This is what a mother and grandmother does ...

... when her child and the beloved family of her child is experiencing one of the most important moments of their lives - appearing before a judge asking permission to legally adopt one who has already become one with them.

She meditates and she prays.

She works with her hands because somehow the work becomes its own sort of prayer, and God knows the love and devotion that is always part of the work of a woman's hands.

There is silence except for the words escaping her lips as they are formed in her heart. The movement is back and forth, as she carefully pieces batting together and then just as carefully pins the top to the rest of the quilt sandwich - it's back and forth, except for those moments she is drawn to her knees for a moment - responding to some inner voice that says this is the thing to do right now.

Somehow the clock changed from California daylight savings time to time in the Philippines. Lauren set it just last week to reflect the arrival of our time change for the season, but now it's exactly 15 hours (3 hours, plus 12) from the time recorded by my cell phone and my watch. He even put a new battery in the clock. We don't know how the time managed to do that, but it manages to keep me focused on the morning time in the Philippines.

At 10 minutes before 10, Philippines time, it seems as though I feel some sort of release. I don't know what that's to signify, but I note it to myself, and then I continue for another couple hours, and then I break for supper. I could have put the work aside until the next morning (today), but I continued. Even if the hearing was over, it could be that the court was still considering the petition. Continuing seems to be a good thing to do, and I'm not tired after supper.

The news is that the court seemed to be amiable to the documents and the interviews with the family. I learn later that the interviews were intense, but the family remained calm. Even Erica, at a few months short of five, was quiet. Even she knew it was a very important day in her life.

The attorneys and other interested parties need to complete and submit the balance of their paperwork before the judge will rule, but we're very hopeful that his ruling will be favorable to this bonded family. We should know soon.

We're still praying ...



Today, I'm continuing with the quiet and prayerful work of the quilt, drawing the patterns I will sew in the blocks. I had originally thought I would do an overall design, but I think it would become lost in this busy collection of fabric. So, instead, I am going to quilt each 14-inch square separately, with flowers, plants, birds, butterflies, and things one might find in a garden - in Mammy's garden, that is.

Mammy's Flower Garden has become a prayer quilt.