Skagit Valley Sprint

Skagit Valley Sprint

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Revelations

It was another hard, sorrowful week.  My Mother-in-Law Linda passed away on Tuesday, October 4, 2011.  Her funeral was this last Monday, the 10th at the Belgrade Baptist Church.  My family and I hopped in the car and made the long, 9 hour, 545 mile journey to Belgrade, Montana, traveling with my husband's cousins and aunt.  Though the journey's purpose was mournful, we had a good time texting, making facebook posts and drag-racing along the way.  We arrived and helped assemble poster-boards full of photos taken throughout the many years of Linda's life, we had a campfire in the back yard and visited with not-often-seen relatives and as a tribute to her, I made a floral arrangement full of the flowers that she loved, sunflowers, roses, carnations, gladiolas and her favorite of all...butterflies.  We attended the memorial service and listened for an hour as many in the congregation shared stories of Linda and how she touched their lives. Pastor Curtis's eulogy was more of a reflection on Linda's Bible study notes and how, despite the disappointment of the certain death she faced, Linda still read scripture and studied God's word in search of meaning...one of the last things she told me is that everything would be alright and to read my Bible...and I mean to do just that (I have been lax in that department)

I learned many things during those 4 days, some of them disappointing as many of you I'm sure can identify with, given the nature of people...I learned that a wife and a mother can't possibly console a husband and 2 young men at once (even worse is that my boys are impossibly tall, which makes hugging difficult) that it's beyond heartbreaking to watch your children experience life-changing loss, knowing that you can't begin to comfort them or take away the pain they are going through.  That Linda was a woman of deep abiding faith despite what had to have been a huge disappointment to learn that she was losing her fight against  leukemia and lymphoma.  Despite that disappointment, she still was eager to let you know that she wasn't afraid to go, that she knew her Lord and Savior AND most important of all, she wanted her friends and family to know Him too...which brings me to the real purpose for this post.

Bible study...

As you can see, I was given a Bible by my church when I should have gone through Confirmation in 7th grade.  In high school, I became a Christian and started reading the Bible, even taking a class my senior year called Bible as Lit.  We read through the entire Bible as if it were common literature, this was back in 1982-3 and you could still recite the pledge of Allegiance but any Bible study had to take place off-campus. I attended those weekly studies and have attended church over the years, but still am left with a burning question of how does one go about studying God's word???...this is where YOU might come in...is there a certain book that you would recommend? I've known enough to read a Proverbs and a Psalm a day.  I've listened and read Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen's tv show and podcast, but still that curiosity remains...WHERE to begin? I am open for suggestion on where to begin this journey...

On a quilty note, I hope to regain the creative spirit soon...there's much to finish; ome small section of machine quilting on a baby quilt for a sweet little miss born in (cringe) August, the camper quilt, one more section of large stitch hand quilting on the bento box swap quilt, some stitches to pick (and re-cutting a couple of rectangles that I just didn't pay attention to the proper size) on the portrait gallery quilt, courage to either lop off the edges of some hexies or hand sew the borders on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt and do some applique on the final large border...yes, I so need to get out of my funk and get motivated!!!

3 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry for your family's loss. Death is never an easy thing to deal with, emotionally or spiritually. If I wanted to learn more about God's Word, I would look around area churches until I found one that offers a Beth Moore Bible study... any of her Bible studies! I am currently taking my eighth series of Beth Moore studies, and I can't say enough positive things about the content of each and every one of them. A series of lessons involves "homework" five days a week, between video sessions, but it's worth the effort. It's Bible time! It's also soul-searching and prayer time. I strongly encourage you to find a church, any church, that's offering one of her studies. You won't be disappointed. Blessings on you and your family.

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  2. Sorry Andrea for your loss. I agree with Linda, find a church that has a Bible study. Beth Moore is a great teacher. There are also a lot more out there like Kay Arthur inductive studies.

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  3. Hi Andrea
    Sounds like your week has been rougher than mine.
    I'm touched that you left me a kind comment when you yourself are having a hard time.

    Thank goodness for quilting,
    it's my religion.

    Clare xx

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