The distinct smell of Creosote (I had to google this spelling) always takes me back to my childhood. Why? You may ask. Growing up with a Wendy Hut in the back yard, converted into a Craft Room, the wood of the wendy was treated with Creosote. I was exposed to crafting at a young age. I will always associate that smell to crafting.
I grew up, having a mother who always did something creative, teaching her three girls to escape from the real world through crafting. I am guessing that is why she crafted, because that is why I craft. To me, crafting does not have rules. It has rules, but it is not like my day job you know? If you make a mistake, you repaint it or start over again, or you wing it and see where the project goes and what it lands up looking like.
With my day job it is not that simple, and I feel obliged to do things perfectly and correctly the first time round. At this point in writing this article, I do want to point out that now is the time to switch on the kettle and make yourself a nice cup of coffee (or tea) before continuing.
You see, I cannot break this article up into smaller chapters as I will lose the essence of what I feel is being pressed on my heart to say. February is a busy month. Probably my least favourite month of the year, if one is allowed to have a least favourite month.
For many reasons I am not a Feb Fan. One of the biggest reasons, is the fact that I am always exhausted by the time it is my daughter’s birthday on the 7th. Yes I know, it is only the beginning of the month, but I know what lies ahead, I know the hours I am required to work, I just know what is waiting for me work wise. My little EMP201 (for those who don’t know – it is one of the many tax returns due on the 7th of each month) is such an enthusiast when it comes to her birthday.
I feel guilty that I cannot always share her excitement with her. Even more so, that I only had until around the 14th of February in 2014, the year she was born in, to spend undivided attention on her, before reverting back to my laptop to work, do calculations and submit returns. It was almost breastfeeding while typing and filing returns. It is like I do not have ample time available to just be in the moment, enjoying the preparations coming up to her birthday. Does this make sense? Or am I so caught up in my little work world, that I forget to stop and smell the roses?
The other reason for the lack of love for the Month of Love is, there is just NO TIME for anything else. The kids are growing up, their schedules are starting to pick up pace, something I never get right at budgeting for time-wise. I mean, I feel like I do not have time to purchase groceries (it is a frustration because fresh salad on a weekly basis is a MUST for us but getting around to Woollies is a challenge), let alone to get the kids on time to their additional maths classes, taking them food before their art classes start and exercise.
Exercise I refuse to skip. That is the one thing that keeps me sane. I cannot do all the funky moves associated with Cross Fit, but I arrive twice a week and I try them – I can see how I have grown stronger and am amazed at what I can do compared to when I just started. I then attend another day of exercise, and on that day I do spinning, which is something my son loves doing, so this is our time together. The extracurricular activities of the kids are also a no-go zone when it comes to deciding whether to not do it. We have to do it and work around that.
You see, in 2020, before the lock down and before the Pandemic, I made a conscious decision to stop putting work ahead of everything. I was missing out on life, because we lived a motto of Let’s just get through this month. Twelve months of the year, year in and year out. And that is how we lived for many years. I even felt that time was stolen from me, for years, because of this motto that we lived by. Actually, it may have been 2019 already that I made this decision. Anyway. In the middle of February 2020, at the busiest time of all, I started to Cross Fit, (after praying for years to God to make me love exercise, I finally found the thing that I can do and enjoy while getting back into shape).
Yes you can laugh. I am just complaining about how hectic February is and then I take on something like that. Is there ever a good time? No there is not. Now you may wonder how I am connecting the dots with this entry. I started with crafts, sang my moan songs about work and this month of Love which I do not love so much and now I am talking about exercise. But wait, you will see…. everything is intertwined in my life.
Back to the crafts. For months I had been dreaming about a Cricut machine. I was torn between the Joy and the Maker. My final decision was the Joy – due to size and price. In February (you see the trend here…?) I decided to make the purchase.
I knew it was the wrong month to make the purchase, because I knew that I would want to craft more than work in this crazy month. I decided to make the purchase from Kelirosh Studio. Her prices were the best (I missed the Takealot specials and could not get to Makro). I have also only heard good things about this online shop and this was enough to convince me to make the purchase there.
The guilt that I experienced after making the purchase was insane. But when the box arrived, it was as if God showed me that it is ok. It is ok to want to have a life, wanting to do things and not only work. On the box, I noticed two Flamingos. Now the whole thing that my blog and ministry revolves around is Flamingos. This is mind blowing and insane – the Flamingos on the box.
Even the posture of the Flamingos on the box were similar to two used in my designs. Immediately I felt as if God was talking to me here. Confirming that it is ok to make this purchase in the month which I consider to be not the best month for me personally.
I realise too, that we are raising a new generation of crafters. I grew up with things like making candles, cards with stamps and embossing powder, little wire trees with gemstones stuck on them, to name only a few. The next generation of crafters involves technology like this little Joy machine. As you can gather, both my children have hi-jacked the machine, fighting over who is going to use it next. Taking the pressure off me to use it so that I can focus on work for now – but when this busy period is over, I am going to jump in and do stuff with it.
A week or so after the purchase of the Joy, I received a phone call from a Mrs. SA semi-finalist, Nicky Kruger, asking if I would like to consider being a sponsor to her for this pageant or competition (not sure how we are supposed to refer to this?). Now this is a longish story of how we “know” each other, but the long and the short is, she is a teacher at a school where I served last year, handing out aprons to students.
I was dumb-struck, overwhelmed and excited all at the same time. My initial response was that it is CRAZY mad at work, I can only answer her mid-March after all my deadlines have been tended to. Of course, curiosity got the better of me, I read through the information she sent me and made up my mind. This is such a wonderful opportunity, I cannot decline.
Now you see, again this is February. Again there seems to be little time to think things through and get things done. I am starting to wonder if God is not pushing me in a direction and allowing all these things to happen in the Month of Love, just so that I can start loving Feb again?
Who knows, but, it seems that big things happen in February. The birth of a child, the need to exercise, the need to craft more and now the sponsorship for a HUGE event like Mrs. SA. I think God is giving back my Joy for the month when I experience it the least.
I just have to love the puns from God. The Joy represented by a physical tangible little machine, literally bringing Joy to those using it. Because is that not how we as humans are? We want to SEE it and KNOW it is there…. and don’t get me wrong – I am not placing my Joy in the Joy, it is just God’s way of talking to me, giving me a tangible reminder of things that I need reminding of.
Beautifully written…a blog I will definitely follow from here…
Thank you Lianda!