.shop update.

.shop update.  Well I did it.  The shop is updated with new products for you all!  Please take some time today to go and look.  I hope you like the items as much as I do.  Although I only have 6 new items, I love them and worked hard on them.  Below is a small sample.  .shop update.

This scarf is wonderful! It has a rich earth-tone base with jewel tones in ruby and amethyst.

This cute journal is made up of various types of lined paper, bound together with book rings giving you the option to add or subtract pages. Every group of lined paper is separated by decorative paper that matches the cover, each has a tab. The cover is made from a used book too charming to leave sit. This book cover features characters from the book it previously held. The book was a 1966 version of Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis.

Use this as an everyday journal. Keep it by you in your purse, car, or on your nightstand. Use it to pen down your thoughts, sketches, or to record little notes.

I also still have a handful of my mini albums and envelope journals!

As always, thank you for your support.  And have a wonderful day!

.pumpkins.

.pumpkins.  If I had to choose one word to describe October it would be pumpkins.  Sure I think of many things for October... our anniversary, my dads birthday, the changing leaves, harvest, scarecrows, it really could be a long list if I let myself go there.  But, pumpkins is that one word, that one thing that makes October, October, it is what I think of the most.  When you see the shining of the orange, big, small, carved, whole... you know its October.  I love pumpkins, its my decoration of choice during the fall season.  Here are some lovely pumpkin inspired crafts, I hope you enjoy your final week of this month.  October - I love you! .pumpkins.

Scent Savants $8.00

Fern & Feather $27.00

Blissful Colors $35.00

Three Sheep Studio $75.00

Take a moment & enjoy some pumpkins today.

.be still.

"Be still and know that I am God!" Psalm 46:10

  This passage has been etched in my mind for a couple days now.  It is so hard for me to grasp, not the knowing God part, the being still.  Think about it.  I mean really think.  How often do we go to a place where we are still? Where we just take in all the awesomeness God has to offer?  Take in all that He freely gives?  How often do we just stop what we are doing, put aside our chaotic schedules, and just know that God is with us?
  I know for a fact that I don't do this enough, I know that it is something I need to work on.  Being still; this is such a complex thought for me in my daily grind.  I always think when do I have time to do that, to just take God in, but it shouldn't be so hard.  Its sad that being still can be complex, it should make you think of peace, make you relax.

  This stillness is what God says to do.  He tells us its ok to stop our schedules, it's in fact necessary.  Think about how many times Jesus himself went away to a quiet place in order to be still.  To take in God.  To be alone with His Savior and just worship.  To pray.  I encourage you, and I am encouraging myself, to just take time today to be with God.  He wants us to be still and just be with Him. To know Him.

"Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray." Mark 1:35

.shop update.

.shop update.  I am having a shop update this week.  Not a whole lot of items, only 5 - but they are great and I think they will be a hit.  I love them.  .shop update.
 

.happy birthday dad.

.happy birthday dad.  Today is my dads birthday & to celebrate I found gifts for any dad, or guy.  Happy Birthday dad - I hope its great!!! I love you a ton.  .happy birthday dad.

YAVA Glass $30.00 (set of four)

Kimber's Handmade $22.00 (set of four)

Waste Not Recycled Art $18.00 (set of three)

The Honey Press $29.00 (set of three)

I hope your Birthday is wonderful dad.  I love you!

.weddings.

.weddings.  It's that time in our life.  All of our friends are getting married.  I actually think we are on the second batch of weddings now, two years ago was the first round.  Today we are leaving for Texas!  This weekend we have friends getting married down there & we are beyond excited to go.  Making a vacation out of it was an easy decision.  We love you Gary & Hannah - can't wait for the big day, were on our way.  .weddings.

Black Bird Press $350.00

Le Collezione $32.50

KT Jean $1700

Paper Platypus $24.00

Congrats Hannah & Gary!

.craft hope - margaret's hope chest.

.margaret's hope chest.  Craft Hope has revealed their newest project.  They are asking for quilts.  These quilts will go to homeless children in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area.  They are partnering with Margaret's Hope Chest for this project.  The deadline is November 15th.
Please consider joining me in making a quilt.  These families are down and need our help!  I cannot imagine being homeless.  I can't.  These children need our love and support.  Through making a quilt we can show them that we care for them and that God cares for them too. .margaret's hope chest.

"Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor" Proverbs 22:9

.He will give you rest.

.He will set you free.  This past week I have been weary.   I have felt weighed down.  It hasn't been any one thing.  I have just felt stressed.  Worn out.  Heavy.  I need to remember that my burdens, big & small, can be , are suppose to be, carried by Christ.  I need to remember to turn to Him when I feel weighed down.  He will and does lift our burdens and He alone sets us free. He takes our weight and puts it on himself so we no longer need to worry, stress, feel heavy.  Take all you have to Him today and he will lift the weight and carry it, carry you.  .He will set you free.

 Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28

.coffee.

.oh, morning glory.  I love coffee.  Love it!  I look forward to each morning as it starts my day.  And no matter what the day will hold ahead of me, I know I can  will start it out right with a cup of morning glory.  I am a fan of mine with cream, different flavors and new tastes to mix it up.  My favorite flavors include, cinnimon & pumpkin spice.  Aaron likes his with regular cream, each day, just a splash.  How do you like yours? .oh, morning glory.

Volume 25 $20.00

Barbara Gordon $15.00

Linda Woods $15.00

Nate Duval $25.00

Enjoy your morning glory.

.crazy love - chapter one.

.bloom. I am part of an online book club called Bloom. This club is set up and organized by Angie Smith and Jessica Turner. The first book we are all reading is crazy love by Francis Chan. Angie and Jess have done a fabulous job going through this book. Each week they post a video on the chapter and have questions for us to answer. They have also set up a ning site, and online community group for women. All of this is so that we may know and love God more, learn from each other, lean on each other in our trials, and rejoice with each other in times of joy. If you have not checked out Bloom, please do. .bloom.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.chapter one - stop praying.

go here for Angie and Jessica's chapter one post.
go here for chapter ones guest post.

How do you consistently remind yourself of God? 
First, I need to say this is a great question, because most of the time we push God to the side to only pull Him back out on Sunday mornings or for a quick second before a meal, if we remember.  I have trouble with this in my life, I let life get in the way and forget to include God in it.  God should be the primary person in our life; so, what can I do? How can I remember? 
This is what I do: I watch sermons online. They can be easily accessed and are a great reminder of how I should be living.  I usually watch Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill.  His sermons are amazing, free, and organized in a great way (most by book, some by series).  Click here to go to his list of sermons - there are also many, many other free sermons out there on the internet - he is just my favorite preacher to listen too.  I also listen to Christian music often, I try to read Christian books, I Pray throughout the day, and I use a journal in order to write many notes down.
In my journal I have many sections.  These sections are love, journal, sermon notes, prayers, scripture, crazy love (book club), book list, money, quotes, 1000 gifts, mom to mom (Bible study), calendar, & extra.  I really love the journal and use it more then I thought I would.  If you do not have a journal, I highly recommend it.  You do not need to write down each detail of your day, you can simply write small bits here and there.

What attribute of God is hardest for you to understand?
I have a very hard time believing that God is always fair and just.  I often wonder why he decides to heal some peoples sickness and not others.  I know that God has a plan and it is so big that I cannot begin to see it.  But I still question why he will not use his power to heal “good” people.  I love the quote that is found on page 33, "because He's God.  He has more of a right to ask us why so many people are starving.  As much as we want God to explain himself to us, His creation, we are in no place to demand that He give an account to us".  We need to trust that the Lord is fair and just, his plan is so much greater then we can fathom.

What stuck with you in this weeks reading?
The quote in the last answer stuck with me the most.  I found throughout this week that when I was questioning God I would stop and say to myself, just trust.  God knows best.  I have no right to ask God why.  He is in control and knows all that will happen in my life, he wants best for me – I know that.

Verses in Chapter One:
Romans 1:20
Psalms 19:1-4
Exodus 3:14
Psalms 102:12 & 27
Hebrews 4:13
Colossians 1:16
Psalms 139
Daniel 4:35
Proverbs 8:13
Psalms 115:3
Revelation 4
Isaiah 6

.our race.

.our race.  Jedidiah yells out, "Hadassah lets race", and starts peddling as fast as he can.  What he really meant was, Hadassah I am going to beat you, just watch me.  Hadassah responds, "ok Jed".  And her little legs start to spin as quickly as they can go, her two extra wheels add drag, they slow her down, and yet she is happy to be included, to learn, to try.  She watches Jed beat her and delights in it anyway.  He included her and she learned what someday will be like for her, when she learns to balance and not rely on those two wheels.  She is happy, for now, just to "race" with her brother.  Her desire is not to win, but to be included. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God gives us a race to run too.  Our race is this life, and we need to live it in faith.  We have wheels too, ones that slow us down, ones that trip us up.  Just like Hadassahs wheels slow her down, the wheels we use as crutches in our life slow us down, our sins get in the way of running a good race.  Our wheels, our sins, our addictions, our bad choices - they slow us down.  We need to strip off that weight, get rid of those wheels, because they cause us to watch others from a far distance.  We need to get rid of our sin so that we have a fair chance at running the race God set before us, in order to finish strong.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us."
Hebrews 12:1

How do we get rid of our sins?  We keep our eyes on Jesus.  We learn from faithful servants of Christ.  We see what His followers are doing and we do the same.  We watch older brothers.  We learn to balance.  Hadassah will learn one day, soon, how to balance and not use those training wheels.  She will one day take them off her bike and be able to peddle faster then the speed she now goes.  Right now she is in the process of learning, she watches her brothers and longs to be like them.  We too, need to watch those who are faithful, we need to yearn to be like them, like Christ.  We need to focus on Him, who saves, and take off our sin so that we can peddle fast and be fully focused on Him.

"We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.  Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne."
Hebrews 12:2

At the same time Hadassah is learning, she is happy to be included to be shown how to be big.  She delights in learning how to be strong.  We too need to be happy that we are included, happy that we are all learning. We should be happy that God loves us where we are, included in his family. Thank you Jesus for being our perfect example. For loving us as we are. For teaching us to be like you.

"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."
Romans 5:8

I hope that you, and I, will see these wheels in our lives and learn to balance without them. To look ahead to those faithful servants and try to live the life Christ wants us to. To live the life of faith. .our race.

.busy week, growing baby.

.oh our life is so busy. This week flew past. All weeks have, lately, it's that season. I feel like we are always on the go. Always busy. This week I managed to snag a couple photos of Lydia, who is getting bigger & bigger by the minute. Next week she will be seven months, 7. I can't believe how much she is learning each day & how fast she is growing.  She can fully sit up by herself now, and for a long time.  She is eating like crazy, carrots are her favorite.  Man, I really love this girl.

On Tuesday we went to the zoo. I had a great time. It's nice to get out and participate in life, rather then just sit at home and make it through the day. I needed the reminder that it is ok to leave & enjoy the fall weather, good friends, my baby. Thank you ladies for the kind invite, I really needed that.

Thursday Mia came over and I enjoyed watching the girls play with each other, next to each other really.  They loved staring at each other and grabbing at each others toys.  It was funny to me that no matter what they were playing with they wanted what the other had -once they both got it they would want to switch again, silly girls.  I think they will be good friends. 

Tonight, we are on our way to the UP!  We are going to see the Dunseath family.  If you don't know who they are, they are the family I stayed with while in Liberia.  I love that it took a mission trip to Africa to get to know people that are from 3.5 hours away.  I also love that they are home for a while and we have the opportunity to catch up.  I am beyond excited and have not allowed myself to think about it until today - because I would not have stopped!  I love, love, love, this family.  They are amazing and I am excited to catch up with them and soak it all in.  Can simply not wait!  (can you tell I am excited?!)  .oh, our busy wonderful life.