Sometimes it is to bring joy, like I hope these did.
Drawing by one of my favorite 5th graders....turned into a woolie.
Another favorite 5th grader who is longing for a horse of her own, who she will name Jasmine.
I had to give Jasmine all 4 legs.
(photo by Samantha)
(photo by Samantha)
My friend, Samantha already got her horse dream to come true.
I made 2 of these for my sweet friend Rachel
so that she can still hold Laurel's hand
whenever she wants to.
Sometimes it is for later, when the hurt is less, and the memories bring joy.
And this one is for them, too. When Rachel's sister, Beth, died,
Rachel started drawing these angels every time she wrote her name.
(Beth was 16 and Rachel was 15)
This is her Laurel Angel.
So, while I do make stuff to sell and I am supposing they bring joy to whoever buys them, my biggest happiness comes in creating something especially for someone special.
It is heart warming to use my gift to do God's work....joy and comfort....
22 comments:
You are so gifted, Donna. And, you are a wonderful vessel for God's love to pass through with your beautiful work. Amazing. Just amazing. blessings ~ tanna
You are always an inspiration, Donna.
~ from Granny Annie Payne
Ah, Rachel. Rachel, who weeps over her children. But this one will be comforted - by great love. Eventually. I wish I knew her. The story deepens now I know about Beth, too. Rachel has lived very near that door. If only we could see, just for a moment, just a glimpse, or get a tiny wiff of the sweetness - something that wafts from that other side. These are things that I would do, also, had I the calling to make these things - and have often thought of making quilts based on the drawings my own children did - and I have hoarded over the years. The difference is that you actually do them. Rachel needs a pony.
I actually thought of giving her Gozo, but just couldn't quite....shall I?
Rachel (who is just 30) told me Friday that she feels like she has been trained for this. Between her sister, Beth and her Laurel, her mother died. Her MIL took her as her own and now she is motherless again....
But, in spite of all of this, Rachel does smell the sweetness of eternity on the other side.
Send me one of your hoarded drawings and I can try....
Another good thing that has come from this post is that another teacher, whose severely handicapped child died last year has asked for some hands to hold....I can help in this little way.
Anne!
How good to hear from you. Do you know how much of my inspiration comes from you?
Love, d.
Tanna, I love the idea of being a vessel for God's love...probably cracked and chipped, but still serviceable and beautiful, right? Love, d.
I'm going to gear up and make some more ponies this coming week, I think. I can only hold still so long. Let me see what I can come up with. Don't give away Gozo - though I understand what the gift would mean in all its levels. I want you to keep Gozo. I am having a hard time trying to wake up from the last two months and realize that truly, I have no deadlines, after a year of self-imposed ones. Making 40 deer (not that hard - but still, aiming straight at a mark), etc - besides the publishing and the family picture books. I mean really, I spent 6 weeks from next week on doing nothing but scanning. I think that it was a great labor of love, but also, coming out of the directed life of the holidays, I think it was a relief to have something mechanical and with a total structure and direction to do. Problem is, I didn't stop finding those marks to aim at. Now, I've accomplished so many of the things I set out to do, I'm not so eager to set marks. I am glad to drift a bit. A writer doesn't write a good story, writing to a mark (at least, I don't). It's in the drifting that there are openings for the heart to stir. I am just being quiet.
It's good about the teacher asking. I like it when people you respect and care about finally ask for something that you can do organically. That's an amazingly satisfying thing to field. (As opposed to people who you do NOT respect hinting around for stuff - which doesn't happen often, but is aggravating to say the least).
I'm just tired. But at least my head stopped hurting quite so much.
Are you guys still frozen like we are?
Yay! I'm glad I get to keep Gozo. I love his little pointy ears, his little felted eyes, his wild yellow mane and tail and most of all his polka spots!
I love how you are willing to love on Rachel just because I love her.
I love that I am having a deadline free time, too. The next event is my birthday and I don't have to do anything for that one! Enjoy your quiet time and listen to the murmurings of your great big heart.
I am just coming out of my exhaustion....it was deep - mental, physical, spiritual...
We have snow and ice, but not quite the cold that you have....no single digits! It is supposed to be almost 50 here this week, but it is snowing right now.
Are your horses ok in those cold temperatures?
They do okay. I don't know how they do it, really - those delicate ears and noses. But they can stand pretty cold temps. Two years ago, we were minus 15 for several nights. You just have to make sure to feed them up well in the evening. They heat themselves in the process of digestion. Their hooves seem not to freeze, or at least, not to take harm from being very cold for extended periods of time. When you feed them, you can see steam rising from their backs. They hate it, though. And there is a blog of mind from a few years back - two or three - in which I have tons of pictures of the hoar frost on the fences and lacing the manes of the horses - making them look a little ghostly. Horses that are kept with blankets on - like coats - or who are kept in heated barns never grow the wonderful, fuzzy, soft winter coat that horses who live naturally do. But if the cold is terrible over a long period and the horses are not cared for properly, they can freeze to death. It's never been that cold for that long here. If it got like that, we'd have to bring them home, clean out the garage, put up fences inside and keep them in there. The thought makes me tired.
There is great beauty here. And I am crying. That little hand. Donna, you shine with love.
Well, I am happy to hear that somehow they are OK. I worry about the cows that I see in the fields here. Most of them have a woods to go into where there is less snow and they do huddle up some....still ...brrrrr. I'll do a little search for the old blog post....
Well, I am glad that somehow they keep warm enough. I worry about the cows in the fields around here. Most of them have some woods to retreat to where there is less snow and they do huddle up some....still...brrrr.
I will do a little search for the old blog post.
Thanks, Wabi, but it isn't me, it's the nudge and the gift of a talent that makes things like these....I'm just trying to get better at feeling and following the nudges.
That little hand to hold....... oh Donna! When my friend lost her baby, the hospital helped her make a plaster hand and foot. They put he babies hands and feet in molds so they are a perfect replica and then fill the molds with plaster. She held that little hand for the longest time in her hand. No one knew. She showed me one day. Tucked her hand, a tiny little wee hand. Your friend Rachel will hold that little hand. You are such an angel Donna!!
What a wonderful thing for a hospital to do....I do think Rachel will love this little hand for a long time to come....
I know she will.... during hard times like these, you hold onto these things and love them for always.
Each one is fabulous. What a beautiful heart you have (I know I've said so before).. I'm blessed to 'know' you.
Hugs, Debbie
Wow! What an awesome idea! These are such special gifts! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Maria! That means so much coming from a toy designer...I would like to try making softees out of kids drawings, too.
I was a Special Education teacher for many years and then team taught with a Special Education teacher for full inclusion....great times!
Oh, Debbie...thanks so much. I love 'knowing' you, too!
I love the way you turned the drawings into felt pictures. I bet the kids loved them. I also appreciate that you are giving God the glory for your creative gift.
Thanks, Sarah....both of the kids did like them and were thrilled that their 'drawings' had been immortalized! Being created in the image of a Creator God is a good thing!
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