The Love Chair

Doodling has been part of my life for many years and when a good friend of mine introduced me to Zentangling, I was ecstatic!  It added sophistication to my otherwise random drawings.  Doodling and Zentangling help me to stay focused, pay attention, and enjoy sitting still.

As I looked for ideas on the internet, I came across shoes, dresses and even furniture that had a variety of writings and drawings on them.  I bought a simple cloth chair and had family and friends draw and write wedding blessings on it for my daughter.  And a few years later I bought a chair for our grandchildren.

I want our grandchildren to feel like their artwork, their letters, and their thoughts are masterpieces in our home.  I have a wall of tiles painted by our grandchildren, accompanied by a 6" x 4" piece of cardboard carefully painted by my two-year-old grandson.  And in the library, resides my sweet Love Chair.  The back of it is covered with drawings and handprints from our grandchildren, as well as examples of English and Spanish by my oldest grandson.  The front of the chair is currently being designed with famous quotes and a beautiful mosaic.  You will probably never see this work of art in a museum or fine arts store, but it will always have a place of honor in our home.

There are hundreds of ways to include people and honor their creativity and talents.  As my grandchildren look back on the memories memorialized on The Love Chair, may they feel empowered to share their creativity with the world.

I Don't Know, Have You Figured It Out?

It seems that the older I get, the less I know and the more willing I am to admit it!  Today I had some time to kill so I went to the school where I taught for many years.  As I sat in the teacher workroom cutting out laminating projects, I was able to share life with a group of ladies I greatly respect, ranging in age from 35 to 58.  We are all at different places in life and I love it!

What intrigues me about women is that we often think another age group has it made.  In our teens, we think the twenty-year-olds have it made.  In our thirties we think the forty-year olds have it made and on up the ladder until society puts that admiration to a stop and we are just perceived as old.

I want to let you in on a little secret, there is no "golden age."  Every stage of life has its challenges and its blessings.  There is no magic formula to follow.  We will never be able to anticipate the challenges each of our children will have or the blessings that will be bestowed on them.  We will never be able to predict how our parents will age or how we will for that matter.  It is all a journey of faith and a journey of grace.

Just as I love storytelling, I love listening to stories as well!  Every woman I meet has a story worth telling and a story worth hearing.  You may have a single mom living on one side of you and a grandmother raising her grandchildren on the other.  Both are trying to figure life out.  They need your grace just as much as you need theirs.

I have to say, I haven't figured much out but I do have a survival bag filled with some pretty great tools at this stage of life.  I can share them, I can lend them and I can borrow some from you.  Life is a constant blend of challenges and blessings.  

As women we need to...

 Share together.  Dream together.  Cry together
Laugh together. Pray together.

The truth is, none of us really have it figured out, but walking the journey together makes the challenges a little easier and the blessings even greater.