⁵⁵"O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?"

 ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;

 ⁵⁷but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 ⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:55-58

A very dear friend and brother in the Lord, went home to be with the Lord a few weeks ago.  I wish I could have introduced him to my grown children.  He met my older children when they were younger, but they don't remember him.  Tom made the journey to Calgary to visit our family in our early years of marriage. Tom never married but was great with children. 

When I was young and just out of high school, I had two wonderful men in my life that were my brothers in every sense of the word.  They both shared the same name and became roommates early on.  They helped to take care of a naive young island girl who planted herself in a big city.  God put these 'angels' in my path to protect and watch over me.  They meant a great deal to me and I was and am forever grateful for the Lord putting them in my life.  

As the Lord would work it out for me, the memorial service was at the same time I was already in Washington State.  Instead of going to my morning classes for the Sewing Expo, I spent that time grieving, crying, laughing and reconnecting with old friends and paying honor to a man who touched not only my life, but the lives of so many other people.  I was so fortunate to have had the pleasure of working with Tom and Nancy on a worship team for the young adults group.  The Team kept growing by leaps and bounds, due in part to Tom's sincere heart for the Lord and following His leading.  Both Toms and myself had come out of the Catholic church, so we had a bond in our faith that was not always shared by everyone else.  Tom wanted people to know about Jesus.  He was not shy about sharing his faith.  Listening to the stories at the service and how he touched so many lives, was a joy, and a sobering reminder of how we must reach those who do not know the Lord. Tom took the time to invest in strangers, often! 

I am sad that Tom is no longer with us, but I am grateful to know that one day I will see him again.  May those of us who remain, pick up the torch and carry on the legacy of taking time to invest in the lives of other people. 

If you are interested, you can read Tom's obituary here:

http://www.legacy.com/seattletimes/deathnotices.asp?Page=nID=124443864

I am so sorry for the long, overdue, post on cloth shopping bags.  My daughter told me some time ago, I needed to update, so here is the first update on my blog, cloth shopping bags.

First, I want to say, I don’t have all the answers.   A few people have expressed interest in this topic, and I want to share what I have learned along the way, but I do not, by any means, have it all worked out.  I do have thoughts on the subject since we have been using these bags for about 19 years, and since our sons have both worked at grocery stores, I have had time to ponder the improvements of cloth shopping bags.  I thought I could give you some things to consider if you are wanting to move to the route of cloth grocery bags. I also want to note that I did not make these bags, but they are very easy to make.  They are made of outdoor fabric, ripstop nylon.  They wash up easily and I hang them to dry.  If you want to know dimensions and such, just drop me a note and if there is enough interest, I will be happy to give all the particulars on how to reproduce this bag.

Things to consider when choosing to purchase or make cloth shopping bags. 

-         Take into consideration who will be carrying these bags.  Will there be small children, medium sized children, big children or adults carrying these bags? 

-         What types of things you will be purchasing, should help to dictate the type of bag you want to bring with you.  Groceries, books, jars, canned goods, etc.

-         What type of food items will go into what types of bags. 

-         If you are purchasing meat, you will need to wash your bags so as to not cause cross contamination with other goods, as well as causing the bags to stink.

-         Are you packing your own groceries or will the clerk be packing them for you?  This makes a difference as to how the bags are handled.

-         If a clerk will be handling the bags, do they have a ‘bag stand’ for the bags?  If so, you will want to take that into consideration with what bags you will be using.  With the elimination of plastic bags, they may bring in other ‘bag stands’, but until that point in time, we should work with what they have now, and what clerks find work best for them to get their work done quickly and efficiently.

-         Fabric you want to make for your bags.  What you will be carrying in your bags and how easy it is to wash them should help dictate the fabric you choose to make these bags. 

Handles for your bags are very important.  If you get too large of a handle/handles, it will make it impossible to carry your bags for little people.  Also, if the bag is full of heavy items, it will make it impossible to carry.  Having two, shorter handles, verses one long handle, is a much better option when carting groceries.  A shoulder sized handle is better suited for light weight items, clothing, shoes, etc. and some books, but they don’t work very well for carting groceries.  If you are like me, and you like your little people to help bring in the groceries, you want to make the process as easy and pleasurable for them as possible.  Realistically, our family has been using cardboard boxes and crates, more than the cloth bags, since the bulk of my shopping is now done at Costco.  However, my handy red cloth bags are still my favorite grocery bag.

When traveling to other countries, in particular, make sure you bring your cloth bags with you for carting around your treasures.  This is where I find the longer handles/shoulder handles come in handy.  You can put your newly purchased books in there, put your extra sweater, lunch, water bottle and map in there as well, while you walk and walk and walk.

Happy cloth bag shopping!