Summer Adventures

When I set off on my summer adventures around China almost three weeks ago, I said that one of my goals for my travels was to take time to write.  Unfortunately I didn’t write down exactly what I wanted to write or why I wanted to write it, but write was the goal and so now, on my last full day in my favorite location so far, I’m writing.

Maybe I should write about why I’m on this trip? Why I decided to attempt only train travel (oops…two flights and five train rides isn’t so bad, right?  I mean 3 of the train rides are longer than 9 hours, so that counts for something!) wouldn’t be a terrible topic?  Why I chose my destinations, maybe?  

When we had to make decision about summer, there still wasn’t access to the vaccine for our staff and I was honestly dreading heading to the States.  I love my friends and family on that side of the world…truly I’m absolutely crazy about them.  Unfortunately, though, one of the realities of being an expat (someone who lives outside of their home country/culture by choice) is that trips home become overloaded crazy times.  There have been summers where I’m home for three weeks and have 3 or 4 scheduled times with different people each day.  I used to be a bit in awe of my ability to see everyone and do everything, but a few years ago it became clear that I was returning to China more exhausted then when I left (an impressive feat).  Bekah Teusink had to take back summers from herself.  So when I didn’t have the vaccine and I knew that I would come back more tired than when I left if I wasn’t careful, staying in China became the best option for me.

Side note - just because it was the best option for me doesn’t mean it was the only option or the best option for other people. If this season of Covid-19 has taught me anything, it is that we are all oh so different and have to make decisions based on our unique circumstances, needs, and priorities. 

So I decided to stay in China, but then the question became what was I going to do with this rare gift of a summer in China where travel was possible.  I started reflecting on the journeys I’ve made before in this vast country and the journeys I had talked about making.  My first summer here, I went to Yangshuo with a few friends and had a marvelous time (except for the 25 hour train ride each direction…that was not my favorite).  I remembered staring at the mountains and being absolutely mesmerized.  Maybe I could do that again?  

And there were those mountains, the rainbow mountains, that Sarah and I had always talked about going to but were always discouraged by others about because they were too far, not real, and not worth it.  Maybe it was time to make that journey.

Oh wait, what about that trip with friends that I was supposed to take in February to Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge?   Maybe this was the time to journey in that direction with them and enjoy some time with one fo my favorite families.  Oooo and there’s a friend from high school that lives near there too!  Shangri-la would be a great spot to stop too!

And of course there was Shanghai, the historic city that I had only ever visited because of Disneyland.  Lame, Teusink.  You’ve got to go there!

And there it was.  My itinerary.  I started looking at hotels.  A retreat right on the river in Yangshuo?  Done.  A yurt just outside the geological park at the rainbow mountains?  Perfect.

I set off on an 18-hour train ride the day after school got out with everything I thought I needed for almost 4 weeks away packed into a carry-on suitcase, a duffle bag for snacks (cuz train rides!), and a backpack with a few books to read and leave along the way and the necessary electronics.  The backpack also had my craft project needs for four weeks - some crocheting supplies, a ridiculously overambitious cross-stitch project, and a few small projects friends had gifted me to work on.

My first stop was Zhangye, Gansu.  I got to my little yurt hotel (which I LOVED!) and immediately showered, because 18 hours on a train, and then walked over the to Geopark.  I got my ticket and headed into the park.  They have a little shuttle bus that takes you around the park and I got on it as quickly as possible and headed to the first stop.  After a bit of walking to get to the first viewpoint, my breath caught in my throat and I started crying.  Because wow.

After some reflection and a few conversations with friends, I‘ve been told that most people wouldn’t necessarily cry at that view.  So why did I?  Well, because getting to these mountains was closure on so many China hopes and dreams.  For 9 years I’ve thought about going here.  9 years of being told it was too difficult, not real, and not worth it.  But I got there.  I ventured to this place that Sarah and I had dreamed about and finally got to see if it was indeed real (which in case you haven’t figured it out already - it was!). Making the journey probably would have made me cry anyways, but going at it on my own brought the tears to a new level.  

In this life of mine in China, I’ve said hello and goodbye to a lot of people.  This is the way expat life goes.  People come, people go. Things change. You change.  It is what it is.  But standing looking at these wonders of creation, I was both in celebration mode and in mourning mode.  Sarah should have been there with me.  Other friends should have been able to see it.  I shouldn’t have been there alone…and I wasn’t alone.  All of those layers brought me to tears.  Delight and sorry and joy and accomplishment and loss.  All the feels.  And I’m still oh so glad that I finally made it there! Truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and gift.

The next stop of the journey was Lijiang, with its historic old town and amazing mountain views. 

We wandered and ate and hiked and pondered all of the things.  What a gift it was to spend a week with friends that I’ve known throughout my China life and who know me oh so well.  Whose kids I’ve been able to love on and cry with and watch grow up.  They push me to grow and keep me laughing along the way.  While I’d rather not climb all the stairs, the views sure were worth it.  There weren’t tears on this leg of the journey…just delight.

.

The next leg of the journey was visiting a life-long friend and her family in Shangri-La for a few nights, getting to reconnect with her and get to know her family while seeing a new corner of the country and experiencing snippets of plateau culture (especially food!). It was a gift to see the company that they have built (click here if you want to check it out) and to share so many stories from days gone by.  It was chilly and cloudy while I was there, but still oh so beautiful.

After a week and a bit of people-ing (which really was lovely), it was time for a week in a familiar setting with just myself and my thoughts for a bit.  Going back to Yangshuo for seven days was a dream come true.  Taking the time to just stare at the mountains, to just listen to the river, to just be.  My room had an amazing view and I was able to just sit on my balcony and be.  My goal for each day was to get out of the hotel for at least a walk if not for more of an adventure.  I took a cooking class, learned a bit about Chinese watercolor painting, rented a scooter and explored for an afternoon, and did oh so much cross-stitching! 

While it was beautiful to come back to a familiar corner of the country, it was also a bit heartbreaking at times.  On the day I rented a scooter, I went back to Xingping, the quiet little town that we stayed in for a week all those years ago.  Xingping then was a tourist trap by day but had no hotels other than the youth hostel that we stayed at and had so many quiet corners.  The road that we traveled in to Yangshuo on back then was a little one-lane track and there was so much open countryside that we had to traverse to get anywhere else.  Now, that is not the case. Two lane roads and little roadside stops line the hour drive.  And Xingping itself? Not at all the quaint little town that lived in my memory. I stopped at the place where we had stayed all those years ago to get a milkshake and gain my bearings, because goodness gracious I was shook from the vast gap between by expectoration and reality.  There may have been a few tears shed (there were) as I realized that and came to terms with it. 

The lesson I was reminded of in a big way — things change…and that’s okay.  They’re supposed to.  And guess what? We change to. But not everything does.  We have to hold on to those anchors.

And now I’ve got one leg of the journey left.  I’ll head to Shanghai tomorrow and spend four days there with a friend before heading back to Chengdu.  The mountain portion of my journey is almost over, so now I’m going to stop writing and just enjoy the view for as long as I possible can.

Affirmations

I haven't written for a while.  Shocker...I know.

It's a busy season, the world is crazy, I'm tired...I've got lots fo excuses.  But instead of why I haven't written, I'd rather focus on why I'm writing.

It's mid-March and the end of the year seems to be just around the corner, which means it's time for Senior Departure Seminar.  This has long been one of my favorite weekends of the year.  In a "normal" year, we travel to Beijing with students from our schools around China and prepare together for these soon to be graduates to leave well.  We talk through all sorts of things and get ready for what is next.  One of the hardest but most important parts of this time, in my opinion, is the school affirmations.

We stand in a line/circle/oval thing and then pair up with the person across from us and spend a minute or two affirming them.  We say why they're important. We say why we value them.  We say what's on our hearts.

To be honest, it's always a bit awkward.  Some you know well, some you have never spoken to...we embrace the awkward and lean in, though.

For some reason after we finished these affirmations today, I had the need to debrief the activity with the students. We talked about what was hard about it and what was good about it.

And I realized something, thanks to these amazing students, that I had never realized before:

When we receive multiple affirmations in a row, there are generally themes.  And those themes?  They are often a reflection of our gifts.

What a gift this revelation was to me today.

I've got to be honest, in the busyness of the tasks of the school year, I sometimes forget why I do what I do. 

I forget that I started out as a teacher, helping students learn and grow in a specific subject area (or in multiple subjects as a classroom teacher).

I forget the lasting impact of hard conversations with students who are struggling.

I forget the long memories of students who remember the teachers who took the time to love them through  their learning process.

Today, they didn't let me forget.

They talked about back in middle school when they were a "bad student" and I was willing to slow down and go step by step to help them with what they didn't understand. 

They talked about feeling nervous at school but feeling safe in my classroom.  

They talked about knowing I must be busy but being thankful that I always had time to help them solve a problem. 

They talked about my dedication to our students and school. 

They talked about my love for them.

And I had forgotten.

Friends, I was made to work with students.  

I was made to dive in and dive deep and lend a hand.  

I was made to share stories and live memories with people in their awkward middle years.

I know it will look different in different seasons, that what I have with the students I have right now, as someone who taught them and then became their principal, is rare and precious and won't happen again. I know that I am in a beautiful sweet spot and I should enjoy it.  And I intend to.

What a gift.

Hey do me a favor...go affirm someone you care for.  Tell them why they're special.  Tell them what impact they've had on you.  Who knows what impact it could have.  It might remind them what they were made for.

And me?  I was made for this.

2020 - The Year of "Pause"

For the last few years, I have picked a word of the year.  A word that I choose to meditate on, to pray over, and to grow in.

In 2016 (or maybe 2017...), that word was trust.

In 2018, it was rest.

2019 was the year of perspective.

And for 2020, yep...I chose pause.

Pause.

There were so many thoughts behind that choice, but let me share the top two with you.

1 - I wanted to take time to breathe.  To think.  To give myself a beat.

And boy oh boy did I get a beat.  The whole world did.

After the conference/retreat that I went to in the summer of 2019, which was called Breathe, I had a renewed understanding of how much rest and refreshment I really needed to be okay.  Pause just felt right.

2 - I was tired.

I know, I know, if I'm tired then rest might need to be revisited.  But my exhaustion was going beyond that which sleep would cure.  If I couldn't truly rejuvenate, restart, realign myself beyond just sleep, I was worried that I was going to lose my mind.

Sooo...I had all sorts of plans.

Plans for a Spring Festival vacation with a friend to explore somewhere new and see old friends and just pause to drink it all in and enjoy it.

Plans for a summer in North America to see family and friends and explore a bit.

Plans for a semester in a new role, preparing for a sabbatical and helping new school leaders adjust.

Plans for a Christmas in France with friends coming along.

Plans to ring in 2021 with the start of a sabbatical and a whole new world on the horizon.

And let me tell you, January was great...

...and then the world changed.

So, what did I learn about pausing?

I learned that you can't always plan your pauses (like I tried to).  Sometimes the Father delivers them to you.  Maybe it's in the form of stay at home orders, or Home Based Learning, or quarantines.  

Maybe when a global pause starts, He allows you to spend 3 weeks at home with your parents, working in the middle of the night but being oh so well cared for by two of the most important people in your life, with long walks by quiet lakes and being up before the sunrise with delightful cups of coffee at all hours. 

Maybe in the pause of not knowing quite when to return, He allows you to see two family that you adore on your way back "home", not realizing that this will be the last time you see them with borders closing around the next corner.  You might also get to see your brother during this journey home...someone you love oh so dearly but don't see nearly enough. Meals shared and again the sunrises with cups of coffee will be a balm for the soul that you didn't know you needed.  

Maybe He gives you the pause of quarantine - 14 days of not walking out your front door.  Time to work and bake and cook and be.  Time when you get so tired of screens that you're comfortable starting at the ceiling and thinking for the first time in a long time.  Just being.  What a blessing.

Maybe sometimes He forces you to pause so that you can get to know yourself a bit better.  To make a list of wants and hopes and dreams.  To rediscover passions and ponder the life-changing moments that got you to this moment.  Maybe, just maybe, sometimes He forces you to pause so that you can get comfortable with yourself again. 

And maybe He forces the world to pause to remind you (and others, I'm sure), that nothing is certain.  That every moment is precious.  That you've got to tell the people that you care.  Because each moment could be it.

I'm sorry if my word of the year caused issues for everyone else, but I am so thankful that Jesus and I took a long walk together, thinking on pause.

As we look forward to 2021, knowing it won't be perfect but eager for what's around the corner, my goal is to anticipate. I look forward to the unpacking of this word that is sure to come.

Plans Interrupted

Today felt like the right day to get Christmas up in my apartment.  It was my reward after a day of sorting and cleaning and getting rid of accumulated stuff/junk.  (The lady who cleans my building was quite excited to see me getting off the elevator with so many things I didn't want/need.)

We all know that 2020 has been a year of the unexpected, of sorrow, of change.  It's interesting when it hits me...when I remember just how different my plans and the reality of this year ended up being.

I was reminded of just how much has changed this afternoon when I opened up my box of Christmas decorations this afternoon.  When I packed it in January, I was packing it in preparation for a big move.  I carefully labelled the box with of the treasures that I wouldn't want to forget about or lose: my tree skirt that my mom hand quilted of Provençal fabrics, my Chengdu Christmas Starbucks mug, all of the ornaments that I've accumulated over the years. I wasn't supposed to open that box leading up to Christmas of 2020...I was supposed to be packing all of my things, heading on sabbatical, and preparing for whatever next had in store.

But here I am, in Chengdu, unpacking that box in the weeks before I was supposed to be tying a neat little bow on 8 and a half years in this city of mine. 

Instead of finishing a semester in a temporary role between roles, I'm in the middle of a year in the job I had stepped away from.  

Instead of preparing for a move, I've painted and upgraded and perked up this apartment of mine.  

Instead of a sabbatical, I'm in the midst of a season where leaving China for any reason at all means not being able to return while the world goes through a global pandemic and our borders remain essentially closed.

Instead of plans, I'm paused.  And that's okay...

As I sit in my living room, a Christmas-y candle lit and my twinkle lights and tree the only light in the room, I can't help but reflect on the many layers of grief and joy and unknowns that this year has held.

I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know He who holds my tomorrows.  I can't wait to look back on this season and see what bigger story was being written.

2020 Blessings - Part 1

Written July 25th...but forgot to hit Publish.  Oops :)


What a season 2020 has been.  Thankfully, I only sporadically blog anyway, so no one can blame 2020 or Covid-19 for my silence.  But I did feel the need to write today and process with you, dear friends, where I am at.

I know that this year has been hard for all of us, but I've been really trying to seek out the blessings despite the craziness going on in the world around me.  Can I share a few of those blessings that I've been especially thankful for with you?  I can?  Aw thanks! I'm going to write a bit of a series on the things that have been a blessing to me during this season of insanity and unknowns. We'll see how far into this series I get :)

1st Blessing - Mobility

I know that this is an unusual one in this season of borders being closed and quarantines, but let me explain (or at least summarize):

I first received news of the virus when I was in South Korea with a good friend on our Chinese New Year holiday.  It was just a day or two before we were traveling out of Seoul and into a city in Eastern China where some dear friends lived.  Masks started being more normal (welcome to Asia...we've been through big diseases before and masks are the immediate go to for prevention) and we started checking updates several times a day to see if we should be worried.  We bought a few masks and continued with our original plans.  Once we arrived in our next destination, we battened down the hatches, donned masks every time we went out, and settled in for a week of card playing and movie watching and just being.  Cities in China during the New Year are quiet, for sure, but this was a different kind of quiet.  Nevertheless, we enjoyed intentional time with friends and started to wonder what the rest of the school year would hold.

Our trip back to Chengdu was uneventful, but the thermometers were out at the airports and there was an extra layer of paperwork each step of the way.  Worry crept in, but again, it was early on in this whole situation.  We didn't know what we didn't know and luckily we were able to return home uneventfully.

Vacation ended and we began the journey of what our system called Home Based Learning.  I started working from home and prepared for the long-haul (2 or 3 weeks at most, right??).  Unfortunately, numbers continued to rise within China and the world was watching. I wasn't planning on leaving China at all, even as this novel coronavirus (remember when it was just called that??) continued to gain traction, but when my parents said it was time for me to get out for a bit and come to them, I didn't hesitate.  I don't see my parents very often.  Maybe once a year.  That's become very normal for our family, but when there is an opportunity to spend more than just a week or two working out of their apartment and doing life with them, I couldn't say no. 

What a blessing it was to be loved on and cared for by my amazing mom and dad.  To take long walks with my dad almost daily, to watch cooking shows with my mom and willingly be the taste-tester for her creations.  To explore new areas and do new things.  This was long before France had any cases and based on where I had been it was fairly clear that I hadn't brought anything with me.  This season was a gift.

But I knew I needed to get back home.  Europe is not a convenient time zone region to be in when your staff and students are in the US and Asia. 2 a.m. staff meetings and before the crack of dawn check-ins were wearing on me and I knew I needed to get back to at least Southeast Asia before things got more precarious, as they appeared to be doing.  My brother was in Malaysia at the time, working form his AirBNB online, and some dear friends from Chengdu were also there waiting out this storm.  I bought a one-way ticket, knowing that quarantine was a possibility when I returned to Chengdu and that if I was going to spend 14 days in my apartment alone I would have to have my people cup filled up first.

When I checked in in Marseille, they said you have to have an exit ticket from Malaysia (for visa purposes) before you can fly into the country.  Okay...$15 ticket to Singapore (where other dear friends were waiting out this virus) it is.

The week or so that I spent in Malaysia was so life-giving.  3 days with my brother, who I hadn't seen since October and likely wouldn't see for another year or two depending on both of our schedules, was a gift that I didn't expect to receive.  Time with the family there that I adore and whose kids I am the principal for (imagine having your principal stay with you during Home Based Learning!  Yipes!) was exactly what I needed...and I think what they needed to.

And then Singapore, with a family I've recently grown close to and have so appreciated on so many different levels.  I got to be the entertainer (aka distractor) for the kids as their parents figured out next steps.

And then I came home to Chengdu.  And served 14 days in quarantine.  And got back to this absolutely non-normal season of life in a year we won't soon forget.  The borders essentially closed to foreigners on March 28th and we're still working out what that looks like for our community...that was the day before my quarantine ended.  Just 13 days after I returned.

And both of the families that I visited on my way home were not able to return to Chengdu. 

So how is this all a blessing?

I am blessed to have been able to help those families pack up  their apartments and love on them through that from afar.  To help them close out their Chengdu life.  They are families that were my Chengdu families and I will miss them.  I know that some would see traveling to them in the midst of all of this as a poor choice...but I stand by it and am so thankful that I got some more laughter and tears and hugs in with them before and as they made the hard decisions not to return.

I am blessed to have had quality time with my family that is so rare and so so precious.  I haven't spent more than a week or two with my parents since probably 2007.  What a gift to be able to just be and enjoy and breathe together....even while working random middle of the night hours and figuring out what Home Based Learning was going to look like.

I am blessed to be in China right now, where domestic travel is possible with minimal fear and safety screenings to keep the country with very low numbers of this virus.

There are blessings hiding around the corners of this pandemic.  What are some of the blessings that you have experienced?

T.HanksGiving

I'm thankful for so many things this year on this holiday focused on giving thanks, but I'm also a little caught up in the sadness of memories and missing people that I've shared this holiday with over the years.

Let me start with what I'm thankful for...that seems like a good way to get this post going.

I'm thankful for...
...friends around the world that I can stay connected to no matter where we are or how many miles and years separate us.  With the little smart phone I hold in my hand, I can capture new memories and reconnect over old ones.  What a gift!
...my job and the opportunity to pour into students and staff each day.  It can be hectic, but what an amazing blessing it is to do what I do where I do it.
...my family spread to the corners of the world.  While I wish we could all be in one spot on days like today, I love that we are all doing what we are called to do in such unique places around the globe.  Our lives are never boring, that's for sure.

I'm also missing a lot of people and non-traditional traditions today. 
I'm missing the Friendsgivings of college days, especially that one year that we made the local news in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
I'm missing our thrown together makeshift Thanksgiving dinner on Cougar Mountain when the snow kept us from getting to where we had planned to go, but it turned out to be an extra special day with friends.
I'm missing staff members that used to be here in China that became family over the years...sitting with the littles while their parents got stuff done and knowing that snowflake cutting season was just around the corner.
I'm missing Thanksgivings from elementary school when the after meal nap meant I could take a spin on my uncle's wheelchair.

And if I ever spent a Thanksgiving with you, I'm probably missing you a little bit (or a lottle bit) right now too!  Thanks for being a part of my Thanksgiving memories.

And on that note...

Things Remembered – Day 5 – Looking Up

There is something magnificent about looking up into the night sky and feeling as though you can see every star that has ever been or that will ever be.  Laying on your back in the grass and just basking in the grandeur of the universe.  In that moment, you feel so small and yet the fact that YOU get to see it all and experience it all makes you feel so important and necessary.  What good is beauty if no one takes the time to enjoy it, right?

I’m no astronomer, and I have to use an app on my phone to know what anything is (except for Jupiter and Mars, apparently…), but I have always appreciated moments when I was able to pause and look up.  My dad and uncle both had/have fantastic telescopes, and I remember as a little girl being taught how to find the stars and focus in on them.  There’s something though about craning your neck and attempting to see all that you can possibly see in those moments, and those are the moments that I want to focus on tonight as I write.

When I was in 9^th or 10^th grade, I was able to go to Langano in Ethiopia with some friends for the week.  We helped out at a clinic by day and explored the area, hunting for chameleons to take home as pets, in the afternoon.  One night, the five of us middle/high schoolers went and camped down by the lake.  All of my irrational (and quite frankly rational in rural Ethiopia, but let’s call them irrational so no one freaks out about the what could have been’s) fears were set aside as we set up tents and got ready to enjoy the sounds of evening that surrounded us. At some point, while we were all laughing and telling stories, someone looked up.  Suddenly, the sleeping bags were repositioned and the five of us had our heads outside of our tents, gazing in wonder at what was above us.  The sky was a glorious connect the dot picture that was so complex and intricate that it was impossible to figure out where one dot ended and another began.  I fell asleep gazing at those stars…and convinced that a python or something worse was going to kill me in my sleep.  Those stars though…unforgettable.

In 10^th grade, the star gazing continued in Addis Ababa as well.  My best friend and I would walk around campus each night, processing the day, talking about big life challenges and issues, and star gazing.  The southern cross would come into view each night from the place where we sat at the end of our walks, laughing and crying and being. We couldn’t see as many stars as I had that night in the tent, but what we could see was almost a sign of hope.  A sign of more.

My senior year of high school, there was some sort of cosmic event that was a must see. It might have been an eclipse, but I can’t remember now.  What I do remember is the entire senior class meeting on the field at 2 a.m. to watch whatever it was.  We felt so rebellious that night, but not because we were rebelling…we just wanted to be together and experience that once-in-a-lifetime view.  Many nights we would lay on the field and watch for shooting stars, but that night was different.  We were all there, one last late-night hurrah…and goodness was it cold, but beautiful.

There are so many more moments involving stars that I could share. This summer in Switzerland with one of my favorite kiddos after a World Cup Game.  This fall in Thailand after my brother’s wedding. Seeing that one start that always seems to peak out even here in bustling Chengdu…

You never know what might pop up in the sky if you just take the time to look up.

Things Remembered - Day 4 - A Stitch in Time...

Over last week and weekend, I was at a conference in another part of the continent and managed to finish a baby blanket over the course of the week, stitching as I listened to different sessions and letting the crochet hook mindlessly do the work while my brain focused on other, far bigger in the moment, things.

While waiting for one of the sessions that I attended to start, I was chatting with a few folks at my table and one of them commented that it seemed as though I had been crocheting for a long time.  27 years, to be exact.

I still remember the first time I held something crafty.  I was sitting on my bed in Rwanda with my Grandma Hammond by my side. I don't remember exactly what we were doing, whether it was cross-stitch, petit-point, or crocheting, but I remember watching her strong, weathered hands carefully attend to the task at hand.  I was mesmerized by the fact that from something so simple, something beautiful could be me made. Later I learned that my Grandma could do just about anything when it came to crafts.  She taught me how to paint (a skill that never quite stuck), got me started on hardanger, showed me how to frame prints, and was always willing to try something new.  She has such beautiful hands that have made such beautiful things.

My Grandma Teusink was also incredibly crafty.  She always had a bag with her knitting somewhere close-by.  I was mesmerized with what her hands could make as well. She would take something as simple as a ball of yarn and turn it into a blanket that represented her love and prayers and hugs.  I loved watching movies with her on Sunday afternoon, both of us with a craft project of some sort in our hands and chatting the days away.

 I remember the first time that I watched Anne of Green Gables or something similar and there was a sewing circle.  That was the life!  Can you imagine sitting around doing crafts while talking with your friends all afternoon? What a treat!

There were, of course, other people who helped me along in my craft endeavors along the way.  I’m so thankful for Julie, who taught me how to make delicate snowflakes for Christmas gifts. So many trees have little Teusink creations because she took the time to inspire me in something new And then there was Carol, who was shocked that I didn’t know how to make a Granny Square when I was 12, so she taught me how.  Countless baby blankets have been made and shared with love and prayers because she took the time to help me figure out something new.

I’m thankful for hands that can hold a crochet hook as if it was a natural extension of those hands.  Every stitch is a reminder of people who have poured into me, and a prayer for the lives of the people I am able to pour into.

Now I must be off…it time to make myself a cup of tea, cuddle up under my blanket from Grandma, and stitch away.