In my excitement for the new year, I got caught up in thinking I could actually set a short term goal and stick with it. I had wanted to spend the first week of January crafting for my home. I was off to a good start, first with pot holders, then face cloths...and then I started making dish towels. Dish towels really take a beating in our home and probably should be replaced every year. Even so, what I wanted to do was create something special. So I started with this lovely, heavy linen from the thrift store, and some beautiful red trim ends I found here.
As soon as I began this project, I knew it would be a while in the making. I'm a hand stitcher and as simple a project this was (sew on the trim and stitch around the edges), this was a long process. But as friend Monica commented, The beauty of doing 'projects' for oneself is that there is no pressure... right? I couldn't agree more-no pressure...so little by little I continued the slow stitching that would eventually be my new dish towels.
I don't know for sure, but I imagine when sewing on a machine, thoughts must strictly be on the act of sewing itself...you probably need to concentrate a great deal. When hand sewing, there is the slow rhythm of the needle sliding in and out of the fabric that allows for your mind to be busy with other thoughts. Lots of ideas come into my head, lesson plans are created, I'm free to listen to my first grader read aloud to me. Then, one day, bad news comes. My preschool partner and since-forever-friend finds a lump in her breast. My sewing now takes on new meaning as my cloth accompanies us to her biopsies. I wait for her and stitch, nervous hands finding comfort in busy work.
Days later, and back at the preschool, we exchange hushed conversations about her treatment while the children play and we do our handwork. Her courage astounds me as she faces her cancer, yet all I can do is cry.
I had to pack this project away for a while, it had become something else for me. But today I brought it out again. Today she had her surgery. While I waited to hear from her husband I went back to the cloth and found comfort in the stitches again.
My friend has promised me that she will be fine, but a prayer or a blessing is always welcome. Why not honor her today by checking yourself right now. Come on...I know you can, it's easy to do, so just do it.