Leslie Kelly

FINALLY.
I finally did it.
I tackled the sewing/craft/laundry/rumpus room!

Don't know why I felt I needed to.
Maybe it was because I could never find things.
Maybe it was because I had to move a ton of stuff before I could even make a card.
Maybe it was because I felt 'My New Baby" deserved better. 
Whatever the reason, it was time, and I love the results!

It is more open, and seems more spacious, and things are definitely easier to find.
Now I have to LABEL EVERYTHING. 

REALLY. Cause I won't remember where I put anything, or where it goes when I am done using it. 

But first?
I gotta find the label maker.  :)

Pictures to follow.

What do I say to speak into the most divisive issue of our age? 

When I was younger, it was abortion. 
 Today, it is gay rights.
And I have gay children that I love with all my heart.
But that does not change the truth.
And the truth, to me boils down to this:

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Just because you can refute scripture, and justify the issue, doesn't make it the best thing.
Maybe it makes it ok, but it doesn't make it the best choice.

Here's what I mean.

I've been feeling a bit down the last few days. Nothing serious, just feeling under the weight of my children's choices, and hurting as a result. I know, I should be beyond the grief of it. And most of the time I am. But sometimes, I just forget. And I wander into the pit again and feel sad. 

And if I am not careful, I begin to try to figure it out again, and I end up looking at the pain, and the here and now, instead of looking at Him, and trusting He is doing what He needs to do.

This time, it was a result of a conversation, an email, and some facebook posts. 

And before I knew it, I found myself hurt, and under the weight of all of the mess again.

There was a TV show when I was a kid called, "What's My Line".

On it, the contestant tried to stump the panel of celebrities as they asked him or her about their line of work. Basically, the panel asked questions about what the contestant did as a job, and they only had a few questions each, and if the person could stump the panel, the contestant won.  It was a funny show, with even funnier jobs. 

I used to wonder what I was supposed to be when I grew up. Still do, sometimes. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever grow up. Thank God he is patient with me! 

But no matter what profession we choose, or what we do, we have a calling.

A High Calling. 

Well, my 23 year old Viking #1 could not be fixed. At least the guy at King Sewing and Vac couldn't figure it out. I didn't want to replace it, but I hate to be without a machine, even just to do minor repairs. To be honest, I have a little Janome machine that is my son's, but it is very basic, and sounds like a freight train. My youngest daughter, Faith has an old Singer, but it hasn't been working very well, either.  I didn't want to spend a fortune, and really, all I wanted it to do was a beautiful straight stitch, zigzag, blind hem, and buttonhole. 

I really didn't even look. I know new machines are ridiculously priced, especially if they are made decently. And by that I mean NOT PLASTiC. So I just resigned myself to waiting, and trying to make due with my son's freight train and the old Singer that was breaking thread in the bobbin about every 10th stitch. Yuck. 

My dear husband, Don was the one who started searching and researching, and sending me to the Juki website. We were tossed between the F400 and the F600, and had mostly decided to get the F400. For the money, there didn't seem to be any reason to go up to the F600. 

God gave me peace about the decision, and I was really happy about it. So I began to look online, and found a store that had a good price and free shipping, and I was ready to order it, but God said wait. So I waited for direction. I felt I needed to find a shop that was local for many reasons, but mostly because I felt like God wanted me to. So I did some research and found a shop, Stuart Sewing and Vac that had both machines in stock. (why do all sewing machine shop names seem to include "and Vac" and actually sell vacuums? Maybe that is their bread and butter and the sewing machines are just for fun? I really wonder). 

I knew the drive would take over and hour, and I wanted to just jump in the car to go get one. But I knew God was telling me to wait. To be patient. So finally by the end of the week, I was able to go, and Don wanted to go with me. That was great, because I knew if he wanted to go, he was ready to buy. I had spoken to the guy on the phone too, and he said I could bring Faith's Singer and they would do a "10 minute assessment! YAY!!!