Learning the Value of life through Birds

                                                                   Source: google.com via CraveCute on Pinterest

I learned a good lesson on the value of life this past couple of weeks. We've had a birds living on our porch roof for the past few years. It gets pretty noisy up there some times, which drives my dog Bandit crazy sometimes.  Occasionally we think someone is knocking on the front door and it's the birds knocking on the steel roof.  It gets annoying at times, but we don't try to keep them away.

A couple of weeks ago I found a dead bird lying on the gravel drive way. I asked my daughter to remove the bird. I just cannot handle dead animals. I get really nauseous when i try to pick them up.  A couple days went by and my daughters didn't pick up the bird. Finally I held my breath and grabbed the shovel and garbage to throw the bird away.  I picked the bird up and tossed it in the trash.

Right after I picked up the bird I felt extremely guilty for tossing the bird away. Thoughts ran through my head about how mortified I was when my ex-stepfather threw their cat away in the garbage can. I got to thinking about the fact that I was no different than my ex-stepfather who tossed their family pet away.  I wouldn't do that to Mason when he died last May.

I had just started Overcome the Lie forty day challenge, so I was spending a lot of time praying and reading my Bible.  I started thinking about the Bible verse Genesis 6:19 "You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep alive with you."   If God loved the animals enough to save them from the flood why am I not valuing them as much as he did? At that point, I decided that throwing any creatures in the trash wasn't the best solution for the dead bird.  I decided I need to be more respectful to all creatures wild or domestic.

A couple of days later I had a chance to redeem myself sadly another bird was dead on the gravel drive way again! At that moment I did decide to bury the bird in the yard. It did take me a couple of days to do it because of nausea I felt.   I picked up the shovel again, dug a hole next to my shed and made a shallow grave for the bird then walked back over to the dead bird picking him or her up from the ground. I felt horrible inside only glancing at the poor bird thinking about the life he lost from dying. I took him or her over to the hole I dug and carefully laid the bird to rest. It was at that moment after asking God to care for the bird I realized how very precious life is.

Overcome the Lie: Let Go Let God

Have you checked out the Overcome the Lie Challenge? If you haven't you’re missing a powerful movement that being felt by bloggers and tweeters. It's a powerful movement that's spread the word of God while his followers give up one thing for 40 days similar to lent.  Ashley the creator of Overcome the Lie sends some powerful messages and just today sent one powerful message that really hit home with me.

For forty days, I've decided to not engage in negative conversation about other people and let people worry about their own stuff. It’s a real challenge since I live close to a few people who sell drugs. I've decided that I'm not wasting my breath even talking about their comings and goings.

I've decided to let God take care of the problem. I'm not the type to tell other people what to do or what not to do with their life. Does it affect me? Yes and No, but it doesn't do me any good wasting my time talking about since I cannot do anything about it.   I've decided to let go and let God even it’s a struggle to keep my tongue quiet.

Monday Crafty Round Up- Sharpie Art

This week I decided a round up of all things Sharpie after buying a set of Sharpies to create my own Sharpie Art. It all started when I saw the Youtube video Doodle Pendants by Hectanooga1. I cannot wait to make lots of pendants based on the tutorial.

The DIY Sharpie Dinnerware caught my eye quickly since I have several mugs from a set, which makes it hard to figure out whose has cream, sugar, or black with cream. I thought this would be a great way to add a message or write on name to know whose cup is whose.

Turn Children's art into tea towels  I love the tea towels so much. Even though my daughter is nineteen years old I still have page after page of her art work especially from preschool. They did an entire series of drawing an animal or thing to make the letter and I kept it. 

Sharpie iPhone Case  I love this idea since I own a plain colored iPhone case  I'm not quite brave enough to do it quite yet. I'd probably do it with a ruler. 

Alice in Wonderland Pencil holder  These dominoes are so darned cute. It's pretty amazing they were made with a sharpie marker and a stamp.  

DIY Sharpie Wallpaper tutorial  I'm not great at holding a ruler pretty straight without having a five pound weight on my cutting board for my rotor cutter so being able to hold a ruler and draw is pretty amazing. Now you know my secret- a five pound weight. 

Spring Fever Sharpied fabric poppy This adorable flower so reminds me of spring, doesn't it? I love how Elizabeth took a piece of material and made it into an adorable flower. Imagine it made into an entire boutique of flowers for mother's day. 


All images are copyright to the websites/blogs where they were found.

Looking for Handmade Time

I'm struggling to get my handmade store stocked with enough products to open. I probably could open the online shop now besides Facebook page where I am currently taking orders. So many distractions sending me in 500 directions. Taking my daughter to school and work, living with chronic pain, household chores, family and a one year old puppy whose having a lot of anxiety. On the positive side I have completed several necklaces, almost done with a tractor hat, and have a drink coaster set pinned together waiting for my sewing machine. I've been looking at all sorts of great ideas for crocheted and sewing tutorials. I'm hoping to include tutorials on this blog. Tomorrow is Monday and chasing after my college kid starts again.
How do you manage school, work, and pets?

Coffee Date #1

Alissa from Rags toStitches is talking about the Mommy Wars. At first, I didn't know what she was talking about until I viewed her video.  Mommy wars are the debates between moms about the way we choice to parent our children.

My two cents:

I do agree with Alissa that Moms need to agree to disagree.  Moms arguing breastfeeding vs. formula feeding, cloth diapering vs. disposable diapers, co-sleeping vs. separate sleeping, gender neutral toys vs. gender specific toys etc is completely wrong Moms need to band together to raise each other up instead of bashing each other. I could go on and on about the debates, but you get the idea.  We all need to help each other with the mindset if someone doesn't agree we let it go and don’t take it personal. Parenting is SOOOOOO hard.

I’m a big fan of breastfeeding since I did breastfeed my daughter after her first birthday. Yes, I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me, but it was what worked for MY Child and worked for ME. I didn’t choice to breastfed until I was eight months pregnant. My Mom completely disagreed with me, but having this ridiculous stubborn streak I did it anyways. I tried cloth diapering, but I couldn’t keep up with it since I was a fulltime student on top of being a teen mother. Yes, I had my daughter way too young, but I did take my responsibility serious.   

Until Next Week,

Sasha

I'm linking up with Rags to Stitches

Monday Crafty Round Up

Since winter is almost gone I thought I'd celebrate with a Monday Crafty Round Up with some necklaces to bring in spring instead of those wool hats and gloves.

 #1 Crocheted Flower Necklace- I'm crazy about crocheted necklaces especially ones with flowers and leaves.

#2 Upcycled Tie Necklace I've seen a lot of crafty projects made with ties, but I really like this necklace. This necklace would be adorable way for a nursing baby to hang onto while nursing.  It's a great way to have something of dad's while the baby is nursing.

#3 Fabric Crochet Necklace- Here's a mixture of crocheting and  upcycling  to create an adorable necklace. This necklace would be great made with tye dyed fabric or t-shirt scraps.  I'd love to add some pony beads to this necklace.

#4 Cherry Blossom/Japanese Sakura Necklace I love this necklace so much.  I've had a thing for cherry blossoms since my dog died. They put his ashes in a wo box covered with cherry blossoms. 

#5 Quick Crochet Necklace- Here's an adorable necklace made with bulky yarn instead of worsted weight yarn. It would look great in variegated or solid colored yarn. If you don't have any bulky yarn try using a couple strands of worsted weight yarn.