One Stitch at a Time...

Once upon a time, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, I bought a set of pillow cases to embroider. When I was a girl, these were a common item to purchase, available at any dime store. (That would be back in the day when dime stores were common, too, and when they actually sold things that cost a dime...) It turned out that I had to do quite a bit of looking to find my pillow cases. They aren't such a popular thing to make any more, I guess. I finally found a pair, stamped with a cross-stitch rose pattern, and I thought they would be a lovely thing to keep my hands busy in front of the television. I purchased the embroidery floss and tucked them into a craft bag next to the sofa.

But if you know me, you know that I don't watch very much television. There are all kinds of mind-numbing reasons why I don't enjoy most of what is offered, but it's not all the TV's fault; I, too, am partly to blame. Although I can sit and read or sew or write for a length of time, I get restless quickly in front of the TV. I am almost never "sucked in" to shows or movies. As you can imagine, progress on the pillow cases has been slow.

In fact, the only time I regularly work on those pillow cases is during General Conferences of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. During the first weekend of April and October, unlike any other weekend of the year, I sit and watch eight hours of television. I am glued to the TV those weekends, as the church leaders, who I sustain as divinely inspired and called as modern-day prophets, come into my living room and bless my life with words that sustain and nourish me. I wouldn't miss it for anything.

But I'm still me, and so, having the handwork of the pillow cases keeps me a little more focused as I sit and soak up their words of life and truth. Just today, I read an email from one of my daughters, who wrote to me saying, "I hope that you are having a great weekend and are enjoying conference...are you working on your pillow case this weekend, the one that you work on every conference? That is what you are doing, right?" Ahh, they know me so well. Yes, honey, that's right.

This afternoon I will finally finish the first pillow case in the set. I have no idea how many hours it has taken, but I think it's lovely, and perhaps, in another five years or so, I will have the pair of them on my bed, to remind me of the joy in making lovely things. And even more than that, to remind me of the joy of hearing living words of nurture in faith, right here in my own home, a gift and blessing from God.