Bountiful

In the midst of days where others have dealt with drastic difficulties I have been grateful for mostly delightful time spent with family and friends, at home, at church, and out and about in the community around me this week.

My mini-van, which is more the Credit Union's than mine, had to be repaired and liberated from the shop for $$$$, but I'm thankful God provided the funds for me to pay the bill, and grateful that the vehicle is operating smoothly :-)

At our women's group at church we had a lovely visitor from Nigeria. We are still working our way through the book Captivating, and it was so encouraging to have her voice added to our discussion and realize as we wrestled with the topic of how to combat evil that our relationships with Christ draw us to  common ground no matter how far apart we may live.

My blogging friend Betsy was in the area visiting her daughter, so my local blogging friends, Teresa, and Taci and I were able to meet Betsy yesterday for a looooong lunch.  Teresa brought beautiful yummy eggs to share, Taci, brought beautiful flower and bead bookmarks to share, Betsy brought beautiful dishcloths and cute sheep coasters to share, and I brought cotton hot mats to share.  Taci showed us some of her pretty scarf knitting projects, Betsy showed us a pretty shawl she had knit and crocheted and Teresa showed us a pretty necklace she had made.

The shawl I am working on is getting bigger...honest!  And I am going to stop typing to you so that I can work on it some more tonight :-)

May your blessings be bountiful,

Gracie

Captivating [wip wed. 4.24.2013]

Have you a cup of tea at the ready?

I am longing for a visit with you.   

So here I am posting pictures of the beautiful Ruby shawl I am trying to crochet.  And isn't our cherry tree beautiful as it burst into bloom and is now releasing its blossoms in flurries?  And did you see one of our last red camelia blooms?  And then there is Mt. Hood in its beautiful snowy white cape.  And Clara Parkes who publishes the Knitter's Review, and has written some fibery focused books, is also in the interesting process of following The Great White Bale of wool through all the stages of its processing and writing about it. It is a beautiful story, to me, that I hope she will turn into a  beautiful book :-)

For a little over a week, I have been reading [with highlighter in hand]  the New York Times bestseller, Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge.  In it  I read, "...it is God who reveals beauty as essential to life.  You are the image bearer of this God.  That is why you long for those things too.  There is a radiance hidden in your heart that the world desperately needs."

What is beautiful in and around you?

xx,
Gracie