A Lesson in Perseverance

September has already marked the completion of my ninety-first pair of mittens. Now they are on their way to Canada to help raise funds for a ministry that brings the light of the gospel of Christ to some of the darkest places on earth.

When I offered to design a unique "Persian Rug" pattern for my friends in this ministry, I had no concerns about finishing them on time. There was more than a month available. But for a variety of reasons, the first mitten didn't turn out. No big deal. I ripped it out and reworked the pattern. 

That was only the beginning of many pattern adjustments and daily problems. One would think that after making ninety pairs of mittens, the process should be easy, right?! Well, one complication was this being my first time to use three colors, which threw my tension out of control. Another was using a finer wool yarn than usual to get the more detailed design. And the rest of the problems were simply dumbfounding.

After nearly 3 weeks, I finally had a pair complete; a process that could have taken less than one week. All that remained was to let them dry from the wet-blocking process. When I found the dense wool still damp a couple of humid days later, I thought I'd finish off the process by sticking them in the turned-off oven a while after we pulled out our supper. 

That would have worked brilliantly... IF I had remembered to take the mittens out that evening. But when I came down the following morning, the kitchen smelled pretty awful. The oven was preheating, and my brain froze with the horror of pulling out the odorous pair with white yarn now the color of a toasted marshmallow. 

It only got worse as I flipped them over. I just stood there and prayed as my sister tried to comfort me. And God clearly gave me His peace.

When I could breathe again, I went straight to my yarn stash, then to the pattern and a scale. Was there enough yarn left to make another pair? Yes! Was there enough time left? Two weeks... should be fine. Next came another reworking of the pattern to fine-tune more details.

Then followed another eight days of baffling problems. Every day I tore out hours of work - knitting and re-knitting what should have been easy on this second pair. Even if my little project was not worthy of enemy attention, it felt like a battle to fight for the Kingdom of God. I know He certainly used these weeks to test my patience and perseverance and to remind me to pray for the people facing much bigger battles as they carry the Truth around the world.

Four weeks (and the equivalent of knitting at least seven mittens) later, I set a new pair to dry in the breeze coming from an air-filter. Success! The only quirk with this pair is that one has a slightly darker base-color than the other since I ran out of the matching grey dye lot. Maybe the winners of these mittens can use that as a reminder to pray for the missionaries they are helping to support - as they persevere through their own difficult days.

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, 

for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." 

Galations 6:9

Meet Frances

One of many reasons that I have not found time to blog for a couple of weeks is named...

Frances.

Going on three months old and one of ten kittens shared by two mothers, it was time to begin moving out when one mother quit helping feed this demanding litter!

The first couple days were a shock to her system and required a lot of sleep. But right from the start we have been her best friends!

PET ME!!!

While learning to know us, Frannie is living in the cat-proofed porch with expeditions onto the deck and surrounding flower beds and lawn. After initially being a cause for fear, now Frances really wants to befriend our older cat, but Gully isn't quite ready for this drastic change from years of quiet life. 

So much energy is disconcerting to a sedate, old-maid cat. She never knows when a fur-ball will come bouncing in from any direction. It actually is bringing back some of Gully's playfulness with us, though only hisses for the newbie. Unfortunately she doesn't remember nine years ago when she was in that very relation to our then-elderly-cat, Fouette.

We tell Maren and Jason we are practicing for when Baby comes by texting cute photos!

The goal in adding a kitten to our farm is to help keep our older cat warm in winter. But Frances has already brought us the gift of much more laughter as well as cosy times of cuddling and thinking ahead to being active aunties as we work to train, protect, and help this "toddler" learn!

Beautiful Flaws

These orchids aren't "meant" to have so many fancy petals. In year after year of blooms, this is the first time it broke out in a riot of ruffles. 

Another orchid also mutated one blossom - but this into a less colorful version. 

This little part of God's creation continues to add joy and wonder to my days.

Children's Books for All Ages

Some days our weary brains need a break from grown-up books and audio-books, and we return to favorites from childhood and youth. 

Little Women, Laura Ingalls, The Chronicles of Narnia, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Secret Garden, The Princess and the Goblin, Treasures of the Snow, and more... We recently chuckled over even The Boxcar Children. 

But the best are the kind described below which contain more of a harvest to be gleaned every time you re-read them - no matter your age!

"But I find I have been forgetting that those for whom I write are young—too young to understand this. Let it remain, however, for those older persons who at an odd moment, while waiting for dinner, or before going to bed, may take up a little one’s book, and turn over a few of its leaves. Some such readers, in virtue of their hearts being young and old both at once, discern more in the children’s books than the children themselves."

From Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood, by George MacDonald

First Kofte

If you recall from some winter posts (here, here and here) - Elsa and I entered a new field of knitting with the Norwegian kofte (cardigan/jacket/sweater) this year.

After swatching...

... and then ordering Norwegian yarn... 

... the adventure began! 

The first yoke was too small and the final yoke too large! But I learned a lot and still have a very warm kofte.

The scariest new skill learned was "steeking" - knitting in the round with a strip of extra stitches, then reinforcing along both sides of the steek stitches and taking out the scissors to cut it open!

Next came hours of sealing the raw edges in a knitted sheath, knitting the button band and button hole band, and adding traditional Norwegian pewter buttons!

Though this was finished back in April, it is still awaiting the last step of wet-blocking to smooth out stitches and adjust the shaping. Then I have a reason to look forward to cold days again!

On we go!

An audiobook that helped pass hours of our drive home from Florida contained some gems to apply to this life of faith amid dark trials.

"When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he had; for it was just as dark as with them shut. No one was anywhere near him. Just imagine his fright! He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor.

... 'Go back?' he thought. 'No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go! So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter."

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein, chapter 5

Of course God's word has something to say about this as well!

"But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. - Proverbs 4:25-26

And I am reminded of a bit from George MacDonald:

"And when she could no longer hope, she did not stand still but walked on in the dark. I think when the sun rises upon them, some people will be astonished to find how far they have got on in the dark."

The Lady's Confession, first published as Paul Faber

Dealing with Apostasy

I don't usually use this blog to address news items. But as the recently publicized apostasy of a former leader in Christian circles could cause destructive confusion among those who respected and learned from him in the past, it helps to once again "Be still and know that [God is] God." (Psalm 46:10)

An excellent blog post today from author, teacher, and pastor Eric Ludy helps get the focus back on our faithful God. Don't form your opinion without reading the post in full at this link, but here are a couple excerpts to get started:

"This is one of my very first posts on my new blog about fatherhood. At first, this may seem like a strange way to start things out. But it just might be the perfect way. Because this is an issue of passing a baton from father to son. I have a fourteen-year-old son who is hearing about Joshua Harris and wondering why someone who once stood strongly on matters of godly marriage and purity could suddenly go in such an opposite direction. 

"The integrity of the Church is currently hanging in the balance. Joshua Harris’s public rejection of purity is not merely a threat to healthy male/female relationships. In reality, this issue is a direct attack against the very cornerstone of godly masculinity and godly femininity. It’s a direct attack on the character, nature, and constancy of our God. It is an attack on the sacred roll call of such heavenly superstars as purity, holiness, love, faithfulness, long-suffering, humility, and grace. And don’t forget, the entire idea of marriage itself is wrapped up in this debacle. 

"You can mockingly call it a “Purity Culture” if you like. But I stand by the fact that when God takes hold of a man or woman, He builds them into vessels that are pure, honorable, and noble channels through which His truth, love, kindness, and grace can flow freely and unhindered. Call me a kook if you want, but I still stand with God’s pattern for building lifelong love stories. When we arrive in Heaven someday soon, we will all discover that Heaven is a culture of purity. So we might as well get used to it, don’t you think?"

-Eric Ludy, Ellerslie Mission Societyhttps://ericludy.com/eric-ludy-responds-to-joshua-harris-part-1/