As 2017 draws to a close, memories flood my mind and soul. Most prominent in my mind is the day that my life changed forever: March 29th, 2017, the day the Lord called John, my husband and best friend, to his eternal home. Life has been an emotional struggle for me since. My family and my friends have been there to support and encourage and the Lord has been my Strength and Comfort.

For Christmas, I made my 7 grandchildren a memory pillow to help them with their own grieving. Grandpa loved his children and grandchildren. And they loved him. I wanted them to have something tangible they could hold in their hands that would remind them of him. I took some of Grandpa’s frequently worn shirts and pieced together a small pillow that they could hug, hold close and feel like they were being hugged by grandpa. As they were opening their “gift from grandpa”, it was precious to see each child’s reaction to the pillow.

As all of us look ahead into the future and a new year, it can be frightening, worrisome. I am reminded of Corrie Ten Boom’s words: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” May God bless you and yours.

Edit: After many requests this Memory Pillow designs is now available for 7×7 hoops. It can be purchased here: https://www.omasplace.com/ed/memory-pillow-7×7/

It was a lovely evening – the temperature in the low 70s, a breeze blowing. I sat on a bench in the shade and watched people passing me by and children play. Suddenly pain and grief came over me again, like a big ocean wave. As I was trying to formulate my feelings into words, I realized that I felt like a small sailboat out in the vast ocean – aimlessly tossed about by the waves of grief. And I heard a small, still voice say “Don’t you have an anchor? You have Christ, don’t you?” “Yes”, I said, “I have Him, but the sense of lostness is still there.” And the still small voice continued: “An anchor only works if you use it, cast it down. Using the anchor will not change the waves as they break against the sides of the boat, but it will keep the boat safe from drifting out into the vast ocean.” So, on a daily basis I try to do just that: Making Christ the anchor of my soul – realizing that He will keep me safe during the storms of life – as He has in the past. I have placed this thought onto a new mug rug and hope that it will bring you encouragement as well.

Thank you for traveling with me through this difficult time in my life.

On March 29th of this year, I very suddenly and unexpectedly lost my husband of 40 yrs. He was my best friend, my greatest fan, my support and the love of my life. Life has been difficult since his passing and I often wonder how I can go on without him. But God gives strength each day and hope that I will see John again some day. One of my struggles has been to be able to sleep at night. Psalm 4:8 has been a great comfort to me and I decided that maybe others would be helped by this scripture, too. I have made it into an in the hoop pillow. It requires an at least 7×7″ hoop and final size is 12×12″.

For those of you who cannot stitch this size, the center wording design (only) is also available for 5×7″ hoops. The single design is also available for 7×7″ hoops to be placed in the center of quilts or ready made pillow cases. I placed that design into a blank provided courtesy of www.allaboutblanks.com and like how it turned out.

I hope this design will be a comfort to you as well.

Most likely you have heard it said “Bloom and grow where you are planted”, right? Well, this pumpkin volunteer plant has certainly taken that verse to heart. 🙂 Look at it: Squeezed in from all sides, it continues to put on a beautiful show. How many times have we been squeezed from all sorts of sides and angles. With God’s help we can “bloom and grow” even under the most adverse circumstances.

Only problem now? How am I going to get this pumpkin out of this fence??? LOL.

God bless and give you strength for today.

 

You might know that we have two autistic grandchildren. Our grandson, Sid (almost 14) and granddaughter, Eliana (almost 9).

Eliana stayed with us yesterday afternoon and night. It’s always a special time with her. Last night was no exception.

She saw a new in the hoop birth sampler I had made. I used her name because we just don’t have babies in our family right now. She saw the pillow and fell in love with it. I referred to it as a “baby” pillow and she said “Hmmm…. excuse me! It says “Eliana Grace” on the pillow. How could it be a “baby” pillow??? And then I looked at the words and thought, well, she is absolutely right, it could be used for her and girls her age as well.

I had intended to pose the pillow with one of our larger bears, but that bear went off to school with Eliana.

After I said good night prayers with Eliana last night, I suddenly heard her talk in my sewing room – which is NOT where she sleeps. 🙂 I found her tucking all my little teddy bears into a small baby doll bed and covering them up with a soft blankie, because “they might get cold at night”. Oh, and of course, we had to make sure the night light was left on because she didn’t want the bears to wake up and be afraid and not know where they were.

And, lest you think those little bears were in that doll bed without a mattress, oh, no!! She had torn up several paper tissues and placed them on the bottom so they would sleep on something soft. She absolutely loves the softness of these little teddy bears. She took care of those little bears with so much thought and care. And it reminded me of the love that the Lord has for His children. In this worrysome world, I tend to forget that God IS in control and that He tenderly watches over us, even in the darkest of times. He IS that reassuring nightlight in today’s darkness.

May your day be blessed and thank you for taking the time to read this little story and stopping by to visit us at Oma’s Place.