Lou's LuoPads

LuoPads

Luo: (Greek) to loose, to set free

A couple years ago a friend shared about a huge need for girls and women overseas. She has been able to personally help meet this need by giving out LuoPads in Africa as well as by facilitating the making of them by volunteers.

As the LuoPad Connection Facebook page (here) explains:

LuoPads are washable, reusable feminine hygiene pads. 
LuoPads help restore dignity and reveal the hope of Christ to women in the toughest places on earth.

Yes, the best part of this project is how those who receive LuoPads also have the opportunity to hear of the ultimate reason for our hope -- Jesus! Elsa and I dream of having friends over to help make these en masse. But for now we are just managing to put in a little time each week to meet our quota of "1 item sold = 1 LuoPad donated" on our Etsy shop.

Flannel February

Winter is a good time for some of us to find more time to sew. So that must be why we run out of flannel in February! We thought it was just us, but no, Flannel February has become a yearly drive for the volunteers who gather weekly to make LuoPads at the GAiN Logistics Center in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. (See contact info. at the bottom of this post.)

Click here if you want to help supply flannel for this project. Or, if you know me personally, feel free to get in touch about how to send flannel our way. :-)

This photo brings a smile and an ache to those of us privileged to know Lou (the mother of the friend who first told us of LuoPads.) Lou died suddenly last month at a young 74 years. Since losing her husband 12 years ago, she had poured herself into making humanitarian aid and gifts for her daughter to bring overseas. That included 3,955 LuoPads!

The photo above is from their shopping trip last November to stock up on flannel for this winter's sewing.

 

We don't know why Jesus called Lou home now. She is greatly missed.

But I have already heard of people being inspired by her example. A church is finishing up all the sewing she had waiting. New sewing machines are being purchased for the weekly sewing group in PA. And Elsa and I are more determined than ever to keep making LuoPads as we are able.

Maybe you want to help as well??

The Process

We begin with flannel and towels - used are fine, so long as they're clean and sturdy.

Tracing and cutting are the first steps. 

   

Several layers of towel get sewn onto a piece of flannel.

Another piece of flannel is attached, wrong side out, leaving a gap for turning all inside-out.

Once turned, the little gap is pinned and the whole perimeter is top-stitched.

Lastly, the stitches through the towel are followed once more to hold all layers together.

They are then ready to be sent to Global Aid Network where more volunteers install snaps (unless you have your own snap-machine as Lou did.)

GAiN Global Logistics Center | 1506 Quarry Road | Mount Joy, PA 17552 | 717-285-4220

Still Dews of Quietness

"Dear Lord and Father of mankind,

forgive our foolish ways;

reclothe us in our rightful mind,

in purer lives Thy service find,

in deeper reverence, praise.

"In simple trust like theirs who heard,

beside the Syrian sea,

the gracious calling of the Lord,

let us, like them, without a word,

rise up and follow Thee.

"Drop Thy still dews of quietness,

till all our strivings cease; 

take from our souls the strain and stress,

and let our ordered lives confess

the beauty of Thy peace."

John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892

Belated Birthday

With lots of illness in both households, Maren's birthday party was postponed till all could enjoy it more.

Valentine's Treats

We try to do something special with food on Valentine's evening.

Cauliflower hummus for Elsa and me

I hear that the tradition of a special Valentine's dessert dates back at least to Mom's mom.

Cherry crumbles for all

Topped with coconut milk

Dad surprised Mom with a delivery of roses. They have remained one of our most amazing rose bouquets to enjoy for an entire week! 

Be Still, and Wait Patiently

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him." Psalm 37:7a

Name That Flower

I often find myself struggling for words - even familiar ones - as I go through years of what is commonly becoming known as "brain fog." But the funny thing is, if I can't come up with the word in English, sometimes it comes more easily in Russian! Or occasionally Chinese or Spanish... though my vocabulary in those tongues is now extremely limited.

Example: 

What is the name of this flower?

After some muddled moments, I can unearth the name, герань.
(pronounced "gye-rahn" with rolled "r" and palatalized "n")

Then the similar sounds help me come around to the English name of "geranium."

Bet you came up with the name faster than me!! ;-)

This particular geranium plant has brought us joy for several years now. The photos above are from its first season in 2014. A blog post (here) from last spring shows it dressed in the milder shade of salmon into which it fades during winters indoors.

Last autumn as we once again began hauling pots indoors and covering delicate plants in the garden every chilly night, we had to ask some questions. How many pots can we really fit in the house through the winter? How many do we really want to have to water weekly?

Since the geranium had become my "pet," it was up to me to make the decision. I hardened my heart, took a couple cuttings that I knew may not even root, and let the plant freeze.

Indoors, the glass with my cuttings languished for weeks. Then months. They got thrown out by someone cleaning once, but I had just been thinking I might be seeing a hint of activity at the cut end. So I fished them out of the compost pail and set the glass in an out-of-the-way window-sill once more.

This January, I was surprised to see a mass of hairy roots filling the glass! One cutting had died, but the other had finally thrived!

It didn't take long once potted to open its first tiny bud.

 

XOXO

I've long known that the letters "X" and "O" are used to add "love" in written English. But I guess I never know really knew why... or what they specifically stood for.

So, who should I ask, but an online search engine? Thanks to the Urban Dictionary, I am informed that "X" denotes a kiss and "O" a hug.

My curiosity still not satisfied, I search further, and Wikipedia fills in some background:

The common custom of placing "X" on envelopes, notes and at the bottom of letters to mean kisses dates back to the Middle Ages, when a Christian cross was drawn on documents or letters to mean sincerity, faith, and honesty. A kiss was then placed upon the cross by the signer as a display of their sworn oath. It was also used in early Christian history as much of a display of the same.

Whether or not that is the true source, I like that! After all, the cross of Christ was the place of ultimate love.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

And then back to Wikipedia:

There is speculation on the internet from at least one original source that the 'O' is...

Well, that sounds rather iffy. I'll think I'll wait for a more reputable source. :-)

But I can picture the circle representing how we want to surround someone with a hug.

As wonderful as a human hug is, how about being surrounded with an infinite, unfailing love?!

"the LORD'S unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him."
Psalm 32:10

Now that's a HUG! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tracking

Snow is great at catching tracks to show us some of the wildlife that is busy when we're not looking.

This tiny trail must be from a mouse.

Did it emerge from, or hide at, this dead-end?!

Is this a rabbit trail or that of one of our busy squirrels? 

And then there's a mysterious, lumbering trail, here sifted in with drifting snow. What could have made that?!

How about the snowshoes that I got out after at least 3 years on the shelf!? Filling bird feeders one day required that extra help for the deeper drifts. But I forgot what extra muscles are required by that form of locomotion!

Second Year Blossoms

Our first try at "summering over" an amaryllis bulb was a beautiful success!

Foreign Mail

Most of our packages around here contain supplements or specialty groceries. So it is very special when a surprise package arrives. And it is exponentially fun when it comes from friends overseas!

These aprons came from friends who want us to pray for their ministry every time we use them.

Can you tell we're related?! ;-)

And this package covered with traditional (not simplified) Chinese characters is from my friend in Taiwan. Each Christmas she sends an amazing tea.

We are careful not to run out of this company's amazing green tea before the next Christmas rolls around!

Reaping the Whirlwind

"Our cultural revolution began decades ago and we are now reaping the whirlwind.

"Ironically, that revolution began during the Vietnam War when academics railed against any involvement in another country's affairs regardless of what was happening. The media fought the war then and we lost on the battlefield. 

"The media is fighting the ideological war now and our culture is losing. We have become captive to the views and the news of ideologues whose relativistic values are absolutized when they hate.

"We now hear very little about what really matters and an awful lot about what matter very little. It's like knowing everything about a disease except what causes it and how to treat it."

Ravi Zacharias, November 2016

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

Surprisingly, much of our December was too cold to play in the snow. Not that you couldn't be out there skiing or snowshoeing with the right gear, but the snow simply won't stick together when it's too cold.

Such as... 27 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit!

But one day in January the sun came out and the air was well above zero. So I reached out the porch door with my bare hands and built a little snowman!

Later in the month, we had a very slushy day. While out for a little fresh air in the evening, the snow became irresistible.

Though I began with a traditional, three-balled snowman in mind, it eventually changed into none other than "Snoopy." Or is it his chubbier brother, Olaf? [That thought brought much amusement in our home due to "Elsa's" snowman with that name. Disney has forever changed our associations with those names...]

Part of the fun of building my snow-dog was that it was the first time I really put my wool mittens to the test.

These are the very first pair of Norwegian mittens I made a couple years ago. Now I have made around twenty pair!

Guess what! You can see how wet the slush was from which I shaped "SnOlaf," but not a drop of moisture reached my hands. God's creation of wool is amazing! It just got even cosier and warmer as the slush and rubbing motions helped to gently felt my mittens.

Christmas Goodies 2016

Thanks to a friend's amazing gluten-free recipe, Dad was able to make his Norwegian Krumkake again!

Since the recipe is actually grain-free, Elsa and I could eat it as soon as she can handle eggs again! But for Dad's pallet, I swapped out the dairy-free ingredients to his familiar milk and butter. It was a hit!

Since all of our traditional Christmas baking is "out" for Elsa and me, we just try to enjoy new things. Like these plantain chips dipped in "caramel" made from dates. The amazing thing was that this combination actually reminded me of Grandma's date-topped town-house crackers. A special gift!

You can see Grandma's cookies in the upper-right of the 7th photo on the post here.