Casting Stones

Where to begin?  My heart is aching.  My face is downcast.  This world is not a very nice place sometimes. And it is only becoming sadder by the moment. 

I am tired.  I am grieved.  And I am frustrated.  But there isn’t a thing, other than prayer, and maybe this little commentary, that I can do about it.  Prayer will most certainly do far more than my poor ramblings, but ramble I must.  Even if I am the only one that reads this, good can come of it, because maybe it will help me change. 

SIN. 

It is not a nice word.  Many think it is a stupid idea designed to make them feel guilt. Some think it is a joke  (There is no right or wrong, after all).  But it is serious.  Dead serious.  Because it leads to death.  Maybe not the heart-stops-beating-and-your-body-gets-put-in-the-ground kind of death, but one far more deadly.  One that cuts us off from The One that made us, and loves us, and so much more for us.  Some may laugh at my “feeble mind” that needs a religious crutch.  Some may scoff at my childish belief.  But in the end, the truth will be made known, and I doubt if any of us will be laughing then. Because this is serious business.

Recently, a regional ministry lost a public personality to sin.  This guy was arrested, confessed and now faces up to life in prison.  Twenty-five years at the least.  His life as he has known it to this point, has essentially ended.  The media is having a heyday.  And those that have been commenting on the news channels are enjoying the anonymity the internet provides to be cruel, outright disrespectful, and arrogant.  Christianity is being dumped in the mud, wrung out, and dragged through more mud as dirty and disgusting as that in my goat pen. 

So I wrestle with this question:  Is the world’s disdain justified? 

In the eyes of many, I am sure it is.  But let’s take a step back.  Let’s go back to that one little three letter word that started it all.

SIN.

Whether the authority of the Bible is recognized or not, there is a verse that helps me put things in perspective.  You can find the story in the book of John chapter 8. Start at verse one and read to verse 11.  Now that you have the story, let’s distill it a bit.

          “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Ouch.  And I don’t mean the throwing stones thing.  Those hurt, too.  I mean the part about me.  I sin.  I wish I didn’t, but I do.  Most of us aren’t too afraid to say that we are “sinners”, we just qualify it.  “I’ve never MURDERED anyone”.  But guess what?  Sin is still sin.  Hatred in our hearts toward another is just like murder.  We may be smiling on the outside, but if we have hatred inside, we are sinning. 

We gossip.  Okay, I do.  I am trying very hard to stop, but I still sin in this way.  And when I admit that, the general response is, “Oh Honey, I hear ya’. Don’t we all?” and it is followed by embarrassed giggles.  But when someone confesses to a sexual crime against a child (or multiple children), the polite, understanding tittering becomes a cry not unlike the one Christ heard in Pilate’s courtyard.  “Crucify him”.  The voices just sound a little different and more modern language is used: (I will skip some of the more colorful choices)  “I hope he kills himself.”  “What a dirt bag.  I hope he rots!”

Sin is sin, people.

 I am not excusing sexual predation of children.  I am not advocating it.  Neither am I advocating or excusing the attitudes of those casting stones of hatred.  Just because the freedom of speech allows us to spout vile words of condemnation doesn’t mean when we do we aren’t sinning or that we are any “better” than the one at whom the stones are being hurled. 

Some sin is “illegal”, meaning against the law of the land, but some is not.  It isn’t nice to talk about someone behind their back.  It isn’t kind to hurl insults, but it isn’t  “illegal”, at least in a court of law.  But every sin, even the kind that “doesn’t hurt someone else”, is sin.  And it earns us something very serious.

Death.

Separation.

Despair. 

When we mess up, we expect to feel some repercussions, but in the end, we hope for compassion and forgiveness.  Remember that verse about stones?  Jesus said those words.  Jesus ALONE could throw that first stone.  Jesus was the only one in that crowd that had no sin.  And we all know He picked up the biggest, baddest stone He could find and hurled that baby at the woman caught in adultery.  Right?

Actually, no, He didn’t.  That’s right. He didn’t.  He chose to forgive.  He chose to show compassion.  And while those sins that are so heinous as to be illegal cannot go without proper punishment, neither should those of us that have sin be quick to condemn, smear and assault a fellow sinner.  Look at that passage again.  Jesus was writing in the sand.  I have heard it speculated about what He was writing.  Maybe the sins of those standing there with stones in their hands?  I hear stones thudding to the ground.  Maybe He was naming names.  There go some more stones.  How many were left to accuse the woman?  The only one with any “right” to do so. 

 We should pray that God works in the heart of the wayward one, just as we should be praying that God will work in our own hearts.  We should offer forgiveness, even as we plead for that same forgiveness from others.  And we need to recognize that when we begin to think we are better than someone else because they have sinned “worse” than we have, we better watch our step.  There are several other verses that speak to that.  The most straightforward of which is Proverbs 16:18

          “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

So before you start your stone collection and get your pitching arm in shape, you better be sure that your knees have developed some callouses, your spirit some humility, and you are prepared to fend off the stones that will surely be aimed your direction.

“Father, I ask that You would take the ashes of this tragedy and form them into something that is beautiful.  It will never be as You created it to be.  It will always be changed by the evil perpetrated against it.  But You make everything beautiful in its time.  When You shine Your light into the darkness of this world, beauty always arises. Thank you for loving me, the worst of sinners, and providing a way for me through Jesus. Keep me humble before You and give me compassion for those around me. Be with each and every one involved in this particular situation, from the victims, the families, the co-workers, the public, and the one choosing to sin all the way through to the ones choosing to cast stones and call down curses.  Bring Your healing.  Bring Your grace. And Bring Your love.  For only You have any right to throw the first stone.  May Your justice, and Yours alone, be served.  Amen.”

Sheep

We have some sheep.  Okay, this is not new news to us, but certainly it is to you.  Let me introduce you to our fabulous Shetlands!  First there is Gladys.  She is a few years old, shy and absolutely gorgeous.  She looks like a marshmallow when she is in full wool.  I like to call her Missy.  She answers, mostly, to neither.

Next is a two year old wether named Cub Cadet, Cadet for short.  Of Mister Itchy, Senor Itchy, or The Captain (though that one can get confusing) All names he does mostly answer to.  He is a born leader, but loves to have his chin and poll scratched.  He has been known to get the back foot going when we scratch his sides, too.  What a baby!

Our last addition is a one year old wether aptly named Cappuccino.  That is a pretty big name for a pretty little fellow, so he is Cappy.  Which is why The Captain can be confusing.  Cap'n and Cappy.  Uh huh.

 Together, these three have added an interesting facet to our farm.  I am anxious to find out how their wool processes out and how it spins up!

It is well into the new year now.  The holidays are behind us and we look forward to great things to come in 2013!  Just to let you all know what a wonderful and talented daughter I have, she MADE a spinning wheel for me for Christmas.  Sure, she had help from a wheel-maker, but what an awesome gift! ( Both the spinning wheel and my daughter!) It is hard to believe that my sweet girl that was just a wee little one not so many days ago just turned 18.  I do not know if my Mama Heart can handle it.  I guess we all do survive having our children grow up, but she and I have such a good relationship and so much fun together, and I am just starting to realize how much I am going to miss our times of giggle-fests and mind-melds.  She has been, and is, a tremendous blessing to both her father and me.  No big rebellious streak in the teen years, no sneaking out at night or getting in trouble with the law.  She has been so easy it is almost embarrassing!  But enough sentimental blubbering and weeping for what I haven't even lost yet.

Going back to my beautiful gift, I have been spinning up a variety of wool and even have a few skeins listed in my shop.  I have spun Southdown, Suffolk/Texel, Angora rabbit, and something called "potluck roving" (100% wool, 24 microns but a mystery beyond that).  I am having a blast!.  I even took the time to dye up some completed yarn and some unspun roving! 

 Here are pictures of the yarns I have spun up!  I have no idea why they are sideways or how to fix it!

And here is a picture of the surprise.  These little cuties are felted wool balls with needle felted designs added to them.  I have had quite a time keeping them in my shop.  Toss them in your dryer with the wet clothes and they help cut down on drying time and the need for fabric softener.  We do still get the static, but I have an idea I am going to try in the next week.  Always trying to improve!  Anyway, these have been a runaway best-seller since the beginning of December.  I am all stocked up on wool to keep up with demand for a while and have 2 sets ready to be needle felted to order.  I even made a couple more for my own dryer!  My kids love to look for them when the load is done, too. 

 

On the home front, we have been dealing with weather changes from below zero to almost 60 degrees in about a week's time.  We have been having snow over the last few days, but the temperature is thankfully a bit warmer. Events in the "barn"  over the last month have kept us hopping. Miss Becky's rabbit, Majestic, had 10 (!!) baby bunnies on one of the coldest nights we have had.  Despite the heat lamp over the nest, we lost 6 babies the first night and the rest on the second night, even though we brought them in the house. The approaching due date for our baby goats helped us pick up and carry on.  Blossom finally decided it was time and gave birth to triplets!  All boys, of course, but hale and hearty and cute as can be.  Valentine birthed a day later to a single, big girl we have since dubbed Heidi.  Sadly, Valentine had to be put down due to a prolapsed uterus that didn't respond to our ministrations.  I am very grateful that Blossom has enough milk to feed all four babies, though she won't accept Heidi. These are the goat kids and my youngest two "kids".  I think they all look pretty happy! 

Blossom

 

(And please, if anyone has suggestions on how to rotate these pictures, let me know. The originals are in the correct orientation, but when I add them to my blog post, they are back to skewed. )

Inspirations

 Welcome to my studio!  There is not much room in here and things are a bit disorganized but improvements are happening and it is inspiring!  I can find my paints, brushes, and palettes.  I know where my sewing machines are and can see most of my fabric stash. I have a work table that is usable and mostly free of clutter.  The best part is that I can actually get in the door!  I couldn't say that with much honesty a few weeks ago, but things are definitely looking up!


This morning as I made a trip to the mailbox, I found some Lily of the Valley blooming.  Since they are one of my favorite spring flowers and fragrances, I selfishly picked them all, brought them in, found an empty water bottle for a vase and set them on my "desk".   Heady, intoxicating, inspiring and beautiful! The most humble of flowers puts to shame my best creations!   Along with my visiting flowers is another lively guest.  My youngest son had his bunny, "Hoppy", in for a visit this morning so I brought her in to inspect my space.  Here she is looking over my tools and treasures.  We don't have house pets, but the rabbits all come in on occasion for plucking, or training, or just for fun.  Mostly just for fun!  And they are better guests than chickens or goats.


Once the garden is all planted and the growing season is in full swing, the view from this window will be even better.  The only things growing out there right now are my onions and plenty of weeds.  This window gives me a pretty good view of the neighborhood.  We really aren't living in terribly close proximity to our neighbors but we are more hemmed in than we were at each of our last three homes. Country living suits me well.  It warms my heart to watch my children playing with the animals or helping me milk the goat.  I hope each one of them can see what a blessing this life is.   We see robins, bluebirds, sparrows, cardinals, bluejays, grackles, starlings, and goldfinches scouring the ground for seeds and worms and bickering over their territory. The other day we even saw a woodchuck up a small tree.  Do woodchucks really climb trees??  I guess this one did, but it sure surprised us all!  He may be nimble, but if he knows what is good for him, he will keep eating tree leaves and stay away from my gardens. The kids scoop up tadpoles from the swamp and deposit them in the water trough where they eventually grow legs and hop away as toads to feast on slugs and other nasty bugs. Our children get science experiments on a daily basis just because they live in the country!  Ahh, the life!

The "becoming" ~ new projects

Tools of the Trade

Sleepless nights lately have brought out the creativity in me.  Or maybe I was sleepless because of the ideas running around my head.  Either way, the studio has beckoned.  It has been so nice to go there, close the door and create. Or just escape.   Or to pray and bring life back into focus.  My "studio" as I am calling it now is far more than just a place to make stuff. It is a sanctuary from the things that get me down, a place that nurtures, incubates and, finally, gives birth to all sorts of  germinating ideas and designs.  It is a chapel where I can bring my hurts and joys, triumphs and terrors to the Comforter and Lover of my soul.
Yes, it is still the "storage room".  Sometimes even "the junk room".  But to me, it is so much more than just a room.  It is, in all of its glorious (and not so glorious) messiness and disarray, a reflection of who I am and who I am becoming.  It teaches me that even messes like me can produce beautiful fruit.  Just like my weedy garden.  And just like my messy studio.

So, what lessons has life taught you lately? I encourage you to find your own "studio".  A place where you can savor the moments, find rest from your weariness, and find peace.  I hope your heart is open to the beautiful and the Divine around you, and that you will find your soul nurtured and refreshed in a special way today and every day.

Saying "Goodbye"

Madaline Pettifor  9/10/1928 - 3/25/2012

Spring is breaking out around my home here in beautiful Mid-Michigan, in stark contrast to the personal difficulties our family has been facing in the last couple of weeks.  After a rather swift decline and around two weeks in the hospital, my husband's dear mother went home to be with her Lord on March 25th.  Between his visits to see her, constant phone calls and messages updating us on her condition, and, finally, the funeral, our lives have been in a bit of chaos.  Our sadness with her passing cannot come close to comparing with Dad's loss of his wife and companion of almost 54 years.  As we transition to life without Mom and Grandma, we recognize that our lives will never be the same, and the void she has left can never be filled.  Our children are struggling to understand and cope with the death of someone very special to them, the first great loss they have ever experienced.  We seek to remember her as she was in life, loving her family and friends and serving her Lord, not those last days that were marked by discomfort, pain and illness.  While we mourn for that which we have lost, we rejoice that she has gained freedom, peace, and joy unspeakable in the presence of Jesus! You will be missed, Mom! 

Introductions

A new day, a new adventure. In this case, authoring a blog.  I hope to use this avenue as a "behind the scenes"  look at what I do, my methods, and motivations.  In this, my first post, I will introduce myself.

I am a forty-something (I reserve the right to ambiguity here) wife and mother who also dabbles rather heavily in the farming/gardening category, excessively in the creative market (read, "messy house"), and reluctantly in the field of accounting and bookkeeping.  I juggle (too) many plates, wear far too many hats, find I meet myself coming and going, and love pretty much every minute of it.  Hmm, except when I can't find my car keys, or that receipt my husband needs, or when the goats escape, again.  Times like these make me wonder what I did with that nice white jacket that has the extra long sleeves with buckles on the ends.  And my padded cell.  Calgon, take me away!  Seriously, my life is busy, but fun, wearying yet rewarding, and chock full of blessings that I am thankful for each and every day.

For as long as I can remember I have been making things, adding color and beauty to the world around me, and attaching myself to animals.  Growing vegetables, flowers, critters, and children has been an amazing learning process that has made me grow also. I can still remember my first garden.  A two square foot row of my mother's garden with a little trellis for sweet garden peas and carrots.  I think I dug those carrots out more than once to see if they were growing.  You really can't tell from the top! Those few little peas, picked, shelled and consumed on the spot were the best peas I have ever eaten and fueled my gardening passion that continues to this day.  Later, I saved my allowance to buy six strawberry plants, talked my dad into letting me tear up part of the back yard, and soon had fresh berries that I completely savored.  Most summer days found me up a tree in the backyard with a book or chasing and catching butterflies and skippers that populated the flower beds filled with zinnia, calendula, vinca, marigold and cosmos plants.

When I wasn't puttering in the yard, burying my nose in a book, or being tormented by my older brother , I was developing my coloring and drawing skills, learning to cross-stitch and beginning to make my own clothing.  In college, I learned to crochet and dabbled in knitting,  which didn't really take flight until my oldest daughter spread her own knitting wings. Now we three girls enjoy this craft together.  We have also begun to spin our own yarn and, for Christmas this last year, I  knitted a pair of socks for my long-suffering husband from home-spun, plied, and dyed yarn.

Our children have been involved in 4-H since they were old enough, and the oldest currently has Angora rabbits that she is showing, raising, and selling.  Their wool is heavenly to spin with the drop spindle and knitted items made from the yarn is so incredibly soft!  We love fluffy bunnies!

Here we have Drizzle, Cinnamon, and their mama, Tranquility.

In an effort to make room for more creative craftiness and, of course, more materials, I opened an Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettiesNPracticals  Through this venue, I also hope to generate a little income to help out when my husband's somewhat seasonal work slows down.  Some additional items I hope to list in the future are: homemade soaps (including goat milk varieties), hand-painted note cards, photo note cards, framed and unframed original artwork and photographs, yarn, and needle-felting supplies.

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Thank you for visiting and come back again!