New Creations

I finished the rug!

It has its flaws, partly because it's the first one I've done and partly because I just didn't care enough to try to make it perfect. It's at home now on the bathroom floor, and I am simply not of the opinion that things that belong on the bathroom floor have any reason to be perfect. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it came out and definitely pleased that I made it myself, and in two days, no less!
The creative ability God gave people is amazing. I'm far from what you would normally call a "creative person." I can't draw or paint well, I don't sew well, I don't have fabulous design sense, my decorated cakes never fail to be ugly, I couldn't write a decent story to save my life, and I'm not even great at my passion, knitting. But I'm coming to realize that I don't need special talent to create things. I may not have talent, but I do have ability. I am capable of creating things that I find beautiful, or useful, or unique, or thrifty, or some other valuable quality. I can recognize that when I don't have extra money, and I don't have a bathroom rug, but I do have some scrap cloth, I can make my own rug. Or I want some winter wear to keep me extra-warm, and the stores don't sell what I want - I can make a wool hat, mittens, even a sweater, with exactly the material and appearance I want. I love even more that when I create something, it's like a little tiny version of what God did and does as the Creator. I love that He made His creation creative.


A little cooking note - I made red beans and rice for the first time ever tonight, at Steven's request. They turned out surprisingly good. Here's the recipe-ish thing I used (really a compilation and paring down of recipes from the internet).

Soak 1/2 dry red beans all day, then boil those for about an hour, then drain and add fresh water. In the meantime, sauté 3 celery ribs and some chopped onion (maybe 1/2 cup) in 1 tbs. butter. Add that to the beans, along with 1/2 pound smoked sausage, a bay leaf, a little Worcestershire sauce, and a few shakes of Tony's seasoning. Cook 1/2 c. (dry) brown rice separately. In an hour and a half or so, enjoy!