A Few Old Pics, A Major Milestone, and Thoughts About Change

I always get the urge to "nest" in the fall, focusing on family, our home, and the holidays.  Lately, though, some changes have affected the rhythm of this season for me.  My kids are growing up, and my nest is just a few years away from being empty.  I know  my life is about to change in ways that I cannot predict or control.

Christmas 1997...seems like a lifetime ago.

So what now?

I was the Girl Scout leader mom, the volunteer in the library mom, the help with school parties and teach Sunday school mom.  Life was sometimes too full and it was absolutely never quiet or lonely.  In some ways I will forever mourn the passing of that season.  It was so very rich.  

The huz and I celebrated an important milestone on August first of this year.  It has been twenty-five years since we plunged into married life with unfettered dreams, strong opinions and naive confidence.  A few years later we entered into parenthood in the same way.  All of it has changed us, softened us, humbled us and hopefully we are a bit wiser these days.  We are certainly a bit older!

  Newlyweds...in Mountain Home, Idaho (1988)

We had so much ahead of us...still do.

I look forward to the coming transformation, the next metamorphosis in our life together as the kids become increasingly independent.  Having an empty nest will mean huge changes for me personally and I want to embrace it all with a sense of adventure.  I'm not sure I will be entirely successful, but I'm going to give it a go.

I think a lot about the woman I wrote about in this post.  The story of the way she handled a very big transition continues to inspire and encourage me.  I want that kind of grace in my life.  I want to honor and appreciate what was while boldly walking toward what will be.  

And do you know what?  Deep, deep down I really do believe my life is unfolding just exactly as it should and when I focus on that I find peace that I cannot explain.  At the end of the day I truly, deeply believe that the One who loves me more than any other is on my side.  He sees me wrestle with my questions, my disappointments and my fears.  He knows how I dream of a bright future and He assures me He has great plans for me and my family.  I need not fear or regret change.  The story is much, much bigger than just what I see and feel today.

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

I pray that you are increasingly able to embrace the transitions you face in your life and that a sense of assurance and adventure will permeate your thoughts about change and the future.  May your awareness of the "bigger picture" increase and may you find deep peace beyond explanation or understanding.

I hope you find beauty in this season of your life and celebrate each blessing this day brings.

Hiya!

Hello from the other side of crazy!  It's been a while, huh?  Let me just say that if ever you wake up to find everything is upside down...that your world is suddenly shaken and the only way to make it through your present circumstances is to take one blind step at a time, keep the faith!  Choose every day to do what you can and let go of everything else.

"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.  Let all that you do be done with love."

I Corinthians 16:24

For several months after the beginning of the year I was able to work very little in my studio.  This was so very hard for me as my studio truly is my sanctuary and working there keeps me centered.  I'm happy to report, though, that I'm back at my desk almost daily now and have a very exciting project in the works.  (More on that in another post.)

Somehow amidst the chaos that was my family's life we managed to move my studio downstairs and I love it!  I thought I wouldn't be able to work without my view of the giant oak in our front yard but, truly, I am just as content looking out at my happy back patio.  I know my little studio needs a lot of help in the style department, but I love it because it is filled with natural light, has a good vibe, and it is all mine!  The best news is that my storage situation is much improved and I am slowly getting organized.

I can't believe how much more efficient having my bead containers labeled has made my jewelry work.  I wish I could find something cuter for beads and findings that works as well but most things seem to be either cute or practical.  I used to try to dress the drawers up with cute little labels I tea stained and printed myself but it turned out to be a rather silly venture.  The labels didn't really stick well and it was a pain to make more, so my organization always fell by the wayside.  For me it's just another reminder "that form ever follows function." (Thank you, Louis Sullivan.)

My desk is almost exclusively devoted to metalsmithing supplies and other tools.  I keep wires and sheet metal in regular file folders in the file drawer...no more guessing and digging around to find the right gauge.  I've stowed my felting supplies and other bulky fibers in my favorite type of storage containers...picnic baskets!

Everything else pretty much fits in the craft supply vault (closet with shelves). 

I confess to being a very messy artist.  Stuff flies all over the place when I'm "in the zone", but I'm really trying to reel that in a bit.  At least I got the studio cleaned up long enough to take a few pics! 

Well, dearies, all this catching up is cutting into my Sunday afternoon nap, so I'm off to get started on that.  I hope you're having a beautiful day and that tomorrow's Labor Day holiday is happy and restful as well.  I promise to post again soon, but until then I hope you'll...

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A Story of Grace

My guess is that not a lot of people would be excited if someone dropped this off at their front door.

I actually was thrilled when a recent acquaintance asked me to see what I could do with the vintage cigar boxes she found among her father's things.  As many of us are at the beginning of a new year, she was ready to let some things go and thought these could be cleaned up and used for collage.  Visually they are so very interesting.  Beautiful, mellowed colors and bold and varied typefaces lend plenty of character and texture...a great jumping off point for a mixed media piece.

I got to know the owner of these boxes a bit the day she dropped them off and a story she told me inspired the theme of my first design.  She spoke of her mother, who relocated to a new living situation after a fall and an injury.  During the transition her mother asked to visit her former home just one more time before everything was moved out.  On the day of her visit, she walked through the space, touching a few items, remembering and honoring the time spent there, probably reliving her most precious memories.  After a short time she turned to one of her daughters and said, "I'm ready to go."  She then stepped into her new life and now thrives in her new environment, making new friends, finding joy in her new situation.  What an amazing story of grace this is.

Letting go and moving forward is such a challenge when what we had before was wonderful or, at the very least, familiar and comfortable.  So often, though, we do not have a choice.  We don't always get to choose when or how our circumstances change.  Sometimes change chooses us.

This is one of the hardest things I've had to come to terms with in my walk of faith.  It took a major health crisis in the life of a close family member to teach me that I am not in control.  Somehow before my baby sister's lengthy hospital stay years ago I believed I could make anything happen if I worked hard enough or prayed hard enough.  I learned at her bedside that this is not true.  Her life (indeed all of our lives) were changed forever and only by grace have we released the old and found joy amidst the challenges of the new.

Again and again I have learned that faith doesn't give us the ablilty to control the world.  It gives us the ability thrive when our world is out of control.

Aiming Past the Wood

"Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood,

you will have nothing. Aim past the wood,

aim through the wood." - Annie Dillard 

We've made some progress on the tree I mentioned in the last post and the logs are starting to pile up. It's time for my thirteen-year-old to learn the fine art of log splitting. 


The Annie Dillard quote above is true, not just literally, but symbolically, and I hope I can use this opportunity to teach a greater truth to my son.  Sometimes you just have to fix your focus beyond what lay just before you to get where you want to be.


I often think if we could see too far down the road of any endeavor we might never dare move forward.  If known in advance, the challenges and obstacles ahead might well overwhelm us before we even got started.  Often the only way to progress is to set our eyes on the prize...the end result...the finish line.  This is, afterall, hope.  This is, afterall, faith.