My Rehab

My typical craft room look. Oh so glamorous! *smile* This is a picture that I took to include in a application for a craft show.

Hi there! At church, I was talking with a friend who said how scrapbooking and creating just about anything is like therapy for her. I was reminded of this scrapbook page framed and hanging in my craft room. Thought I would share it with you!  I created it during an all night crop when I realized just how therapeutic crafting is for me. When I'm crafting, it's like exercising or even being in the presence of the Lord where nothing else matters except getting the line cut straight, looking for the perfect piece or paper only to find that I was sitting on it or how much I love my scissors. I love being swallowed up in a cloud of paper and ribbon and buttons and glue dots and flowers and...OH THE PLACES WE'LL GO! :)
Now it's time to work on loving the smell of sweat and the burn of fat and the rush of blood and....OH I NEED TO HIT THE GYM! Maybe I'll just go to church and praise the Lord. Does that count? *chuckles*

Blogger Day of Silence For Japan, With Love

By now, you all are familiar the devastation of Japan through media reports, images, personal connection to family and/or friends there in Japan. It is both heartbreaking and humbling. This is also the perfect time to demonstrate the love of God by responding to the needs of those in the midst of crisis.
I love that bloggers, Lydia @ Ever Ours & Lucy @ Utterly Engaged have teamed up to launch For Japan with Love, a fundraiser for earthquake and tsunami relief to the survivors in Japan.

"All of the donations {For Japan, With Love} will go to ShelterBox, which provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items." Click here for more information and to make a donation.

ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

The ladies are asking fellow bloggers to participate in
"Bloggers Day of Silence for Japan"

This Friday, March 18th,

my blog will be silent which means no posts on Friday.

Thanks, Stefanie over at anna and blue paperie for passing this info along!

If you are interested in participating,

please e-mail lydia@ever-ours.com or info@utterlyengaged.com for more information.

Everyone has some sort of contribution to make in relieving suffering. Yours may or may not be financial, but let the Lord guide you to your most valuable contribution and never doubt the power of prayer. God is faithful!

James 5:16 "...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (KJV)

Triston by the Dozen

 

My wonderful son turned 12 YEARS OLD on Monday!! Yep, he's almost a teenager *shutter*. When first asked months ago about what he wanted to do for his 12th birthday party, Triston decided that he wanted to have a "small, family house party".  At first, I thought that was a great idea because it would save money especially considering that he would probably want something big for his 13th birthday. So months passed, and he offered no real enthusiasm. I think he was allowing for the confetti to settle after my party in January and Mya's party in February. When March arrived Triston again shared that he wanted a small, family house party. He even said that he would give me a list of who to invite and a birthday wish list. Whew, Great! Well...that didn't happen. Then as we were coming home on Thursday night, Triston asks, "So, how's the party coming along?" WHAT????!!!! It was Thursday night; Friday was packed with things to do; my uncle's funeral service was in New Orleans on Saturday; church on Sunday among other things and Triston's birthday Monday. What did he mean? There was absolutely nothing "coming along"!  So, I shifted blame to buy me some time. I calmly told him that he never gave me the list of who to invite or even the gift list. *all mom's high five. chuckles* He worked on it, and gave me the lists Friday night. So I sent out a time sensitive, halfway threatening email to his guest inviting them to his party. The theme was "By the Dozen". Get it? Triston turned 12. Twelve is a dozen. Well, Friday it began to sink in that not only was Triston turning twelve, but also how special it was that he wanted a small, family party. **sighs in a proud mom moment over a son who values family** What a great idea! We could really use this birthDAY to celebrate him and the relationship with those that he apparently values above all others. That's when I thought of the game, Family Knows Best: Triston by the Dozen. I came up with 12 questions about Triston that family "should" know best. Some of the questions were really hard like, "How old was Triston when he got his first tooth?", but some were really easy like, "What is Triston's favorite sport to play?". It turned out to be a really fun game where everybody learned something new about Triston. The winners were my Mom and Keshala with 9 out of 12 correct answers. I even made it multiple choice like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. They wanted lifelines or should I say that they needed lifelines. Yea, they need to do better *smile* This game transitioned me to the 12 different cards I made called Quality Time By The Dozen. Each card had an activity that Triston enjoys such as going out for sushi, playing basketball or playing video games. Everyone had to pick a card and commit to participating in this activity with Triston before he's no longer a dozen. After the game, we sang happy birthday, opened presents, shared more laughs and called it a night...a school night. Triston got almost everything on his wish list, but more than that, he had an evening filled with love directed straight at him from the people he loves most. About 6 of us couldn't make it, but love never fails. We had a great time! I filled a tote bag with a dozen gifts for Triston. One of those gifts was a journal. To start the journal off, everybody wrote a loving, personal message to Triston. I was delighted that everyone took a whole page! By the end of the night, I could really tell how much easier it was for everybody to relate to Triston. After a dozen years, I can confidently say that family really does know him best!    

Triston and I made these favors by the dozen :) They are packages of 12 pieces of Triston's favorite gum. We banded them, adhered a circle I created, a star and the number 12.

I made a "cake" of one dozen donuts :) How many candles are on that topper that I made? :)

 





 

Triston and Bryan playing video games after the party.

 

Can y'all pose, please

Thanks! :) I think ~ don't know what little Kaylee and Dad were doing :)



 







Friendship Strands

Here is a short cafe story of friendship and coffee. My "OM" (Other Mother), Sharon Broome, and I used to faithfully meet for breakfast once each month to reconnect, share stories of how good God is and simply enjoy one another. One of our first rendezvous was to a cafe she wanted to introduce to me, Strands. I'm a grits and eggs kinda girl, but I trusted her as she convinced me that I would like it. I thought besides, my thighs could spare a bowl of grits. *chuckles* Well, she was right! I fell in love with Strands...the atmosphere, the sweet spirit of the family who owns and operates it, the delicious prosciuto & provolone croissant and, of course, the coffee.

During my first meeting of the family, I knew there was something special about them, but I never thought I would gain such a beautiful friendship. Cousins, Linelle and Lilita opened the pastry, chocolate and coffee shop along with Lilita's parents, Bruce and Lilia Blanchard some time after Hurricane Katrina. They are passionate about their art (yes, what they create behind the counter is truly art) but even more passionate about the Lord and loving people. Every one who comes into contact with them are treated lovingly as family. Mr. Bruce explained to me the pineapple pictured above. The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality, the earth is a symbol of their international background and how far reaching their love and hospitality is for others. Finally, the strand is a reminder of Ecclesiastes 4:12, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." We are all stronger together which is exactly how I feel when I get together with Linelle and Lilita. We don't get together nearly as much as we'd like because of schedules and responsibilities, but we refresh each other when we do. As three strands, we are stronger through our encouraging moments together. We share our joys, struggles, dreams and pray for one another even right there in the cafe. Often times, we'll have an encouraging, uplifting word for one another, but most times a simple smile or hug will be all we really need. I feel like I'm talking about any number of people, my sister, my Mom, my closest friends or my OM. I guess what makes this friendship strand special to me is that neither of us set out in search for a friend. Each of us have great friends. We did nothing unusual or extraordinary except be the friend Christ modeled then God united our hearts.

Speaking of hearts, take a look at the display I had at Strands for Valentine's Day! I already knew that they would do anything they could for my success, but I was even more humbled in our friendship and blessed when they offered the opportunity for me to have my gifts and cards in the cafe for Valentine's and every other major holiday. Praise God! Thanks to everybody who came out to support them and me! If you still haven't been to Strands, what are you waiting on?! Hey, do you see the fabulous boxes mom made for my birthday? Yep, I used them again. You'll probably see much more of those boxes!