Again ...

Funny how I always have the best intentions when saying I'm going to start blogging more ... Oh, well. It's nothing I should beat myself up over. :)

There have been so many changes in my life over the last couple years, I feel as though I'm starting all over again with everything. Maybe with me. Probably especially with me. Learning who I am, how much I can handle before I break ... before I push back ... if I can get back up ...

Well, I've learned I'm stronger than I sometimes think I am, and I know I'll always be able to get back up. I've been reminded so often that positive thinking goes a long way in overcoming a difficult situation, and that I really do know how to laugh, and I'm learning to smile on the inside again, too. For all this, and even for the events that have caused me to get lost on my journey, I am thankful.

Knitting has remained a constant in my life since a month or so before I left the living situation with my ex. It took me so much longer to get to a point where I could get through any amount of time without thinking about him and us, but I am now pretty content with that chapter being over. I knew this time would come, but man! It took it's sweet time coming! LOL!

I have a lot of other things going on in my life now, and I'm far from where I want to be, but I'm starting to be "who" I want to be again. Praise God for that! In the last couple months, my knitting time has be decreased significantly! That makes me sad, but it's reinforced in me that I never want to go without knitting again. I can't. When everything around me is chaos, knitting calms my soul.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! I've made a wonderful friend on Ravelry, and Lori truly is my BFF now! If only in my mind LOL! Actually, she has been there for me through a lot since we started talking earlier this year, and she's been a huge blessing! I only hope I can be there fore her when she needs me, as well.

Just this past week we started up a group on Ravelry Sock Sampler KALs. She was worried that we would be the only ones in the group. I told her then we would just motivate and cheer each other on! LOL! At this moment, and in three days, we have 12 other members, and I think this will work out great! I'm excited to have a group with the sock/shawl/etc. variety we are craving. I want to challenge myself to keep knitting socks (I'd been falling into a small rut there), and yet continue knitting shawls, which are my new passion!

I'd wanted to knit a shawl for SOOO long! I'm so glad I finally did. While they sometimes require a lot of attention, they are very calming to me.

Well, there is so much more to say, and pictures I want to post ... but it's bedtime for my lil guy. Whether he agrees or not! :) BTW -- he turned 4 on the 15th of this month! WOW!

For I know the plans I have for you ....

The online bible study at Proverbs 31 Ministries, Made to Crave will be starting January 19. I'm really excited for this study. I don't have the book, but I'm going to try and follow along as well as I can, until I can afford it.

On the most recent blog post for this study, we were invited to begin joining in on the blog hop. Each week they will give us topics from which we will choose one to write about on our blog, then share with others. Today, I am choosing the topic of My Favorite Bible Verse.

Actually, like many others I'm sure, I have more than one favorite. Jeremiah 29:11 is one that always comes to mind, though. It's been a favorite for a long time. Also, my mom had this verse, along with others, posted near her computer. She was diagnosed with brain cancer in April of 2012, and went home to be with Jesus on September 7, 2012. This verse has always comforted me, reminding me that while I may not always know the hows and whys of things, GOD DOES!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

My word for the year is PEACE. It's the first time I've chosen to study one word through the course of a year. Jeremiah 29:11 definitely is a peace-giving verse! I may struggle with things in my daily life, but God is there! And He has a plan for me! AMEN!!

Happy New Year!

So I guess this is my first post of the year. :)

It has started out well. I finished my first project of the year, my Mince Pie Mayhem socks (Socktopus KAL on Ravelry). I knit them in Cascade Heritage Paints in the Indian Summer colorway. This pair took a while, it seemed, due to all of the cables, but I'm glad I knit them anyways.

I am now knitting Fiori di Zucca, also from the Socktopus book and for the same KAL.

So far I have knit each pair since the beginning of the KAL, and plan to continue knitting each pair in the book.

I have not done specific research into my word (PEACE), yet; but I am daily aware of my need and search for it constantly. I am reading the book "In Pursuit of Peace: 21 Ways to Conquer Fear, Anxiety and Discontentment" by Joyce Meyers. I am also using the daily devotional "The One Year Book of Proverbs." I can definitely feel a change since I've committed to studying the Bible more again. I am starting to hunger for more of Jesus again, as I used to. I am thankful for this.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

I am thankful and blessed to know that though I will have troubles and trials to face in this life, God is with me always and He is in control. There is nothing that can come between me and the love of my Lord, and nothing can stand against Him (or me, when I stand in Him)!