"These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things......"

Hobby: n.,
1. an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure
2. a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation

Hmmm...What do I do for a hobby? Well, I'm one of those that has several :] Kind of a "Jack of all trades but master of none." I love athletic hobbies that include: hiking/walking, canoeing/kayaking, skiing, skating, snowmobiling, horseback riding, traveling and shooting.  Yet I also enjoy hobbies that can be done inside the house as well, like: scrapbooking, card designing, knitting, weaving, making jewelry, sewing, pinning on pinterest :), reading, watching movies, listening to music, drawing and blogging. 

Could I choose a favorite? Probably not. Each one brings excitement to my heart at different times of the year and seasons of my life.  The exhilerating feeling that you get when you are swishing your way over a freshly groomed ski trail is like nothing I have ever done!  The feeling I get when I am ice skating is one that evades me most of the time; graceful.  Riding a horse in an arena and finally learning how to collect them (tuck there head and pay attention to me) and going from a walk to a canter in one step is something special every time. Hiking in the White Mountains during the autumn when the air is cool and crisp and seeing the glorious, brilliant fall colors of New England makes you feel glad to be alive.

What about feeling that soft fiber in your hand and watching a new pattern become visible as you knit a scarf.  Seeing a scrapbook page filled with pictures that all coordinate and bring back wonderful memories. Reading that thick book you have been saving for a day that implores you to sit by a woodstove with a cup of hot tea. Pinning those pictures on Pinterest that stimulate my creative juices or help me to dream or encourage my heart with special words. - It's amazing what a simple picture can do to stir the heart and its emotions. Picking up a set of knitting needles and remembering my Nana.  Sitting at a sewing table and thinking back to the first quilt I made with my Gramy. 

I think for me, a hobby is something that often times helps me to count my blessings and realize how much I have and how God has blessed me.  Hobbies are often times the way we express the extra special gifts God gives each of us.  Some people have been given opportunites to train under masters in music, art, a sport or something else and God is able to use the love for that interest in an incredible way. Some have just picked it up because they were interested.  Either way, God placed the interest and directed the love. 

What do you like to do?  What do your hobbies mean to you?  Did someone special teach you or is it something you just picked up?