Etsy Treasure-"Reminders of Our Faith"

Tonight, for the first time, I was able to snatch a treasury on Etsy. What fun it was! A few days ago I had posted a thread on Etsy with the same title. So many wonderful people posted wonderful items from their shop. I simply went through and picked some of my favorites. The only problem was that I found more favorites than I was able to list! Why not visit the treasury? http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=4514 and enjoy!

Teen Entrepreneurs

I love teenagers. They are energetic, spirited, loyal, compassionate, creative, and zealous. I've met a lot of great people since starting my Etsy shop to sell my jewelry and one of the greatest groups of people I have met are teenagers. I had no idea teens would have shops on Etsy, and yet I have met some wonderful young ladies. Pictured are items from three different shops. The earrings are from 2 sisters, Michaela and Susie, who are middle school students in Pennsylvania. Their shop is at http://www.jsjewelry.etsy.com/. The card is made by Emily, who is a home-schooled senior in high school from Indiana. Her shop is http://www.cardsbyemily.etsy.com/. The other picture is from the shop of JustLikeRebekah who is also a home schooled teenager. He shop is at http://www.justlikerebekah.etsy.com/. Michaela and Susie are very new to Etsy so their shop is still small, but they are adding items regularly. I want to commend these young ladies and other teens who have taken the initiative to start a business. One of the greatest characteristics that helps people through the hardest and most difficult times of life is a strong work ethic. These teens are developing their work ethic and are to be admired. Enjoy their shops!

The Investment is Worth The Time & Effort

God blessed my husband and me with one daughter, Carissa, who will turn 22 in about 4 weeks. I remember holding her the day she was born...and looking at her long, curly dark eyelashes, her beautiful blue eyes, and her soft skin. My husband and I had dreams for her; not dreams to pursue a certain career, but dreams for her to become a woman of integrity and character. As young people get into adolescence and sometimes seem to forget all you ever tried to teach them (like how to make a bed and clean their room and more) it is easy to wonder how they will "turn out." I have several thoughts:

1. Just keep on praising. Young people don't need to hear your fears or concerns expressed. They are trying so desperately to prove they are okay. They need our affirmation.

2. While your children are young invest all you are able to into them. Yes, it's work; and yes, sometimes it's trying, but it is well worth the effort.

3. Prayer is one of your greatest resources. What a mighty God we have who wants our children to become productive adults. Go to Him and ask Him to fix what you cannot fix in them. (Sometimes what we think needs fixing is actually the corresponding weakness of one of their greatest strengths; getting rid of the weakness might also get rid of the strength!)

You may be wondering what brought this blog to my mind. Carissa and I are employed by the same ministry. We are in the process of producing a music CD to be released in October. The recording company came to our campus and set up their equipment to record. Carissa was put in charge of coordinating all of the singers and musicians, checking them in, giving instructions, having snacks, drinks, etc. in the room and more. The recording was scheduled for two and a half days from early morning until late at night. She had a lot to do; she left early in the morning and arrived home late at night. But she was excited. Everything went so well and I received so many comments about how she treated the people, took care of all the details and helped the entire process run smoothly.

It's very rewarding to see her becoming a responsible, gracious young lady of integrity and character. We worked hard to invest in her and make our home a happy place. However, we are human and we did not always succeed. We made many mistakes as parents; and, in fact, there are many reasons humanly speaking that she should not be a functioning adult! But I believe one of the most important things we did was take her to the Lord in prayer. God can get to the heart where we cannot. God can work where we cannot.

If you have children at home, invest in their lives daily; but also daily take them to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to help them become all he wants them to be. He wants to partner with you in rearing your children!

Loving Color

I love color, don't you? Can you imagine living in a black and white world? It seems it would get quite boring very quickly. I love the bright red cardinal sitting at the top of the tree highlighted by the shining sun; I love the bossy blue jay who pushes his way in to get what he wants; I love the bright orange tiger lily that blooms in my front yard and seems to last forever as one flower follows another on the plant for days; I love the turquoise lakes of Glacier National Park and the dark brown moose of Maine. Red is my favorite color, but I really like all colors. For some reason I used to think certain colors were "ugly." Isn't that silly? The truth is, every color is beautiful when it is used properly. We can definitely look to God's creation to get color ideas...some of my favorite combinations are the woodpecker (red, white, and black), the iris (green and purple), and the female cardinal (taupe, black, and red). I like to use David Christiansen cane glass in making bracelets because it is so colorful. Each piece of glass has a beautiful combination of colors and because it is quality glass the colors are clear and bright. I believe God loves color (quite obviously he splashed it everywhere in His creation) and I believe He wants us to enjoy color...looking at it, wearing it, decorating with it, scrapbooking with it, and more. Enjoy all the color around you and rejoice that you have eyes to enjoy all the color!

Reminders of Our Faith

I recently recently listed a purity bracelet for teenage girls in my Etsy shop. After doing so I got to thinking that it would be great to have a thread in the forums where Etsians could post items they have that remind them of their faith. It has been a very fun thread and I've enjoyed looking at all of the items that have been posted.

I have placed a few in this blog, and I encourage you to go to the forum and take a look for yourself to see more. http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5773631&page=5

I was thrilled to see another purity bracelet (shown)...and such a pretty one! The parameters for the reminders of our faith are pretty broad. For example, monkeys (God's creation), baby items (what greater reminder of our faith than a new baby), sparkly cross earrings, and, of course, the word "Faith." It's been a wonderful forum and it's been fun to see all of the items that are reminders. Our faith is a precious gift from God and His son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to pay for my sin and purchase eternal life for everyone who believes.

My mind is a little more focused on my faith because it has been 40 years since I trusted Jesus Christ to be my Saviour. It's been a wonderful journey and I will never cease to be amazed that I have the wonderful gift of eternal life.

Reminders of Who We Are

Forty years ago (1968) I graduated from high school. I grew up on a farm and attended a small town school all of my life. I was protected from things such as drugs, teen pregnancies, etc. If a girl in our high school got pregnant outside of marriage we said, "She's in 'trouble'." My naivet'e was about to change. After all, this was the late sixties---the time of the Viet Nam War, college campus riots, and protest marches with banners stating, "Make Love Not War," "Peace," "Free Love," and other such idioms. Drugs and sex were the big scene on college campuses. "Free Love" was touted openly. No more abstinence...just do what feels good!

As we look at today's teenagers it is easy to see that the "free" love that was touted wasn't really free at all. It was very expensive as we have sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancies of disproportionate numbers, and hence, teen mothers who decide whether or not to get an abortion (and live with the guilt as a result) or to keep the baby and be "burdened" with responsibiltities they are not ready to accept, or to give the baby up for adoption and lose a part of themselves for years to come.

As a young person I was challenged to keep my virginity and go to the marriage altar pure. I am grateful for the leaders in my life who gave me this challenge. Promiscuity and impurity before marriage always comes back to bite and hurts the marriage relationship.

A few years ago I made a purity bracelet for teenage girls. I launched the bracelet at our church's national Youth Conference and was amazed at the response. Young people love to rise to a challenge and seemed to love being able to have a tangible reminder of the life of purity they were choosing.

God is a very loving God and His instruction for young people to be pure in their sexual lives is not because He is mean. Just the opposite is true. God knows what principles will help us become happy, contented, successful Christians. He knows that virgin young people will have a much better chance of having a happy, successful marriage.

We are helping our young people live on a higher plane when we encourage them to live purely. At any moment a pure young person can lose their virginity and become like most other young people in America, but at no time can those who have lost their purity ever become like those who still have their virginity. Let's encourage our young people to live purely!

Who's On My Side?

My sister-in-law, Kris, and I are in the process of writing a book entitled Things Your Mother May Not Have Told You...A Practical Guide for Moms and Their Adolescent Daughters. It has been a fun project that we've been told is very needed as so many moms are not talking their daughters through this traumatic time of their lives. Today I wrote the following in the book and thought it would be so helpful for anyone going through any type of struggle, that I decided to share it in my blog. As I read the forums on Etsy I see so many discouraged due to lack of sales, etc. What a great comfort to know that God is for me; He's not only on my side, He is all of the helps listed below! Enjoy!

(The picture is Kris' daughter, Ruth (l), and my daughter, Carissa (4) at Carrissa's 21st birthday party last year.

Encouragement from Psalm 18:3

Carefully study the following definitions of the words which define God in Psalm 18:3. They will be an encouragement to you and a source of comfort and hope as your realize how much God is on your side through the rockiest (no pun intended!) times of your life. God is there for you and your daughter and your family through the teen years! Notice the personalization of each of these words which are preceded by "my." We have a very personal God...a "very present help in time of need."
• "The Lord is my rock (God is my ‘refuge where we are safe from enemies; He is my security.’),
• and my fortress (God is my ‘strong, mountain castle for my defense; He is a net to capture the enemy.’),
• and my deliverer (God is my ‘escape from danger to bring to security.’);

• my God (He is ‘my Hero! It is very personal with the understood My God!’ WOW! He is my own personal Hero! I have my very own genuine Hero whose abilities and powers are so great they cannot even be compared to the counterfeit powers of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and all of the Hollywood super heroes combined. They are completely impotent weaklings compared to my very real and present God!),
• my strength (God is my ‘refuge and protection; my rock where I find refuge.’),
• in whom I trust (‘"Where I will flee to find refuge.’);
• my buckler (God is my ‘shield as a protector.’),
• and the horn (God is my ‘instrument of liberation, taken from the image of horned animals, which use their horns as a defense.’)
• of my salvation (God is my ‘safety.’),
• and my high tower (God is my ‘lofty place, a rock affording shelter and security, a retreat.’)"