French Country Grain Sacks: A Beautiful Mend

It’s me again. Yeahhhhh. In the tub.

found this pintuck dress for $13 online outcry heard around the globe: for the love of Ghandi, GIVE IT A REST!!!!

Some good soul searching

gets done in here.

I have a favor to ask…

Could you please feel the love breathing

in every line that follows?

Cool.

Stacey, an ambassador for all things

shabbily chic at A Sort of Fairytale

wrote something

compelling the other day.

I realized one of the things I appreciate

about blogging and blog buddies

(blog buddies who by now received the memo to read with caution,

tenderness, and a voluminous glass of red)

is the opportunity

to be heard

and to confess,

(big time jealous of the confessional thing Catholics have)

since I will always

have more questions

than answers.

Today

I remain

contemplative,

humbled,

and deeply inspired

by

ideas of

brokenness,

mends,

and

healing.

While some may pass

on humble French grain sacks

like mine with so many

stains and mends,

as for me…

I see beauty in the mends.

I do.

The sacks can never be perfect again.

They are more vulnerable now,

and some of their strength is gone.

Some stains will linger.

Like scars whispering history or a story of injury.

But the beautiful mends!

Mends are proof

someone took time to

care for weak areas.

Perhaps that someone had no choice,

was too poor to do otherwise.

Could this blogger be projecting?

Is the pope Catholic?

Dude, so jealous you guys get a pope too.

Of course.

It’s meeeeeeeee.

A complicated girl snapping

photos of herself in a tub with worn out linens.

OF COURSE I AM.

See…

some of us have wounds

painfully slow to heal.

*ohlord trust me…slowwwwww*

And I wonder if

we could make it easier,

much easier

on each other,

by helping a little

with the mends.

By

reminding ourselves

and

one another

of

our value…

in spite of the flaws

and because of the flaws.

photos by me ~ beautiful linens from DORSBIEN

Who knows?

Maybe we could

stitch together

a miracle.

Peace to you right where you are.

-michele

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28 Comments

  1. June 22, 2011 / 1:32 pm

    Beautifully written MICHELE, and very touching.I can only pray from your lips to God's ears and into the hearts of all who need to hear this message. Thank You for this.

  2. June 22, 2011 / 1:38 pm

    You made me cry with this one. I think we do can stitch together a miracle. I'm bringing the"tools".

    This is my favorite post, Michele…. because I'm a girl that really believes in miracles.

    Love to you.

    xo

    Luciane at HomeBunch.com

  3. June 22, 2011 / 1:47 pm

    If *my* 'mendings' look anything like as beautifully and intricately stitched as those then I'll be a happy girl.

    Sarahxx
    PS You are GORGEOUS, Missy.

  4. June 22, 2011 / 1:51 pm

    Flaws maketh the man! Or woman!
    It's like women having Botox to de-age their faces…the beauty lies in the fact that they have LIVED with all the knocks and bruises that may entail. Not some scary, wrinkle-free freak. (Mind you, if it makes somebody feel better about themselves, good on them!).
    But I like things/people who have a history!
    Z xx

  5. June 22, 2011 / 2:01 pm

    Hello my lovely lady! Thanks for the mention of my blog post 🙂
    Loved your thoughts here and the grain sacks too!
    I'm here to help with mending anytime my friend…
    Hugs!!

  6. June 22, 2011 / 3:27 pm

    Dear Michele – the stylish girl with the deep thoughts, great wisdom and lots of creativity. I always read your posts slowly and hang on to all your words.

    You see beauty in everything. You are wonderful & beautiful and it is an honor to know you.

    Mon

  7. June 22, 2011 / 5:06 pm

    It's amazing how God puts people in our path right when we need them most. Your words are inspirational and I needed to hear them today.

  8. June 22, 2011 / 6:33 pm

    Michelle,
    I loved this post! you write so beautifully…truly inspiring! Thank you for sharing this lesson.

  9. June 22, 2011 / 6:57 pm

    When I was young and angry and unappreciative, I hated my flaws. I used to write so much poetry screaming out my insecurities and this actually reminded me of one I wrote years ago (maybe I'll send it to you if you promise not to cringe too much at my amateur writing). I like to think that as we get older (and hopefully wiser), we start to appreciate how imperfection is a beautiful thing – how every scar should be a celebration of a life well lead.

    I love the prose of your post and the beautiful images and I couldn't agree more xxx

  10. June 22, 2011 / 7:52 pm

    it's raining lovely comments over here in case anybody's wondering, and i say LET IT POUR.

    thanks so much for feelin the love.

    michele

  11. June 22, 2011 / 8:54 pm

    I am feeling the love, Michele, your words are beautiful poetry and they totally resonate with me.

    You are such an inspiring person to me, and I am so grateful to know you.

    Hope you're having a lovely week, sweet lady. I've not found time to write a post this week yet… maybe it'll be a weekend thing. Beginning to wonder how to keep up with blogging when work and life are devouring my every waking moment. Hmm.

    Meera xx

  12. June 22, 2011 / 10:29 pm

    I love this post. Your words,
    your prose are so beautiful and inspiring. And your images compliment your loving subject. I think someone above said it perfectly about appreciating and celebrating our imperfections…
    and those of others. Today was the perfect day for me to read your lovely post. Somethings are just meant to be. Thank you!

  13. Anonymous
    June 23, 2011 / 12:53 am

    What a lovely and inspiring post. I like to think of mending as hope, sometimes slowly realized, but always trying. Sometimes the mend is stronger than before the wound, and with others rendered weaker, but the mending/hope continues and because it does, it is miraculous.

    [email protected]

  14. June 23, 2011 / 7:52 am

    Awesome post!! I believe that everything that happens to us does so for a reason. We may not understand it when we are going through it but it is our experiences in life (good and bad) that shape us into who we become. Some of the worst things that have happened to me in my life have made me stronger and more appreciative of the positive things in my life!!
    Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving a sweet comment!! Please visit anytime!!
    LOVE FROM TEXAS!!
    ~~Michella~~
    http://www.michellamarie.com
    P.S. LOVE your photos :))

  15. June 23, 2011 / 1:44 pm

    Love the anology, and the "cool" bags also, we all need each other in this world, Celeste, victoriantailor.com

  16. June 25, 2011 / 10:22 am

    Lovely post, thanks for inspiring and linking to Beach Cottage Good Life Wednesdays.

  17. June 25, 2011 / 3:45 pm

    What moves me about your bog is your asking to be read by open minds and that your reader connects with the loving side of their heart.
    It immeadiately created an atmosphere of a found friend with someone I have never met, or maybe we are all one and I have attracted another little peice of a heart that once was broken and is mending.
    I do believe that connection is the commodity these days. Bless you sweet girl for your open heart on this page. Lilli

  18. June 26, 2011 / 3:01 am

    I adore imperfections… in my Found Treasures and in my Friends… perfection is so overrated, if you could even find it. *winks* Loving your beautifully mended French linens. To me the flaws in a piece… and the age… loving something in all aspects of it's journey.

    Blessings from the Arizona Desert… Dawn… The Bohemian

  19. June 30, 2011 / 10:58 am

    What Wonderful way to honor life's mended scars and hurts

  20. July 1, 2011 / 1:20 pm

    WOW! This was beautiful and inspiring! Im sooo excited that you linked up with us this week (High On life! I hope you come back!!! Im most def a new follower and friend!

  21. July 1, 2011 / 9:44 pm

    so, sew (as in mending) glad i found you today!! new follower. nice to meet you.

    erin

  22. August 31, 2011 / 9:28 am

    Lovely post Michele…I love the concept of 'beautiful mends'…you're a very clever gal…perhaps a 'beautiful mind' might be more apt!! Robx

  23. November 9, 2011 / 10:38 pm

    Lovely…wonderful post! Thank you, Trish

  24. April 1, 2012 / 12:28 am

    I don't know where I've been, but I only discovered your blog today! I am glad I did though because this post was beautiful and insightful and your thoughts are an echo of my thoughts too. Hope we can be bloggy friends. God bless x

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