So Long Etsy...For Now!

I sadly closed my Etsy shop yesterday!:( Over a year ago, I decided to open an Etsy shop to sell some of my acrylic paintings. I named the shop "Creative Joye". It wasn't until a year later that the shop actually opened! Sickness has its way of slowing down life dramatically!

Instead of selling my paintings on Etsy, I ended up selling miniature, polymer clay food. When I started my gluten free diet, I would have severe cravings for carbs or unhealthy food, like sweets! To help cope with these cravings, I randomly started making miniature sweets out of polymer clay! Turning polymer clay into food gave me the idea to sell these as dollhouse miniatures. I've always had an obsession with miniatures! They are just sooo cute=) Then, I ended up turning the dollhouse miniatures into food rings!

I put the miniatures on Etsy to see if any would sell, and to my great surprise, some of them actually did! I have never worn one of these rings (atleast not out in public:) They are just too loud for my taste, but they are so much fun to make!!

This "Bleeding Armadillo" dollhouse cake was inpsired by the movie "Steel Magnolias!"

I used less than 25 cents worth of clay and sold this miniature for $19.00!! A lady bought it for a friend's birthday. The lady said that her friend has an armadillo collection! I was beyond shocked that this actually sold!!!haha

This is one of the purses I designed for little girls called "Darling Delights!" I sewed clay donuts onto the front of the purse. I did not end up selling the purse on Etsy because I only made one and gave it to the little girl in the pic, Olivia!
Cupcake with sprinkles is smaller than a penny.Plate of cookies is alot smaller than a penny! I placed the chocolate chips on using a needle.

This cake is the size of a quarter, and those are real sea shells that I hand picked off of the beach! I can't believe all of the detail that is in a shell so small!!

Here are some of my ring creations:

Strawberry short cake ring!

PB & J friendship rings. Terrible lighting in this pic!

This cake was requested by a nice lady in Canada. She is a huge Twilight fan, and this is a mini replica of the cake in the 2nd movie!

Smores Ring

Donut with sprinkles!

Twilight inspired cake sold to the same "Twilight" fan.

Sew Cute! Two spools of thread, a needle, a scarf, a pin cushion, and a thimble! This one was so much fun to make!!

Multi colored cake was one of the most popular rings.

Beach cake ring. Used tiny, real sea shells again!

The "Green Eggs and Ham" inspired ring was the most popular ring in my shop! As a kid, I loved that book so much that I remember always wanting to have green eggs and ham for dinner!!:)

I closed my shop because I can't use Polymer clay anymore! I am not sure if it is gluten free or not, but even if it is, right now I am trying to stay away from anything that might have chemicals in them because I am so physically sensative to things! My shop isn't permenantly closed. I am always coming up with new creative ideas!!!

I am glad the Lord has given me a love for art! Art has been so helpful and healing for me at very hard times in my life! I am thankful that the Lord gave me a goal to work towards during the last year of extreme suffering before going gluten free! That goal was starting up an Etsy shop! Really, it is so simple to start one, but for me being sick and all, it was a monumental milestone!

I believe that each art project prepares me that much more to be a better homemaker and mom! Working with polymer clay just the short time that I did allowed me to help a little friend with a school project. We built a 12x12 inch colloseum using Polymer clay!!

I pray that the Lord might give me more art project opportunities in the future to help others if He wills it!

Colloseum! :)

Stay At Home Daughter!

I talked a bit about being a stay at home daughter in my "Testimony Part 3" post, but I thought I would elaborate a little.

During my highschool years, instead of trusting in God, I worried so much about what I was going to do when I graduated. I remember thinking that I did not want to be something "normal." I wanted to be something creative like: A henna artist, a spray paint artist, a painter, a muralist, a t-shirt designer, a potter, ect... I have many random interests when it comes to art, if you haven't already noticed. =)

My mind was constantly spinning with so many ideas. If I were to have painted a picture of my brain at the time, it would have looked more like a cyclone than a brain! Even though I had all of these ideas for my future, I did not have peace!

During highschool, I often prayed to the Lord asking Him to show me His will. I really thought that I had totally submitted my life to Him, but I did not feel His peace which surpasses all understanding "Phil. 4:6," nor was I trusting Him with all of my heart, "Prov. 3:5-6." The lack of peace and trust was due to the fact that I was still greatly influenced by the culture and family expectations.

Well, when the Lord provided me with the part time job at a dentist office, I thought I would finally have peace. I was happy to be able to say that I was "doing something with my life." When people would ask me the college question, I was relieved that I got to give a quick answer! It was much easier than explaining my "health situation."

At the time, I thought that a job and something to say to people was the answer to ridding the restlessness in my soul! Well, the job was definitely not the answer!! I saw the job at the dentist office as just something to fill my time between the years of singleness and marriage, but for some reason the uneasy feelings did not go away.

Of course, like I said in "My Testimony: Part 3," I got so sick that I had to quit my job! I spent about the next 10 months pretty much in bed or on a heating pad! The Lord used that time for much more change in my life!!

During that time, God was slowly turning my heart towards my home, but I felt conflicted! I had a great desire to stay home to prepare myself for marriage, but the culture and my family told me that staying home was pointless, because "no one stays home anymore!" When you turn 18, you must fly the coop, live on your own, get a degree, and experience the "real" world! Even though God was turning my heart towards my home to prepare myself for marriage, I still did not have a firm understanding of Biblical marriage or stay at home daughters. Infact, I had never even heard of a SAHD before!

For some reason, I still had it ingrained in my head that I had to do something that would impress the culture and people around me! I felt immense pressure that I had to have something grand to say to people about what I was doing with my life!

I was constantly trying to figure out what "I" wanted to do with my life! I stayed on the computer alot searching for easy, part time job opportunities. Even though I was so sick, I still searched for things to do because I felt I needed something to say to the dreaded college question.

Well, during Christmas of 08 the Lord greatly worked on my heart and faith! Two weeks before the Lord revealed the culprit causing my sickness, I was finally able to submit my whole life to Him! I told Him that if it was His will for me to be sick the rest of my life, then just please help me through it!

When God taught me about really submitting my life to Him, my biggest prayer became this:

"Lord, please let my heart's desires be identical with Your will for my life!!" Proverbs 3:5-6

After I found out what was physically wrong with me, I not only began my long journey to recovery, but also my journey of learning about stay at home daughters and Biblical marriage and what it all truly means!

God led me to read a couple of blogs from stay at home Christian daughters. Reading their blogs opened my eyes to something totally new! I also watched "The Return of The Daughters" DVD and read the book "So Much More". Slowly, the Lord begin to make things clear. He had called me to be a stay at home daughter (yes, in a very unique way), and the peace of going counter culture finally came. Along with the peace, came an excitement and vision for my future that I had never experienced before.

Because not all of my family members are like-minded, my experience may look a little different than the daughters in the movie. I am helping my mom and trying to be a blessing to my father and siblings. God has graciously protected me in that because of my health, I am home with the complete blessing of my father and the support of my siblings. Even my extended family supports me staying home. I still get the occasional college question from well meaning friends, but my answer is ready and waiting. I have never in my life felt such an incredibly strong calling from the Lord as I do now! I have so much peace and contentment in my life! It feels like a million pound weight has been lifted off of my shoulders!!

Being a SAHD is such a privilege and blessing! I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and now, I am redeeming the time that He has so graciously given me. Even though I feel strongly that I am being called to marriage, to be a helper to my husband and raise up warriors for Christ, the Lord might still call me to something else! But whatever He calls me to, I need to have myself spiritually prepared.

Since I have been sick for so long, I have not been able to learn proper homemaking skills. This is the first time in my life that I am learning how to cook, and gluten free at that!

Staying home does NOT mean I do things like "fold cloths while watching television!" During the day, I help my mom with her home daycare, I help keep the house running, I cook gluten free meals for every meal (which is so time consuming for me right now.)
Being home has given me opportunities to serve others as well. Not only do I serve my own family, but when I am physically able to, I serve a bit outside of the home too.

Extra random things I do at home: Right now I am putting several scrapbooks together (something I will not have as much time for when I am married.) These scrapbooks will go in my hope chest! One of my current projects is researching natural cleaning products! I am also learning to convert all of our home videos to DVD, which is not as easy as I thought it was going to be! I am learning to sew purses, skirts, aprons, and pillows. I just recently taught myself how to knit. I started up an ETSY shop, which I am actually about to close down, haha, because I can't use Polymer clay anymore due to health reasons! I also do a bit of commision work as an artist. I recently stopped using oils and have started back with water colors and acrylics. I am planning to try and herb garden in the spring. I will spend some time researching that this winter.

Those are just some of the things that I am blessed to be able to do! The two most important things I am using this time at home for is healing, and THE MOST IMPORTANT THING; preparing myself spiritually for the Lord's calling!!!

Because I am still suffering greatly from CFS (exhausted adrenals from fighting food allergies and celiac), I am constantly having to pace myself. When I say pace myself, I mean that I have to rest all through out the day. I may have to sit for 10-30 minutes or I might have to take a nap. Before I started on my road to recovery, I literally could not function without 1, 2, or even 3 naps a day! I know that the Lord will give me more things to do in a day and more serving opportunities when I can physically handle them!

In the meantime, whenever I have to rest, I see it as a blessed chance to grow spiritually! I read the Bible, pray ALOT, memorize huge stacks of scripture, read great Christian books, listen to sermons, ect...

A few last random thoughts:

Going counter culture is never easy, especially if your family is not like-minded. However, God is so good and always provides grace in times of need. I know that the blogging community of stay at home daughters has been such an encouragement to me. I also highly recommend the DVD "Return of the Daughters". My path may look different, but our hearts are united in Christ and in a multi-generational vision for the kingdom.

I believe that being a SAHD or a SAHM is such a high and
noble calling! I cannot even begin to describe the beauty that God has shown me in His amazing design for the family unit!!! I look so forward to having a Christ-centered family of my own one day!!!

Southern Ball

Last weekend some of my dear friends in Christ and I attended a Southern Ball! A friend of mine wanted me to go with her last year, but I was too sick to attend. When I was invited again this year, I decided to give it a try! Because I never know how my health is going to be from day to day, I wasn't sure how I would physically feel on the day of the ball.

I gave the ball to the Lord, knowing full well that if it was His will for me to attend the dance, then He would provide His unfailing strength for me. I also prayed that if it was His will that He would provide a dress for me as well!I prayed, and He above and beyond answered my prayers! He provided me with a dress that was oringially $120.00 but I got it for $35.00! It was the last dress they had in stock and it was my size!!

A few weeks before the ball I got discouraged that I wouldn't be able to attend because I was "glutened" for 2 weeks. Just when I started getting my strength back, I got the flu for a whole week. It took all of the next week to regain my strength.

Well, the Lord abundently provided me with His strength on the day of the ball! Here are some pictures from our fun filled night!

Freinds!

Such a Gentleman!

My and my lil sister in Christ!


Some of the gorgeous gowns at the ball! I am definitely getting a southern bell dress for next year!!

My beautiful mom!

The Virginia Reel!

My mom and I!!

I am so thankful that the Lord kept me from being able to go to a dance in highschool! This was my first dance and it was in the company of like minded believers! The dance was so family friendly! There was no pressure to pair off, and it did not feel in any way like a singles dance, thank goodness!! I danced with anyone from 4 years old and up. There was brothers dancing with sisters, dads dancing with daughters, sons dancing with mothers, ect...It was so precious to see families out there dancing together on the dance floor! At the end of the dance, we all sang hymns! It was beautiful!

I wasn't able to dance that many dances due to lack of strength, but this ball greatly encouraged me!! It showed me how far I have come in just a short time! Last year I could hardly get out of bed, this year I got to go and was able to dance, and I can't wait to see how well I will do next year!! I have spent most of this past week recovering from the dance, but it was well worth it!! I Praise the Lord for how lovingly He provides for His children!!!

Strict, Gluten Free Diet!

I left my first herboligist appointment so overwhelmed from all of the new information he had given me. One part of that information was a new diet that he has me on to this day. When I left the appoinment, I went home around luch time wondering what in the world I was going to eat! When he told me that I had to go gluten free, I didn't exactly know what that meant. The word gluten free sounded so foreign to me at the time. Now, gluten free has become a way of life for me.

It wasn't just the gluten free part that was so new and confusing to me, it was all of the other restrictions that went with it! Here is the list of food I cannot eat:

Foods I Cannot Have

Meats: Catfish, Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Pork and all other Scavengers.( All of my meat has to be 100% organic.)

Dairy: No eggs, cheese, milk, but I can have butte ( I LOOOVE MILK! Goats milk used to be my favorite! One out of every two people with Celiac disease cannot have dairy.)

Grains: Wheat or white flour, rice, pasta and every other grain you can think of!

Sugar: Absolutely no white or processed sugar and all artificial sweeteners.( I use honey as a substitue. I tried Agave Necter, but it weirdly effects my breathing.)

Drinks: Nothing except for water and a few certain herbal teas.(Lemon balm tea works great for calming and healing adrenal fatigue.)

Vegetables: Tomatoes, white and red potatoes, iceberg lettuce.

Nuts: Peanuts, Pistachios.

Fruits: Bananas, Oranges, Strawberries

I also cannot have any condiments: Mayonaise, ketchup, mustard, ect...

The reason I am having to be so strict on my diet right now is because my body has built up other food allergies due to the stress of being sick so long.

My daily diet usually consists of:

Breakfast: Apples dipped in almond butter. (Almond butter is way better than peanut butter in my opinion!) Or, a smoothie that consists of coconut milk and blueberries along with some nuts.

Lunch and Dinner: My lunch and dinner usually look the same. I have an organic meat with a side salad and a side of either brocolli, peas, squash, beans, sweet potato fries, ect...

Dessert: Almond flour cookies! Have you ever heard of a cookie that doesn't consist of eggs, milk, and sugar?? Such a cookie does exist and it is great!!:) I also eat alot of berries.

I have been on this diet for about 9 months now and people often ask me how in the world I am able to be so strict on my diet and not cheat! The reason why I gladly eat the same, plain stuff everyday is because I've gotten a chance to feel good and healthy and I do not want to go back to being sick and bedridden! I would eat dirt in a heart beat if that is what it took to get better!!:)

When I used to say the blessing before a meal, I said it out of habit or tradition. Now when I say the blessing, I thank the Lord for the knowledge He has now given me of good food that can help heal me! I always ask Him to continue to "Satisfy my mouth with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's!!" Psalm 103:5

Every bite I take is one step closer to getting better! Praise the Lord!!!

The Flu

Last week, me and my whole family had the flu! It is bad enough when one person catches it, but we all managed to survive!:)

Because my body is ultra sensative to medicines, I had to come up with natural ways to heal myself. I ate lot of garlic on gluten free, black rice bread. Garlic works great! It is a natural antibiotic. Only use one clove of garlic at a time unless you can handle more. If you do eat garlic, make sure that you have enough food on your stomach to handle it. I had to learn the hard way on that one!

One thing that we are all still fighting is a bad cough. My mom recently (being the health nut that she is) made us all ginger tea. It is not only good for you, but it is also a great cough suppressant! The ingredients are as followed:

1. Put 1 cup of water into a pot. Add a half of a cinnamon stick and about an inch or two of ginger root.
2. Bring to a boil. Turn stove on low and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Then let cool for about 15 minutes.
3. After 15 minutes, sqeeze in half of a lemon, a teaspoon of honey, and a Very tiny pinch of cayenne pepper! (Cayenne pepper is optional.)

Hopfully this bit of information will be helpful to anyone who is sick!

Cupcake Bouquet!

This cupcake bouquet is fun and easy to make! I happened upon this cute idea online! I made it for a friend of mine, and she thought it really was a bouquet of flowers. My icing wasn't hard enough so the flower petals didn't turn out as nice as I would have liked. Here is what I used to make the bouquet:

1 terra cotta pot

A pack of cookie sticks. (Still not sure what exactly a cookie stick is, but they really help hold the cupcakes in place!)

1 styro foam ball. (It looks nicer if the ball is green.)

Some fake or real leaves.

Cupcake mix and icing.

I love giving this creative gift to people!

My Testimony Part 3: Becoming a Butterfly!

It is interesting to me that the sicker I got, the more my faith increased and the closer my relationship with the Lord became. However, I have still had my share of discouragements, lack of faith, and what I like to call, spiritual lulls. It isn't called suffering for nothing!

So, in my diary, the year before the Lord brought me out of the world and to Him, I wrote something that I find interesting...

In 2004 I wrote, "My goal for highschool is to become a butterfly!" What I meant at the time was that I hoped to shed the awkward years and "find myself," during those highschool years.

Throughout these past four years, whenever significant things spiritually or physically would happen in my life, a butterfly would fly by me or fly in my face! I know, I know, you are probably thinking that I am crazy!:) I didn't think anything of it the first few times, but by like the 20th time, I began to wonder...

There was one instance, (in the picture you see above) when I was feeling down, and a butterfly landed on my hand! I have never had that happen to me before. Then it was like this voice popped into my head and said, "See! This is what I am doing to you! I am changing you!"

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new!

The butterfly stayed on my hand for quite sometime, and then flew away. I realize that to become a butterfly, they have to go into a cacoon/ isolation first! The Lord took away all of the distractions of the world and used isolation and suffering to mold me and make me into a new creature in Christ.

Not ony did Christ isolating me become a spiritual learning ground, it also become a protection! During these past four years I have gotten to sit back and sadly watch friends and relatives make some very grave mistakes in their lives. The Lord has been so merciful in protecting me from the "typical teen years."

So, back to the story...
2008 became by far, my worst year of suffering! I thought the whole point for the Lord making me sick was to change me, and I felt changed so I didn't understand why He wouldn't heal me! But, unbeknownst to me, He definitely was not through changing me! There was still (and always will be,) much more to learn!

In 2008 I graduated from being homeschooled! With graduating, came the inevitable question, "So where are you going to college?"

Because there was still no explanation to my strange symptoms, I felt like I needed to get out and do something with my life. I felt great pressure from friends, family, and this culture to get a job or go to college. Although I was still very sick I got a job just to feel "normal." I was only able to work two, half days a week at a dentist office.

I didn't even have to look for a job. The Lord just dropped it in my lap one random day. He used that job to begin to show me that a career wasn't reallly what I wanted. See, I had wasted so much time in my highschool years trying to figure out what I was going to do after I graduated. I thought that I wanted to do something with art, but really, my heart's desire was to be a wife and a mother.

The thing that I liked most about the job was, when asked the "college question," I got to say that I worked at a dentist office. It was alot easier to say than, "Um...I'm sick right now. I don't know what's wrong with me. I physically can't handle college right now. Infact, I have no desire to go, ect...."

I worked at the dentist office for 8 months, but I got so sick that I had to quit! (Still, I hid my pain and suffering very well from all of the people at work!) I literally spent the next 6 months at home. By this time, the pain had become unbareable and I was practically living on a heating pad! It got sooooo bad that at one point, I dreaded bringing my fork up to my mouth! It was so painful! I felt like an 80 year old lady covered from head to toe in extreme athritis!! I could hardly do anything for myself. I couldn't clean, get ready, fix my own meals, ect! There were times when I would literally beg the Lord to just give me the strength to clean my room!! I still had daily migranes and didn't sleep well at night. But during that time of extreme sickness, I grew the most spiritually mature!

My parents were scrambling for answers! My poor mother stayed on Google constantly searching for any answers!

Christmas of 2008, I went to a rheumatologist and got tested for so many things. She thought I had Lupus, which I didn't end up having, praise the Lord! She did end up diagnosing me with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. She told me that there was no cure and I was just going to have to live with it. Well, that just killed any Christmas spirit that I had left! She did put me on some medicine that didn't work at all!

So any hope I had for my future got completely dashed. My heart's desire is to be a wife and mother someday, but I thought that it wasn't ever going to be a possibility. I thought, "If I can't even take care of myself, how will I ever be able to take care of a house and kids??" My faith was quickly fading. But then, when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, the Lord restored my faith! I was finally able to completely say, "Your will Lord, not mine! If You want me to be sick the rest of my life then just please continue to help me through it!"

Two weeks later something happened that changed everything!!

One night for dinner, my mom fixed me some of her homemade wheat pancakes. I was having a pretty good day (for me) or we might not have noticed what happened next. About 45 minutes later, I was on the floor, in extreme body pain, severe migrane, and I could hardly breath. I felt like I had the flu and stomach virus all wrapped up in one. My mom found me on the floor crying! That night was a blessing, because it was the begining of great things to come!
Long story short, and a few days later, God worked out a series of providential events that led my mom to meet a local herbologist. She told him what had happened to me the night of the pancakes (I still get grossed out when I see a pancake to this day!)

She said that he just kind of shook his head and nonchalantly said, "That is a classic sign of Celiac disease."

Immediately, my mom made me an appointment. We told him pretty much my whole life story. I was actually just going to the appointment to see what he could do about fibromyalgia pain and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I had been to sooo many doctors in my life, that I truly had no hope for this appoinment at all! Well, I got more than I bargained for! I left the appoinment very overwhelmed!!

He is almost positive that I have Celiac disease if not, a gluten intolerance! He put me on an EXTREME diet. Because I am one of those very ultrasensitive people, I couldn't just go gluten free. I will have to post my list of food restrictions on here one day if any of you are curious.
He also said that I have major adrenal fatigue! Well, after one week of doing my extreme diet, I began to notice a drastic change in my health. I started to not have headaches everyday, my body pain became less severe, I also started sleeping better and so on! The day after I met with him, I came across this verse- (which is now my favorite verse!)

Psalm 103:2-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satifies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's!!!

By the end of the first week, I had so much energy, that I didn't know what to do with myself!
These past 9 months have been a very interesting time in my life. I am getting to see for the first time in 12 years what it is like to not be so sick. I still have a long road of recovery ahead of me, however!I still have my days where I can't do much, but I am having waaaaay more better days than not.

I believe the best part of these past 9 months has been my spiritual growth! I now have a great passion for being a warrior for Christ, and growing in holiness. He has also given me a HUGE passion to memorize scripture, something I sadly didn't have before. But I am out of this "brain fog," that Celiac disease causes, so now I can really concentrate on what I am learning! (God's timing is perfect!) Just when I thought that the Lord couldn't reveal anymore to me, He surprised me again!

I no longer feel immense pressure from this culture. It was like as the sickness was being taken from me, the grip that this world still had on me was being loosened!
I am coming out of this "cacoon" a completely new creature. I dress differently, act differently and think differently. I no longer desire to follow the same path as this culture. I see everything now from a Biblical worldview! I desire to be the best stay at home daughter I can be and wait on the Lord's will for my life. The Lord brought me home four years ago but my heart was not home! When He graciously turned my heart to my home, I was sooo excited, but I felt alone. He then encouraged me through several dear bloggers. He also encouraged me through the DVD "The Return of The Daughters!

I love being a stay at home daughter!! I love having this time to prepare myself for my future both intellectually, physically, emotionally, practically and spiritually!! The Lord has shown me what a huge gift work is. I delight in doing (what some consider to be a mundane job,) the dishes and folding laundry because there was one time in my life where I wasn't able to do them very much or without pain! I am so thankful to Him! I truly cannot thank Him enough!!! Also, the Lord brought me to a wonderful family integrated church!

I now have no worry about my future because I have seen first hand what amazing things my Heavenly Father is able to do in one person's life!!

2 Corinthians 12:9
My grace is sufficiant for you for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my affirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches in needs, in persecutions, in distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak then I am strong!!!

Isaiah 40:31
Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint!