community of believers. i am thrilled to watch Him teach all these wonderful ladies and humbled that He chooses to do it through me. (i'll write more about that later! this is a blog tease. tune in again for the full story!)

spelling or eyesight issues

2008-09-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

i just reread my last post and discovered several typos. disturbing. this is not due to my spelling abilities but to trying to write without reading glasses. i hereby vow to never do that again. i am officially old and need reading glasses ALL the time. phooey. is that how you spell that?

my knittng dream

2008-09-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

okay i will start with the disclaimer that this is weird. i dreamt last night about the red baby alpaca shawl that i am knitting from the book victorian lace today. here's what i remember: i was sitting in my car in new york city (something i've never done, drive in nyc) and a lady came out of a shop wearing a shawl that i noticed right away looked like my shawl. as she walked in front of my car i realized it was the same frog tree alpaca and as she passed by my window i saw it was the exact same pattern! my one though was, "wow, she figured out that knitted on border. i wonder how she did it since the directions are so wonky." here's a pic on of my shawl. if i only i could go back to sleep and get my dream lady to help me with my border.

still trying...

2008-09-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

to do this blog thing! today's challenge: i'll see if i can post pictures. my sweet daughter liza gave me a little lesson on posting my projects on ravelry. but it's been a few weeks and she isn't here to help me. soooo...i'm gonna try it on my own! (aren't you proud of me liza?) yea!

this quilt above, "new beginnings" was my first quilt of 2008.

and this one is"big cookie". i was inspired as i stood in line at einstein's and fought my desire to get one of these! i just quilted it instead. :0)

i'm off to spend 24 hours with the 20 wonderful women who comprise the leadership of the wednesday morning bible study at my church! lots of laughing and sharing our hearts, eating fun snacks and praising Jesus! and maybe a little knitting!

please join me as i'm praying for all my friends and family in houston as hurricane ike approaches. much love-

not until now

2008-05-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

ok, so the answer to my initial query is "no...at least not until now". i looked at my blog a few times in the last few months and couldn't remember my password/figure out how to post. frightening isn't it? but i am improving. i have now reset my password and even updated my profile! wow! and here i am with a blog entry!

about the journal quilts... i kept up with it for a few weeks but life got too busy so i had to set that project aside. they are still something i am drawn to creating. hopefully, i'll get back to them.

so what have i been doing? i've done lots of speaking; several retreats, filled in for my pastor on sunday morning and finished teaching bible study. i exhibited my quilts at my annual quilt show: quintessentially quilted. and i attended the transforming culture symposium in austin with the arts council from my church. and of course i've done lots of quilting and knitting!

a 2008 experiment

2008-01-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

can someone who can only use her computer to email and shop have a blog? this is a test of the completely computer challenged. it s only a test. i might quit at any moment but right now, i m inspired to create this blog...mostly to chronicle my other challenge of 2008: to create a weekly journal quilt. my only requirement is that each quilt must represent something for which i am grateful.