I was told by more than one person to get prepared for a slower life in the country. Some gave this advice as a warning and some as a benefit, still it sounded good to me. We haven’t actually found this to be true… yet. I finally broke down and went to the doctor yesterday due to a knee that wouldn’t stop hurting. As the doctor was trying to figure out what was wrong with it, he asked what I’d been doing. After hearing about our last 5 weeks, I received my prescription… MORE Advil and to pace ourselves.
Ut oh…? I knew this could be difficult for us before we’d even moved here as we are good at working, not so good at resting. Our ‘to do’ list is lengthy but as my brother reminds me, “Remember, it is a journey”.
So due to the whole ‘pacing’ thing and the true reality that I needed fellowship with 
women here, I headed off to church. I would like to say I was filled with confidence and security, but I wasn’t. I’d been warmly welcomed and encouraged, but I was still heading off to join them in the unknown… the daunting… the often over whelming world of…. quilting and I don’t sew. In fact I do believe sewing skips generations and it sure skipped mine. I also did not really understand what it was they did at ‘quilting’. I soon learned that they joined together to bless others. I’m sure that their homes have lovely examples of their work, but they come together to make quilts as special gifts to many, the kids in foster care, orphans of other countries, each new baby born in the church, each high school graduate from the church as well as many others.
I showed up and was warmly welcomed and quickly put to work. Given a pattern (an easy starter one, thank God), given material, given a teacher and most importantly told I could not ‘flunk’ at quilting. I wasn’t so sure they were right, but I was willing to give it a try. They shared with me their tips, their tools, their great senses of humor and I was blessed.
Oh, these horses? This is what you see when you leave the church and they always make me smile too.
It is so hard to want everything done NOW, especially with so many “to do”s on your list. Take care of those knees, you are going to need them for a long, long time yet!