Joy

Good morning to all on this bright sunny morning.  My house except for the closet are ready for summer.   The sprinkler is on, the air conditioner has been checked, the lawn fertilized and spring cleanup outdoors complete. Wish I could say I did it all but no I did none of it.  I am still waiting on the closet because I know that as soon as I pull out the summer clothes it will snow again.  Salt Lake weather is very unpredictable.  We have had snow in June.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in my sewing room.  I think I mentioned my new sewing machine at some point in the blog.  A few weeks ago I finally attempted to embroider with it.  To my great disappointment it failed miserably.  I took it back to the store and spent about three hours there.  Not only did they give me a long private lesson and taught me a couple of new tricks, but also checked the machine.  It turns out that the bobbin case designed for the machine is slightly defective.  They had to adjust it so the embroidery would work again. I might have to readjust it to do regular sewing. There is a new bobbin case to replace the old one on back order.  Who knows when it will show up, but at least my machine works now.  So yesterday I decided to attempt another design.  I bought designs that when finished and put together create a children's book.  I started with the elephant.  This design also has a little bit of machine applique.  I even used fabric that wasn't the best so if I messed up I wouldn't feel like a total failure, but if it worked out I could use it.  To my great surprise and joy it worked perfectly!  I was so very very excited. I was so excited I couldn't even contain myself.  When my machine works it works so beautifully it is unbelievable.  On top of that I sewed another row onto my quilt.  I had a real sense of accomplishment.  I thought about joy yesterday.  The joy I experienced was short lived as all temporary and artificial highs are.  The true joy,  the one that lasts is the result of loving God.  Only through Him can true happiness occur.  Only when I am right with Him do I have that constant feeling of contentment.  It is a different kind of joy.  It is more a joy that comes from peace in knowing I am right with Him.