love on a big blue bus...

periodically i share on this electronic forum my belief in a grand master plan, the knowledge that there is a greater force guiding this journey we are on. for me the hardest thing is believing in that plan when things don't seem to be going my way. and this week was a perfect example. i'm not sure it's going to work out long term in the building we are currently occupying. the uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty has crept back and that has been weighing heavily on my mind. i started to question the plan including the reason for our existence.

so my higher power sent me a big blue bus. all the way from western michigan. it was full of the most wonderful women, mostly quilters, and the nicest driver. they were all so happy, cordial, and patient. i knew they were coming, as the tour coordinator and i had been communicating for several weeks.

what i did not know though, is on that bus was going to be a grandmother who would speak directly to my heart. for a few brief moments our connection stood still in time. we were surrounded by her bus mates, yet we were all alone in our own bubble of emotions.

sarah shared that she will soon be twenty five years old. verna's eyes filled with tears as she shared that she hoped her granddaughter, also named sarah, would live that long too. i grabbed sarah's hand and held it tightly as i listened to this stranger tell me her story. we'd never met until today, yet, we were not really strangers at all. you see we both know what it is like to have a loved one with down syndrome, who is also so medically fragile that our goodbyes could come at any moment. we know the immense amount of prayer and miracles it takes to have our girls still in our lives. our shared tears told each other we also know the heartbreak of so many families in our Ds circle who have had to say goodbye much too soon.

as she told me her sarah is now ten, i thought back to that summer of 1999, when we held a party for our sarah, a celebration of one decade of life. surrounding her were all her friends from school, nurses, docs and therapists. we were not sure that august if she would still be with us to start back to school in september. 

yet soon, our sarah will be celebrating one quarter of a century. today that gave a grandma, visiting our little quilt shop all the way from michigan, hope. hope for tomorrow. and that's just what i needed to remember that our story is not one of selling fabric, it's about human connections. making a difference one family at a time. i simply need to keep the faith and move forward, for our direction will soon become crystal clear.

we'd like to thank kimberly and her husband, xpeditiontravel.com, compass coach and all the travelers for coming to shop with us. we sincerely appreciate your visit and support.

 

seeing potential...

purposeful and meaningful work. it is the desire of most humans, yet not something that can be taken for granted when you are an adult with a developmental disability. my husband and i have worked tirelessly to make this quilt shop a reality for our sarah. we have been met by challenges and roadblocks. along the way though, we have learned that the rewards are so much greater than the frustrations and the sacrifices we've made. our lives are much richer for the experience.

 

today, i had the pleasure of watching two of our customers meet sarah for the first time. my observation is they too felt an enrichment from the encounter. i am so humbly thankful that we found a new space to continue forth that effort.

on the wings of an angel...

it's no secret that the past few months have been a bit rocky for us. it's hard to imagine how life can be rolling along just fine and then out of nowhere comes that thunderous jolt that changes everything. i've learned much during the process. and although i would not wish our scenario on anyone, it has been life enhancing. i've learned to rely more on my faith and the belief that there is a higher power guiding us through. most important we have our family and our health.

still there are days that i feel desperate in hast to have more answers than i currently do. it was that way earlier in the week. the store was full of customers when a young woman walked in. she began to recite a memorized script that i quickly suspected was that of a solicitor. but there was something sweet about her demeanor and vocal delivery, so i let her finish instead of shooing her off.

when she opened the lid of the box she was carrying, i started to put my hand up to indicate that i was not interested in what she had to offer. but laying on top of her selections was this beautiful purple angel.

i asked her how much. as i handed her the $15 she requested, you would have thought it was several hundred. she thanked me profusely although there was no need really, for she was merely a messenger that day. in time, i will likely have a clearer vision, a keener understanding of this road we are on. for now, i have a visual reminder, divinely enhanced by the afternoon sun, that we are not walking this road alone.