Surprises Along Life's Way...

We're most comfortable with what we've come to expect. A little surprise along the way adds excitement to our every day lives but it seldom causes us to stop and reexamine the direction of our path. I had to do just that the other day when I ran across something totally UN-expected! Life is an adventure; embracing and accepting something we never expected only adds to the richness of the journey. My Mom and I were talking about someone that we knew from my hometown fifty years ago. At this time, while home from college for the summer, I had taken a weekend job at the Police Station as an emergency dispatch operator. (I'll bet this former job of mine is unexpected to those reading this right now!😉) Anyway, we remembered a wonderful police officer who would run by the local ice cream stand on slow days, while he was on patrol, and bring me chocolate chip cones purely out of the kindness of his heart. We wondered whatever had happened to him. I did a little Internet research and learned that he had a exceptionally varied career path throughout his lifetime! Expect the unexpected: apart from serving as a police officer he'd been a quality engineer for Lockheed Aircraft, a Civil Defense Director, a pipe fitter on the Alaska Pipeline, an elected Town Selectman and a published author of five books! Sadly, I also learned that he had passed away three years ago. I ordered one of his books, I felt that was a tiny bit of repayment for those long ago ice cream cones that he had generously treated me to. Oh, you might wonder what the title of his book is that I'm currently reading: The Unexpected Patriot! Don't you just love it when something you never saw coming catches you up short and brings a happy smile?

Yep, life's and adventure; expect the unexpected

and remember... 

Life is Good!

Buy The Book

I'm not an impulsive shopper, ordinarily. Last month when Quiltkeemosabe and I were strolling around the vendor's mall at Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival we happened by a woman sitting behind a display of these books, piled high on a folding table. She had some small, stitched, samples of the projects found within this catalog. I was intrigued by the samples and stopped to look at the fruit "tart" pincushion. I quickly learned that the woman was Meg Cox, the author. She was enthusiastic, engaging and convincing, a former writer for the Wall Street Journal she had me reaching for my wallet to purchase this book that wasn't even on my shopping list! She explained how she researched the book, how she interviewed the quilters, and how it was the one and only comprehensive quilter's guide book. I succumbed to her expert salesmanship and placed it in the tote bag with the rest of my haul. Later that evening, in the motel room, I began reading through the first chapter, the author's own quilt history. I was happy that I'd shopped "off" my list. The more I read, the happier I was. This is a good book, a valuable resource to have on your bookshelf at home! I recommended it to a friend and she searched the same vendors mall the next day, after I was headed home. She called to tell me that she was frustrated and empty-handed after spending much time searching for the book to no avail. Finally she bumped into a woman with the book in her hand; after inquiring where she'd found it, the woman confessed that she was the author and it was the very last copy that she'd brought! In fact, Meg was leaving the event and on her way back to her room at the time, she happily agreed to sell it to my friend, lightening her load. They made a quick deal, right there on the spot! My friend won't be disappointed that she went the extra mile; neither will you! Go ahead... make an impulsive purchase!

9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects
over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
Life is Good!

Fabric Of Faith

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

This wonderful little book was a gift, given to me by the dear ladies of the Quilt Ministry at our church; the hearts full of grace and souls generated by love that I work with each and every Thursday morning. This book is loaded with wonderful quotes (see above) in the margins, fantastic quilt photography and lots of inspirational stories from quilt recipients. There are also chapters on how-to's for quilt ministries just getting started and tips for record keeping and improving orgainization. It's a treasure of a book, all 116 pages. I am so deeply appreciative. Check it out if you have the opportunity, I promise it will be a challenge to put it down.

Fabric of Faith by: Kimberly Winston
Life is Good!