One of the things I am most enjoying about my new hobby and passion for cross stitch is that there is so much to learn. Groups I am in share tips and tricks for stitching on various fabrics or ideas and ways to mix colors for floss (thread) that you don’t have in your “stash” or to make a pattern your own style. I can’t think of a day in the past 11 months that I haven’t learned something from watching another stitcher.

One of my favorite designers, and floss tube creators, is Jacob de Graaf of Modern Folk Embroidery. He’s a multidisciplinary artist but an expert in traditional style, period reproduction, Quaker and Dutch/Frisian samplers. As we are journeying through a stitch-along for the month of August working on our Fast Frisian sampler, Jacob has been sharing his sampler collection and the research he has done to learn about the young girls that stitched the samplers, the schools or orphanages they attended, and the families and villages that they grew up in.

The past two weeks, in our daily stitching videos, he has taken us on a journey to various cities in the Netherlands to visit art museums, landmarks, and the quaint 600-year-old-city that he grew up in. It has an historic canal, a waterway that was a thoroughfare, that connected Friesland to Germany. Because of that, his town received their “city” status. Jacob took us to lakes, gardens and a lovely working windmill. I will probably never visit the Netherlands so I have been soaking up the sites and information he has shared with us.

In today’s image I have shared my progress on our sampler, as well as the desired end result showing Jacob’s chart and design. I am behind on my Frisian samplers as well as other “stitch-alongs”, due to a lot of birthday celebrating this week, for which I have no regrets and am grateful for the opportunity to celebrate with friends. Hopefully I will catch up this week. But as another floss-tuber said this week regarding her stitch-along, there are no stitching police, do what you can and have fun. Great advice for life as well.

Today, in his Angelus address for the Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Pope Leo XIV reminded us to remain open and resist the temptation to think that we have learned all we need to about our faith. Pope Leo reflected on Matthew’s Gospel and Jesus’ question to the disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Pope Leo suggested that Jesus calls us to give a personal response to this question, to continually rediscover our relationship with Jesus in the Gospels, reviewing and renewing the choices we make each day to be sure they are consistent with the faith we profess to believe.

If we attended Catholic schools, or religious education programs, we might be tempted to believe that we have learned everything we need to live a Christian life. I have found in the many books I read, or retreats I have attended, that my relationship with Christ is ever changing. My most common prayer during weekly Adoration is, “what do you want me to know or see today?” I am often surprised by the answers or insight I receive in prayer.

Pope Leo offered us these questions as suggestions to pray with: “Who is the Lord for me? Do I truly know him? What is his Gospel asking of me today? What steps and what choices am I called to make?”

Maybe there is a book you have seen that would offer some time for quiet reflection each day. Perhaps a retreat or Day of Reflection. Sometimes they are virtual, so you don’t actually have to take time to get away, although I do believe there is great benefit in removing ourselves from the daily distraction of being at home, with tasks to be done attempting to grab our attention. Our parish, as many do, will begin adult education programs for those interested in learning more about the Catholic faith, in preparation for receiving the Sacraments at Easter, but are open to those who want to rediscover and learn more about the practices of our faith. Check with your own parish, even if you have been away for a while, if that sounds interesting to you. Certainly you are welcome at Holy Family Parish if you don’t have a parish you call “home”.

This week think of an area of your life that you have grown complacent. How might you learn something new and gain some knowledge about it? Perhaps you are feeling called to grow deeper in your faith life.

I’d love to hear about it in the comments if you wish to share what that might be or what you learned.

Wishing you abundant peace and joy this week, Deena