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.’)"

Finding New Things

As I've stated before I love shoppping! I blame my mom for a lot of my "quirks" and this is another one of those traits I got from her. She was an extremely frugal woman and only bought things on sale. But she loved to shop and look. I enjoy looking at the shops on Etsy and as I find items I really like I want to share them. Today I found a shop I had not seen before and found the earrings and necklace featured in this blog. Aren't the blue earrings beautiful? And the necklace likewise? Elizabeth Jewelry's owner, Molly, incorporates only the finest materials including sterling silver, 14k gold filled and gold vermeil are use along with the genuine semi-precious gemstones, freshwater pearls, Swarovski Crystals, and Cubic Zirconia. The company is founded in principals of quality and value.
One of the great things about Molly's jewelry is that every handmade piece is backed by lifetime "No-Fault" guarantee. You just mail back the remaining beads, and if no beads are missing there is no charge for remaking the piece of jewelry! No kidding! Even if your cat made it a toy, if you have all of the beads, she will restring it free of charge. Fees apply is additional beads are needed for repair, but they are usually nominal. There is a $2.00 charge for postage. So when you have a piece of Elizabeth Jewelry, you can be assured that you will have it for life! She also makes single earrings at half price if you lose one.
You can visit her web site for a listing of her trunk shows at http://www.elizabethjewelry.com/.
You can also visit her blog at http://elizabethjewelry.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Junior High Girls Love Beading!

I must share the excitement...today I had six junior-high girls to my house for a beading party. My sister-in-law, Kris, is their Sunday school teacher. During her spring program she gave the girls the opportunity to be able to come to my house and make jewelry by faithfulness in attendance, bringing visitors, etc. She has nine girls in her class, but 3 of them were unable to come. The girls made jewelry for them also. I have only one regret...that I did not take one picture! We had snacks and drinks (not on the same table as the beads!) and had most of my bead boxes on the tables. The girls were delightful and had so much fun each creating their own unique designs...earrings, necklaces, and earrings. Several girls made necklaces for their moms and one of the girls stated that she and her mom would both wear one of the designs she made. As I've written in previous blogs I love to invest in young people. They are the future of our homes, our churches, our schools, our nation. I will never cease to be amazed at the response of young people when they are loved and respected. This was the second time for these girls to make jewelry. The first time they did great, but they came this time really knowing what they wanted to make and had much more understanding of how to design. I also observed that they had more confidence. Young people respond well in learning new things and the feeling of confidence that showed as they each walked out the door with their bags of jewelry. All jewelry was wrapped in bright yellow tissue paper and placed in beautiful black and white and yellow gift bags. Each girl thanked me as she left and seemed so appreciative. Are you teaching anyone your talents and abilities? I encourage you to find a young person (or several!) and teach them to do what you do. They will appreciate your believing in them; they will grow in confidence; and you will be passing your talents and abilities on to the next generation. Try it; you'll be glad you did!

Totally Crosses

I am a shopper. I love to shop. When I'm too tired to do other things, [if I have money!] shopping invigorates me. One of the great things about Etsy is that there is such a wide variety of shops from which to choose. I've had so much fun just "window shopping" on Etsy. I've met so many great people and seen so many cool things. One of the shops I've enjoyed and appreciated is Totally Crosses. She makes only crosses. There is tremendous beauty in a plain, ordinary cross because of what it represents----my precious Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the sin and shame He experienced for me on that cross! The crosses T.C. makes are extraordinary in their design. These are really cool wire wrapped crosses. I love having visual reminders of what Christ did for me on the cross and the fact that we have an empty cross because Christ not only died for us, He rose again and had victory over death and sin. These crosses would make great birthday or Christmas gifts. Visit her shop at http://www.totallycrosses.etsy.com/. To learn more about T.C. and the story behind their wonderful business http://www.totallycrosses.com/.