Cactus Flower

"It'll All Come Out in the Wash"  We've all heard the saying but have you ever really seen something fall apart after washing?  Imagine how you would feel after working for days and days on a sewing project just to have it "come apart at the seams" after a test washing!  At first I found myself literally coming apart at the seams.  But I've been through a lot over the past three years, so what's a little spilled milk!  I took a deep breathe after I pulled the little pirate quilt out of the washing machine and found many of the seams on the sailboat blocks open and coming apart.  It was distressing but I could fix it.  I looked for some advice here and there.  I prayed a little.  I got busy.   I could have thrown it in a corner and given up.  I could have ripped it all apart and started over, but sadly the some of the fabrics had shrunk from the washing experience and there just would have not been anything left.  So I h...

October 12 in Brazil is holiday called Children's Day.  It typically means that kids get out of school and get gifts from family and friends.  Teachers usually host a party or event at their schools beforehand or close to and frequently take classes on special fun field trips.  Our church hadn't done anything special on a grand scale for quite some time.  Our young people were interested and so they got to work. They organized a brand new to them skit based on the Wordless Book colors that someone had seen on Youtube!  The puppet people came up with a new story.  Several young ladies made some new song posters. One on the Sunday School classes sang a special song and some of our flute recorder students did a special presentation.  Prize bags were made ready and a snack was arranged.  Invitations were given out by door to door visits around the church and near areas where we have hosted neighborhood Bible clubs over the past year. Byron a...

The photo above has been on my refrigerator for the past three years.  It's Dalton and I ringing the old farm bell that had been at my Grandma Beckner's house for years and now stands at my mom and dad's.  It was my reminder to never give up hope.  It's slightly fading in the middle but there was always a ray of sunshine coming down from the top to the bottom. This past Sunday, September 25 at around 10:30 a.m.,  I received one of the most important calls of my life, and I almost missed it.  It was a FaceTime call and I didn't recognize the little bling bling sound.  I was in the process of putting my laptop to sleep to get to the kitchen.  Just as I was closing the lid, there was this little message line over the window that was opened to Facebook - message from Dalton... I opened the window and saw another message - missed call... We exchanged a couple of quick messages and he called back. Are you at home? Are you sitting down? I...