gotta keep on chugging along

okay, well, let's see...what have i accomplished lately...
over last weekend, while on our churches family retreat, i started and finished the scarf for my mom for christmas, which you can see here. i'm actually fairly proud of this one, not because it was super complicated or i had to learn some amazing new skill to make it, but because of how it helped me build relationships. (just so you know, i'm fully aware of how corny this is going to sound.) as i was working on it, the girls i was there with were ooo-ing and ahh-ing over it (mild self-esteem boost for me) and talking about how they would love to make one too! well, of course i informed them that i would be thrilled to teach them how. from that conversation, we all decided that we should get together on a fairly regular basis to hang out and be crafty and play cards. personally, i find this to be a fabulous idea for a couple of reasons. a) i'm not the best at making new friends so this group wanting to get together with me fairly often is exciting. b) i love to knit. i just do. getting to show others how and them being excited about it is beyond delightful to me. afterall, what is the point in creating if others cannot enjoy it with you?
this idea of being in community completely ties back into the kinds of things that we talked about at retreat as well. we discussed living and being in community as a way to live daily in the presense of God. so, as these things usually go, it got me thinking about the different communities i'm involved in (ie. work, home, church, friends, etc.) and wondering if i'm living in such a way as to welcome the presense of God into those communities. am i really creating community the way God wants community to work? are any of us really supporting, loving, welcoming, or being in community properly? well, i like to think that i do, but it goes back to what i said about loving properly. we tend to believe what we want to be true, not necessarily what is true. so, i think i'm going to put this on my "things i need to consciously work on" list, because if we aren't functioning properly in community, are we really functioning properly individually? something to ponder. well, wish me luck and lend me prayers! i'm going to need them.