glorious mess

it's a sunny day in july. though we are all down with head colds, i am reminded of the serendipitous fact that the paper dolls i've just finished are laminated...meaning they can be wiped off and cleaned! i had this in mind when laminating them--longevity and clean-a-bility. whilst emailing with one of the wonderful staff at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, i discovered that because of their strict standards, paper goods are not e given to children in hospital without being laminated. it was so nice to be able to share that the paper dolls are already protected! i am praying for the opportunity to bring and give these paper dolls to Manchester when i travel there in April 2013 (so the plan goes...Lord willing!). As you see above, there are a few new pieces in progress.one not so tidy looking as life has not been so tidy over the past few months.i've felt a bit exposed...and tangled up...but guided by light (see above my head) and by a pillar of cloud (on left, unseen and representing the Holy Spirit) and a pillar of fire (on the right, also representing the Holy Spirit).knitters will know that it's maddening to untangle yarn when you are ready to use it...which is how i've been feeling...ready to be used creatively yet being unravelled first--which is part of the refining process (which i had forgotten!). so, praise God for the messy parts, like feeling exposed and unravelled while healing from yet another injury (my hip) and caring for jesse's healing fractured back and injured ligaments. (phew!) and praying to figure out how to care for chloe, who has been feeling a lack of attention of late. (if any of you caregiving parents are going through this, please feel free to comment and we can dialogue about this...a very real part of the healing process is how a cybling(s) is effected.) thankfully, we have wonderful counselors who are working with us as a family to get out of survival mode and into living more after all of this glorious mess. i am looking forward to jumping back into working with "holland", the parent to parent group at Children's Village in Yakima, Washington. But only after our family is properly cared for and ready to roll again. blessings on you who have had a summer of healing, whether it be emotionally, physically or otherwise. Mary