Ring Bearer Nest for the Wedding.....

The Ring Bearer's Nest

Well, by the time this post is up, Whit's wedding day will be here and gone! While writing this post I thought ~Everything I create (invitations, programs, I mean everything) has to tell a story. Maybe that is the artist in me. When we create we are constantly thinking about the story of the piece. When making this piece I found that the bird represents me..... The two eggs, my children JD (son-in-love to be) and Whit (our daughter). I thought about how hard it is for a MOM and DAD to let go of our children, to let them create and feather their own nest. The shredded vintage paper represents how as individuals, we can take anything and everything and use it to Glorify God! I loaded the nest with feathers~ Whitney loves to use feathers in her art. I can't believe that I am sitting here crying.... They are tears of JOY for my children. Children that have taken their stand in the Lord! I think I may create my own little nest, with two birds (Reid and I) and four little eggs (Jackie and Chase & Whitney and JD)~ Our Nest....

Hill of Calvary Tutorial and Mustard Seeds

This grass garden features the hill where Jesus was hung on the cross and a small tomb where he was buried and rose again. It makes a very symbolic centerpiece for your Easter table and it an incredible teaching tool for your little sprout.

http://mustardseeds.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/03/tutorial-hill-of-calvary.html

I have recently found the blog Mustard Seeds and to say the least.... I would HIGHLY recommend any mother or grandmother to add this to their list of daily blogs. I am amazed constantly of her teachings of the Lord to her children. Creativity and love is written all over her heart as she uses simple ways of showing her children the ways of the Bible.

KRIS ALLEN American Idol winner preforming God Of This City...

Praise God for men like Kris Allen...

God of This City.....
You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are
There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
There is no one like our GodThere is no one like our God

Whit's Love Story ..... Part II

PART II

As you could probably tell, I'm engaged now! :) And by engaged, I mean I am officially ecstatic in the fact that the most wonderful man in my life (outside of my dad) has made a commitment with me to continue the next 8 months in full-throttle preparation for sharing our lives together forever. I'm not going to lie, we have everything prepared for the wedding... our venue, DJ, photographer - we've chosen what he and his groomsmen are going to wear and my bridesmaids' attire also... oh yea, and I bought my dress last Friday. We like being untraditional and well, him proposing to me AFTER we have made most of the plans only adds to that characteristic of us both.
---> You're probably thinking - this crazy girl! But when ya know, ya know. He asked my dad about 6 weeks ago if he could marry me (my dad thinks he's awesome!) and well, we've pretty much been planning since then. Most people have 1 to 2 years to plan their weddings... but we wanted to get married in May so that we could make it to my brother's wedding in June and then leave to go overseas on missions work in July. So we had to get the ball rolling... Anyways, with knowing that he was going to propose, you would think I would be expecting it - that it wouldn't be a surprise...
So far from it. He blew me away! ...and my 200 sorority sisters that were there to be a part of the experience.
*Disclaimer: Before I begin into this beautiful fairytale-type love story, I need to explain a few parts of the process of a sorority "candlelight" before I begin the story so.... A candlelight is a special ceremony for a sister that has been engaged. Normally only the president and the girl who is engaged know about the specifics of it - who it is, when the candlelight will be held, etc. We all stand in a circle and sing a ritual song. During the song, we pass around a bouquet with a lit candle in the middle of it that the engaged girl picked out from a florist before the ceremony. The bouquet is passed around the circle 3 times. On the third time, the girl who is engaged blows out the candle and then we all gather around and listen to the story of how her new fiancee proposed.
BUT my candlelight story was quite different. I thought it would be really cool to pull in both of our stories instead of just mine. I will write mine in the next post and then he'll have a post of his own - exclusively from JD - on the next post! It'll be fun! I hope you enjoy our story and our adventures as much as we do!

The Promise of Love...Whit's Love Story Part I

Dear Friends,

With Whit's permission, I wanted to share my daughter's love story with everyone. It is a story of remaining faithful to God and HIS faithfulness to us! When she was in the eighth grade, she had a teacher do a Bible Study on seeking God's desire for her husband. She was given a heart with the word God in the center. Next she was given a little bigger heart. She placed the God heart in the middle and then around that heart she wrote what she desired to be as a wife. (I had taught Whit about the Proverbs 31 Woman for years, so for her this was easy) She was then given a larger heart. She place the two hearts that she had finished in the middle of this heart. On the outside of this heart she wrote what she desired in a husband! She has prayed over this heart for years... At times sobbing asking where the good guys were. Well, as you can tell God was true to HIS promise! He provided her HEART in JD! Here is the first part of her story after meeting JD!

Hello beautiful world of bloggers!
I am dreadfully sorry that I haven't written in the past few months... but I kind of wanted to wait until a special event happened. As you may remember in May, I had a special cooking night with my manager Sarah in preparation for a "date night" with a special guy in my life. The guy that I called five of my closest friends after seeing him for the first time and said, "OMG. I just saw the most attractive guy I've ever seen in my life...." So I hooked him, reeled him in, and four months later, we're engaged.
---> WAIT. STOP THERE! How did this happen so quickly, you ask?
Well, we decided that if we were to date, that would be it. So we prayed intensely about it (I mean, I've been praying nine years for this man) and decided - ok, we'll meet each other's closest friends and family members and if we love them, we're definitely getting married.
---> So what's the hurry? Is it just because you're graduating in May and want to have security?
Oh, my friends... far from it! JD actually wasn't even sure if he wanted to date me in the first place. You see, he had made this commitment to God that he would go to Mobile, Ala., for the summer (2 months) to do inner-city missions work and then dedicate two years after he graduated (also in May) to missions work. He was undecided if it would be overseas or in America. ...And then he met me. :) He told me he wasn't sure if he wanted to date me because he knew he wouldn't be able to dedicate a lot of his time to me (because he would be in Mobile the entire summer), that he desired to pursue my heart with a steadfast fervency, but knew he couldn't over the summer. So we decided, ok - we'll just see how it goes over the summer, we probably won't talk every night but we'll evaluate how things are going in August and take it from there. I wrote him letters of encouragement every week and his pursuit of my heart was still relentless, even if he was in Mobile. Needless to say, he called every night, drove to our 4th of July party to meet my family (about a 10 hr drive altogether so I met him half-way), and we fell in love real quick. It was that weekend that he told me, "Whitney, I'm going overseas for two years when I graduate but I want you to be by my side and go with me." The weekend before his last week in Mobile, he drove down to St. George Island just to spend ONE day with me (also a 5 hr drive on the way there, 5 hrs back... but this one he drove solo). That was the day of our first kiss. It was beautiful and romantic. We pretty much decided that weekend, ok... we're getting married. I wouldn't rather spend the rest of my life with any other person than this man who rocked my world from the moment I saw him, to each 5-hr conversation we had in the coffee house, to every time he makes me laugh and smile - just by thinking about him. I have never had a man in my life that has pursued my heart in such a pure and fervent way. It's more than I could've asked for...

Bridal Shower~ The many scepters of the Queen....

I had my niece's bridal shower this weekend and we had the best time! Today I wanted to share something that I came up in the middle of the night to present to both of my niece's at their bridal shower before they opened their gifts.

It turned out so cute and everyone loved it!

A splendid adventure happens when the

hearts of friends come together.
E Adams

~The Many Scepters of the Queen~

Lauren, You are now taking one of the biggest steps of your precious life. As Aaron’s wife and the future mother of his children, you will be taking on many scepters as the Queen of your palace.

At this point I present the "LOVE" scepter above!

Always remember no matter how big or small your home is, a home is built with the hearts that reside in it. You will fill it with treasures and memories of the life that the two of you will build together.Lauren, as a Princess of the King, God has given you directions to go by. You will find those directions in Proverbs 31. It is and will be all the guidance that you need to be a Wife of Noble character. Proverbs 31:17 tells us that she set about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for the task. I know you will be keeping a beautiful home. You will dust everything with love so that it will be sparkling when your husband arrives home and when you entertain your guest.

I now present her with a feather duster scepter (purchased a feather duster at Target)!

You will keep your dishes spotless and have them prepared with the best of meals.

I present her with a soap scrubber wand scepter (purchased at Target to match feather duster)!

You will help your husband clean the windows so that you both can wake up to see God’s creation made just for the two of you.

I present her with a window cleaner scepter (purchased at Target to match)!

You will clean places that you a times can probably not bear,

Present her with a toilet cleaner scepter (to match from Target)!

but then you will be glad that you did because You will complete a task that you never imagined just to retrieve a toy for your child.

Present her with a toilet plunger (also to match)!

Lauren, Through all of this your children and husband will praise you and called you blessed! They will shower you with roses and honor you because, Lauren, that is what you will deserve and will have earned.

At this point I am constantly throwing fake rose petals all over her!!!!!

As a Princess of the King, God will say, "Job well done my child as the Queen of your home and As Aaron’s wife, you have honored the Larkin name."
Lauren, Aaron will love you and help you be the woman that God has intended for you to be all this time. We all love you and know that You will daily strive to be the Proverbs 31 Woman that God intends for us all to be.
Love,
Aunt E

This was so much fun! I will tell you that it takes two people to do it,

one to read and one to present!

You want to have someone reading that will put a tremendous amount of emotion to it!

I give God all the honor and glory for coming up with this..... He awoke me from my sleep in the middle of the night and said, "Get up child, I have something for you"!!!

God is Good..... All the Time!

Cardboard Testimonies...

My good friend Rebeckah at My Life with Kaishon had posted this on her blog and I was in tears by the middle and so thankful of God's wonderful grace and love! Wouldn't it be so awesome to help people see God working in us through the joy that we show through life! All the money in the world is not going to matter until America gets it straight with God.

We are going to all, including President Obama, have to humble ourselves before God and serve, love and honor HIM first! After that our Country will come together, person by person, serving each other and loving each other! Personally, I am so tired of all of the "JUNK" on TV and I am so tired of President Obama being so depressing about our Country. This is a good Country, a Country that God loves, we just lost our center...... GOD!

PRESIDENT OBAMA LISTEN ~ BE SOMEWHAT POSITIVE IF YOU CAN FIND IT IN YOURSELF, STOP BASHING PRESIDENT BUSH AND OTHERS...... (Not the Jesus thing to do....) Be Nice and Support America and Give us Mom's some Hope for our Families

Chatter Knob Hanger to Encourage ME....

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always;

pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I am using this verse as my verse this year to lean on.

For me, It seems to fit well with everything that is going on around us.

My Verse for the Year~ Praise God Through All Things....

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 God tells us to Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

This is my verse for the year and what a wonderful verse! I know this such a hard time for so many families, many of us do not understand how God can allow so many to hurt and be in need. I know hard times, I have dealt with health problems for years. At times I felt that my prayers had gone unanswered, only to find out later that God had something so much greater for me.

Friends, all I can tell you now is, this verse is so true ~

Give God the PRAISE THROUGH ALL THINGS,

GOD IS TRULY IN CONTROL OF THOSE WHO ARE FOLLOWING HIM!

Don't forget... Turn off my music below before starting!

A Beautiful Life~ 12 months of Goals....

I am so excited!!! The Inspired Room is hosting 12 months of Goals for a more Beautiful Life! It is a year program of creating a more beautiful life for yourself with the help of others and it sounds like so much fun. Just to give you a hint ~ January's word is Balanced Living.... You have to decide what that means to you and how that can help you and post it. I started my own personal journal today!

The link to A Beautiful Life is found on my sidebar

Blessings Rain Down On Us In 2009....

Would it not be amazing if as Christians we all came together and prayed for God's Blessings to rain down on us in 2009 as a nation? Can you imagine what a difference that would make? What if every morning we woke up with the attitude that we were going to make a difference in someone's life that day, or even had the attitude that we made a difference in our own life?

Every morning that we wake up is a gift from God. We can be happy or we be grumpy. The first person we greet that day, we can greet them with a smile and good morning or we could totally snub them. See, God gives us all of these wonderful choices and the choices that we make can not only make others feel better, believe it or not, the choices can make us feel better. When I greet people with a smile and conversation, I know I am making a difference in their life and my life. More importantly I am doing what God wants me to do!

One of the greatest joys I ever had was when God led me to take a year to send secret packages to people. Each month I sent a few different small gifts to different individuals that I felt needed to be encouraged. I never put my name on the package, it was sent out of love. I felt so blessed and I know the people receiving the gifts that year were blessed. I think God had a greater lesson to learn and that lesson was for ME in the joy of giving and being an encourager.

God is so good ~ All the time!

Our nation needs to be encouraged, prayed for and loved!
Pray that God will Rain
HIS Blessings Down On Us In 2009!
Happy New Year!

Worship with God and My Playlist....

Salvador

Third Day

Watermark

Is God not amazing! As I was replacing my playlist last night, I realized how much I have grown in Christ having teenagers! I know you are thinking.... Hmm... She has probably grown in patience, grace, endurance... In other words, I have FINE-TUNED my skills as a MOM! Well, all of that is probably true, but my children have taught me so much about the Lord and helped me to grow as a Christian who loves ALL people and ALL types of Worship, especially through MUSIC! In the past, I was very narrow-minded, thinking that God only wanted us to worship HIM in one way using music (of course in my narrow-minded way that way was the Southern Baptist way), but watching my children and their love for ALL people, I watched as God could use all types of music to serve HIS purpose of spreading HIS word. Now, I find myself listening to every type of music ~ from RAP to OLD TIME GOSPEL. See, it's not the beat, but the words that will penetrate one's heart. God wants us to reach ALL HIS people and the only way that we can do that is to get out of our comfort zone and experience new ways to reach HIS people.
I hope you take a few minutes to go through my Playlist and experience some of the different forms of music. One of the songs that I find the most incredible is by Toby Mac, Lose My Soul. Sad to say, it was cut off by my Playlist and as soon as the complete song comes back on, I will replace it. I found it on Youtube (performed by what looks like some college kids) and I hope you will enjoy it here. This song is sung by three completely different artist Toby Mac (rapper/rocker), Kirk Franklin (I can't even begin to describe him) and Mandisa (remember her from American Idol). It is an awesome song, with awesome words!

Matthew 16:26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Please turn off my other music at the bottom of my blog before starting!

College Professors???

My daughter, Whitney, is a Junior at Auburn University majoring in Public Relations. Her experience at Auburn has overall been incredible. She is a member of the ZTA sorority and served as the Chaplain of all of the sororities at Auburn this year. She loves serving the Lord, painting and her job ~ working in the local coffee house. If she is not working there, she is studying or socializing there!
Lately, she allowed one of her favorite professors to break her down. Somehow she always gets to know her professors personally, therefore getting called out in class. One day during class it became painful......
It really bothers me when anyone breaks down the dreams of any young person. I have always been of the belief that we should teach them that they God has incredible opportunities waiting for them, the doors are open wide for them to walk through. All they have to do is walk through and take the opportunities that God has for them. God is going to provide all things. If there are valleys ~ these are teaching lessons that God is going to build them up for even greater things! In other words ~ In all things, good and bad, God is always looking out for their benefit! Let Him do the work, just keep walking to HIM!!! DREAM BIG FOR HIM!!
This is her post~

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Unrealistic Dreams.
Kind of an oxymoron, huh? Aren't the purpose of dreams to think of the unrealistic... something you think could never happen unless there was an intervention of One greater than yourself? Well, I had a teacher shoot down my dream/goals for after I graduate. For those of you that don't know, my mom and I are planning to own an art store.... 1/3 art gallery, 1/3 art workroom - playroom - place where we can have great artists come in and teach classes, and 1/3 coffee shop. My teacher pretty much said it was unrealistic. She gave me all of the possibilities in which it would fail as well as suggested to me all of the issues we would face as owners... we would have to be accountants, managers, trainers, secretaries, and janitors all in one.
All I can say is, I've dreamed of nothing less than the impossible because I know that our God has greater power than I do. He can take care of the parking issues and the money that we will need to start it and the people who will enter into a shop that glorifies Him. I also know that the moment we stop using the store as a vessel to proclaim His name, He could take it away with a snap of His huge hand. He won't allow the economy to keep people from a time of leisure and relaxation. We want this to be a home for community, a place of comfort where artists can release the stress of life and leave their worries or proclaim their praises on a canvas. I'm excited to see what will come out of it... and even though it broke my heart that one of my favorite teachers this semester said this, it encouraged me to start now. I'm not exactly sure where to start or how to start... I just know that I need to start. I'm thankful for her. She has only pushed me to prove that He is able; and with Him, I am able as well.
It's been really difficult being in this major (Public Relations). The more I delve further into the core of it, I realize that no matter what, I will always be dealing with PR. Everyone will if you encounter 'the public'. I highly doubt I will be acting in the role of crisis management or anything of the sort. It would be cool to do something with PR and I admire those who do. However, it seems like a nasty world of who's who and networking... but not much in a genuine sense. That bothers me. One of the reasons I hate going to football games is because I feel like I'm wasting 7 hours of my life (with tailgating and getting dressed up and such) when I can be doing something productive... like creating something for someone or inspiring someone. Not so I can get recognition or move up higher in rankings... but because I sincerely care about people and want them to see just how special and precious they are. I feel useless when I'm not helping others. If any of you know a job in PR where I can make a living by helping others through inspiration, creation, and art - please let me know. One and half years to go before graduation. And I have no clue as to what I will do.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK AND VISIT WHIT~

http://www.boundbythelove.blogspot.com/

God gives us OPPORTUNITIES in the most unusual places...

As many of you know I live on a roller coaster........... What some of you don't know, even those of you close to me..... Last week was a bummer of a week! I was at the bottom of the roller coaster ride, wondering how in the world I was going to get enough energy to even find a way to fight my way to the top again! Infections started, depression started.......... asking God, "How in the world do YOU think that I am going to do your work if I am feeling this way?" Not understanding His purpose for me feeling so sick! I still don't quite understand the up's and down's that God puts me through but then again Paul didn't understand his "thorn" that he suffered. I do know through it all God has given me this incredible ministry and without my suffering I wouldn't have it! So with that and through that I praise HIM! So, this leads into my day.........

I felt GREAT today........... GREAT enough to visit WALLY WORLD (our local WalMart).............. GREAT ENOUGH to walk around and talk to people as I went up and down the aisles at WALLY WORLD. (By the way, this is where I go when I feel good and want to visit my neighbors) A neighbor passed by me as I was gawking at all the new releases on videos and said, "It's good to see you, How are you?" and I say, "I am feeling so GREAT!" and she looked, tilted her head, smiled and sincerely said, "I can tell by your eyes that you really are having a great day." "Thank you, that makes me even feel better!" I said. Sad to say, most people having health problems only want people to see them when they are feeling good! When we are feeling bad we want to lock ourselves away! Anyways....... back to my day.....
After that I mosey on over to the fabric section, the section that I love, and I run into this elderly lady in a motorized chair looking for someone to help her with the sewing machines. Knowing the sewing section and knowing that Walmart sales associates hide in this section I knew I would have to represent Walmart. After awhile we finally find someone to go and find someone to help her. After I decided that I had time to spare I stayed and chatted for a bit. I found out that her name is Ms. Inez and it just so happens that she lives one road over from the one that my grandmother use to live on. Well, I feel at this point she is my neighbor and she deserves even more of my time and help. So, I ask her exactly what type of sewing machine she is looking for (as if I am the authority on Walmart's sewing machines, but then again I do know that I am going to know a heck of a lot more than the girl they are fixing to send over). She explains that she just found a heap of fabric and her sewing machine had given out and she just needed a simple sewing machine. As we looked we decided the cheapest sewing machine would probably work out the best. We talked and talked for over twenty minutes and the whole time not a sign of a Walmart helper. Now tell me, is that God or what? No, joking aside. A policeman did pass by and that did get her attention, I am not sure why, I don't know how she thought he was going to help us. Maybe she thought he could go and arrest some Walmart person. I wish someone could go and arrest the Walmart fabric person for not being there for her. But anyway I made a very dear friend today. Spent time well in Wally World and I think the GUY upstairs would have been proud of me for being a salesman and representative for Walmart!

Comfort....

Thinking about the word Comfort and what it means~ When you feel Tired, Angry, Ecstatic, Lonely, Frightened, Alone, or Grieving what or who do you turn to find Comfort? I asked myself this question this week and was not exactly happy with the answers. Some of us turn to food, some turn to alcohol and others have some other type of crutch that they will turn to. Well, we know that food want help ~ we keep gaining weight and we keep getting more miserable. Alcohol definitely doesn't fit the puzzle part~ It effects so many besides our own personal self that I can't even begin to to tell the story in one blog! (Not even to talk about the effects of driving under the influence)

YOU see, we have only ONE TRUE and ULTIMATE COMFORTER for ALL things ~ The Great Healer, the Great I AM, the One that we should turn to for all things ~ Jesus Christ! He is not a quick fix, not imaginary, HE IS THE REAL THING! I started thinking~ Wow, here I am this so-called strong Christian and I don't even turn to Him every chance I get.......... How do people survive without HIS strength! I know that I need His Strength and Comfort daily to get through. If you are reading and you want to understand more about His comfort and strength, I have made available one of my favorite Internet tools... The Bible Gateway! Please, use it at the top of my page. It is an incredible resource for learning more about God's word! You will find more daily strength than you can ever imagine by just staying in His word! Remember, God is Good ~ All the Time!

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8

Vacation is over and I as so glad to be back home! I am one of those girls that desperately loves a routine of getting up early every morning with my husband, starting the day, eating the same breakfast, the same lunch, and having a special dinner (maybe I made it or he catered it LOL). I spend my day creating, and thinking and then creating more. Some may consider it boring, I consider it my way of serving God. Anyway to my point for the day......... Over vacation, staying in the house that I thought I dearly loved at the beach, I was able to realize that I didn't love it quite as much as I did. Maybe I am getting older or wiser, but the older I get, the harder it is to take care of so much "STUFF". And really that is what it has become to me, "STUFF". We have it up for sale and I have been worrying about whether or not it would sale and if I really wanted it to. All that worrying is worrying me! Well coming home from vacation I decided to let it go, not to worry...... God already knows if that house is going to sale. He knows the purpose of that house, I don't. So here I am again, playing Ms. Know-It-All to God. Instead of worrying, I should be watching out for all of the surprises that He has in store for me today. WOW, I just realized that I probably missed out on so many great things just worrying about "STUFF"!!!! I love being happy and seeing things going right! I have to get a really good God check-up for this attitude starting right this second!!! Gotta go and see what HE has in HIS WORD for me today! YEAH!

God showing off at St. George Island just for me...

I did it and WOW (as my daddy says) did God show up this morning! I pulled out of the drive this morning around 6:00 (hoping to catch the sunrise as I rode my bike) headed down the East end of the bike path. This is the first time I have taken this route because I like to go with the wind in my face to make it easier on the way back. (Yes, I am a wimp) Anyways...... I didn't want to miss any of the sunrise, so, I went on my merry way and kept going until it ended and then turned right and went up the beach access road passing my house, thinking in my head that I am a little crazy but heck, my sister says that about me all the time and yesterday she did tell my kids I did go overboard on things, so go for it. So I passed the house and then I kept passing the little side streets and then I seen it~ THE LIGHTHOUSE! God was once again seeking me out! He was calling to me! So I went~ All the way to it!! YEAH!!! And then I journeyed home, somehow once again with a light wind in my face.................. But then, almost home~ In all of God's Glory, There it was, HIS GIFT TO ME FOR BEING SO OBEDIENT TO HIM ~ Exactly what my heart desired on this St. George trip ............. A Beautiful Sunrise... Of course a tear or two were shead. But it was the biggest, orangest sun that I have ever seen! And no camera! No sister, no niece, Just me, God and that big 'ol Sunrise, The one that I wanted in my blog!

You know God never lets us down, He always shows up! I thank HIM so much for reminding me of that this morning. Sometimes we just need to be in HIS presence alone with HIM and just wait for that moment for HIM to show up in HIS glory to remind us that HE is still with us and still has HIS arms totally wrapped around us.

It's Never Too Late....

I can't seem to stop soaking in information right now!!! All I want to do is learn more about using different ways of using papers, paint, ink, oils! I am like a teenager in school who actually wants to learn! LOL This piece is from my latest on-line class ~ A Colorful Past! I could not resist using this picture of mother and I as she cleans me up from a birthday party! Isn't she beautiful! My hubby always said that he married me in hopes that I would look like her as I aged! ...... Back to the picture and the point of my blog....... The point is no matter what your age, God can take you, teach you and use you to do something mighty! The Charm House, I believe one day if not already is touching people's hearts all across the United States in ways that I don't even know about. I am trying so hard to get God's word through "our" Charm House art! As I make each piece, I try to stay in prayer, praying that it will reach the person that God desires for it to. If you are reading this blog, please keep my little ministry in your prayers! I so believe that God can do the greatest things with even the smallest and weakest of people! He needs all of us serving HIM, so make each moment of your life count!

Let your Blessings rain down in 2009.....

Every morning when I wake up I have a choice.... Do I wake up happy or grumpy? I am given this day as a gift by God to use to glorify HIM, to make the best choices that I can to honor HIM! So, again I have to ask myself, Do I wake up happy or grumpy?
I believe that every day God is so willing to rain tremendous blessings on us if we are willing and IF WE ARE LOOKING FOR THOSE BLESSINGS! They can be little or they can be big! For instance, I really do not like shopping at my local Wal-mart and at times I will travel the extra distance just to go to a better Wal-mart. Yesterday I was in a hurry so, it was the local Wal-Mart and it demanded a short prayer on their part, but mostly on my part for patience!!! As I drove up, I immediately found a front row parking space (God Moment as my family calls it) which called for a Thank you God! As I went in to purchase all my neccesities, which including replacing my 20 year old Singer sewing machine, I went up to pay for all of my items. When the total came up, I knew it was to much. After receiving my tally, I slowly proceeded to the exit doors and of course the door alarm went off which prompted the ederly lady to ask for my tally. At that moment, I seen the error.......... My sewing machine was $40.00 more than what it said on the shelf. The lady looked at me and could see that I had a problem, said not to worry about the door going off, it went off all the time. She would look after my buggy and I could go and straighten out my tally. Now, I had already dealt with my local Wal-mart on many issues and this manager really didn't care. My objective was to ask him to change the price on the counter and bite the bullet on the $40.00 and not let it happen to the next person. When I arrived at the desk to see the manager, a new manager appeared. She was so polite and so willing to help me. We went back to the sewing machines, she seen the problem, she corrected it and marched me back to the cash register, gave me $40.00 and was thanking me for helping them to correct a problem! WOW, I was in pure SHOCK! I had never been treated like this in my local Wal-mart before! This was a total GOD MOMENT! Also, if the door alarm had not gone off~ I would not had stopped. Thank you God for sounding the trumpet at the door!
MY POINT>>>>> We have to ask God to shower us with Blessings, be able to recognize them when HE does and then Praise HIM like crazy to others! That is our purpose! Be the shining light in the darkness! If as Christians we would go around confessing how good God is to us, then others would want that same God living in them! What a difference that would make. We can't go around moaning and groaning all the time... Who wants that! Oh yeah I remember, THE DEVIL desires that! God tells us to Be full of Joy!

I challenge each and every one of you to share your blessings in 2009!

Share those God moments!

Happy New Year!