time moves....

"Time is too slow for those who wait, swift for those who fear, long for those who grieve,short for those who rejoice but for those who love, time is an eternity" from Henry VanDyke a short story writer and poet.

We've all waited for something spectacular and time moved like a turtle, spent moments that seemed like hours in fear, thought that our time grieving would never end and our time for celebrating ended way too soon. Hopefully we all know the eternity of love - loving someone and being loved. If not from the human kind, at least from the God of the Universe - the example of love.

Tomorrow I return to northern Michigan from our retirement home in North Carolina. I will spend a few days celebrating with my friend of 40 years and give her the "Still Waters" quilt I made for her. I named it for the water colors and batiks with sailboats and flowing streams of colors and for the Bible verse, Psalm 23:2-3 "and He leads my beside the still waters and restores my soul"

We met 40 years ago the first of this month and since I think maintaining a friendship for that long is rare, I suggested that we try to commemorate that in some way. So, I will fly into Traverse City and then we will drive up to Lake Superior and spend a quiet 3 days in the most northern tip of Michigan...talking. Coffee and conversation is the order of the day.

Relationships do take time, especially long distance ones. I believe with all the important use of our time, the planning, organizing and executing - people are more important than things. The time we spend in our relationships will indeed last forever. We are forever touched by our relationships and they live on thru people to other people and generations. Even my quilts will someday wear out but love and touching other people will not.

I did not get a quilt piece done before leaving for this trip, that I very much wanted to complete. I am going to try to sell this piece and it's for Halloween. I will return around the 5th and will take it to my friend that has a shop and hopefully there will still be enough days left that someone will stop in and it will catch their eye for their home. I know that these fall weekends will fly by and the customers are out and about checking out the fall color and cooler weather. Hopefully I won't be too late. But, sometimes we have to make choices with our precious time moments and relaxing and refreshing the mind and spirit are the most precious gems of all. For what are we worth if we are carved out of haste and fret and worry and regret.

I believe in using time wisely and efficiently and being organized and completing things - but I refuse to feel guilty about slowing down at times too. That makes me so much more worthwhile to accomplish the other things.

So if you didn't get something done today, or this week and you are "beating yourself up" about it. Take a good hard look at why - if it meant you needed some refresh time or time to invest in a relationship, I hope you will consider that use of your time worth more than gold. Remember that He leads us beside the still waters to calm us and give us a sense of peace. Take time to enjoy the "still waters".

I also wanted to begin sharing with you some blocks from Women of The Bible Quilt project - some 400 women around the country work on this every year by internet. Carolyn in Goshen, Indiana wrote the Bible Study and each week we get a new lady's story from the Bible along with a study relating to that story. Also, we do a new block each week for each lady's story to have 52 in the completed quilt. I am on my second year in trying to complete the quilt for my kitchen. I have included a couple blocks and the web site for the whole study.

http://www.patternsoffaith.com/QuiltGallery.php

I'll share about my "time" with my friend Kathy when I return next week. Have a good one and relax!

...making every moment count - maybe for eternity by restoring my soul ~ Wendy