The Encouraging Crafter

After 10 days off of work, I must return tomorrow. I work with some pretty awesome people but having to return to wearing regular clothes and not tank tops and shorts is a bummer…oh and there isn’t a beach outside the window…bummer #2. I’m thankful for the time to get some rest and relax. Y’all know it has been a difficult year for my family.

I have also been sick a lot lately. I have constantly had a cold/upper respiratory infection/bronchitis. I went to the doctor again for the fifth time this year. They ran a bunch of tests and the results show that I have rheumatoid arthritis and I will be seeing a specialist soon. It’s another journey that the Lord is putting me on. I hope that any journey that God puts me on can help someone. That is the only reason I write these blogs. I hope these blogs show that I am a regular person who loves Jesus and doing my best to be a light for Him.

On top of all of that, right before vacation, my sweet Buckie passed away. He was my buddy and such a good dog. I wasn’t even able to talk about it and haven’t really told anyone. I feel like it was the straw that broke the camels back regarding my emotions. I’m not one who really likes to show my emotions in front of others. I’m not sure what happened to him. He wasn’t sick that we were aware of, and he didn’t have anything obviously wrong on his body. It just broke my heart…again.

God works all things together for his good! I know that to be true. I’m trying to focus on good things and joy! After all, that is what my mom would want. She would tell me everything is going to be okay. I’m lucky to have a husband that tells me that also. He knew that is what I would have wanted to hear my mom tell me. He made sure that I relaxed and got some rest on our trip. My mom would have appreciated that.

My mom loved her in law children like her own. She never forgot a birthday or wedding anniversary. For that fact, she remembered everyone’s birthday in the family and everyone got a card from her and my dad. It didn’t matter if they were blood related, in law or step. Everyone was treated the same. That is just how my mom was. She loved her family. She was an amazing wife, mom, mother in law, grandmother, aunt, daughter and sister.

I would love any stories about my mom if you knew her. Please send them to me. I am working on getting stories together from everyone in the family and making them into a book. I have a few already from some aunts and uncles. Handwritten notes would be awesome. You can scan and email them to me or snail mail. Just contact me and I will send you the info.

Thanks for reading my rambling. I hope this helps someone realize that just because someone make look like they have everything together, most of the time they don’t. So when you are in a store, smile at someone. Show kindness and love when you can. After all, that is what God commands us to do!

Blessings

Katrina