Organization and Good-Byes

Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 04:55

A new week, and plans for complete over-haul.  Whew, I am tired already!  And somewhat depressed, too.  It seems the more I try to clean and re-organize, the more I find that needs doing.  I wonder why that is?

Perhaps because I have years of accumilated things that I started and didn't get finished, or projects that I completed, but never really liked.  Ouch, the truth hurts!  I have spent a month or so paring down, but I avoided the office, school-room, craft room, because, I really didn't want to face it.  And today, I remember why! 

As many of you know, I love to do crafts, and I work on many different types, all of which bring me joy and satisfaction.  Yet, as I sit here, mulling over the mess I now have to clean and re-organize, I realize it is time to say good-bye to a few of those, too.  Because they are no longer projects.   They have become time-consuming hinderances for me.  I have to let them go, in the interest of a better, less chaotic, and more-productive routine.

So, today, I am saying good-bye to some old friends.  Cross-stich threads, books and cloth are on their way to a new home.  Jewelry beads, wire and assorted paraphenalia are also going the way of a trip to a neighbor who has great talent with them.  My best friend will receive a package of well-read art books and pamplets that have already been read at least ten times.  But for her, they are new and exciting blessings.  When I called to ask if she would like them, she was thrilled.

There are some things that will stay, of course.  My easels, a very-pared down collection of brushes, and paints, artist pigments and my favorite canvas stretcher will remain.  So, too, will the pre-made canvases that I can easily fit in the bureau that I will now use to store my craft items.  My Brother sewing machine, a gift from my loving Hubby, will now have a place of honor on a small sewing table that I found a week ago for ten dollars at the Salvation Army.  All of my materials and patterns will be cataloged and placed in one drawer of the bureau.  Some of those too, will find their way to other homes.

At this moment, I find myself quite torn.  I have made myself, and God,  a promise to get things in order.  Yet, I am sad.  Many of these items hold special memories for me.  The cross-stitch pattern that I used to make a sampler for my best friends wedding, and small pieces of cloth I used to make my girls' dresses are included in the boxes.  So many memories.  Yet, even in my sadness, I know that God has greater plans for these things.  I am no longer the master of their destiny.  He is.

He may use the cross stitch thread, and patterns to bless the home of another young couple.  The small collection of cloth may make a quilt that will warm a precious child.  The jewelry that my friend will make may grace the neck of a young girl, or a mother who longs for some certain design only my friend can make.  Oh, I may not know what will happen to my collection, but I know I can trust God to place them where they are most needed.  Perhaps, in saying so long to these things, He is opening a window for me to draw closer to Him.  Perhaps, when my life is less cluttered, I will find that my time is better spent in quiet contemplation.  Yes, my hands will be less busy, but so will my mind. 

Yes, Lord, yes.  To Him be all the honor and glory, for the things He has done, and will continue to do in my life!

God bless you all in the coming week!

                                                          Mistypearl

Finding My Place

Posted on Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at 01:02

I am finding out that I am not who I thought I was.  With the passing of time, I have discovered that I no longer care about many of the things that I once thought were so important.  Coming from a background of farming folk, I spent years making plans to leave the farm, and "make something of my life."  I went to college, and soon joined the corporate world, in the field of medicene.  While my career took off, I found that my heart began to cry out for the return to the land.

I have been married to a wonderful man for twenty years, and we have three beautiful children.  For many years, I taxied them to school, and worked.  I thought I had it all.  A sucessful carrer, a nice home, and a closet full of designer labels. 

Then one day, I realized that I was greiving for my old home.  I wanted to walk through the fields with my Dad, smell the earth, and feel the dirt between my toes, just like I had when I was a little girl.  I remembered the times we had wandered in the wheat fields, when he would take a stalk of wheat, and show me the grains, telling me to "look and see what God has made."   He truly loved the land, and he was a marvelous gaurdian of what God had given him.  After he passed into eternity, I began to miss that more than words can say.

I wanted that feeling, that wonder, to fill my soul again, and I knew,  it was time to re-evaluate what I had thought I wanted.  I sat down with my husband, and told him how I felt.  We both knew that something had changed drasticaly,  and that something was me.  I needed to find my place, and I needed to go home.   My husband said he had been waiting to hear those words for years.

After a few years, we did return to the home of my youth, and let me tell you, it was the best decision we have ever made.  Though we have yet to own the acerage I would like to, we do have a lovely old home, that we are slowly restoring.  It sits in a small valley, with fields on either side, and a large one in front.  Most of my family's land will one day be mine.  Yet, I find I am in no hurry.  Because, I know I still have so much to learn to be the kind of steward my father was.  But, with time, patience, perserverance, and God's help, I will become what I know I should be. A woman of the land, who is steeped in the beauty of God's green earth.

I hope one day, when I see my Dad in Heaven, he will say to me, " Baby,  the rows are straight,  and the harvest is good, " just like he did when I walked in those fields so long ago.

                                         My place is here.  Thank God for it.

                                                             Mistypearl