And the Crafting Continues...

I think God is getting me back for being jealous of people who have time to do crafts. I don't have time for them and I totally miss it...so God forced me back into it to prove that in the midst of the craziness, He can give me what I love.

Our school's big winter fundraiser is the Christmas Festival and every family has to donate bakery goods and crafts as well as service to make it work. Most years I wish they'd just let us all make a sizeable donation so we wouldn't have to go through all the effort. I love it, don't get me wrong, but as fundraisers go I don't think it's working quite like it's supposed to. You see, we donate everything then we all attend the festival and pay for it again. Honestly, it would be cheaper to just throw in a chunk of money and be done with it...especially this time of year.

This year the craft chosen for me was dropped off on my porch Monday at midday. The finished product is due back to the school tomorrow. On top of that I have to make a cake, bread and a couple dozen cookies. Tonight I had a 3 hour class with Mackenzie. Thursday we have a funeral. Friday night we set up for the festival and then my brother has a birthday party. This is all on top of the two jobs I have, not to mention four kids to care for.

I was tempted to just let it all slide. I do not have time to hand paint these plain wooden letters, let alone come up for designs for them. And yet, through my belly aching, I remembered that it's all for a very good cause...our school. So, I bucked up and put the base coats on last night having absolutely no vision for what the finished product would be.

After school I got right down to it. The first one I tried was the zebra print and it turned out so totally cool, I jumped into the giraffe print. Before I knew it I was on the third one while wolfing down a salad before taking off for the class with Mackenzie (which is a whole entry in itself).

When we returned home at nine, I got back to work and by the last one I was giddy from the rush of creating something I am really proud of. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I remembered how much I love art, how long it has been since I've painted something fun, and how much I'm going to love knowing that I made the school some money.

So maybe, just maybe, this whole festival is more about the process than the product. It's more about the service than the hardship. It's more about putting our God-given gifts to good use than assuming someone else will do it.

I'll let you know if I'm still feeling the love when I start my baking.