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> Hey Guys,
> I have no particular reason for sharing this, except to let you know
> that
> I do have a life outside of what is going on with Chris. Besides, I'm kind
> of proud of myself. I like to share victories as well as defeats.
>
> First of all, I have been fascinated with the idea of a prayer shawl
> ministry for a long time and I kind of wanted to get involved, or maybe
> even start one at our church. Problem, well, I kind of know how to knit a
> straight stitch, but that's it! When it comes to domestic stuff and hand
> crafts, I'm kind of a disaster, but I really wanted to figure out a way to
> do this. Well, I finally started talking about it with the ladies around
> our church. Of course, I was immediately intimidated because, all these
> ladies are great at knitting. I could tell from their
> enthusiastic response that I was probably in over my head
> already. Anyway, three of these grand-motherly ladies stayed after church
> and managed to teach me how to pearl and, I got it! Yea!! Now, for those
> of you who do knit, I need to tell you that these ladies had a real
> challenge on their hands because, not only couldn't I see what they were
> doing so that I could imitate it, forcing them to put their motions into
> words, but, I'm also left handed, which means that I already knit backwards
> from them, but pearling is backwards knitting and so these pour ladies had
> to try to figure out how to do a double reverse. Anyway, hurray! I
> finally got it. Now, I've been sitting around, driving our cat crazy by
> continuing to practice. It looks horrible, but I continue to be determined
> because I just love the concept so much.
> For anybody who doesn't know, a prayer shawl is a shawl that you knit
> while praying for someone. Some people pray to one of the members of the
> trinity for each row, but I'm not into that. I just like the idea of
> concentrating on somebody in prayer and then being able to give them
> something to let them know that they really have been prayed for. There's
> nothing mystical or anything about it. It's just, kind of a neat
> gesture. Anyway, I'm knitting and pearling now and, since it's the prayers
> and not the looks that count, I'm excited.
> The other accomplishment of my weekend, I actually sealed today. I've
> sent out my first querey letter to try to have one of my dramas
> published. It's a skit based on the parable of the four soils. I'm kind
> of nervice about it; especially since the publishing field is paved with
> rejection letters, but I just felt that it was time for me to begin moving
> forward. Oh, isn't the enemy already attacking me on that one. Oh
> well. I put it in the mailbox and told God that it is in His hands now,
> and I mean it.
> In other news, Chris did do some partying on Friday night. Now too, he
> has a girl friend, so the plot thickens. He was okay about Greg not
> letting him drive though and, in general, I think that we're all just
> trying to lay low, on both sides, for now. Chris is actually being much
> more polite since he came home from Cromwell, over all. Greg and I
> continue to lay plans for therapy for him and suring up our base of
> support. Who knows where Mr. Christopher will be in 191 days, when he
> turns 18. All I know is, where he will be, will be a result of his
> choosing, good or bad because we're not going to protect him from his
> choices.
> In an earlier post, Matt had mentioned that he had done partying in high
> school and is still shaking off the effects of those choices. Well, yes, I
> suppose that if there were one time in most of our lives that we wish that
> we could change, it would be our teen years. The deal is, now, that I'm
> seeing those years from the other side and having to lern how to be the
> parent of a teen, especially when it means protecting other minor children
> that you are responsible for is daunting at times. Greg and I are probably
> growing more now than we did as a result of our original, individual
> stupidities as a teen. If all you have to worry about is letting your kid
> sleep in, get to school late and serve a detention as a result, you are
> blessed indeed.
> Have a good one, guys!
> Kathy