Made With Love

When you first look at this handmade "pot holder" you may judge it as I did. You might think, "Oh that's a beauty", just like I thought when Randy brought it home this afternoon. And you might think, just as I did, that it'll get tossed in the garbage. You might even think to yourself, "That's the ugliest pot holder I've ever seen"...just as I might have thought. But then if you hear the love that went into this, you might just change your mind...just as I did.

You see Randy brought this to me today, came home from church with it. He laid it in front of me and just as I was thinking all those judgemental thoughts he said, "It's a pot holder. It's from Jerry Talbott. He said he was making one for everyone who has helped him get through the sorrow of the passing of his wife. He had like a hundred of them. He let me pick the color I wanted, so I choose blue. He said he's been busy making them, that's how he's getting through his days. He's trying to keep busy, working with his hands."

Jerry is an 70 ish year old man who just recently lost his wife to cancer, a battle she fought and lost within only 6 short weeks. He is in our ward...I don't know him well, but love him enough. I got teary eyed after I thought about the love that went into making this. No it might not be the best looking pot holder I own, but it might just be the sweetest made one. This sweet man, who now must journey through the rest of his life without his lovely wife...he made this just for us, as a way of saying thank you, as a way of filling up his days...without his companion.

So thank you Jerry...thank you for sharing this with me. Thank you for this pot holder, thank you for this lesson on love and not being so quick to judge. It's just what I needed on this sweet Sunday.