Soooo Insipiring

http://rendcollective.com/bio/

The Journey

I've been gone for 3 years.  Where do I begin?  Where do I find myself?  I'm forty, fat, and frumpy.  At least that is how I feel or have felt.  These feet are not so beautiful these days.  I'm not carrying much Good News lately or proclaiming peace and salvation, or declaring that My God Reigns.  I've allowed myself to be mastered by my emotions and weighed down by the worries of this world.  No more, no more, no more!!!!!  I need me back!  A whole, healthy, vibrant me back, that has the beautiful feet of Christ, bringing Good News, proclaiming peace and salvation, and declaring that My God Reigns - not Susan. 
Recently I have been challenged by Ann Voskamp at her blog A Holy Experience, to memorize scripture, to wrestle for my Joy, to make Jesus more than just useful to me but beautiful to me.  She also introduced me to a group called  Rend Collective .  Amazing, inspiring, life breathing to my very soul.  Challenging me to rethink my walk with Christ.  I've spent years making sure I do all the right things as a Christian - go to church, pray before meals, get up early for devotions, listen to the "right music", say the right thing, be kind and friendly, help when and where needed, serve at church, read Bible stories to my children, and the list goes on.  But what about the true, deep love affair with my Saviour!  What about celebrating!  Celebrating that I am loved, forgiven, have a purpose, have value in His eyes, that He has chosen me.  So this is where I find myself needing a new journey - to have those Beautiful Feet so I can have a Beautiful Me. 

Missions Monday

Samaritan's Purse Tally Time!  I love Samaritan's Purse, they are a Christian relief organization who help anyone in need with food, medicine, shelter, building supplies, etc... around the world and in our country.  Each month I give from my sales in my Etsy shop, http://www.2beautifulfeet.etsy.com/ , and show you what just a little can do.  So this month wasn't banner sales, but I am able to send around $14 from my shop.  Here is what my $14 can do:

Gift 20 - Baby Chicks

Chickens are at the top of the “pecking order” when it comes to helping needy families. A small flock can produce hundreds of eggs each year, enough to eat with plenty left over to sell. Samaritan’s Purse works with local believers in developing countries to furnish baby chickens or ducks, and to help families raise them properly. For $14, we can supply a starter brood of a dozen chicks.

Amazing, this is life to a family, perhaps a community.

Humpty Dumpty - My new puppet or is it me?

I feel like I am showing you my new baby with this photo.  Silly huh!  But here he is, Sir Humpty Dumpty.  I just had to make him yesterday, which I haven't felt like making much lately.  My old sewing machine died last month, which left me mourning the loss of a faithful friend and worker.  It took awhile and some tears but now I have a lovely machine that my husband purchased for me.  But I sort of felt like this Humpty during this time.  I fell, and couldn't get the pieces back together.  Well I forced myself to uncover the machine and dive in and I love my little guy!  

I must create or bust!!!!

Everything thing is quiet in puppet world.  I'm glad for a bit of a break, but hopefully not too long.  My fingers were cracked and bleeding from washing dishes and the cold, my sewing machine has been acting up, and I have been so tired.  I rested a lot over the weekend, and bought a pair of rubber gloves and haven't even looked at the machine.  But yesterday, I was ready.  Ready to create.  I made one of these little dolls when I was on bed rest with my son and I wanted to create another one.  So I pulled out my felt, the unruly machine, may pattern, and scissors, and began creating.  I finished her last night and just love her.
Please meet Little Miss Muffet:

She still needs her tuffet and a spider.  The spider is in the works, and I didn't think about a tuffet until now.  She isn't in my etsy shop yet, but soon.  I'll let you know.

Spring, is it really coming?

Sunday morning we woke up to rain and the sounds of birds - Spring!  I said thank you for the rain because that means spring is coming.  The kids and I ended up staying home from church and did our own Bible lesson.  We talked about the sun, and the light it gives off and how Jesus is the true light.  Then we made suns with all the rays and wrote down a Bible verse.

We were so hopeful for some sun.  But little did we know that indeed we would have sun - that is after
20 inches of snow dumped on us during the night. 

This is our street.  It finally got plowed at about 4am in the morning.  We are free!!!! Yeah!!!!

Well today it is 40 degrees and everything is melting.  Crazy weather, but I guess March should go out like a lamb right?

February Giving Update

February was a banner month in my etsy shop : http://www.2beautifulfeet.etsy.com/ .  I was starting to get overwhelmed and am now just finishing up my last order.  Our computer was down in the beginning of the month, I was sick in the middle, and my sewing machine broke down at the end.  But God is good, I weathered all these small storms and was able to send the most from my etsy shop ever : $23.20.   Doesn't sound like much?  Lets see what it can can do:

Gift 24 - Clean Water for a Thirsty Community

Survivors of a major disaster are vulnerable to a “second wave of death” because of diseases that spread quickly through unclean water and unsanitary conditions. That’s why large-scale water filtration systems are among the first items Samaritan’s Purse rushes into a crisis situation. Following the earthquake in Haiti, we installed 20 of these filters at camps, orphanages, and medical facilities, along with building latrines and training people in proper hygiene. Projects like these furnish our teams with many opportunities to tell others that only Jesus can satisfy their spiritual thirst with the “water of life” (Revelation 21:6). A water filtration system that can serve 500 families costs about $10,000—just $20 per family.

We helped a family get fresh water all from selling some puppets - priceless!!!!

Did You Try Something New in February?

I did and it was a flop.  At the beginning of the year I thought I would challenge myself to try something new each month.  January I started this blog - definitely something new.  February - I thought and thought and decided to try to make lollipops.  My son is a huge fan of them and I thought no problem.  At first look they don't look bad:

But they tasted terrible.  I burnt the sugar and then tried to cover the burnt taste with a touch of butter and lemon juice.  Yuck Yuck Yuck!!!!!  When something is burnt, it is burnt!!!!  You just can't cover the taste.
I then proceeded to just dump it all over a tray and play with it.  Which was fun, but I still have the mess hiding in the oven. 

Here is what I did wrong:
*no candy thermometer (after all my grandmother never had one)
*no recipe (just a guide line from another recipe I kind of fudged)
*I was sewing while I was waiting for the "right temperature"
*never add butter to lollipops (these beauties curled right over the jar into all sorts of odd shapes)

One positive note:  My daughter loved them and encouraged me to keep trying.  Thanks kiddo!  And...I think I will, when I get a thermometer and a good recipe.

Snow - Again!!!

Yes another snow day from school, yes another interruption for the to do list for this morning, yes another inconvenience, yes more snow to shovel, etc....  But my how pretty it is!!!!

"My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long."  Psalm 71:8

This is definitely a spring snow.  It's heavy, perfect for building a snow man, and you can hear the icicles melting from the gutters all around.  It's heavy on the trees, but looks beautiful. 

Just last week our snow was almost gone, it actually topped at 65 degrees.  My husband and son made this cute little snowman, who melted I think within an hour. 

Have a happy day, spring is almost here!