Fanciful Quilts

Two days ago I completed a quilt....and posted this photo to an online quilting group I joined over a year ago. Several favorable comments were received...and instinctively I knew which members would take the time to say "good job" or words to that effect. And then it hit me...the need we all have for affirmation - for someone to say "good job" - that pat on the back - just to let us know that what we did matters. Then I started to think about this need for affirmation - and thus began .... Who am I? I'm a person who is trying to get to know God. I finally admitted that a relationship with Him is something that I really want. This means putting more effort in getting to know who He really is through his Word, the bible. I am a wife. A wife to a man whom I dearly love more each day. Not only do I love him, I admire him. And I am his beloved. I'm a mom. Two grown children and one grown nephew. A mom who is a much better mom than years ago - and as I get older,...

It occurred to me last night that love takes on many forms. There's love for God, love for family, tough love (which I've never understood), love for friends, love for a pet, love for a hobby, love for one's country .... and then there's simply God's greatest commandment - love. Love is a complex word. How many times have we said "love you" when we end a conversation? How many times have we said "I love that car"? Or "I really love that gift you sent"? Overused? Perhaps. Underused? Way too many times. While Riley is overseas, I sign my emails "From Your Beloved"....and that evokes an emotion every single time. Love you for doing what you believe in doing is not only right but approved by God, love you because I know what you feel for your family and country - and love you for the man you are right now and love you for the man you'll be tomorrow. I tell my grown children "love you" when we talk to each o...

I would venture to say that there are not many marriages today where one can say, I have found my soul mate for life, my other half, the one who makes me complete. I've been that blessed - I did find my soul mate for life thirty-six plus years ago...and he still makes me smile in the darkest of moments. He is my anchor, my sanity-check, my friend, my hero and my love. About two weeks ago, my beloved took a job overseas - a deep desire he's had for quite some time. We talked many days and weeks about this job ....what it would mean to him, how it may affect the family, how he had faith that all will work out as it's meant to be. Seven plus years ago we purchased a building downtown and it's been the home of a chess club - a haven for many chess players. While he's been away, I have come to realize just how much work my beloved has done in addition to working eight to ten hours a day at his "real" job - all those extra hours promoting chess, working ang...