How can I argue with that?

In my church, it is a sin to miss Sunday Mass unless there is a valid reason (except we can go on Saturday instead).  I, personally, don't agree with the sin rule, since  I really enjoy going to church--most of the time.  I listen attentively, participate enthusiastically, so I always get something good from the service, and I enjoy the fellowship with my fellow-believers.

Except....I'm not a morning person at best of times.  So when the services were changed to 8:30 am, and I drive 20 miles on 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sundays and not so quite as far on alternate Sundays, and we have had a brutal winter, with -30 C and wind chills, and considering I have to drive over many  miles of uninhabited country roads, with very poor cell service, I'm more reluctant to be so "faithful", and rely on reading my scripture at home.

My leg issues--difficulty walking, and unlocking myself after sitting, only increase my fear of heading out alone.  Add to this the fact that the leg pain often deprives me of sleep, so I'm not as alert and strong as I'd like to be.

My personal view on church attendance--for me--is:  God has been so good to me, my life has been so blessed, even when there were hard times, so how can I not give him an hour a week?  I don't think for a minute that God is enriched by my presence, or harmed by my absence--the gain/loss is all mine, but it's a gesture of gratitude.  I don't usually need a "law" to get me there.

So I've begun making a deal with Him.  Last night I was exhausted from a long day of organizing an all-day meeting, and, tired and sore,went to bed early and set the alarm.  At 5:00 I awoke, grumpy and sore, and turned the alarm off:  as I turned it off, I said a prayer:  "Lord, if it's good for me to go to church today, please wake me up in time--if you let me sleep, I'll know that's what you wanted for me".  Well, I woke up at 6:55--5 minutes before the alarm-set.  Not only that, I was feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, raring to go, with much less pain than normal.
How can I argue with that?
This is a beautiful link:   God Whispers

May God bless you all today!♥♥♥

Happy update:  At the beginning of Mass, our music minister Mike made an announcement that his oldest daughter was in labor with her 4th child, but the baby was breech, so he asked that we all pray for a good outcome.  At the end of Mass, he went up to the lectern, pulled out his cell phone, and said "Michela can you hear me?". From the phone through the microphone we heard:  "Titus George Michael has arrived safely".  Mom sounded strong and supremely happy!!

The Mandala Saga

I ♥ the Mandala Sweater.
I ♥that it's knit in squares from the outside towards the center.
I ♥ the rustic yarn and the colors.
But I don't like the very wide sleeves, so I plan to try to knit them to shape.  I also realized that when I started this it was OK to wear a sweater with 6" positive ease, but that has changed, so I will be re-knitting the body squares that are already finished.  I ripped the first one out quickly and re-knit it quickly to ease the pain.  I won't be ripping the sleeves till I'm positive that the shaped form will work.  So that means I will be making the 8 body squares first to make sure I'll have enough yarn to make a third sleeve.

 So, the process went something like this:  The chart shows the original square sleeve, with the tapered modification drawn in:

These are the original big-square sleeves:

Completed, smaller, body squares, some blocked, some rumpled, the beginning of a seam:

The first part of the sleeve modification, worked with short rows:

Till next time:  Nothing profound to say, just have a nice spring!!