Caring Hearts

If you know me very well, you know that I am always searching for yet another project. As soon as I finish one, I try to find the "next thing" to which I can dedicate some time.

Very rarely, I come across a project that just begs, "Do me NOW!" Today I found one such project and I am hoping that some of you will join me on this one!

I had just finished creating a video playlist on YouTube for an upcoming school presentation and I decided to reward myself by spending a few minutes watching some crafting videos. It was while watching a Jennifer McGuire video that I learned about a yearly card event called "Caring Hearts Card Drive".

In a nutshell, people from across North America and Australia create cards and send them to the organizing group. These cards are then distributed to people who live in nursing homes. Having visited a nursing home many times when my mother worked in one, I know firsthand that many of the people there do not have regular visitors. They crave any little bit of contact they can get with someone from the "outside". Just a kind word, a minute holding their hand, a smiling face, and even a tiny little card can really brighten up their day.

This card drive is running from October 2 to November 17. All cards must be received at the group headquarters by November 17. This year they are requesting that you make cards with a Christmas or winter holiday wish only. (For more of the specific instructions and for the submission form that must accompany your cards, go to Jennifer's blog at the link below.)

Want More Details? Go HERE

I know that I have many crafty friends out there. Some of you who do not consider yourselves to be "crafty" even work with group of others such as BETA Clubs or church groups. This kind of project is the PERFECT one for all of you to unite and join in efforts. Maybe your organization can have a card making party and then send in all of the completed cards together as one!

I only wish that I had discovered this opportunity earlier. I still have several days to get creative and make a BUNCH of cards to include in this project! Won't you join me?

Your participation in this project WILL be rewarded! You are sure to feel that warm tug of the heart that I always get when I do something like this. As if that isn't enough, the Card Drive has also assembled a variety of prizes that will be given to some of the lucky people who make and send in cards. (More information on that can be found at the link above also.)

I cannot wait to see how many of you commit to participate! Get creative and give from the bottom of your caring heart!

Don't Spill the Beans

I may be showing my age a bit here, but who out there remembers THIS game? 

Growing up, it was one of my favorites. I loved to play it with my brothers, stacking the beans on top, one by one, awaiting that moment when a player would finally place one too many beans on the stack and the pot would tilt and overturn, spilling everything all over the table top. 

I had not really thought about the game much. It was just one of those fun little tidbits from my childhood tucked away in my memory. Then, this week, the game took on a whole new significance for me personally. 

My life for the past couple of months has felt much like that bean pot- duty after duty, appointment after appointment, personal stress on top of personal stress. Instead of the fun game from my childhood, I found myself wondering what little thing life would throw at me that would finally be the ultimate "pot-spill" moment. What would cause me to crash to the ground emotionally? Well, this weekend that pot spilled!

A couple of months ago my husband broke his foot- his right foot- his driving foot- and that has meant that I am doing all of the driving, getting myself to work and taxiing him to his many meetings and appointments. The foot is still in a boot and is healing very slowly. As a result, it looks like I could have several more weeks of taxi duty. I also recently took on a part time job at the local elementary, a position funded through grant money and working with early childhood literacy. My daughter is in the midst of a stressful senior year of nursing school and has required some hand-holding and attention and my mother suffers from dementia. My father is her full-time care giver, but when he needs to do something out of the home, I am the one called upon to come and take care of her. The cherry on top of the whole emotional sundae is the upcoming marriage of my daughter, next August. With her in college, I am doing a lot of the "grunt work" and I am also spending spare time crocheting items to sell to help make some of the money to pay for the wedding. 

Then Friday, the final bean got placed on top of the pot- my maternal grandparent's house burned, likely by arson. My mother and father had inherited the property in February when my aunt died and Dad has been working diligently to clear it out and get it ready to sell. We had encountered some legal issues and have been working through those, but we could not get them resolved quickly enough. The house was a total loss. Already ill with bronchitis and faced with the burning of that property and the emotional trauma, I suffered my personal crash. 

I found myself emotionally and physically drained, crying to a friend and pouring out my woes. God used her in that moment. She took my hand, wrapped an arm around me, and began praying for me. With each word from her mouth, my sobs calmed a bit, my breathing eased, and my weight began lifting. God's calming spirit began filling me and I knew that I could go on. My personal "beanpot" had been uprighted- empty for now. Yes, life will begin filling it again, bean by bean, but I can always count on God to help me find my balance and come through. 

Isaiah 41:13 says, 

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you."

God used my friend as an earthly answer for the comfort I needed in that moment, but I need to remember that I can always call on him to offer that emotional comfort when I need it. When I find myself off-kilter and unbalanced because of life's many stresses, I need to remember to pause a moment, take a breath, and seek God's help. He can and will help me through!