A Little Bit of Pretty {Olivia}

It was a tough weekend here... On Thursday morning Livy woke up with a high fever... We attempted to keep it down all day Thursday with Tylenol and cool baths... By Friday afternoon, her temperature had exceeded 105... I called my doctor and we were told to take her straight to the ER... We spent six hours in the ER... It was a difficult six hours... They tried to take her blood for testing FOUR times... It was torture for her and in the end, they never did find a vein... They ruled out all the obvious things so we were sent home with no answers.. All day Saturday her temperature was still around 103... So we prayed... And the Lord heard our prayers, along with those of many others... Sunday morning, the fever finally broke... She's still recovering and getting back to normal... I'm thankful that she's finally fever free after more than three days... And thankful that it was just a virus and not something more serious! I've never been through anything like that with any of our girls before... And it was a good reminder to not take anything for granted... So today I leave you with one of the sweetest bits of pretty I know, our Livy!

It's a Very Good Friday...

As a child, I always wondered why this day is called 'Good' Friday... How could the day that we remembered the death of Jesus ever be called 'Good'... It seemed so awful to me... As I've grown, and grown in Grace, it's made more and more sense... It is a 'Good' Friday... It's Good because Jesus accomplished it all when He suffered and died on that cross... He lived a perfect life... And then He took all the sin of all humanity, before the cross and after, upon Himself... He paid it all... And that is very Good... And of course, three days later, God gave His seal of approval that Christ's sacrifice was indeed Good when He raised His Son from the grave... This is 'Good' Friday and this is Easter... And this is why I am so thankful to love and serve a Lord that paid it all...

When I think of 'Good' Friday, this song, "Praise the Lamb" by the lovely Alli Rogers comes to mind... I hope you'll listen and enjoy!

Praise the Lamb by Alli Rogers

 'Sunshine Acacia Tree' by Sixth & Main

"You Will Find Me"

Congratulations to Kaytee, the winner of Day Three of the Fantastic Week of Spring Giveaways with comment #104! Kaytee will get an 8oz bottle of lotion (winner's choice) from Valerie of 'Piper Tate' and $15 in store credit from Soury of 'Kawaii Goodies'! Well done Kaytee! Thanks to all who participated and especially to Valerie and Soury for providing the prizes! And please, head down the page to enter the two giveaways that are still open... A lovely giveaway closes tomorrow morning!

The other night, amidst an evening of anxiety and turmoil, I had my iTunes on shuffle... And at just the right time, this song came on... "When your soul's weary, when you find doubt, when you can't hear, lay your troubles down... In your dark moments, when your heart's weak, bring yourself low, you will find me"... It was such a perfect reminder... My Lord is faithful... He is true... HE wrote the rain, HE wrote the sun in...

"You Will Find Me"

Andrew Ripp

A Good, Good Friday...

"Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand

The shadow of a mighty Rock within a weary land;

A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way,

From the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see

The very dying form of One who suffered there for me;

And from my smitten heart with tears two wonders I confess

The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place;

I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face;

Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss,

My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross."

{Elizabeth C. Clephane}

Weekend Project {Enter a Giveaway}

Although it's only Thursday, the weekend starts now my friends! Tomorrow is a very important day for me... Good Friday... A day to remember the death of my Saviour on the cross... And to look ahead to His resurrection... So in light of thinking of better things tomorrow, I thought I'd pass along an 'easy' weekend project... 

Tomorrow, my friend Marilyn from "Passionista!" will be having a wonderful giveaway for a $25 gift certificate for my Etsy shop... You should enter... All the best!

A Break... And New Pieces...

After the manic rush of the late November and early December, I took a much needed break last week to enjoy Christmas... Not only to revel in Brennah's first Christmas (pictures of that coming later) but also to ponder once again the amazing truth that Christ was born a baby, to live and most importantly, to die... I spent most of my time meditating on how that baby became a man, a sacrifice for my sins, and the sins of all those who will repent and believe...

In His grace, God gave us safe traveling, a wonderful time with family and friends, and immense joy as we enjoyed what we had waited for for so long... He is GOOD!

I also took some much needed time off... It was likely the first time in months that I didn't make or ship jewellery... And it was a time I greatly enjoyed... Until today... I am back in the thick of it, filling wholesale orders for the New Year, but I thought I'd share some photos of the new pieces I managed to create in my time 'off'... Enjoy... And stay tuned for pictures of our wonderful Christmas!

"Prayers for This Child"

"I do not know how I am to pray for this child
as a mother I don't want my baby denied
but in the waiting in the waiting I learned...

every instinct in me wants to shield her from pain
take the arrows of misery heartache and blame
but in the sorrow in the sorrow I learned to hold on...

I only have two eyes - be all seeing
I only have two hands - be everywhere
I do not know enough - to be all knowing
I give this baby up into your care

I do not know how, how to pray for this child
I want to guard her from everything wicked and wild
but in the trial in the trial I learned to hold on
And in the trial, in the trial I learned to hold on to the heart of God."

Sara Groves

My Baby Bren...

I've been thinking a lot lately about how quickly Bren is growing... I've always promised myself that I would never be the kind of mother who spent more time in the past than the present... That I would raise her from the beginning with the knowledge that someday she will leave... And that is normal... And good... And God's plan! Instead of being sad that she's growing so quickly, I've been seeking God's grace to love and enjoy every moment with her... This has been a very long and quiet week... But she has brought me so much joy... The Lord has been gracious... In giving me a little girl... In giving me a little girl so much like me... She loves to be with me... Which is amazing! She loves to talk and giggle... And I'm beginning to see so much more of the person she is... And it's incredible! I pray continually that the Lord will show her what is true and right through our lives... This is a heavy weight... But God is good... And He continues to grow us... And I pray that she, above all others, will reap the benefits of what He's doing in us!

What Do I Know of Holy?

"I made You promises a thousand times... I tried to hear from Heaven... But I talked the whole time... I think I made You too small... I never feared You at all... If You touched my face would I know You? Looked into my eyes could I behold You? What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood... But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy? I guess I thought that I had figured You out... I knew all the stories and I learned to talk about... How You were might to save... Those were only empty words on a page... Then I caught a glimpse of who You might be... The slightest hint of You brought me down to my knees... What do I know of Holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? And a God who gave life it's name? What do I know of Holy? Of the One who the angels praise? All creation knows Your name... On earth and heaven above What do I know of this love? What do I know of You Who spoke me into motion? Where have I even stood But the shore along Your ocean? Are You fire? Are You fury? Are You sacred? Are You beautiful? What do I know? What do I know of Holy?"
Addison Road

Why "The Ardent Sparrow"?

Many people have been asking me the question... "Why the Ardent Sparrow?"... Well... Here is the story...

When I first began planning my store on Etsy, I knew I wanted a name that was rather unique... I had spent the whole day looking at supplies on-line and constantly found myself drawn to the antique brass birds... Birds are very symbolic... For me, what comes to mind when I think of a bird, is a text from the Gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 6:26
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (ESV)

In this context, Jesus is reminding His followers not to worry about what they shall eat or drink... He is reassuring them that the heavenly Father will take care of all of their needs, just as He does for even the smallest bird...

When I was a child, we used to sing a song in Sunday School with the lyrics, "God sees the little sparrow fall, It meets His tender view; If God so loves the little birds, I know He loves me, too." (Lyrics by Maria Straub, 1874)

So... When I think of the sparrow, I reminded of a Sovereign God's care for all of His creatures... Including me... And this calm's my heart!

With images of lovely little antique brass birds and the words of that simple children's hymn running through my head, I settled on something to do with a sparrow... But what kind of sparrow? I knew it needed a word before it... And for some reason I thought that word should with the letter t... Why? I have no idea... But not just any word would do!

After much discussion with my husband Jay (He has quite an infinity for words) and much time spent on an on-line thesaurus, I stumbled upon the word ardent... I word I had always liked (I wanted you use the name Arden for our little girl... I was out-voted)... Ardent means being characterized by intense feeling, passionate, fervent, devoted, eager, or enthusiastic... All words that I felt described my love of making and creating jewellery... And the type of emotions that Etsy began to stir in my heart...

It also reminds me that I need to be a passionate, devoted and eager follower of a Sovereign, all-knowing Lord who remembers even my smallest need... A Lord who has guided my steps to this point... To a small little shop on Etsy...