Thrift Exchange!!

hey y'all.  you've got to check this out!

awesomeness...thrifty style!

i'm in, are you?  {click on the button on the right hand side to see what's up}

thanks so much to the lovely bloggy ladies who cooked this up;)

choosing wisely

"my first priority is my family, not my business" -Marie

i have said this a thousand times to myself and to others who ask why i haven't done such-and-such yet {whatever the bigger opportunity is or logical next step for my little business happens to be}.

every day i get to make decisions, mostly small ones, that will tell if i really believe what i say.  nothing earth shattering, i assure you ;)  just picking my little pony over blogging, using that 'witching hour' before dinner time to actually make dinner instead of cutting, sewing, or shipping.  scrapping today's to-do list in favor of taking the children to the movies {yay!  i love it when i shock them} sitting in a rocking chair in my husband's garage and just hanging out while he re-organizes out there, just because i know he likes it.

{wait a minute...add them all up and i guess it is earth shattering.}

loving is something that is sometimes seen as boring.  oh, it's glamorous to be in love with like, your sweetheart when you are dating or newly married.  but what about the real life loving?  the love that folds laundry and closes her book up to watch yo-yo tricks being performed, the love that gets up at 5 am every morning and heads out for 12-15 hours of hard and dirty work and never complains?  the love that sneaks up on us and we are tempted to take for granted daily?

i have several hours each day to invest in either relationships or business

this past week i was contacted by a buyer for a major, major big deal place in our nation's capital.  she loves my work!  can she carry it in *the place*?  how many could i make, and so on.

at first i was shocked.  then, i was super excited!  this would be an opportunity that no one in her right mind would walk away from!

luckily for my family, i'm not in my right mind:)  i said 'thank you, but no'.

you see, saying 'yes' to this opportunity would have brought me both recognition and money.  but it would have meant saying 'no' to many evenings with my family.  i would be stressed out over meeting a deadline and working like an assembly line {which i abhor! cut, cut, cut, interface, interface, interface, sew, sew, sew, and now the personal touch is gone!}

at the end of it all, saying yes to this deal would NOT have been what was best for my family.  i don't ever want to gently shove my children out of the way for work.

relationships don't bring us paychecks or praise, but they are what truly matters in this world.  our relationship with God and man.

"He who finds his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." -Jesus

"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." -Jesus

now, i firmly believe that God made me with this 10 mile wide creative streak that i brandish daily and He wants me to use it.  but it should be used to bring Him glory, not me.  He is faithful and He is wise and loving and kind.  and the same week that i decided against this "once in a lifetime" opportunity, i got another offer from a teeny little vegan shop in Canada :)  she loves my work, can she carry it in her place, and so on...i sat back and asked the same set of questions.  is this best for my family?  will taking this offer compromise my everyday acts of love for my family?  can taking this offer provide me with an opportunity to use my creative talents {hopefully thereby glorifying the author of all creativity} and keep me from seeking recognition?

yes!

i am soon to be carried at Canada's smallest vegan shop {seriously, it's only 7 feet wide!!}  and i couldn't be happier!

two is better than one

i have twin nieces!

this is me squeezing the stuffin' out of them on their birthday:)

Molly Beth and Pearl Marie