Joy Report with Kindness

NOTE: This is my second blog post of the day. If you're here to see my Dueling Darling post, it is the one right after this one, so just keep scrolling... or click HERE to go directly to that post.

Today is the day for my weekly Joy Report. It has been a good week. I had time at home and then headed off for two days of meetings. I an the Secretary of the Board of Directors for our state convention and this was our regular board meeting. That means I had minutes to type up after I got home. I am glad to say they are completed. It's an honor to serve in that capacity, but also a relief when the minutes are finished. LOL!

I also managed to make 8 cards this week.

You might remember my mom fell and broke her hip in August. She is doing quite well and might even be released from home therapy next week. That's a great JOY!

This is the 37th week of the year... ask me how I know. It's because this week I read chapter 37 of the book 50 Truths Worth Knowing for the inspiration for this card.

You can't Always Go It Alone

Chapter 37

Christine returned to a remote village in Ecuador. She had traveled there before with a friend, but this time she was alone and she planned to stay for several months. Her goal was to write a novel while secluded in a rather simple hostel that overlooked chickens and a garden of roses. For a mere 10,000 sucres a night ($4), she had the room and a private bath with a hot shower. What more could she need.

One Sunday morning, while enjoying a breakfast of banana pancakes with blackberry syrup at a nearly empty cafe, the young waitress approached her with a letter in hand. The letter was postmarked from Holland. Another patron had received the letter but couldn't read it due to the language barrier. The letter needed to be translated into Quecha, the language of the villagers.

"But I don't speak either Dutch or Quecha," Christine said.

No matter. Christine was the missing link, the waitress assured her. The only other person in the cafe was a woman who spoke only Dutch and English, so she translated the letter in English to Christine, who then translated it in Spanish (the only language she spoke other than English) to the waitress. The waitress spoke only Spanish and Quecha so she was then able to translate the letter to the recipient in Quecha.

Did you catch all of that? It took 3 translations for the recipient to understand what the letter said.

The letter was notification from the Dutch government that her son had a court date in Holland if he wanted to get his car back. "Is that all?" the woman asked.

Christine had assumed the letter contained some vital information. In reality, it turned out the the written words didn't really matter. But the experience was a valuable lesson for Christine - sometimes a person can't go it alone. Sometimes it requires the help of others to accomplish a task.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Supplies Used

Stamp Set: Sugar Pea Designs Caring Hearts stamped on Recollections 110# White CS with Gina K Onyx Black Ink

Die: Sizzix Mini Globe

Papers: Recollections Brown, Stampin' UP! Garden Green CS, Gartner Studios Postage Stamp DP, and other papers from my scrap file

Embellishments: Stampin' UP! Hemp and a Postcard Charm and Seam Binding from unknown vendors