In whom I Delight

my excitement is going through the roof right now. i have been dreaming of opening an etsy shop for literally years. i mean a long time! So for me, i kind of feel like i'm scratching something off my bucket list. 

anyways, i'm starting this etsy shop with one main purpose. ORPHANS. yup! my heart has been broken and aching for orphans since i was a little girl. "what are your thoughts about adopting?" it was one of the first questions i asked my husband (boyfriend then) because it is so important to me to help change the lives of the little ones who don't have mommies or daddies. my husband and i want to adopt and have wanted to for years now, but have been waiting patiently for the Lord to direct us where to adopt from & what agency to work through. i have cried too many times asking the Lord "why haven't you fulfilled this promise you gave me years ago?" the obviously answer he gave me is "in my time". so in this waiting period i have wanted to start saving and helping others who are in the process of adopting, helping those who have opened their homes to foster care system, and families who have already adopted but are in need of financial assistance.

all this to say. IT IS HERE!

Here is what i need from you!

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thank you so much for being apart of this new adventure

 Either you can let it sit over night to dry or put it on a really low setting in your oven for a few minutes.

Once dry. Add your Lavender Essential Oil. I used a good 8-10 drops.

 You could also add in lavender flower buds. 

wow! God is amazing!He is the creator of all things and i just love being apart taking pictures of his creations.

i had the lovely opportunity to have fun and take a couple of pictures of my friend Nikki and her newborn Landon. All though in these pictures he isn't so newborn he is actually 3 weeks old. This sweet little boy was born 4 weeks early, but he was perfectly healthy and absolutely adorable. Enjoy!

who doesn't love gifts? i love giving gifts and i love receiving gifts. it doesn't even have to be much, a letter or some delicious tea. definitely one of my top love languages. but wow i was blindsided this afternoon by my daughter. i love her so much. there are some things that i don't have to tell my son not to do because he just understands from observing, my daughter on the other hand. well, she isn't the most observant little girl. she is passionate, emotional, sensitive, and well just does what she wants when she wants... and i have to remember that even though i'm more like caleb, joy isn't wrong in her way of thinking.

so with all that said, my daughter picked the heads of newly and not quite bloomed daffodils in the front yard. the only slight presence of spring. she came in running inside with them in her hands yelling, "mommy mommy mommy, i have pretty yellow flowers for you!" (now I was going to mention to them not to touch the flowers before i came inside, but i figured they are old enough that they would look & smell, not pick) so, i yelled out, "no no no joy" then i caught myself and held my tongue. she is bringing me a gift. they only way she knows how. i buy her a flower from the market when we go shopping, because she loves fresh flowers in her bedroom. here she is only trying to do the same for me. it was so hard at first for me to set my own feelings aside and see really her heart behind the act. she was trying to be thoughtful. i love my little girl!

"for everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving."

-timothy 4:4

 

so it started out with this question. "can we play with play-doh?" now all i am thinking about at this point is how i let them play with play-doh last week and it ended up being the messiest experience yet. so my answer was quickly, "no". at this point they are digging thru my craft cabinet in the kitchen. that is never a good sign. next question, "can't we put together this plane model and paint it?" yikes now i'm thinking about how long that could take and well we are trying stay with in the small time period of rowan's nap. so of course my answer is "no, sorry that takes way too long." now, i'm like trying to encourage them to go play down in the play room or find some books to read. my kids were not having that. they absolutely love art & crafts. so another question came out of my sweet son's mouth nervously, "so so um..maybe we can paint?" oh man. i love to paint. i love art. i just doing like doing art with little kids. haha. 

1) i'm a little bit of a control freak. i always seem to want to take over there projects or encourage them to do it the "right" way.  2) creates such big mess. you have to pull out so much and well my house is already a mess i don't really like adding to it.

i know. not really good enough reasons to not let them paint. that came to me quickly too . i needed to be thinking about how they would really enjoy getting to experiment with colors, eye and hand coordination, allowing to them express feelings through art, and that i could even make it into a little art/bible lesson. ok...so letting go. letting go to control. 

so not only did this become a lesson for the kids, but it was a lesson for me as well. we had so much fun. 

i am reading this great book called Sitting At The Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. they point out, which i never knew, that king solomon was cover with expensive perfumes before riding a mule through town. it was a way people could recognize royalty. they would be able to smell the perfume as they would pass through the streets. and to see the amazing parallel of mary covering Jesus in expensive perfumes and incenses before riding on a donkey through jerusalem. the people shouted "hosanna! hosanna! blessed is the king of israel!" even they knew the Jesus was royalty. they didn't just view Him as an ordinary man, but a king.

what i can't imagine is the fact that the perfume would have lingered with him for days. all the way to the day he was taken to the cross. i mean. these guards were beating a man that smelled like royalty. they probably wondered who really is this man before them. 

^" But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life."

-2 Corinthians 2:14-16

i just love this little piece of scripture. we are that sweet aroma to christ. ahh i love it! it makes me think of how a little bouquet of flowers in my kitchen can spread so much sweet aroma through out my home. how we also need to go out and spread christ's sweet aroma. 

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ray