Saturday, I was the recipient of one of the most thoughtful gift ever. My dear cousins were apparently on the quest for a multipurpose gift for my  impending milestone, which is rapidly approaching on the horizon…  Juanita was texting my mom for a while trying to get everything arranged. The mark that they’d set was to find something fun, something for us to do together, AND help cross something off this #30for30 list.

Enter Jess, her hilarious sidekick Lauren, and the Basket Case.

Jess’s parents graciously opened their home to our invasion and so we ventured over amidst the frosty morning air. What a wonderful day.

I finished up the day back in the dairy barn, milking, and rehashing with Julia.(I loved this too 😉 ) We decided that there were some life lessons in our experience. So in short, here they are:

• Upon arrival we were all given identical bases. We had 2 options of shapes for our basket, depending on how we wove. So with our finished product in mind, we set off.

• As I wove, I tried to make sure my weave was “packed” tight against the bottom of the base. This wasn’t hard to do, and both times that I felt rather smug with the job I was doing, the instructor came by and with experienced hands, packed my basket down another half-inch…

• We each had a moment or two (or more) of panic when we looked at our basket and realized that we were rapidly heading in the direction of a shape that we had not intended… (who wants a basket where the top is smaller that the base and its side shape in 😦 ) Again, the experienced hands of the Instructor took over and had us back on track in no time

Julia: “I’m trying to look like I’m concentrating”

• Words of encouragement are never wrong. We had great fun exclaiming over each others work, but  there was something really fun about affirmation from an outside source, whether it was the man of the house, or my mom stopping by to check in on things.

•  It’s important to be surrounded by good humor. The sidekick Miss Lauren and her Nana added lots of chuckles to our day. Lauren came by often to help hand out reeds and most importantly play in the water that the reeds were soaked in. She invariably had a song like “row row row your boat” or “hallelujah” Even her melt down over the fact that the water had disappeared in her absence was adorable (“All gone All gone All gone” in the most devastated voice) Oh and her determined aversion to her imposed nap time… A 2 years old’s take on life is great. 🙂

• But I think what stood out to me the most, were the end results. As I mentioned, we started with the same tools, instructions, instructor, and a clear vision of what we wanted, but things happened. A reed or two broke, We wove tighter here than we did there… And the finished products were not quite like we’d envisioned. (Close, but not exactly) And each basket, though beautiful, was unique to itself.

Isn’t that life? We start out determinedly, with a clear vision of what we wish to conquer. Then life happens. And, the face of our vision changes…

But we continue on. Sometimes needing to alter the course of where we are heading, or take time to add some fancy work to the task at hand…

In the end, it’s a beautifully unique piece of handwork, ready for service… Bless all of you who came together to make this happen. I loved this!

May the basket weaving of my life be beautiful when I present it to the Great Instructor…

Blessings,

Kendra