Chasing Rainbows

The title of this post could be multiple choice (a) chasing rainbows (b) rough roads and rainbows or (c) follow your dreams.  Actually it is a tad of each.

Warning Will Robinson, transparancy ahead, proceed with caution! 

First Things First – Chasing Rainbows

It all sorta started Sunday morning heading to rehearsal prior to the early service at church. Lest you think I do anything important (such as sing with the worship team) I’m just a humble servant behind the scenes ~ actually I’m a button pusher. I push a button to change the words on the big screen so worshipers can follow along and sing with the music. If you are old enough to remember Lawrence Welk it’s “following the bouncing ball”. My husband likes to tell me that I’m “proud of my humility” so let’s just leave it as that ~ to clarify and get back to my story … I was on the road about 0720 when I caught my first glimpse.

I saw a rainbow in the sky, and yes, I pulled over to safely take the photo!

 

I was coming off a crazy few weeks, good times yet I have to admit I was very tired and discouraged that I lost way too many days due to exhaustion. It seemed to take forever to unpack my bags, even longer to do the laundry (still hanging in the laundry room I confess), and I found myself with way too many hammock naps. Goodness, I must really be getting old if it takes this much out of me to recover….anyway, those were my thoughts while driving to church … when I saw the rainbow it was like my personal message from God that He hadn’t forgotten me. I mean, afterall, the true meaning of the rainbow goes back to when God promised Noah that He wouldn’t flood the entire world again. The rainbow is a special covenant ~ and for me it was, again, a simple reminder to reflect on God’s promises. Yep. Made me smile. And then I turned on the next road…

Could it be!?! I was seeing the “other end” of the rainbow!

 

And yes, even in my excitement I did remember to pull over on the side of the road to take the photo. Even though it was behind the clouds it was so exciting as I don’t remember too many occassions when I have seen both sides of a rainbow. I’ve seen a few “double rainbows” in my life, but that’s another story (grin).

As silly as it sounds, seeing this sight again lifted my spirits despite my thoughts of how far I was behind in my to do list.

Yes, I could check off some fun adventures ~ afterall, hadn’t I just had a fabulous quilting cruise introducing 90+ ladies to my pattern Geese Over Galveston Bay? Next my whirlwind of activity took me to North Carolina where I caught up with “The Class of 2017” as well as other Certified Instructors with Deb Tucker’s Studio 180 Design…

Deb Tucker’s Certified Instructor Class of 2017, or at least the ones who were able to attend reunion this year!

 

In case you missed the HUGE announcement Deb has a new tool the Wedge Star and this is Freelancer, the pattern included with the tool…oh soooo much fun to make at reunion! I got bonus points for throwing in the lime green flange (grin)

Yes, I truly have had a lot to be thankful for, but in all transparancy ~ I was weary.

Rough Roads and Rainbows

Seems like the hurrieder I went the behinder I got…know that feeling? Sure you do, we all get a little weary, or overwhelmed, sometimes stressed not seeing the forest for the trees. When I get like this I do try to remember what my dad always said “there’s always someone who is worst off than you” ~ bet you’ve been told that too! Yep. I’ll take my problems over someone else’s that’s for sure…but sometimes I park a little too long in thinking about them…

Seems there’s always been a lot of “clamity Jane” stories in my life. My friend Sarah was listening to one of such stories at the CI renuion when she said “seems like if there’s a choice between a good thing happening to you or a bad thing that the bad thing always wins out” to which I replied…”it makes for some great stories!”  For example, did you hear the one about one of my suitcases from North Carolina not arriving home to Houston Hobby when I did?

Yep, this time I didn’t get stranded in an airport coming home due to weather...but I still had a story to tell! I found it very interesting that the airlines chose to keep my suitcase full of my new fabric purchases, the above pieced quilt top, as well as all my Deb Tucker tools. Why didn’t they keep the suitcase with all the dirty laundry, I mean, the least they could have done was keep that one and do my laundry! (grin) As it turns out, it was a blessing in disquise (God does things like that ya’know). By chosing to go back to the airport to pick up my delayed (not lost) luggage verses having them deliver to my house resulted in a $150 voucher towards the purchase of a future flight. Thank you very much!

So back to the rainbow…I again had another turn in the road and….

The clouds moved and I could see the entire rainbow, well, almost!

This was turning into a joy ride! Except I could tell that I’d probably be a little late to rehearsal with all these distractions!  Again, that’s kinda relative to my life lately. My to do list has had multiple obligations with simultaneous deadlines. I try my best to prioritize but at times I have to admit I get overwhelmed and have to pull back with a sanity break, usually with a little distraction (grin). Not that distractions are a bad thing, per say, but they do have a way of prolonging that to do list.

Dinner out is a most welcomed distraction, especially when it involves a sunset over the bay!

 

Technically Reagan isn’t a distraction, but making her a quilt might have been.

Okay, so I admit it. I took a day off when I should have been unpacking, catching up on bills, (forget grocery shopping, it’s too easy to talk hubby into dinner out) and decided I just needed to finish a quilt I had started for Reagan months ago ~ after all, she’s now 8 months old (can you believe it!) and needed a “throw down” quilt for playing on the floor. Yes, I’ve coined that term (grin). Simply a quilt made without a lot of fuss or details that can be used as a utility quilt for a picnic, taken in the car, you know, a “throw down” quilt.  No regrets ~ I mean, look at that smile!

Still…as I continued on to church, despite the encouragement of the full rainbow, I was feeling defeated. Too much to do, not enough time to do it all. I felt like I was/am missing out on so much. Too many outside obligations that I barely have time for myself much less family… and then I turned onto the feeder road of I-45…

Not a cloud blocking the view!

Follow Your Dreams

And yes, I did pull over to take the above photo ~  this IS Houston afterall! How fortunate that it was so early on a Sunday morning and that there was an empty strip mall parking lot between my turning onto the feeder before needing to enter the freeway!

“I’m listening Lord”

Life isn’t perfect. For any of us. Just ask the family who just said goodbye to an elderly mother, or the precious friend battling cancer, or the one who feels trapped in a deadend job. These are current real-life situations with people in my life. My fatigue and feeling like “we will never close out the details from Hurricane Harvey” or other woes certainly pale in comparrison…yet, these are my issues and they are real, they can be overwhelming and stressful at times…but I am reminded of the song “I’ll keep on, I’ll keep on, I’ll keep on.”

I am following my dreams of being a quilt pattern writer. It’s slow, it’s a lot of work, but it is so satisfying when one is complete and ready to go to press. I love that I am able to share my patterns with others, especially when I get to teach one of them! Teaching is definitely one of my dreams!

A work in progress, finalizing a new pattern, coming soon! Stay tuned for Fiesta Stars!

Yes, my dreams are as numerous as the items on my to do list. One by one, by God’s grace and the strength He gives me to do the work required, they will be accomplished!

I Love Chasing Rainbows!

Especially when the end results in all those jumbled thoughts coming together in clarity and peace of mind, even if just for the moment, just enough to carry on and take that next step, whatever that might be.

To continue my Sunday rainbow chase…I was so excited when I finally got to church ~ I couldn’t wait to share my photos (and by way of explaination the reason for my tardiness). Disclaimer, in re-reading the previous statement it appears that my excitment to be at church was sharing the rainbow story ~ that was just the icing on the cake as I dearly love my church, the worship, the teaching AND the fellowship…just sayin’

So I’m sharing my photos with my friend Mark when he pulls out his phone and with a grin says, “I don’t mean to one-up you, but look at the shot I got this morning”  Yeah he did (grin) but I don’t care (he treats me like his big sister so ya’ gotta expect some good natured teasing). I could admit his was better than mine because he shared his photo with me so I can share with you… this sums up my saga perfectly!

Full rainbow over Calvary Houston, photo credit Mark Briggs

May this transparent post and the wonderful photo of God’s rainbow encourage you in your life, wherever you may find yourself – rough roads and rainbows or following your dreams! God bless you in all that you do, and thank you so much for sharing the journey with me! PS – Happy First Day of Summer! My all time fav time of year!!!

This is Karen Overton, The Quilt Rambler, eternally thankful that God loves me and indeed has a plan for my life! Just waiting for Him to write the next chapter!

 

3 thoughts on “Chasing Rainbows

  1. Terri VandenBosch says:

    Love all of this Karen!!! Following a dream can be exhausting and fulfilling all at the same time–how well I know!! Keep the faith and follow where He leads!!!

  2. Beth-IHaveaNotion.com says:

    Many days I have the same feeling… hurry and find myself behind… and if there have been any signs (rainbows) lately, it has been much to wet in KY to go look!!! Take the breaks when they are offered! That is the beauty of being self employed! You have the choice.

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