Longings of the Heart

Growing up in a conservative Mennonite culture, I learned some things really well.

And one of those things was the art of homemaking.

Now, homemaking could mean alot of different things to alot of different people, and none of them would be wrong.

But to me, homemaking means spending most of the hours of your day taking care of your home and those you love within it!

Which, in my case, included milking cows every morning & night, raising and butchering our own meat, growing & preserving our own garden vegetables, cleaning our own house, cooking, & baking what we needed. Also, sitting around a table for most every home-cooked meal and often having guests to join us.

Now, don't get me wrong, SOME of those things I don't miss!! I did enough of them to last a lifetime, like putting 120 - 4c packages of peas & corn in the freezer every year. Or, getting up before work or school when it was 30 below to take care of the cattle and chickens. But, there is something about doing life like that that is hard to replicate.

And recently, my heart was aching, and I wasn't sure what for.

Until it whispered, homemaking.

Cooking more of our own food again, cleaning before I had to peel the dust off the furniture or squint to see through the smudges on the mirror. Sitting around a table for most of our meals. Even gardening, IF I had a spot. I'll let someone else butcher and get up in the predawn hours to take care of the animals.

So then my next thought was, how could I give my heart what it was longing for right here, right now, in my present life.

And in popped an idea. And the idea had babies and they multiplied rapidly until I literally had a "family" of ideas.

Let me explain.

I grew up in the country. On a farm. With seven sisters and ONE brother. And yes, he was spoiled! :) I mean, EIGHT girls at your beck and call; would you be complaining?? Anyways, back to the point, which was that I don't have alot of keepsakes. Being the second of nine meant most everything was kind of beyond being useful by the time my baby sis was done with it!

Except for my precious doll blanket!! My dear, busy mother made me a blanket that is just a perfect size for the 18" doll I received for my 10th birthday (that's a story for another time). And did I love them both - the doll which was like a baby to me, and the blanket she made for me personally!!

And this is the idea that floated in first. A voice said "Why don't you make them to sell?" And because another art in my culture is sewing our own clothes I learned it well. I also enjoyed it alot!

I got very enthused in a very short time.

But then I asked "What about the other dreams I thought you had given me?"

I have long dreamed of hearing and telling people's stories, something that I realized I loved during long conversations when I was selling sheds at one point in my life.

And, I have also longed to sit with the hurting, hoping to pass on the sense of worthiness and love that I have been given on my healing journey - more of that in future stories if it could help anyone feel less alone.

And that's when I was gifted (because it truly feels like a gift) the idea of combining all my ideas into one place and calling it Grammie's Place because Grandma's place was somewhere I LOVED to be when I was growing up! It's a place where handmade things become, stories matter and you are loved at every moment of your precious life.

Luv,

Grammie