crafting a thankful thursday

here i am, another late thankful thursday post.   such i s life.   this is why i write for a blog and not a newspaper.   i don't feel like i wasted my yesterday though.   it was a long day and like the rest of the week, seemed to fly by.   but i did get a couple of things done.   aside from the usual kids to and from school, fed, clothed, prayed with and so on, i wrote my visiting teaching lesson, had my partner schedule the appointments and went to class.   in between there i made a card for someone who's having a rough week.   she's a nine hour drive away from home and her mother had a breast removed, her father goes into the hospital next week to undergo some treatment s and testing because they just discovered prostate cancer and she is spending her days in pre-school with her 4 year old to teach his teachers how to deal with his diabetes, while trying to learn the language and going to class 3 nights a week and taking care of all the other daily tasks that being mom of 2 and wife means.   while things are looking up  she did return to smoking after having stopped 8 years ago.   yep, that's what she needs.    i wanted to do something for her but seriously, i don't know her very well and what can i do?   i made her a card.   that was my most important thing i had to do yesterday.   what does this have to do with thankful thursday?   aside from i 'm glad to have my problems and not hers?   i am glad i could do something for her.   that's all.   i am grateful for crafts.   i may have to do this particular gratitude again because it comes in handy a lot in my life.   it is what i'm grateful for today, and yesterday.

in the states i had a huge arsenal of tools, stamps, punches, inks, papers, yada, yada, etc.   really, i had accumulated a massive amount of supplies over the 14 years i had been seriously crafting.   here, i have a paper cutter and scissors and a ream of multicolored paper.    while i do miss my fun tools, i enjoy making things just as much.   maybe more.   it stretches me a bit more but brings me closer to the work.   i can't just punch, stamp, glue, done.   i really have to think about it.   i have to cut and and draw and write by hand.   it doesn't look as professional or snazzy as all of the tools would make it, but it does look like someone cares enough to do something for you.   that's what matters.   i sat here for a couple of hours yesterday just covered in paper scraps, scissors in hand, gluing with my huge glue stick, paper cutter in my lap, totally and thoroughly at peace and full of joy.   isn't it funny how doing something for someone else can fill you so fully? she was completely surprised by it, and i know she appreciated it.   no matter what, i enjoyed doing it.   i am grateful that i can create something that not only lifts someone else but myself as well.   just paper and scissors and glue.   amazing.

now, dear reader, i wish you a great day.   go do something for someone and create joy for you and them out of seemingly nothing.