Counting Your Blessings

Goodie Bags

How was your weekend? Steve and I were busy making up goodie bags to ship off to Marburger. The lovely Theresa from Garden Antiques is having a blog party on the 28th and since the French Cupboard can't be there, we packed up an amazing assortment of gifts from our members that Theresa is going to hand out at the party! So if you're going to the Texas shows at the end of the month, stop by Garden Antiques at Zapp Hall and get a gift bag!

I couldn't get pictures of all the gifts that are going but here's a little sample...

Ewa I Walla

I took to the couch yesterday and didn't do a lick of anything the entire day. Well, I played on the laptop (You know how I can't do nothing). And while I was doing nothing/playing on the laptop, I came across the most wonderful site, Ewa I Walla. Here's their catalog if you'd like to peek. It's all so lovely, you have to go see.

P.S. Thank you for your prayers for my sister. She is still in the hospital and is recovering but having some trouble with nausea still so they will be keeping her until she's able to eat a meal without any trouble.

Vintage Black Friday

A couple weeks ago I got on a kick for black candles. But I didn't want new candles. I wanted old and sorta grungy candles. I guess they fit my rustic romantic theme. When I couldn't find the style that I wanted, I bought them new and rubbed them with ground cinnamon to make them look old. It didn't effect the scent of the candle when it burned because the inside is untouched. Now, the question is this - what made me think that I could buy "old" candles? And I actually spent a week looking for them.

P.S. If you have a moment... My sister is having surgery today. I would sure appreciate if you'd join me in praying for her.

An Outcast

I got this devotional today in my inbox and it just touched me...
Always For The Outcast
"You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry ..." - Exodus 22:22-23 (NKJV)
In biblical times, the widow and the orphan were the epitome of the social outcast. Unable to perform the manual labor required to feed themselves, they were at a decided disadvantage when it came to something as simple as survival.
There were no insurance policy checks, no IRA or 401K accounts to draw from, and no food stamps. There was just the charity of those who were more fortunate. And as God was laying down His Law for His people, He made His heart very, very clear concerning them. "Take care of them-or else."
God is always for the outcast. They occupy a territory in His heart that is very near and dear to Him. When you look at Christ's earthly ministry, you see that He spent much more time with the "nobodies" than the "somebodies" of His day. Not because He had to, but because He wanted to.

And it cannot be denied that although Jesus possessed the prerogative to take on any appearance when He came to this world, He deliberately chose to assume the identity of someone who wasn't exactly on the world's A-list:
He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (Isaiah 53:2-3 NKJV)
Regardless of where God has placed you on society's scale, never forget that God is always for the outcast.

(Garden Crown - Available Here)