Q&A: My Testimony

There is something powerful about a testimony. It's something others can relate to. It speaks beauty and truth. It shows vulnerability and weakness (something all humans struggle with, but don't really like to admit). It's something that shows just how wonderful and amazing our God is. I love hearing other people's testimony. It makes me happy to hear about one more person who found peace in their soul and lives to share His word and His glory.

I didn't find the lord until I was 21 years old. I thought I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life, what morals I wanted to have and the standards I wanted to live my life by. It's strange because I took 21 years of my life to figure out who I am and what I stood for. Then when I found the Lord, I had to reconstruct my life all over again. Finding Him seriously turns your life upside down and inside out, but it a good great way.

I had a pretty rough childhood. My family loved each other very much, but we are all pretty hot headed and stubborn and that can get in the way sometimes.  We have come a long way from how our dynamic use to be. We were kinda crazy when I was younger. There was a lot of fighting, screaming, cursing and anger. My dad pretty much abandoned us when I was 12. He wanted a new life with a new family and it felt like he didn't want any of us anymore. He moved away to the South and we only spoke on Christmas every year. I tried to pretend like I didn't care, but it was pure heartache. I was not one to fill the void with other guys (Thank the Lord for that!). Instead I became extremely independent. I didn't need my dad and I didn't need anyone else.

Then my step dad moved in and we never really got along (until I was older). He was a marine drill sergeant and I think that was all he knew how to be for a long time. My sisters and I always got into fights with him and my mom and him would fight too. I felt like it was just an angry household. I was angry at a lot of people and I held on to that anger for many many years. I took that anger out on the people who loved me most and I think the rest of my family did the same. We knew we loved each other, but I feel we just didn't know how to handle the stresses of life that came our way.

As I got older, I tried to avoid my family as much as possible. Since it seemed like all my family ever did was fight, I figured it was best to avoid them all together. I tried to keep myself super busy. I had a job at a movie theater, I was super involved in school and clubs and I tried to always make it a point to never be home. It was easier my senior year because my family would go away on weekend trips all the time. I would have to stay home to work and then the off times I would have my friends over to keep me company. Pushing myself away from my family made me depend more on my friends.

I found a sense of belonging with my friends, yet I still felt like something was missing. I never knew what that something was and I never fully realized how big of a hole I had in my heart until later in life.

When I was younger, I was always open to who God was, but I never really felt in my heart that I really had any interest to learn anything about Christianity or God. I didn't really know anyone who was super close to me and openly shared about there faith. So I felt like I wasn't really exposed to Him very much.

Fast forward to when I was 21 and dating James. He had been a Christian pretty much his whole life. He was not as strong in his faith around the time that we started dating, but for some reason, one Sunday he felt compelled to go to church. He asked me to come along, and I am always interested in people's beliefs and religions (even if I don't feel the same way) and so I went to see what it was all about. As soon as the service was over, I was HOOKED! God really pulled at my heartstrings. I asked James all sorts of questions about Christianity and what it meant to be a Christian. I wanted to learn more and I wanted to feel more of what I felt on that Sunday. We started going to church pretty regular after that. We really just jumped right in. A couple of months later we started attending the College Group. That was where I really learned so much of who He is and what my purpose in life was. Being surrounded by people my own age who were on fire for Him blew my mind and helped me grow so much.

The thing that God really helped me with was FORGIVENESS. He forgives me each and every day, for minor and major things. He forgave all my transgressions from my past, the things that I am very ashamed about. He helped me to forgive myself so that I can let go and grow. He helped me forgive those who have hurt me and wronged me so I could move on. He made it possible to forgive my father and my family so that now we can grow with love and respect for one another.

The hole that had once existed in my heart filled with Him. He saved me. He forgave me. He loved me. I am still so amazed at the grace and mercy he shows me with every new day.

I would LOVE to hear your testimony. If you have written a post with your testimony, just linked it up below. And if you haven't, I encourage you to do so. You just never know who might need to hear what you have to say.

wordle

my friend Betsy at three.20 blog introduced me to WORDLE. It's a fun and unique site where you can input your blog url and it will create "words of art" from words found on your blog. Then you can play around with colors and fonts. Here is what it came up with for me:

Go check it out and create one of your own!

Mumford & Sons... oh and $3.99 CD's

New favorite band? I think so... well, almost favorite. I mean, Emery will always be numero uno. I guess Mumford has been around for a while now (and by a while, I mean about 2 years). Seeing how James and I have no radio reception thanks to someone stealing our antenna off our car, I never get to hear about new(ish) bands. So when someone mentioned them to me today, I looked them up and was hooked! I absolutely love them. They remind me of The Snake The Cross The Crown. I have been listening to them all day at work and am definitely downloading the album when I get home.

banjo and upright bass? swoon...

$9.00 for cd & $8 for Mp3 dowload on Amazon.

Speaking of music.... I have been a part of "Your Music" for about 5 years now. They sell CD's for 6.99. They don't have any of the brand new released cd's, but they have a pretty good variety of music. Well, now they are going out of business and they are having a sale on ALL there cd's. Each CD is only $3.99 with free shipping. I have purchased 10 cd's in the last week for future birthday and Christmas gifts (yes, I shop this early for Christmas). They have ran out of stock on a lot of cd's now, but you may just find something you like or someone new to check out. Go check it out and make sure to type in 399SALE for the discount code...

So funny I cried!

I watched this little YouTube video from my friend Betsy's blog at Three.20.  Seriously, so funny that I was laughing with tears. You should definitely watch it!

I don't care whether it is real or not, it is just too awesome!

Family Portraits by Heather Pepin

Here are some of our family portrait pictures taken by the talented Heather Pepin. She has taken our engagement photos, our maternity photos and now our family photos. I love that she has been there with us throughout the years. You can also see her blog where she post shots from her shoots as well as beautiful pictures from her everyday life. Stop by her blog and tell her what a fabulous job she has done. :)

Can I just say I James and I made a pretty good looking baby. Look at those rolls, gotta love them! She is definitely not camera shy. If you want to see more of these you can find them on my Flickr account HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to see more of these you can find them on my Flickr account HERE.

Homemade Goodness {Vol 3}

Beatrice is a sweet young lady who has a sweet blog. She is a budding clothing line designer with a new Etsy little Etsy shop. She sells fabric coasters, hairclips and skirts all designed and handmade by her! Her Etsy shop is not even a month old, so make sure you check it out, add it to your favorites and watch it blossom!
Check out both her blog and her shop. She is even hosting a giveaway on her blog that is ending on Thursday, so go say hi and enter! Beatrice also just let me know she will be adding new items to her shop this week!


Your shop name: BeaTea & Company @ beateakamp.etsy.com
Your Blog name: Sew Bea @ sewbea.blogspot.com
Describe what items you sell in your shop: Right now I sell skirts that I designed and made, coasters made out of cotton fabric and cotton cording, and some cute hair clips that I designed. I also do custom orders!
Why did you start your shop: I love making and creating items that make my costumers happy! My dream is to have my own clothing line as my shop gets bigger, so at my shop I am slowly making my "small" clothing line bigger.
How old is your shop: I just opened it on May 15th. 
What is the price range of items: My prices range from $6.00 to $33.00
What makes your shop so special? Hmm that is hard to say, I guess my shop is special because all my items are made by hand and are made from the best supplies! So you would be supporting a small business buying from me :)


From time to time I will be featuring my readers Etsy shops on here or any Etsy shop that strikes my fancy and is willing to be featured. It's a great way to spread the love, share the shop and get the word out about your little slice of Etsy.  If you have a shop that you would like featured, just email me at SheSaidBlog{at}Ymail{dot}com

Interview on Through Clouded Glass

You should check out Callie's blog, Through Clouded Glass. She does this great feature called Moms and Babies. You could read my interview here. It is nice to see how other parents are staying sane and navigating through parenthood. I love Through Clouded Glass, it is a great inspirational blog mixed in with a daily dose of life. :) Thanks Callie for the interview!

App suggestions, anyone?

via

So now that I am sorta up to date with the technology world, I would love some advice on some really fun, cool and even practical apps. James and I found some already that we really love like INSTAGRAM! James also found this fun zombie game that he plays while he is waiting for me to finish getting ready (he is already at level 30 something... which means that I take a really long time to get ready or he is just really that good at this game. I am hoping it is the latter)

So, tell me which apps you LOVE and use on a daily basis. I can't wait to play around with them. :)

Chloe - 6 months

Pictures are a little preview from our family photo shoot with Heather Pepin.

Chloe turned 6 months 2 weeks ago. I know all the family reading this would like to know her updates. Chloe is a BIG baby. When I mean big, I mean that the Dr. said she is the size of an 8 month old. She is in the 95th percentile for her age. The Dr. said she is healthy and doing great! She already wears size 9 month clothing and weighs 18 1/2 lbs. Her hair is getting blonder and she is actually starting to look like ME!

We started to feed her peas, carrots and sweet potatoes. She seems to love them all. She hates rice cereal. Every time my sister tries to feed it to her, she screams and cries.  I think we are going to try oatmeal or wheat cereal instead. We will be starting on fruits this week. I am hesitant only because I know that fruits taste wayyyy better than veggies and I hope that she will still want to eat veggies after she has had the sweet taste of fruits. We also have started her on a sippy bottle, it is like a sippy cup with handles, but with a bottle nipple that we will eventually change out for a sippy cup top. She seems to be doing great and will hold the handles on her own.

She loves to sit on her own, she will sit up very alert and entranced while watching her "stories" (aka baby Einstein videos).  She likes to stand up and roll over and over. She also loves to eat her feet. Her favorite toy is Carl (a lady bug with fun stuff to chew on) and Estelle (a stuffed pink flowered printed pony).  She stands in her excersaucer all the time and loves to eat the toys that are attached. I already mentioned in a previous post how much she loves the water. She absolutely loves taking baths and trying to swim in the tub. She has outgrown her baby tub and now takes full on "big girl" baths in the big tub. (with really, really shallow water)

 We are starting to teach Chloe Sign language. Right now she looks at us like we are silly or something when we use hand gestures while talking to her, but I know she will catch on eventually. She is already talking up a storm and likes to say dada a lot. Although it is more like rambling than actually looking at James and acknowledging that it is him. And she LOVES to razz (making spit bubbles with her mouth). I seriously think it's her favorite thing ever.

Chloe loves me, but she is a daddy's girl through and through. She just beams every time she sees him. I am glad though, I have always admired relationships with dad's and daughters and I love that I can witness there relationship first hand. It is so precious.

Yes Please! {Spotted Moth}

I have a $50 visa gift card and a $50 H&M gift card that is burning a whole in my wallet. I have had  the H&M card since December. I seriously can't believe that I have held on to it for this long. I think part of me wanted to see just how much baby weight I could lose before I actually go buy clothes. Well, Summer is here and I need some pretty, frilly dresses! I feel it is always easier for me to find clothes I like on the internet than in the actual store. Maybe because I can see just how well the clothes are actually made or I can touch and feel how soft the fabric really is vs. just how soft it looks. I don't know, but I always never seem to find anything that I really want when I physically go shopping at the mall.  And I definitely don't have the time to sift through all the clutter to find the goodies when I have a little one attached to my hip. Anyway, all I know is I need to use my gift cards soon. They are just staring at me every time I open my wallet.

LOVE the lace detail in the 2nd dress.