A Few Things….
A few things I would like to tell you:
One I am hosting another IRR it’s on www.quiltconnect.com
If you sign into the site you can sign up to join the International Round Robin..I will arrange groups if we get sign ups for more than one group…and I would like to send out our centers by April 15th. So if you are interested in being a part of a Round Robin please join us..I have been loving our group!
After yesterday I decided it’s totally OK to bribe your long arm quilter with pretty PINK gifts and smelly things. I mean, I can understand why it wouldn’t be ok to bribe government officials…and healthcare workers…but your long arm quilter?…I officially give it the STAMP of approval…totally! LOL
I would put on my yummy smelling lotion and smile…so nice!
A few things I would like to share:
Yesterday was youth group day. What does this mean? It means that my kids LOVE their youth group so much they have decided to invite everybody in school..which really means that all those kids come to my house from school ..stay all afternoon and eat dinner at my house..then I have to drive everybody all over town at 9 at night. I actually very much dislike having to drive everybody around..and I was kind of in a bad mood the other night about having to think about something to make for dinner for everyone…WOW! I usually handle all of that very well.( Honestly I think I was just PMSing…..cause I drive mykids everywhere and feed lots of neighborhood kids regularly)….so I thought about it and thought..”Hey my kids are doing ministry in their own way and I need to support that.” Who cares if I have to deliver kids in my Pj’s at 9? They don’t care. Wednesday can just be “Kid Food” night….so we made french fries and Chili dogs…cheap, easy and it feeds alot. So fine..good enough and they didn’t complain. God will always provide gas and food for this…who knows how this will impact all of these kids ( most of them don’t come from Christian families…Can I just say how AWESOME my kids are? )
Rob and I had meat and veggies..no carbs. he is pretty much dying now..LOL
After delivering kids to every part of town on our way home…Cole and Bryce went with me to deliver kids….they were on fire talking about the Pastor and Jacob ( their youth leader) ..Bryce informed me:
“Mom this is my church…if you guys leave I am staying at this church”
Me: Bryce, It’s not as if I like leaving churches or bouncing around…we had a reason for leaving.
Bryce: Mom I am just saying that every other church we have gone to..I kind of went because I had to…or felt like I had to..and becuase all of you were going. Now I really LOVE getting up and going to church and going to youth group. So I am staying here.
Cole: yeah me too. Jacob is so awesome Mom. He talks to us like we are adults and he sees how every answer can be right. HE makes us talk and asks us questions. He doesn’t just tell us what we need to learn. He told us all of our answers are right…in some way. Do you know how much Jacob has been through in his short 27 years? He has experienced many things good and bad.
Me: That’s really good. I am glad you are learning.
What I really wanted to do was cry and thank God! because they are getting through to these boys! I am so amazed! I am excited! I also wanted to laugh because they kind of sound like adults in the way they are reasoning to me. I feel like this is all solid and reasonable arguements..which makes me think they are really passionate about what is going on. That just makes me love this church more too.
It doesn’t matter that I am only 34 and I have been through many troubled times ..I am their Mom. It is also probably not good for them to know everything I have been through so I can seem more stable for them.They already recognize that their childhood is better than mine. So that’s good.
I just would like to let you all know..lol I don’t have unreasonable expectations. I am pretty sure many of my children will have to “experience” the world and make some bad choices along the way….( I am sure you will be reading them from my blog…maybe?) but I think if they have the foundation of God they will be better in the end….no matter what. So I don’t think this is the be all end all. I just need someone else outside of my home to re-affirm for them that there is a God and he loves them unconditionally. When it’s mom harping on them all the time..well it kind of gets lost.
I bought this GREAT book a couple weeks ago called “The Neurotic’s Notebook” by Mignon Mclaughlin ( It’s not a cheap book at all..ouch!) But it was one of those I will think about it for a few months..and I saw it half price somewhere ( AMAZON) and thought I should grab it because 50$ was a good price…(yeah! For a dang book!) Anyway..the whole book is a book of quotes..written by a woman ( Yay Go Girl) who was the managing editor of Glamour magazine when the book was published in 1963.
So the first quote that I read that applied to yesterday from this book…So fitting and I didn’t read it until this morning….
“hot dogs always seem better out than at home; so do french-fried potatoes; so do your children.”
I think this applies to all the children that are at my house..LOL. All the other parents are thinking this..and I served that menu last night!
This is perfect for my boys:
“Children lack morality,but they also lack fake morality”
I think this is why they like their youth group so well…they can be real and they won’t be judged. What a blessing for them.
A few things I want to vent:
You know, I am a pretty easy going person. I rarely get angry….I rarely get offended. Honestly when someone is offending me I hardly notice…people around me have to tell me that someone was being really harsh to me….and I let it go ( most of the time) becuase I don’t need to answer to anyone except the people that love me. The people that truly love me will know that my intentions are not evil and confront me if I have hurt them so I/we can work it out.
But this week a person told me she was interested in sending me a quilt…but in the same conversation ripped apart my style of quilting and technique?? OK….please tell me why you would consider me for the job if you don’t like anything I do? I wrote out a letter to teach her a lesson in communication, with the help of Rob and a friend decided not to send it..but for two days it annoyed me. LOL! Honestly! I am confessing here because I can’t let these people get under my skin..so I am now letting it go. I would never take on a person like that because there will be no pleasinig a person like that.. I don’t need that. That is not a challenge..that is a HEADACHE!
So then I have to process why it bothered me?
Truly not everyone likes my style..that is fine..there are plenty of quilters and we all need to have different styles..I can’t appeal to everyone..that’s impossible and I wouldn’t want to….I appreciate our differences..and I use other quilters too. LOL
Then I thought “why am I giving her so much credit to make me do a double take?” I don’t know her from anyone? She is not worthy to me..so her comments aren’t worthy..you know? I am not saying she isn’t a worthy person..of course she is..but she isn’t anyone that should dictate whether I am worthy or not. I hope that makes sense?
I don’t want my worth being tied up in anyone else. I am worthy whether she rips apart my quilting or not. So I am moving on up…….I figured it out! For a minute I let another person here on earth try to tell me I wasn’t worthy…of course I am!..I also feel great that I have discernment to know who I should or should not work with before a disaster happens..LOL . Last year I was always trying to prove my worth ..I would take on impossible jobs praying it would go well..it didn’t all the time… lesson learned. No more of that business!
So just a friendly reminder….if you want me to take on a job for you…please don’t insult me several times before I say “Yes” ….otherwise the answer will be “No”.
I thought about it and thought maybe this is just her style of communication….but honestly it’s not my job to correct her because she isn’t going to put any worth in what I tell her….because I am also nobody to her. If she was just interested in explaining to me what she did or did not like and how my process works..well I would have gladly tried to work it out with her. Honestly….. the bottom line is I want to please my quilt owners. I am flexible. I am also honest. If I feel I can’t handle the job..I don’t take it. I want everyone to be honest with me..so I can do pleasing work. I will do what the quilt owners want…within my capabilities. But also everything in Art/quilting is so subjective it is hard to guage sometimes….so communication is really important…..clear communication.
Ok so that is all I wanted to share for now…I need to post some pictures….and get to work.
Have a blessed day!
Charismah,
I am so glad your boys are loving their youth group! From your posts here and on QB I can see how much you love your boys and they seem to be absolutly amazing! As to the venting… I have no idea how anyone could not love your quilting! You are such an amazing artist, that person should feel lucky *much like I do ;)* that you even consider quilting for her! Hope the rest of the week and weekend are wonderful for you :) Happy Quilting.
Hi Mal,
Oh Thank you so much! You are so kind! There are so many different people out there…you know..you can’t please everyone..so it’s just best to stay with those you can! LOL
I hope you have a wonderful week too!
Charisma
First of all thank you for sharing your message about the one and only important person in my life, my God. I believe that if your raise them in the way of the Lord they will turn out to be God loving people, I know that is the way I have raised mine and they are in their 30’s and they love the Lord. Second, I have admired your quilting style, I am new to the long arm machine with desires deep inside to be half the quilter you are, your style is free and I like that. Making a long story short, I myself do not have time in my life to be around people that are negative, I spent way to many years there, I am now free to be me, and I see that about you. So what I really want to say to you is GO GIRL!
Hi Beth! AWE! Thank you very much! I appreciate your comments! I know once we are around negative people for a time..we start to realize how horrible that place is ..once we get away we never want to go back! Now it’s like we have radar for “Neagtive nellies” ….an alarm goes off..”Stay Back!” LOL Yes it is so freeing! That is the right word! we are free! Thank you so much!