Luke 18: 27

Between being in Primary and being sick, I have not been to Relief Society for a long time, so it was a real treat when I was able to attend on Sunday. (I have a doctor's excuse from Primary for now.) They announced a ward dinner and silent auction this Friday to earn money for the boys' and girls' camps. Sisters were encouraged to sign up to donate goods or services for the auction. As part of my "return to normal" campaign and also wanting to feel more a part of the ward, I grabbed the sign-up and committed to donating a "hand-smocked baby dress."

What was I thinking?????

When I told Bill, he said, "That's nice. Are you going to display a picture or something so that people will know what they're bidding on?" Nooooo--that would be way too easy! Knowing that Bill would be out of town for three days, I decided that I could stay up around the clock if necessary to get the smocking done and sew the dress before Friday. (See my post on OCD.)

I started to question my own sanity when I realized that it was taking me ten minutes just to thread a single needle with my wonky eyes. (There are sixteen needles to thread on my pleater PLUS all the needles that have to be threaded when doing the actual smocking.)

And so I did what I always do when I need help. I prayed. I pointed out to the Lord that this was for a good cause, and that I obviously couldn't do it alone. Of course, I also included the "thy will, not mine" clause which I have learned to be be very accepting of. I tried threading my needles again and this time I could see to do it. In fact, my vision was almost normal most of the time that I was working. When it did get to the point where I couldn't see well, I would take a short break until my vision cleared up again.

Even with the Lord's help, I wasn't sure I had enough time to get this project done by Friday. Well, I just finished. It took three days to do all the smocking and the sewing. AND I was in bed by 1:00 a.m. each night! I have never completed a smocked project this quickly. Obviously, I had a lot of help.

I hope it fetches big money at the auction but even if it doesn't (we know how cheap Mormons are) I have my reward. I feel so good about being able to physically do it, and most importantly, I have proof yet again of the Lord's "tender mercies" in my life.

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