March 4 - SoL -- It's a small world: Mechanicsburg & the Crimean Peninsula

What is happening in the Ukraine? I'm not sure I could even find it on a map before this week. Being in the mommy bubble often prevents SAHMs from keeping abreast of world news. It's unfortunate, isolationist, maybe even elitist... but it's true.  Most of us don't know (or care to know) what's happening around the world... to other women, mothers of small children just like us.  We tell ourselves that we have entirely too much happening right here in front of us to worry about what's happening somewhere else. And maybe that's true... a person can only think about so many things at one time. But I still don't think it's right. 

My mommy bubble burst wide open when I heard the brief testimony of Alysa, a Ukrainian mother who just happened to be at the table behind me at Bible Study this morning. We listened to a short version of her story: She's a wife and a mother of a toddler. She and her husband run an orphanage in a small town in the part of Ukraine that has just been taken over by Russian troops.  They were here in the US for a conference related to the mission work they are doing at home, when Russian troops invaded the Crimean Peninsula (a part of the sovereign nation of Ukraine) over the weekend. 

As I understand it (she had quite a thick accent, so there are parts of the story that are unclear to me, but you'll get the idea), she and her family are unable to return home because the Russian military has deemed them spies and they would certainly face some dangerous, life-threatening repercussions if they were to return right now. 

They are in the process of applying for asylum here in the US and are very fearful for their friends and family back home. Alysa told a story of Russian snipers shooting at random less than twenty blocks from their orphanage. Seriously, MILITARY SNIPERS.  It really puts things into perspective, doesn't it? 

When I woke this morning, my biggest problems related to being "great with child" and not much more. I was humbled by this woman's testimony, not only by what has happened to her over the last week and the incredible situations she and her family are facing; but I was also humbled by her complete faith. The same lips that told us of her dire circumstances, also praised God for His provision thus far, and confidently made known her dependence upon her Lord for the safety of those remaining in Ukraine, for wisdom in how to proceed, and for the asylum that would grant her family's safety.  What a lesson in true dependence! 

I do not know how she came to be there this morning; I think they are staying with someone who attends the church. I am so thankful for her story, for the way that God used her to shrink my world today. I do not know what (if any) support or help Alysa and her family might need from The Body this week, but certainly, I can take the time to pray for God to work in this very messy situation... and now, it's real to me. There's a face and a deeply personal story to make what's happening on the other side of the world very real to me.  

Sewing 101 as Life Lessons

I have recently been on a sewing kick. JoAnn fabric store has become one of my favorites place to hang out. The rows upon rows of colorful fabric in a myriad of textures, not to mention the sweet little old ladies that populate the store during the mid-late morning, are all stimulating enough to keep the baby happy in the stroller as I browse through every "crook and nanny" (as my hubby calls 'em) in the store.  I've been making nursing covers, bibs, and burp cloths (tutorials to come) because they're easy enough.  Also, they are projects that I can complete from start to finish during baby's nap time, as long as the sewing machine and all the accouterments are already set up, which is important because my little monkey won't let me do much else but play with him while he's awake.  

But more than the sewing has been on my mind lately. For the last several days I have been running across the same concept in a variety of places. Has that ever happened to you; when you feel as though you keep facing the same lesson, spiritual or otherwise, again and again? Three times in about four or five days I kept hearing some version of "you can't change the past." I kept shaking my head wondering who this lesson was truly intended for, because surely God didn't mean it for me. I'm not struggling with overcoming my past. Well, not anymore. 

Proper hand placement for guiding the material

As I was sewing a bib on Friday, I kept hearing my mother's voice reminding me about the proper hand placement for guiding the material through the sewing machine. (Note: I often hear my mother's voice in my head when I'm working on a household project. I do not think this is abnormal!)  I looked down at my hands to see that they were, in fact, in the wrong position: my fingers were trailing behind the foot instead of guiding the material into it.  The bibs are a little tricky because they're not straight lines. I'm great at sewing straight lines... well, maybe good. But the curves, boy, they're hard for me! 

As a young girl learning to sew, if the line wasn't straight or at the width it was supposed to be, I was constantly pulling at the fabric behind the foot: the part that has just been sewn; the part that I could see was wrong. I couldn't visualize where the line was going to appear in front of the foot and I totally focused on the evidence of the line behind the foot. My mother would say, "Don't pull at the fabric there. It's already done. You can't undo it now. Pay attention to the part you're about to sew because you can do something about that."  What wise and far-reaching words those are! Above is a picture demonstrating proper hand placement. 

Then on Saturday morning at a women's breakfast, the speaker was talking about what it might mean to suffer for Christ.  Some how, she came around to a point about not letting our "spoiledness" (and if you don't think you're spoiled... the very fact that you're reading this online means that you probably have more than most people) or our pasts keep us from doing good.  How often do we as women believe that since we've done something we know was wrong at some point in our regrettable pasts that we ought not have the voice to encourage someone else to do the right thing, that we don't have the right to direct another person around our previous failures? She noted the difference between the condemnation of the enemy and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.  Condemnation brings shame, anger, embarrassment, and ultimately failure, which is exactly what the enemy wants for us.  But conviction brings confession, restoration, rejuvenation, and life. That is what the Spirit desires: restored relationship!  The speaker quoted an author (who it is, I have no idea) saying, "You can't do anything else with the past except learn from it." What a simple truth!

Finally on Sunday morning, when I got another message about dealing with your past, I wanted to throw up my hands and yell, "Ok, God. I got it!"  But I didn't get it. Not really. I foolishly thought to myself that I had already weeded out all the things from my past that were thorny.  These are two of the questions that Pastor Lebo @ McBiC posed to the congregation at the end of the sermon. Both of these questions were piercing for me.

1. Are you receiving God's blessing in your own life and embracing His call to be a blessing to others?

2. What is there from your past that you need to let go of so that you can move forward with God in faith? 


I haughtily left church, thinking that all was right with my world, when in truth, it was that evening when something I'm bitter about from my past jumped up and smacked me across the face. This is the first time in my life that God has provided the answer to the question before I had faced the test. 

I thought my little Sewing 101 lesson seemed to go hand in hand with what God seems to be teaching me recently.  So there you have it. Keep your hands in the right position, guiding your fabric towards the foot. Don't obsess about the past and how you have been wronged by it or what is wrong about it.  Simply learn from it. Move the fabric of your life in the right direction and in submission to the One who gave you life!

I would love to know what God has been laying on your heart recently.  And, also, if you've picked up any sewing lessons that speak metaphorically about life, feel free to share those as well! 

As always, thank you for reading! 
               

Becca

                                                     

The Beginning. A Very Good Place to Start.

     I've touted myself as a writer for quite some time, but it's been too long since I've actually written. Anything. I'm serious. I've even taken to composing my grocery lists on the iphone.  I type digital post-its for myself as reminders. i text my hubby love notes instead of leaving actual notes for him to find. I can't even remember the last time I wrote in my journal. How could this happen?! 
       I love writing. I love the sound of my pencil scratching across the paper. I love the feel of it in my fingers as I imagine the thoughts racing out of my brain, down my neck, across my shoulders, and out through my fingertips. I love to see the word-pictures forming on the page. And it makes me smile to think of someone else reading what I've written and connecting with it in some way. But, having a baby and moving will suck the "spare time" right out of your schedule. And that's what happened. I relegated my favorite thing, writing, to something that happens in my spare time. And since it was no longer a priority, guess what happened. I stopped. 
     So, that's why I'm here. I'm a newly minted SAHM (or Stay At Home Mom) and, through Pinterest and a friend's mom, I have uncovered my hidden love of crafting. But writing is what I love. So I am going to write about these things.  Maybe people care to read them. Maybe no one cares. There's lots of blogs out there on The Internet written by women just like me- SAHMs who maybe used to have careers outside their homes and are becoming experts at quilting or baby-food making.  
     It is here, at the beginning that I have decided to write about the things that confuse, infuriate, inspire, and amuse me in this new world of being a SAHM.  Here I go!

Feel free to link to your blog so I can follow you. Or just leave me a note to let me know you're reading!