Jul 15, 2017

We did a lot of making today and it was good for my soul. 

This morning while Bryan was at work I loaded up the kids and drove the 45 minutes to my favorite local sewing and knitting supply shop to take advantage of some good sales they were having. Specifically, I was hoping to get some help picking out a simple knitting pattern and the yarn and other things I’d need to complete it. Thankfully one of the employees who knew about knitting was able to help me with just that. With her help I chose a great book with lots of good, classic (and hopefully simple) projects, soft yarn to make a baby bonnet, and the needles and stitch markers to knit it with. 

At home later I started the grueling process of working through the knitting pattern in the book with another book from the library that’s a visual knitting dictionary of sorts. Even doing my very best to follow along, I still struggled and had to unravel my project several times. I’m probably about 1/5 or 1/6 of my way through finishing the hat and I’m still mostly working on faith. Ha! But I’m having a great time doing it. 

After sitting idle for so long in the rocking chair as I feed our sweet new baby, it just feels so good to finally have something to do. That feeling of accomplishment, of trying something new, learning a new skill, struggling and perservering–it just can’t be beat. I woke up so grumpy this morning and I’m going to bed in such a better mood. Creating and learning and growing and doing will do that to you. 

In addition to all this, we also had some great family art time today. I cut up some paper and we glued mosaic-type pictures together. It was an open-ended project, just for fun, and it was perfect. So fun. Later Bryan and the kids also worked on a puppet theater and paper puppets for it while I read Harry Potter aloud and nursed the baby. Afterward the kids put on a short puppet show with their new creations and it was so fun to watch it all come to life–the kids themselves most especially. 

Today was a reminder all over again of truths I’ve learned before, but keep forgetting. The way trying something new and having something to do will lift spirits far more genuinely than even a fun outing or dessert. How we all need and want and love having time to just enjoy our company and be creative. And also the way just spending time together is good for all our relationships. 

Today was a good day. Trying to mentally file away all the reasons why so I can remember the next time I get in a funk.