Bonus Post - Wedding Edition

There was a time that I used to blog twice each week. It has been awhile since that was true, and it will be awhile until it is true again, but there is a bonus post this week!

Sometimes there are milestones in life that I just want to commemorate, and the blog has been a nice place to store them. Last Sunday, I had the privilege of living one of those milestones with my nephew and his brand-spanking-new bride! It was a beautiful day, full of emotions, like any good wedding should be. 

There was joy for the couple and their new beginning, and grief for those who could not be there for the day. Bittersweet seems too mild an adjective, but it about sums things up. Still, the joy outweighed any dark clouds, and these two have started their married life pretty well, I'd say. 

Somewhere along the way, the couple asked me to do a reading on their special day, and I was honored to say yes. I know all the "old standards" that should be read at a wedding, and I had a couple of those locked and loaded...but I asked the bride if I might write something special, just for them. She said yes, and this is what I came up with...

Zack and Morgan - 

Today you bring the best of each of you together, forever, and this is good. It will not be easy. Being married is never easy all the time, because we all bring our own burdens to the table...and then we find new ones together. Because marriage can and will be difficult, there are some things I'd like each of you to carry with you, especially for the difficult days.

Before you were born, God knit you each together in your mother's wombs. He watched you grow and meet and date and fall in love, and he continues to watch over you to this day, because of his great love for you both. This love is the kind of love we should all strive for in our relationships, it stretches higher than the heavens. In fact, God is love, and the Bible tells us that we can love others because he first loved us.

As you love each other, remember that love is patient and kind. It is not envious, does not boast, is not proud. Love honors the other person, it is not selfish or easily angered, and it doesn't keep score of rights and wrongs. Love rejoices in the truth, it always protects, trusts, hopes and goes on. Love  never fails. 

Perfect love never fails, but people do fail, and you will sometimes fail one another. When that happens, be quick to forgive and keep loving anyway. When things are not 100% perfect, the world will be quick to tell you that "you don't need this," or "you can do better." Keep loving anyway. When you are hurting, and your spouse is not helping, remember your promise to love and try again, with patience and kindness and hope. Keep loving anyway. If you both love selflessly, with patience and kindness, trust and hope, your love story can last a lifetime. 

My love for both of you hopes that you will find your happily ever after, starting today. Always remember, when everything else fails, these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. 

(Psalm 139:13, 103:11; 1 John 4:16, 4:19; 1 Corinthians 13) 

The reading should have taken two-and-a-half minutes, and it did when I practiced in the kitchen. In front of these cherished loved ones however, tears ambushed me, and I know it took a bit longer. Still, I hope that these words will come back to them at just the right time. Thank you, Zack and Morgan, for including me and Uncle Eric in your special day. 

Thank you friends, for indulging this proud aunt. Now, I think it is time that we all get back to Knitting in Good Health! You know what comes after a wedding, right? #Littleknits at some point, when they are good and ready.

(Lest you think that I am wise in my own eyes, I have also included the Bible references that I stole from. There are so many words of blessing and promise in God's Word. I would be a fool to not go there first!)

Wait Here

I have spent my whole life waiting. Waiting to grow up. Waiting to find love. Waiting for babies to come. Lately, waiting for my computer to update...

At every stage, I feel like I am waiting for more waiting. Waiting for doctors and dentists and groceries and traffic. Waiting for my children to finish baseball practice, wrestling practice, volleyball practice, cross country races. Waiting for them grow up. Then waiting for weddings, and grandchildren. Always waiting for life to slow down...just a little. 

There has been no shortage of waiting for me, and there is more on my horizon, I am sure. I am also fairly confident in saying that it is probably the same for you. So, what shall we do in the meantime, while we mark time? How shall we fill our time, as we wait through the waiting?

For me, you can be sure that there will be knitting. Knitting for babies that are waiting to be born. Knitting for bridal and baby showers, for dear friends, darling grandchildren and dainty new lives. Knitting simply to pass the time more productively...after all, Christmas is always coming! 

There will also be reflection and self-examination, as I look back through memories of past waits. I have not always waited well, and I have occasionally been bested by impatience and laziness during the wait. These days, I fill my wait times with more prayer and Bible study (and yarn) than ever before, and this is a good thing. I love that I am learning constantly, sometimes listening to a Bible podcast and knitting a new stitch at the same time.

A couple of verses have presented themselves over and over again in recent waits, so I am certain there is something for me in them. Perhaps there is something for you, as well, so I will share.

Psalm 145:13

For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does. 

Romans 8:38

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love...not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.

2 Corithians 1:3-4

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful father, and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. 

Three truths that carry me through my waiting, three truths to combat the lies my mind whispers incessantly in its idleness: 

1. God is an everlasting God who ALWAYS keeps his promises.

2. God loves me, and NOTHING can separate me from that love.

3. God is the source of ALL comfort, so that we might also be sources of comfort.

There are lots of other verses that confirm these truths for me, but these are the three that have been in my face this week. I am so thankful to live in a time and place where his truth is so available to me. It is quite a thing to be free to believe and practice my faith, free to learn to be a better person because of who He is to me. 

There is one more thing in these truths. Even though I sometimes have to wait on God...waiting for answers and direction, or for hard times to get better, or for bad feelings to pass...I know that God will always be there, keeping his promise to love and comfort me. Yes, the waiting might seem like the hardest part, but at least we get lots of practice in getting through it!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit (and wait) in Good Health!

Speechless Saturday? Nope...

As if. There really is no such thing as speechless for Pretty! But there is such a thing as seven, silly, sherbet-colored softies that happen to slightly resemble cats.

It all started a few days ago, when I decided that I'd like to knit a small, simple stuffy...after all the giraffes. I looked up at knitting on Thursday, and I had almost four of them finished!

The next thing I know, there are seven, and they have joined me on the porch! First, they lined up in the order they were knit...

Then they decided to mix it up a little...

There were more pictures than are truly necessary for a project of this scope, but I was a little out of control.

Some people drink. Others gamble. I happen to knit toys, in multiples. Is there a 12-step program for that? 

Nevermind. I would rather not recover quite yet. I have grandchildren who need more toys!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Sell My Kisses?

This week, I knitted some cuteness. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but TOOT! TOOT! Super cute!

Whenever I knit toys, I tend to post photos on social media, and I sometimes get comments asking how much I would charge to knit and sell another one. The giraffes were no exception. (See TOOT! TOOT! above) I love that my friends love my knitting, but I rarely knit for money, and here is why:

Knitting is my yoga. Knitting is my therapy. Knitting is my meditation and prayer time. Knitting is me-time, and Knitting is an expression of both creativity and love. When I finish knitting a toy, or a pair of socks, or a sweater, or whatever...there is a tangible part of me in it. The knitting is part of me, and there is a little love in every stitch. 

You see, knitting is a little like kissing for me. If I love you, I'll kiss you for free. If I don't, you really cannot pay me enough! And just like every kiss is a little different, so is every knitted gift. Some are quick pecks, and some are more involved. I kiss my grandma differently than I kiss my husband, and I never kiss strangers or sell my kisses.  Even if I love you, I may not kiss you often (or at all), and there are lots of reasons for that...which we will save for another post...maybe...

Many times, when I am knitting, someone comes to mind. Sometimes I start knitting with someone specific in mind. Most times, I am just knitting to knit, and the thing that comes off  my needles has become a friend along the way. How could I give away a friend that has seen me through a difficult season, or accompanied me during an emotional time? Still, sometimes I do. 

However, I do not sell friends. 

I have knit for profit a time or two through the years. What I found is that it takes away the everything that knitting is for me, and turns my great joy-maker into something I "have to do," a job to be checked off a list, drudgery. If knitting is a drudge, or makes me sad or anxious, why knit? I really do not need one more thing to stress about, so these days you cannot pay me enough to turn my happy little hobby into a ball of deadlines, expectations, and anxiety. 

If you have been on the receiving end of a hand-knit from me, it means that you have touched my heart, and I would like to touch yours with some yarny love. Knitting is love for you from me, and I cannot put a price on that love any more than I could charge you for a kiss.  

So, thank you friends for the compliments on social media, and thank you for understanding that I do not knit for profit. If you want cool knitted things, you know what I will do for you? I will gladly teach you to knit! Hit me up, and we will find a time to get together with some needles and yarn!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

One Thing

1 double, 1 single. 1 double, 2 single. 1 double, three single...and on and on and on and on it goes. It overwhelms and satisfies my crochet soul... Wait, that is not how the song goes. However, when I knit or crochet something simple, there is something so very satisfying about it. Just keep counting, Pretty. Look! You finished another point!

Yes, I will have a grandson in a few short months. No, these are not "pee-pee teepees," although they could be...we did finally decide that at knitting last night. Right shape. Easy to wash-and-dry acrylic yarn. Well, perhaps there will be a couple extra made for just that purpose. And maybe not...we shall see. This is going to be a toy. Anyhoo...

Yarn is satisfying. And overwhelming, too...like a fingering weight something in many colors. I mean, the finished project is not always overwhelming, but looking back at the tails you have to weave in can be! Pile them all up at the end, and woah! Look what you just did! 

Now you have a sweater (or a shawl, or socks, or something else super-cozy) for the cold weather, and it is super cute, and it is made of all your favorite yarns, which you are now out of. We had better go shopping! Which is just what these two are doing this weekend, after their joyous Thursday reunion!

Full disclosure:

I told them to hug. I thought it would be super cute to have a picture of them each wrapping their own finished shawl around the other, at the same time, and it is!  I am so glad that Alice came by knit night before their Stitches Midwest trip, and that I got to snap a few photos of the Knit-a-Long shawls they worked on together, and from afar. The laughter that ensued, as they danced around the back yard of the church and posed with the finished projects, well that was just a bonus! Knitting friends that have to move away, but come back just a few weeks later to hop in a car and drive many miles to a yarnapalooza event that does not reside in either of their home states...these are the best kinds of friends!  

Now, back to the song from the beginning. One Thing Remains is about the overwhelming, never ending, satisfying nature of God's love...the only love that truly never fails. Crochet and knitting, and the company of great friends, soothe my soul and lift my spirits, but God's love restores me. I am so grateful that, out of that love, he has blessed my life with an abundance of good friends and so many things that I love. On and on and on and on it goes. It overwhelms and satisfies my soul. And I'll never ever have to be afraid. This one thing remains...

God's love can be seen in his provision for our entire being, physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. It can be seen in nature and in created things. God's love can best be seen in those human friendships that seem to transcend time, space and all the yuck of life. Thank you God, for this one thing, your love, and for providing it to me so abundantly. This one thing fills my life with joy, even when my circumstances are lacking in the joy department. Praise God! (Yarn crafts help too...)

Well, thanks for stopping by. I hope you know the One whose love never fails, and that you find that love all around you! Now, it's time to Knit in Good Health!