Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Hug A Sheep Day and
My walk with God (true story)...


Dream asked me to remind everyone that there are only THREE MORE DAYS until the very first, annual Hug A Sheep day! 


She also says that if you can't make it to an Open House / Fiber Festival this Saturday, you are certainly welcome to Hug A  Sheep, vicariously, through one of the many sheep blogs available.  She definitely thinks that you should VOTE for which sheep you'd most love to hug on the sidebar of this blog.  Just so you know, fondling wool  yarn or wool  garments counts, as does hugging the closest thing that you may have to a sheep ~ such as a dog or cat ~ use your imagination!  Just be sure to give a moment's thought to all of the wonderful products, not to mention the joy, that our woolly friends provide for us.

Now, about my walk (and talk) with God...
Last weekend, I was in Russell, Pennsylvania, visiting my very Dear Friends, Linda and Pete Westover, of Foxglove Farm Shetlands.  On Monday, we went to a wine tasting at a wonderful vineyard in nearby New York.  After the wine tasting, Linda had planned a picnic on Barcelona Beach for the three of us.  It was delightful!  While Linda and Pete strolled the shoreline of Lake Erie, looking for Sea Glass, I decided that I wanted to hunt for something different ~ something I've been wanting to start a collection of for a long time.  I was going to hunt for heart shaped rocks


Aren't they cool?
I've been wanting to start a heart shaped rock collection for some time and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.


I mean, you'd think that out of the kazillions of rocks washed up along the shoreline, surely some of them  would have to be heart shaped!  Sometimes, I had to use a bit of imagination to see the heart.


Sometimes, the heart was broken.
There were a LOT of broken hearts on that beach.


As I was walking along, searching for heart-shaped rocks, I began 'talking' to God.  I often do that.  I'm not a classically religious person.  I haven't been to church in years.  But I definitely believe there is a kind and wonderful God and that for some reason, he seems to love me.

So, as I was walking and searching, I mentioned to God that hearts often symbolize love.  Like the imperfect rocks that I was finding, love was not perfect either.  Sometimes, Love is difficult to recognize...


Sometimes you really have to use your imagination to see it.
I didn't mind the imperfect rocks/imperfect love.


But my neck was getting sore and I was looking through hundreds, if not thousands, of rocks.  I asked God if maybe I could find one that really did look like a heart.
  

Not that I wasn't happy with the 'sort of' heart shaped rocks that I was finding.
  

The ones that I had to use a little imagination to really see the heart,
 

I could still see the love  heart ~ even if nobody else could.  And I was satisfied with that.


But I explained to God that I would really like to find a TRUE heart shaped rock.  I'd be happy with just one.  It didn't have to be perfect...


Just close enough to obviously be heart shaped.


One that I didn't have to use my imagination to see ...


because it was clearly, unquestionably a heart.
Guess what happened...


Not instantly.  It took a little while.  But when I saw this rock (above), I knew that God was listening.  Like he always does.  Not that I always get what I want, but at least I know that he hears me.


Something interesting happened when I was putting this post together today.  As I was going through my wonderful, heart shaped rock collection, it occurred to me that most of them look MUCH more like hearts than I thought they did at the time I found them.


I suspect there's a message there... 


DREAM says...


"You can see Mom's heart shaped rock collection (although, I can't for the LIFE of me, figure out why anyone would want to)  and ME,  if you come to our "Hug A Sheep" day, Open House and Fiber Festival.  And DON'T  FORGET  TO  VOTE  FOR  ME ~  er, of course I mean:  for the sheep you would most like to hug...  Which would of course, be ME!!!"


15 comments:

  1. Nancy! I have those message moments! Nice to hear about yours. You may like the book/movie Eat Pray Love. That author does, too.
    My vote for most huggable sheep? The dryest one. ;-)
    And, like Dream needs more hugs.
    I wish you great success at your event. I am sure everyone will have fun.

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  2. Its all in willingness to imagine and to have the heart to believe in your dreams! And I believe you are doing a wonderful job in your new dream adventure!

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  3. Super Cool, Nancy! Best to you on your Hug a Sheep Day

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  4. I love this!
    Thank you so much for sharing.

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  5. This little story warmed my heart today. Thank you for sharing it with us. I find that some of my best "awwwww" moments have been through the blogs I follow. Some bring a smile, some bring a tear and some make me pounder my place in this world.

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  6. Lovely story. *hugs* ♥

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  7. Great rocks! Do you read Farmgirl Fare? She collects heart rocks too and spreads them all over her house, barn and farm :-).

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  8. Anonymous7:29 PM

    What a lovely blog, Nancy! See you and the sheep tomorrow...

    Terry

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  9. That was such a sweet story!!! I was getting teary just waiting for the magic moment when you found the perfect rock. Thank you so much for sharing. (PS- I also love the new Hug A Sheep icon up top!)

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  10. Lovely story, for a lovely collection. Thank you for telling us about your day!

    I will, indeed, be going south of the Twin Cities... but unless I jump out of the plane, I won't be able to visit you and your wooly lovelies this coming weekend. We'll have to make do with Las Vegas instead.

    I wonder if we could hug a mountain sheep? They might have some of those on Mount Charleston...

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  11. Lovely collection, Nancy. Hope yesterday went well for you and that the sheep had lots of hugging visitors.

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  12. Hi Nancy!

    Rebecca- here from the Fibershed project!! Beautiful blog you have here!! I left a reply to your comment, on the fibershed blog- but wanted to make sure you got it, not sure how those 'reply' buttons function on wordpress.. xo reb

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  13. Great post, and I love your heart rock collection! I have collected a few too :-)

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  14. You would think that me being a "rockhound" with a blog like "Random Hearts" that I would have a huge collection of heart-shaped rocks ... but I only have a few! Now I know how to find them ... I love your technique!!! :=}

    These are so beautiful, and I didn't have to use my imagination at all to see the hearts! Thank you so much for linking up with Guest Heart Thursday!

    I am taking care of my cousin's sheep for 3 days while they are out of town, so Hug a Sheep Day comes at the perfect time!

    clytie-randomhearts.blogspot.com

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  15. wow! Awesome collection.

    I enjoyed this post. Thank you.

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