My Oldest Sister

My oldest sister as I call her, is not my real sister, but for the last 22 years, she has adopted me as hers and treated me like blood since day one. She puts me in my place and tells me when I am wrong. She has helped to foster me into the women I am now. She has inspired me.
Joy had her kids young like me. Worked to take care of her family and then worked hard to return to school and become a nurse. When I went back to nursing school, I told myself, if Joy could do it with 3 boys, I could do it with 2. She has led me in many direction and not even known it!

A year ago, Joy, a woman in her 40s was inducted as a chief in the navy. Not a small fight for her, but well deserved! She literally had to step threw Hell to get there, but with her belief that no one could get her down, she made it!
I guess another reason I am so proud of her, is I came from a big military family and thought that one say I would join the Coast Guard but didn't. I would love for our military roots to carry on.
So back to the reason for my post, when Joy went to become chief, one of the things she had to do was to cover this book so that all these things could be written in it. I was so excited when she asked me to do it, and took such pride in doing it!
This week she returned to my house with the same projects to do for 2 of her friends. She was so excited that these 2 friends had come along so Ugarit and she wanted to be part of it. The joy that Joy always gets in helping others. She always thinks 1st of everyone else and second of herself. The one thing I aspire to do.

So I spent 2 nights sewing up book sleeves all just to see the smile on her face, not for money, but to repay her for just being Joy!! I could never thank her enough for what she has done in my life!

Here is the first one I made her and a set of all! I love the black one, made of the old uniform top. I left it where the flap is still flapping!

Regrets

I started this blog as an outlet of how helping others fostered me and hopefully someone else. Today I read a blog that was written by a friends wife. It really made me think about what I do daily and if I will have any regrets tomorrow.

I think we all have done things that we later regret. I know I have done many things in my life that I wish that I had not. But we can not change those things. We must go on and take the lesson we have learned from each mistake. The hardest thing is to go back and apologize to try and right our wrong. It's something that as I have gotten older I strive to do.

When I was younger I was hurt in many ways by an adult who I should trust. For along time I held anger against her, but one year through church camp I learned to forgive her. I even learned that I really should love this person. That maybe one day she will grow in Gods love from my love. I actually recently sent her a blanket called "A Blanket of Love". It was a little piece of every project that I knitted or crocheted for the last 4 years. It might have been ugly to most, but it was beautiful to me. I felt comfort under it as I worked on it. I felt the love I had put into each piece of my work. So I decide it needed to go to someone who needed love. So I mailed it to my real mother. As an adult it actually made me feel that I really forgave her. It felt good! I regret I hadn't done this sooner.

So a Sunday later I went to church and a service really hit me. For 2 years now I have had some anger in my heart. A man assaulted my kids at a church gathering. I have not been able to see this man or his family for the last 2 years without having some type of anger. The sad thing is I could not walk into my families church without that feeling. I had promised myself that my kids would never be touched as i had. So the anger was more then just what he had done to my kids, but how he had broken my promise. So the service I went to was about forgiveness. All of the topics I was struggling with in my heart that I did not realize were brought up. Then he played a video of a couple in our church and of the utter forgiveness that a wife gave. It was during this service that I finally forgave. I have spent the last few weeks regretting my anger. B

But back to my friend, she really needs some prayers. She is an inspiration and her blog this morning like that church service that has inspired me really has me thinking. We each need to try and think before we do and not regret. We never know what will happen tomorrow.

Sorry for the long blog and rattling on, but this is one of my ways to get my feelings out and hopefully to help someone else in the process.

For the last 2 days I have had an inkling to start a blog.  I spend a lot of time at night reading others and getting inspiration from those that write.  Over the years God has led me on many journey's and he has helped me through many times that I never thought I could make it through.  Today I have been led to start another journey in life and hopefully inspire others.

God gave me the gift in life of being a crafty person.  I love to go from one craft to another.  I use these items to make others days.  You never know in life how your joy in making something for others might change someones day or world!  I let my crafts be my relaxation.  I use it as my stress relief and in turn get comfort in others comfort.

So today this new road starts and I am now going to take each of you on my journey with me!!!!  Hope I do not bore you!