A TOUCH OF TRUE ART!

TRUE ART......touches all one's senses!

Disclaimer---Sometimes the sense of taste comes as I eat chocolate while enjoying it.

My eyes see it as I enter the room! 

My fingers touch and outline the words! My hands enjoy the quilting of the fabric. 

I can even smell the freshness of the fabric.

How does one "hear" such art? The words of my favorite hymn flow from the art right to my heart and my own humming and singing reach my ears.

It's a "SCENT"sational gift of true art from the artist who uses her ability as a ministry to touch the hearts of others! 

It certainly touched  mine!

Gift Extraordinaire!

I have known my sweet friend Lilly longer than I have known my husband. Our friendship has spanned 50 years. In the early years we worked together.  She and her husband Fred signed for me to purchase a mattress "on time"----at $10 a month, I think. She (Fred's name was also on the invite) orchestrated a couple's bridal shower for hubby and me and both their girls were rice girls in our wedding. And.....the family introduced us to Deep Creek, even providing the tubes for tubing. It is #1 on list of favorite vacations by our family.
We've always stayed in touch. We share a love for "greens" and "Should Taste Good" multigrain chip/crackers. In more recent times, we've taken our "grands" to Deep Creek hauling the surviving 2 tubes and renting the rest. Our grandboys loved it too!

I've sat with Lilly when her husband was at the ER and later hospitialized. I even spoke at his funeral. I've visited her at several hospitals, in rehab, in two different nursing homes and most recently at her daughter's home.

Through the years she has brought me Easter goodies, scrapbook papers and handmade gifts---her paper-cutting skills are exceptional. She also made a special effort to come to "support" me when I spoke in church or at "He Cares." On two occasions when illness prevented her attendance, she allowed me to come ahead of time and "practice my speech" on her. Her approval always counts.

She has never lost her love for the Lord or her smile. He's the reason she keeps on smiling! Even her need for a walker hasn't overwhelmed her.

Today Lilly and her equally creative daughter, Melody, dropped by for a visit----what a treat!!!
At some point, Lilly must have put a "bug" in daughter Melody's ear that I had often admired her quilt creations. Which I had!!!

Voilà---here it is----"Sunday Drive," just for me. 
I love the stained glass window pattern! I love my lap quilt!  I love Lilly! I love Melody! I love Rachel! With Lilly it's a package deal!

How wise I was back in my college days to "listen" to Lilly and allow her to guide me. (Proverbs 13:20) 
I now attend the church which she has always attended and I thought was a little "weird" when she told me they didn't pass an offering plate.

Lilly has always been a kind, loving friend and now her daughters walk in her footsteps. (Proverbs 12:26 & Ephesians 4:32)

What a blessing!!

Relationships and a quilt--a gift that keeps on giving is truly a gift extraordinaire.

Counseling Comforter

12/1/09 I like comfort----extraneous comfort is something I DO enjoy!! That’s why I have a stack of squishy down pillows and piles of sheets, light-weight blankets, comforters and coverlets all on the bed at once with my HHS “signed “friendship” quilt (gift) across the foot. At the foot of each bed in the house I have “nap blankies” to pull up and add to my resting comfort depending on where I am when I “hit the wall” each day--- Hoptown chum’s, cross quilt (gift) on the “mud” bed (a Liles term for Tempur-Pedic mattress) my grandmother’s quilt in the guest/Mommar’s room, and my teacups afgan (gift) on the window seat in the computer room. It’s also why I have a BIG prayer chair with wide enough arms to hold my morning “cuppa” and my “gift” prayer shawls. Plus, my closet houses more comfy clothes with pockets and adjustable/expandable waists than “decent” clothes and certainly more than formal attire.

Since MAC (my rare cancer), I have had folks from everywhere ministering to me and offering LOTS of extraneous comfort. I’ve probably brought some “sunshine funds” to the brink of bankruptcy and depleted pantries all over the Mid-South while overusing all my prayer warriors. But God…....He doesn’t go bankrupt, get depleted or overused. I know that. He has been my counselor extraordinaire since diagnosis day, January 13. He knew what was down the road for me. Because He understood my future He was the One who could direct my path. I didn’t have a clue---and neither did most of the medical world---but He did. And that was great comfort to me. As I walked the path set before me, He offered comfort through so many of His children.

Christ, the Father of Compassion and the God of all Comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (II Corinthians 3-4)

He Himself was my Comforter…..and still is.