James the greater

The greatest calling of a servant of Jesus is to serve others. James discovered that following Jesus Christ can lead to hardship, persecution, and even death.

But, the reward is eternal life with Him in heaven.

James the Greater was killed with the sword on order of King Herod Agrippa I of Judea, about 44 A.D.

Every time I make this cross I look deep inside and ask myself this.

“Am I ready to be more like James the Apostle of Jesus?

Am I ready to die for Jesus right now at this moment.”

If the sharp end of a sword was piercing into the back of neck as my family watched.

“Would I deny my savior?”

Footprints in the sand sunday!

This Sunday on September 18 at 3c!

Getting along

Getting Along

A little bit about these two rascals. You all know Leo, but a lot of you may not know our oldest girl, Little Bear. :)

Born 13 years apart Leo and Little Bear are different as you can easily see. But, like all of us, they actually do have a lot in common.

Little Bear was one of five born to a Mom that wasn’t anyones dog. And, her Dad was a wild dog for at least a couple generations back.

Leo was one of five born to a Mom that was no one’s Cat. And, his Dad was at least a couple generations wild.

They were both born in the Country. But, Little Bear’s family was from the woods and Leo’s family lives in the open fields. Both of their families in an instant could be very far away from human contact and would rarely be seen.

Little Bear and her siblings used to break out of a make shift chicken pen everyday at my Grandparent’s house to go on “hunts” we can only assume. At some point I am sure they ran into the many Coyotes, Bobcats and possibly a Panther. Each time they went out into the woods less of the puppies would return… Then one day, Little Bear returned alone.

(Side note: Little Bear is the one who would break them out by climbing the fence and lifting the roof up.)

Leo as y’all know was the only one to survive the horrific storm and Little Bear and the other dogs seeing them as a threat.

They are both stubborn and hard headed and have very “wild” instincts still.

Little Bear doesn’t like Leo to sit behind her. Anytime he does she repositions herself to watch him.

And, Leo doesn’t like Little Bear coming into the shop while I am working.

So, this as you see is the compromise. i.e Getting Along!

Leo is in front of Little Bear as Little Bear likes it to be and Leo is guarding the door Little Bear  can’t get in. 😂

But, it works! Whatever differences they have, they have worked out a compromise and they “Get Along.”

We honestly could learn a lot from Little Bear and Leo!!

We come from different times and have different genders, skin colors, and upbringings.

But, we could simply live with each other peacefully as they do by respecting each other’s boundaries and forgiving what we consider other’s short comings.

Not everything is going to go “our way” and this life is going to be sooo very tough… It’s truly tough enough without us bickering at each other constantly.

So, can’t we all just get along like Little Bear and Leo do?

P.S. Yes, Little Bear is smiling in this photo. 😁

Leo? No, he’s not smiling. He’s tired of me taking pictures of Him. 🙄

God's word

Yesterday I sat down to start working on a new design for one of the Sunday Crosses. Typically, I sit down with my sketchbook and the Bible and get to work. God had a little message for me, and I thought I would share that with you. First, I’d like to tell you about how I get ready for a new design. Sometimes I wake up thinking about the next design, sometimes I have a conversation (typically it’s Brad and I in the barn talking when we should be working), or sometimes I’ve had an experience that brings me worry or stress, and I go searching for a verse to help me through it; I’ve realized that anything can trigger inspiration for a design. With all of that being said, it comes down to God’s plan and I just have to find a way to hear it.

My friend @rustiquebychristy made this leather cover for my sketch book. I read this verse every time I open it to start a new design or to practice my sketches.

When I sit down to practice my sketches or to lay out a new design, I take out my sketch book and read this verse. (That’s the beauty of having verses laid out in plain sight. You either consciously or subconsciously read the verses: every.single.time.) I bring out my bible, but I also use Bible Gateway. There are times that I like the wording in a different translation, but I always look up the whole verse.

Christy also made this leather wrap for my bible to help protect it. Here is the link to her IG account.

Then I start searching for a verse. In truth, I keep a list of verses that speak to me. Some days they are about giving my fear over to God, learning how to love my neighbor, or learning how to get over my self-doubt. I keep a list because I never know when I will need that verse again. I have a Pinterest board, post-it notes, iPhone notes, and notebooks filled with verses. Before I started yesterday, I sat down and started scrolling through social media. There are times when I just close them and shake my head. But not yesterday. God whispered to me to take a closer look. I started seeing verses….everywhere. Friends with verses on their shirts, coffee cups, Tik-Toks, bumper stickers, flags, purses, water bottles, and the list goes on and on. When we were younger, we really didn’t see God’s word everywhere. You only saw it or heard it at church. Now it is literally everywhere. At that moment, I realized that God’s soldiers are sneaky. We have quietly been spreading his word every day, all day, fighting evil with love, acceptance, and protection. I’m proud to be a soldier of God.

One of the new cross designs.

I do want to acknowledge that being a soldier of God does not make your life easier. In fact, it seems that you are under attack from the evil-doers of the world, the ones that cause confusion, hostility, and conflict. I am continuously learning and practicing how God wants us to fight his battles. I just want you all to know that I see you. I see your declarations. I see your light.

The light from our barn last night when we were going in for the night.

You are the light of the world. You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine in front of men. Then they will see the good things you do and will honor your Father Who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:14-16

God Can Free You

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 New Living Translation (NLT)

Letting one worry creep in will lead to fear. One fear will lead to being afraid. Being afraid will lead to isolation. 

When I was a young child I actually didn’t look forward to sunsets. Sunsets meant that night was near. I worried about what the night would bring. What was out there that I couldn’t see. I developed a fear of the dark and I wasn’t sure why. That fear turned into me isolating myself to a fully lit room and even sleeping with all of the lights on every night. One night I remember I just couldn’t take it anymore.. I walked outside even though I was terrified to the point of shaking and crying. I put my hands out and prayed that God would hold them. It was instant! Something I can’t describe happened. The dark lifted and suddenly I could see every detail in the night and understood what every noise was around me.

As an adult I dismissed this as a silly childhood fear. But then I think of how many more petty little worries and fears we have as adults. They call it stress :) And there’s a multitude of advertised cures for this stress. I believe there’s only one cure. God can free you from your fears. Don’t be afraid of anything he can handle. Just ask him to! 

God Bless you all this night.

(originally posted on 1-12-2016 on divinecrosses.com)

This Shovel Keeps Me Humble

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3

This may sound silly, but this shovel keeps me humble. It’s not made of colored carbon with flashy aluminum flanges and a comfortable plush grip. There’s really nothing impressive about it! It’s an old rusty shovel with a worn down hickory handle. But, it fits my hands perfect and it rests right in the callouses it’s made over the years. The first time I picked this up and shoveled dirt with it was over 30 years ago.

I’ll be honest, when I was little I never looked at those dirt piles as fun for long. Especially when I knew I was going to be moving that entire pile one shovel full at a time. I used to watch my friends ride by on their bikes trying to get my attention. I’d wave if I had a free hand and tell them I’d be along soon, in my disgruntled voice. I always looked at them as better than me for not having to move dirt after school. But, as I’ve grown older, I now see that those piles were character builders. I get great satisfaction from taking one shovel full of dirt at a time and carrying it across my yard to fill those holes in the grass. You’ll almost see me every afternoon as the sun sets carrying this shovel. To this day if anyone needs any dirt moved, I’ll show up with my trusty hickory handled shovel that has an iron forged blade sharpened by all the dirt it’s scooped. It’s nothing to look at. But, this shovel keeps me humble.

(originally posted on May 24, 2017 on divinecrosses.com)

Memorial DAy

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

God bless those who have give their life and given their life’s work to serve us and protect our Freedom.

Enduring LoVe

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:7

The beginnings of a special Enduring Love Cross. 💜