Dear Friends,
My word of the year for 2017 is TRUST. Friends, let me tell you that rarely has a day gone by when I haven’t said that word in my head again and again. God is good – always. And He is in control – always.
You may recall, mom had a heart attack just before Christmas. Let me report she is doing wonderful. We’ve just finished up 3 months of cardiac rehab and she really has her energy and strength back to where she was at before the heart attack. – Trust.
I do see her getting a bit more forgetful with time and repeating herself as I hear the same news again and again many days in a row. – Trust.
Something I haven’t shared with any of you is in early April our oldest daughter who finished her 4 years in the Air Force had a house that she was trying to sell. It had been under contract twice and both times fell through. The third time it was under contract, one week before closing it was broken into by gang members and vandalized. Everything was broken, painted, torn up, smashed. This was back in April. I know this is all just physical “stuff”, but it was one of the most heart breaking things I’ve ever had to deal with. I think it was so hard because it just made no sense whatsoever. I’ve dealt with mom’s heart attack and dad living with cancer and some of that I explain to myself by saying it is a part of life. But when someone blatantly does something malicious, you are just left feeling numb. – Trust. Let me tell you, by the grace of God, the house did close. For weeks after, I kept thinking that something would still come back to haunt us with that house. Thankfully now, most days pass and it is a slowly fading memory.
When events such as these happen in our lives, and I know life changing events happen to all of us, it reshapes it. It changes our perspective and our goals. I know it has not only affected me, but it has affected Embroidery It. Goals and plans have been adjusted and changed as needed.
These have been just a couple of examples how “trust” has been placed on my heart. Seriously though, there has hardly been a day that has passed when I haven’t thought, “just trust Nancy, just trust.”
With everything going on, disarray has settled in. Many things need to be finished. I turn my head I see something that requires a phone call to be made, an e-mail to send, or steps to take to finish the task. When you see that all the time, your mind can’t relax, and you don’t feel peace. I have said my focus in July is to “complete”. Finish all the little things yet to be done. I’ve been keeping a running to-do list that grows as I see things that need to be done. It helps though to get everything on paper and it even helps me by writing here and getting thoughts and feelings out of my head. I’ve come to realize my word for, if not just July, the last half of the year should be “complete”.
What’s an embroiderer to do but that to my shirt cuff. The soft denim shirt I wear every day like an apron. As “complete” was stitching I realized how beautifully it goes with the word “trust”. “Complete Trust.” Amen.
I have complete trust; to finish the tasks at hand, for my family, for my mom, for my health, for Embroidery It, and the list goes on.
Have you kept your word of the year top of mind? Has it had meaning in your life? I’d love to for you to share in the comments and hear your story.
Previous blog posts about Trust this year may be read HERE and also HERE.
Wishing you all many blessings,
Nancy
be creative daily and live life beautifully
Been there, got that t shirt, uh, denim shirt. Mom may be repeating because there’s not so much going on in her life right now – I speak from experience. I’ve done the house vandal bit, and it still hurts when it comes back up, 18 years later. Time heals all wounds, and wounds all heels (That was a heel that did the damage.) It is just stuff.
Oh Betsey that is so true. Just stuff but yep, it hurts to think about it.
Love and hugs,
Nancy
Faith and Trust are two of the most important words that I live by…I truly appreciate your sharing and I am going to do the Complete Trust on a sleeve . I love that Idea and it would be a great conversation starter to talk about God an my complete trust. Thank you for the alphabets and designs.
Love your mom! mine has been in Heaven for a year.
Thank you so much Donna.
God bless you,
Nancy
Thank you. Big changes in my world this year as well. “COMPLETE TRUST” is the perfect phrase.
God IS good, and His love is always there. May He continue to guide you.
A sister in Christ,
Cheryl
Thank you Cheryl.
God bless,
Nancy
Complete Trust- For me it made me think along a different chain of thought… of our goals we set for ourselves. He knows what and how to help shape us to become all we are able to be. Rarely do we get all answers in this life time as I am now20 years 4 months and 5 days since the first of 2 car accidents leading to 4 brain, head, neck, surgeries, oh how OCD I had been and would love to chat and talk to anyone, I never met a stranger and loved to serve and be busy with our 2 children as well as our church and the service to others in and out of our faith that is so much a part of our church activity. I never could just chill out and relax, to now being 24/7 in my water bed and I have only made it to my machines once, sometimes twice a year the past several years….. how do I still find purpose? I knew this was going to be a long term trial , though never imagining it was going to be over 20+ years. Others lives go on and friends have long since stopped contact. Health issues are not convenient to try to work around. How I wish to be up organizing and doing all the projects my mind has planned out. My dear husband was not the OCD one and his to do list has a great deal for him to already manage, without my stressing him to do more. Completing a list of unfinished tasks when all those tasks would require people to help me to “Do” any of them, but I dearly would love those things finished too. I had always made and given items to others and found in my first years that I did not have something I made for me or my husband thinking I had plenty of time to work on things for us, so it did take the next 10+ years to finally be able to focus my attention on that task and complete my Treasures in needlework, The 3 Magi in the stable. Every stitch generally being stitched and restitched 3-5 times as my memory is bad enough I could not keep my stitch count. My embroidery machine was my goal to complete the next task of having 2 designs that I have permission from the artist and the church that has rights to the second design to go through and alter, digitize and stitch those two designs, though not to be used to sell the patterns for the work, but for our personal use. I am now trying to figure out how to even get those 2 projects designs digitized, much less get my body to be able to be at the machines to stitch the sections as both will overall be close to 18x 30 inches. I still really hope I can do them and do them justice. One is of a realistic African Lion with a lamb but a female lion will come out of the design, rocks need moving around to then insert the artists lamb next to the male lion, and then to enlarge the whole design focusing on the lamb and lion more than the African scenery around the design. The second design would be Christ overlooking Gethsemane on of my favorite designs. My love of sewing and desire to be creating has had me focus the last 5 years or so on saving freebies and developing a well rounded collection of designs that I have saved and purchased from some wonderful sales, then the learning curve of which sites had illegal designs show up and the gut wrenching feeling as I one by one cleared every single design from those sites off my computer as I could not advertise their designs by using their designs, since I could not know what other lines those sites were willing or had crossed in a designs creation, then the other sites that designs looked so good on paper and years later as my body finally lets me be able to stitch some and quickly learned that some of the sites were still learning just how to create a well digitized design and again clearing off designs and realizing how much time I had focused on getting designs that were really not worth my effort and time. Everything is much more time intensive for me to do. Prayer is non stop and I can go up to 4 days before getting to sleep. I know the Savior loves me I feel his comfort often. I know he uses each of us to help answer the prayers people are praying to our Lord. How grateful he is when we will listen to that still small voice and call that person who has been on our mind, bring a meal into a family that has been going through difficult trials…not because they did not have food or were incapable of making their own meal but that it was a way to say that we generally can not lift those other trials from their shoulders, but a simple meal, that is one task that we could do for them that day, that we love them and are thinking and praying for them and their family, daily or even multiple times each day. When we are in the service to our fellow beings we are in the service to our Father in Heaven. Christ said to his disciples to Feed my Sheep, and As ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, then ye have done it unto me. Even with my issues when I am able to help serve in any way, I am blessed greatly. Doing any service is the only place I can get any amount of relief. With all that being said, I still have that to do list I want to finish and sometimes there is wisdom in knowing which of those things really need to be removed from the list as it is not of as much value or where the Lord is trying to do the work of purifying the silver within us. The refiners fire feels like I have been in and out of the silver smiths firing oven a great many times and I am trying to learn how to have things in order so if I do gain some of my abilities again I will have special things to keep me busy…but then also allowing the impurities or less needed things in my life to be burned away so he can make me that new creature and refined into what He is needing me to become. Sometimes those unfinished projects can be passed to others for who those new projects for them to finish would also be treasured tasks that could help them more than they could be the project I need to finish. May we each have wisdom and understanding in what goals would bring us closer to our Father in Heaven and which things he could use for His own purposes more than our own thoughts on the matter. Prayers and inspiration for each of us to have wisdom and understanding over which tasks are needful and which are maybe pushing ourselves to be running faster than our bodies have the strength. Hope this makes some sense to others in my rambling.
Oh Pam it does and thank you for writing. Complete trust is so important for you and to read your words in doing it is an inspiration to us all.
Lifting you up in prayer. God is great.
Hugs and blessings,
Nancy
Trust and Complete Trust is hard for us sometimes in our lives. God has control of all and his answer may not be ours answer but that is Complete Trust in God.
Trust in people today can be a scary situation but none the less one must try…….that’s tough sometimes!
It sure is Tonya. Trust is a word I repeat over and over in my mind. God is always good though.
Hugs!
Nancy
My word for the last 2 years has been ‘Grace’ for Gods grace is enough! Two years ago today our 7th grand baby was stillborn but still born. A beautiful full term 6lb4oz perfectly made baby girl joined not only our family but the family of heavenly Angels. Nothing hurts more than seeing your children hurt from the loss of their baby and not being able to do anything tangible to take away that pain. Grace has been our only way to move forward. I thank God for his presence in the midst of trouble and his strength. Trust goes along with grace.. thank you for sharing! Always in my heart Charlotte Mae!
Oh Beverly, thank you for sharing.
My background is I’m a labor and delivery nurse. On rare occasions we would have these sad occurrences and yes, it is through God’s graces and mercy that we can take the next step forward with all seems so difficult. I’m so very sorry for your loss.
Love and hugs,
Nancy