Craft Weekend II

If you have never heard of Whatever Craft Weekend, well then, you’re completely missing out.  My name was chosen at random two years ago to attend and my cousin Rebecca and I drove all the way to Kansas to enjoy the whole shebang.  It’s one of my most favorite trips ever…being with Rebecca was really special…the whole experience was really special.  You can read all about our trip HERE.

This time around Meg & Kimberlee invited me back to be one of their helpers and to teach a craft to the 12 ladies attending.  When I received the message from Meg I didn’t think she had the right person.  I acted like a total dork…questioning whether she had the correct person, responding overzealously and way too quickly…Total. Big. Dork.  I was beside myself.  I’m happy to report, she did not have the wrong person though.  I was floored and absolutely thrilled.  Couldn’t believe it.

I’ve been trying to really think through the past 5 days and what all took place.  It was a really beautiful time.  My first time at Craft Weekend was 2 years ago and I was in such a different place.  I was still crying every day since Mom had died…missing my  mom…longing and aching for us to see Amon’s face for the first time…overwhelmed and feeling as if I might drown in the midst of it all.  It was an extremely hard place to be.  Little did I know, the Tuesday after I arrived home from Craft Weekend we would get our referral for Amon and that God would send us on another wildly wonderful adventure which would stretch and grow and heal our family like we never imagined.  I have several moments at the craft house this weekend where I was just overwhelmed with God’s goodness and his timing of it all…His plans and how they really are far, far better than we could ever imagine or orchestrate.

I saw this picture hanging in the craft house and could have sobbed a giant puddle.

I helped along side Lauren from Art Can’t Hurt.  Lauren was a true blast…loved getting to know her.  We did anything Kimberlee and Meg asked.  Dishes, helping prepare food, making beds, cleaning up, loading bobbins, assisting with projects, straightening and organizing.  I even helped the ladies use the skill saw…I kept a close eye on their fingers 🙂

I laughed to myself as me and Jessica…a new friend from the weekend…walked into the airport together.  She mentioned about going back to reality…cleaning, cooking and taking care of everyone.  I concurred her thoughts and groaned along with her.  I later realized I had just spent the weekend helping do all those things, but it was such a joy it never felt like work.  Whether it was loading the dishwasher or bobbins, it was an honor to serve this incredible group of ladies for the weekend.  My heart nearly burst.  I found myself saying out loud, “This is so much fun.” about everything…because it was.  It was joyfully fun.  An honor.

Meg and Kimberlee were insanely kind.  And legit.  And sincere.  And authentic.  I absolutely loved getting to know them better.

I enjoyed watching Kimberlee cook.  I caught myself several times creepily staring as she prepared all the yummy recipes…watching confectioner sugar fly out of her bowl as she mixed, placing her homemade cinnamon rolls just right on beautiful cake stands, stirring and mixing.  I loved being in the kitchen with her.  She reminded me of Mom in so many many ways.  I got teary several times sitting watching her cook and talking with her.  It’s been a long time since I sat in someones kitchen while they cooked a meal…inquiring about each other’s lives and enjoying each other’s company.  This was my mom.  It seemed as if Kimberlee never even measured…throwing in this, a dash of that and a pinch of something else.  Mom never measured and it was always delicious.  Kimberlee’s food was just the same.  She made so many good things.  Every meal my plate was clean…always running my finger along the inside of the rim, the bottom of the bowl or even scraping my plate clean.  I couldn’t bare to leave any leftover.  It was a weekend of new recipes and old favorites.  I said way too many times, “My mom always use to make _____”…food for my heart.  To be in the kitchen with Kimberlee was such a blessing.

Meg had asked me to teach a craft to the ladies.  This was super intimidating and I wanted to do my best.  Of course anyone asked by Meg would want to do their best.  I was crazy nervous, but Meg was kind and gracious.  The one thing I never anticipated happening happened while the ladies were working on their crafts…the skill saw broke that we were using for my project.  Honestly, I wanted to cry.  Not everyday do you get asked by Meg Duerksen to lead a craft at the Whatever Craft Weekend and I felt as if I had failed.

I drove to Walmart in a giant van by myself in the middle of the night to try and see if there was some way I could get the saw fixed.  I called Josh right before I headed in and he gave me some encouragement.  After looking through Walmart for an answer, there was nothing I could do.  I asked God to give my heart peace.  As I drove back to the craft house I knew I got a choice and I knew what that choice would be.  To be okay with life happening.  To let it go because there was nothing I could have done about it.  That this was small in the grand scheme of life.  To do the best with what I had and to go right back to helping and enjoying the weekend.  I wondered if anyone else had ever botched a project…I wondered if Meg would be straight up pissed.  I knew all I could do was let it go and Meg was so kind about it all.  She wasn’t worried one bit.  About half of the ladies had already cut out their main part, so Meg gave the remaining ladies an alternative and you know what, it seemed not one of them really minded at all.  I’m telling you, this was a kind group.  A caring group.  A group who loved.  And I totally felt it.  And Meg just loved on me and encouraged me and it was as if nothing ever went wrong.  She’s the real deal.  I was humbled and honored once again to be apart of this group.

The ladies I met are such a blessing.  Each so unique and special and I loved hearing their stories and their hearts.  It was a weekend of good food and color and crafting and antiquing.  Building relationships and serving one another.  Everything was perfectly perfect…even the broken saw.  God is constantly teaching me to let my tight grasp on this life go more and more.  He’s teaching me to let Him have my life…to live authentically and vulnerable…to share my heart openly and to be honest.  It was just an incredible weekend.

Courtney text me after I got home asking how everything went.  I told her how blessed I felt…how loved by God I felt…how far He has brought me and our family since my first time in Kansas.  He is light in the darkness.  And it’s an honor to see first hand  how He is using Meg and Kimberlee to love on these groups of women each month and how much they really care for each lady..their story and their heart.

Thank you Meg and Kimberlee for asking me to come.  What an honor and privilege it truly was.

Happy Tuesday!

6 Comments

  1. Laura,
    I loved a lot of things from your craft weekend house. Can you please see if she could tell me where she got a lot of her decor? Thank you so much!
    Love
    Jill

  2. Kimberlee Jost says:

    It was a joy to serve with you, Laura.
    YOU are the real deal. Legit.
    I hope you will plan on coming back sometime because I want to spend more time with you. The weekend just went too fast!
    And of course, I want to feed you.
    🙂

  3. I loved meeting you, and loved your project! You are amazing, and such an inspiration! You are honest, generous, and kind. Thank you so much for all of your service to those of us who attended Craft Weekend. I wish we lived closer. I have a feeling our little ones would be fast friends, and we could make our daily Sonic trips together:)

  4. Amazing! The part about Kimberlee cooking in the kitchen and ya’ll sharing life stories… I got choked up. Love it. Love how God works in people and places like that! And not for one fraction of a second was your craft a bust… You are incredible and I know the ladies were as blessed by you as you were by them! So glad you got to go back and make new memories! 🙂

  5. it was RAD. i am so glad you came and i LOVED your project! and you were a SUPER amazing helper! we should call YOU Hero. 😉

  6. Just scrolled back through Meg’s posts (I’ve been out of the country) and was SO excited to see that you got to go be a helper! Loved the project you led too. So happy for you and this amazing gift you received–and the gift you were able to give to the ladies there. And I WILL respond on the art–just realized I needed to save my money pre-trip.

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