SHARING

It was quilt show weekend for me.Our local quilt guild has been working for months to prepare for this show. I've been with various shows for too many years to count without bringing to mind how old I have become. This is always an exciting time for me. I love to make things. I love to see what others make. I love sharing in this experience with friends I have made through the years. I love making new friends during the show and sharing the excitement of the show with them. BUT.....this year I have discovered that the sharing with these friends, is not enough. Is that greedy of me to need more? If it is I guess I am a greedy person. I miss sharing the joys of the show with one special person. After set up Thursday, after the opening day excitement, and Saturday after the excitement of seeing beautiful quilts there was an emptiness I did not expect.

This experience led me to do some thinking about the importance of sharing. I guess that as with many things in life the importance of sharing life's experiences varies from one person to another. I am discovering that for me it is more important than I ever realized.

My reflections on sharing led me to do a Google search on it to get some others thoughts. At first I began looking to find a basic definition. Instead, I ended up at a site with peoples ideas and quotes from them on it. They were quite interesting as many of them put into words much of what I was feeling. There was one that jumped out. I suddenly felt not so alone. Someone else had felt what I was. They must have or they couldn't have so perfectly put into words what I have been avoiding facing.....

"I miss you when something really good happens, because you are the one I want to share it with. I miss you when something is troubling me, because you are the one who understands me so well. I miss you when I laugh and cry because you are the one that makes my laughter grow and my tears disappear, I miss you all the time, but I miss you the most when I lay awake at night and think of all the wonderful times we spent with each other; for those were some of the best times of my life."

Maybe over time the need for having a special someone to share with diminishes. I must admit though that I find that possibility a rather sad one. Something deep inside me still says life was meant to be shared. A life lived alone can be a good life, I'm sure but is it a full life? Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part. Maybe it is just my not yet being totally willing to let go of a dream for how my life would be lived out. After all there are many people; many of them friends of mine who seem to have very full lives living solo. I don't know. What I do know is this weekend I missed someone who when I arrived home after a long day at the show greeted me with "How was the show today?"

ILLUSION

il·lu·sion (i lo̵̅o̅′z̸hən)

noun

1. a false idea or conception; belief or opinion not in accord with the facts
2. an unreal, deceptive, or misleading appearance or image a large mirror giving the illusion of space in a small room
3. 1. a false perception, conception, or interpretation of what one sees, where one is, etc.
   2. the misleading image resulting in such a false impression

SOMETIMES IN LIFE THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM!

What do you see in the above image? Are the lines straight and parallel to each other? Are they curved causing smaller then a bit larger spaces as you move in toward the center? Find a straight edge and check it out.

SOMETIMES IN LIFE THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM!

EASTER

Yesterday was a beautiful Easter Day! CHRIST IS RISEN!

The sun was out and was warm. The flowers were beautiful. The music soared through the rafters and to the heavens. The fellowship and time spent with friends was amazing. Most importantly though was the remembrance of God's goodness and love for us despite our waywardness. The celebration of this love through the proclamation of Christ's resurrection!

Our minister during his 8:30am sermon challenged us as Christians to find our "Easter Dream". That dream which allows us to move forward and make the world a better place. He said Christians are not just meant to be a happy people. We are to be a people of vision. A people who look, with God's help and direction, to make the world a better place. So what would your Easter Dream be???

I spent some time throughout the day and evening yesterday asking myself that question. I woke up again this morning with it on my mind. What is my Easter Dream??? There are many lofty dreams and visions that come to mind. Working toward world peace and making the world a place where all people love and accept each despite their many differences. A world where we embrace our differences as a wonderful celebration of God's goodness in creating each one of us as unique persons. OR...working to eradicate world hunger and or poverty. I think I would like my dream to be something a bit more personally oriented. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that I can actually work with it to maybe turn it into a reality. Though world peace and acceptance is a lofty goal as well as a world without hunger or poverty I am enough of a cynical realist to know I can not solve those problems....I can however work on myself. So my Easter Dream is......

.....to daily work with God to discover who he wants me to be as a woman of faith. To allow him to show me where he wants me to be, what he has for me to do, and to grant me the wisdom to see and understand these things. I want to learn to daily trust him with every moment of my life. I want to learn to trust that despite being 60, despite the unexpected twists and turns my life is currently taking, and despite life not being what I hoped and planned for he has a path for me; he has a purpose for me and both are good. I want to understand not only in my mind but in my heart that dreams are not lost, they are just changed. I want the dreams and visions for my life, for my future to be God driven, not me driven. He has a much better track record than I do for directing and caring for things. I also want the courage and the strength to work with him. I do not expect to sit back and let him work me a a puppet. I do not believe that is how God works in any one's life. A life lived with God as the Lord of our life is a two way proposition.

I believe that if I can keep this Easter Dream in front of me, I may not bring about world peace or end world hunger, but I will be an active participant in bringing a bit of God's heaven to earth. Isn't this the vision Jesus taught us to pray for when he taught the Lord's prayer. "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."