Rebecca Sower

water

Close your eyes and breathe that word like a sigh.   Water.   We really have no clue how fortunate we are to have water at our every turn.  It is a beautiful gift we have been given.

 (Photo from Haiti...Elcy and Katherine getting water from well on day we built Elcy's house)

There cannot be life or nourishment without this, the most precious of all natural resources.

When Jenny at Crescendoh asked me to design some rubber stamps with all proceeds going to water.org...how could I say no to that?

Help me help Jenny raise awareness and funds to give water (life!).  When you purchase a set of the stamps here, all proceeds go directly to water.org.

"What do we live for if not to make

the world less difficult for each other?"

{ george eliot }

gratitude countdown { no. 01 }

With only a few days remaining until Thanksgiving, I thought I might stick to a gratitude theme for the next few posts, maybe with some autumn compositions from nature and some words to ponder...

"Given the amount of unjust suffering and unhappiness in the world,

I am deeply grateful for,

sometimes even perplexed by,

how much misery I have been spared."

{ dennis prager }

 

NOTE: Congratulations to Carolyn for being chosen as the winner of Amy's "Vintage Notions" book!  Carolyn, your book is on its way.  Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.

filler photo { no. 15 }

"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents

and discerns those inner qualities that make men human

and, therefore, brothers."

{ mlk, jr. }

 

filler photo { no. 08 }

My current personal journal . . .

"What sunshine is to flowers

smiles are to humanity.

These are but trifles, to be sure,

but scattered along life's pathway,

the good they do is inconceivable."

{ joseph addison }

one at a time

   

My heart is happy, it sings, when I see all the great humanitarian efforts these days.  People helping people.  Just the way it should be.  As you know I've been involved in my share of these efforts.  And to myself I say it's about time you stopped thinking about it and actually did something.  So I encourage you, if you've been like me and just thought about doing something big all your life...well it's time to do it.  Now.

But in reality the world can only be touched one person at a time.  And today, right this minute, you can do at least that.  Someone you know is hurting at this very moment.  Make the decision that you'll be the one to help make it better.  someone is in need.  someone is scared.  someone is hungry.  someone is lonely.  someone is worn down.  someone is lost......

 

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

(Emily Dickinson)

 

Sending my heart out to you through the wires today...

make one happy

Make Someone Happy

"That is a good day in which you make someone happy.

It is astonishing how little it takes to make one happy.

Feel that the day is wasted in which you have not succeeded in this."

[ t. de witt talmage ]

 

And today my happiness comes from the songbirds outside my window, yes.

But mostly, you make me happy.  The auction is going so well

and so many of you have contacted me about donating directly to the

benevolent housing project.  How can I begin to say thank you?

Well I can't.  I can only tell you that...

You make me happy! 

words for wednesday (a day late)

"Life is not so short

but that there is always

time enough

for courtesy."

{emerson}

 

Stop by my etsy shop if you'd like to purchase one of these art quilt pendants.

Hope it's a beautiful thursday for you. 

the faces staring back

Goals are good so I had as a goal this past week to answer, once and for all, my overflowing email inbox.  I would read each piece carefully and thoughtfully and take my time in replying to each one.  And well, that was a goal I never should have made because I didn't meet it, not even close.  I appreciate each email so much, truly I do.  And if you haven't heard from me please forgive me and know that I'm not a rude person, just a little overwhelmed.  And sometimes I just have to step away from this computer.

Did that a few times last week.  Went antiquing with my 16-year-old.  Went to my son's science fair.  Had a nice evening out with my husband and this smooth guy (so don't feel too sorry for me :).  Sorted through some of my old suitcases full of vintage photos (how did I collect so many?!)

And that's when I decided what I'd like to blog about, maybe even a little mini-series, blog style.  All these beautiful faces from the past that I meet as they stare back at me.  Faces without names and places and dates...

Found this one buried in one of my suitcases, down near the bottom.  The entire photo is less than two inches across.  But it caught my eye.  Just loved how the lady seems truly happy, standing there with those children (her own?).  I'm a tall girl and am always a little envious of those women who are more 'on level' with the little ones, women not much taller than the children themselves.  The kids better connect to them, or so it seems to me.  She looks like one of those ladies, one of the ones that kids love and gravitate toward.  Able somehow to hold onto her own childlike heart a little longer than the rest of us.

As is the case with most old photos you run across, there are no dates or names written on the back.  So I will never know her story.  I hope it was a very good one.

come monday

'Tis the season of love.  And I would love to share with you a thought on love by everyone's favorite neighbor to love, Mister Rogers . . .

"When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is:

the lovely with the unlovely,

the strong along with the fearful,

the true mixed in with the facade,

and of course,

the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way."

Working on pulling together a kit or two that sort of highlight some of the thoughts I've put here on my blog over the past several months.  Here's a sneak peak for one of them.

In the meantime, I put some art pieces and supply items in my etsy shop.

I'm having a rainy Monday here, but I've decided that Mondays really aren't that bad after all.  Hope yours is marvelous.