Creatures in My Shop

I haven't talked about my Etsy shops on this blog in a while, so, if you are interested in what's new, read on.

I was so excited to get an order this past weekend for 10 of my vintage button items from The Button Lady shop from a woman who wanted to sell them in the gift shop of the Texas Quilt Museum in LaGrange, Texas. I think my items are a different but unique compliment to sell along with quilting items.

I am always striving (and shopping!) to come up with unique, different vintage items to put in my Etsy shop NaNa's Things.  As I was going through and tweeking my listings, I realized that I have a lot of creatures in my shop. These are the nice, woodland, cute creatures, not monsters and slimy creatures. I also found some unique vintage figurines from the 70's that I will be listing soon.

This cute creamer is handpainted to look like a bird...

I fell in love with this little fawn souvenir from the 1000 Islands....

This pair of swans are a planter, attached to form a heart....

I LOVE this cow creamer and bucket sugar.....so 1930's!

There are also fish, a hen, a fawn and doe, a stork, a horse, a couple of rabbits and Mickey Mouse.

So here are my new finds from the 1970's. Do you remember when "I Love You This Much" was so everywhere you looked and the most trendy thing to say? I found two of those along with a World's Greatest Grandpa, Greatest Golfer and World's Best Boss. Someone must have dropped off their whole collection of figurines from the W & R Berries Co. circa 1970 to our local goodwill. I picked up a "few" plus two chalkware banks including one Cuss bank....

The colorful clown looking one in front is the Cuss bank. On the back it reads:

CUSS BANK

I'll make you put in money

But I'll change you if I can,

From using rough, tough swear words,

Even a quiet little damn.

TEMPER CHARGES

For just a naughty word from you

A five cent charge will do.

But if the word is "rough" this time

That, of course, will cost a dime.

For using language you should not oughter,

The charge will be a great big quarter.

I'll leave you with that. Of course we all know that the tongue is the wickedess part of our body and so we always have control over it.....right?!

AnnMarie :)

 

Getting Through the Day......

Ever have one of those mornings where you are just dreading all that you have to do and wondering how you are going to get through it? When that happens to me I just get in my prayer closet (the shower!) and ask the Lord for the strength and time to accomplish all that I need to do. And, oh, if He has plans for me for that day other than my own, please let me know so I can re-focus!
This mornings devotion in Jesus Calling has the solution:

"Let Me help you get through this day. There are many possible paths to travel between

your getting up in the morning and your lying down at night. Stay alert to the

many choice-points along the way, being continually aware of My Presence.You

will get through this day one way or the other. One way is to moan and groan,

stumbling along with shuffling feet. This will get you to the end of the day eventually,

but there is a better way. You can choose to walk with me along the path of Peace,
leaning on Me as much as you need.There will still be difficulties along the way,
but you can face them confidently in My strength. Thank Me for each problem
you encounter, and watch to see how I transform trials into blessings."

And He does.

AnnMarie :)

Sharing My Daily Devotions with You

Like everyone else, I have my routines that I do everyday. They are such  a normal part of my life that it is easy to forget that not everyone may enjoy the ones that I do.

For example, every night, whether I am sick, so tired I can't keep my eyes open, or we are away from home, I read all of my devotions before I go to bed. There are at least six of them. I thought I would share them with you because they speak to me every night through scriptures and the wisdom from those that write them.

I read them in the same order every night. I start with the Daily Bread which is a free publication from RBC Ministries. It is a monthly publication with a devotion for every day written by Pastors and Christian leaders such as William E. Crowder and H. Dennis Fisher. A page of scripture follows each devotion.

The next one is the monthly InTouch magazine from In Touch Ministries by Dr. Charles Stanley. There are wonderful articles by Dr. Stanley and others with a daily devotion in the back called "early light" with scripture references.

Jesus Calling by Sarah Young is the most talked about new devotion right now. It is a yearly devotion written through the inspiration of the presence of God in Sarah's life. The beginning of the book explains how it all came about for her to hear personal messages from God. It is one of those devotions that always seems to have just what you needed to read that day. It is available in most Christian bookstores, or here at Amazon.com .

 

The other three or four devotions I read every night vary. Right now I am reading 100 Days of Prayer for Women, a gift from my husband. There are many books like this out in the marketplace to encourage the specific needs of women. Check out that the book is scripturally sound and it can be an assest to your scripture reading and prayer life.

Another such book is by Beth Moore, one of my favorite evangelical woman bible teachers. I have done many, many of her video/workbook bible studies through my church and she has a way of getting God's word to you in a clear, scripturally sound and funny way. Her book Praying God's Word, Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds is a must read. It looks like a bible with leather cover, gold gilt on the page edges and an attached ribbon bookmark (it is the fourth one down in the first picture). The chapters include subjects like Overcoming Idolatry, Overcoming Unforgiveness and Overcoming Food-Related Strongholds. She includes scriptures and prayers you can recite to help get you through that particular stronghold.

 

My newest devotional reading is a book called Prayers for Prodigals, 90 Days of Prayer for Your Child by James Banks. These are direct prayers to God written by Dr. Banks for his children. They are encouraging and are a model for how we can specifically pray for our children too. It is published by Discovery House which is the same publisher for RBC Ministries.

Last but not least I am reading a book called Heaven written by Randy Alcorn. It is 476 pages long and I am on my third renewal from the library to finish it! It gives a lot of insight and scripture on what Heaven will be like for those who have given their lives to the Lord. He covers everything from what we'll eat and drink, what our relationships will be like to the animals that will be there, and everything else in between. A very good read. According to Stu Weber "Other than the Bible itself, this may well be the single most life-changing book you'll ever read".

Of course our Bible should be the first source we go to for answers for all that goes on in our lives. A devotional can supplement that and help interpret things that you are experiencing in your life daily. If you were thinking of getting a new devotion to read or just need some encouragement in a particular area, I hope that these particular ones that I enjoy reading will become your daily devotions too.

AnnMarie :)