My teddy bear!

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When I was a child, I didn't have a teddy bear. In fact the only playtoy that I had was a paper doll which I cut from old comics magazines. Anyway, there were lots of other things to play with especially when we are 6 children in the family. And besides I just love dreaming and reading anyway , so it did not matter much. And so I thought!

Now I am fifty and look what I am doing in my sparetime and at the activity center where I work! Making stufftoys. Trying to feel how does it feel to own one, since  I did not experience that kind of feeling when I was a child.

Well, after making maybe at least 10 colorful  clowns, I found out that I am gonna make teddy bear this time. And this is the one I made. First time ever. 

It strucked me that teddy bears are children's favorite toy. It seems that teddy bears are a playmate to them and a comforter . Just look at my youngest daughter when she was a child.

It was  her brother and sister when she was a child. Growing up apart from her siblings that lives in the Philippines. She missed having someone to play with at home. 

And the teddy bear comforted her when she was sad. She too miss her daddy a lot who works at sea. 

Well, she is 18 years old now and not playing with teddy bear anymore. But she loves to see her picture with the teddy bear from time to time. 

Anyway, I am almost an old lady now, although I don't feel really old. And I still and will be  making stufftoys. Although it gives me a happy feeling everytime I made a new one,  I don't use them to comfort me when I am down and needs comfort or rest. Coz I have a God that said:

So if someone is hurting out there  and needs to be comforted, the only place you can really seek a real comfort is God. 

                              JOY

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Spiritual Sundays: bloggerspirit.blogspot.com

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Cards for all occasions!

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Cards I made this week !

Birthday cards!

Confirmation cards for the boys!

Confirmation cards for the girls!

Birthday card for a girl!

Birthday cards for everybody!

"Thought for the day"

A relationship is a living thing. It needs and benefits from the same attention to detail than an artist lavishes on his art. David Viscott

JOY

The lighthouse!

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Two years ago, we went to Molde and stopped by at  this place  located along the way. They have cottages for rent , restaurant, kiosk and a lighthouse.

Skarstua and Lysgården 

My daughter and my husband looking around!

Trolls everywhere!

This  thing was used by the farmers before to cut grass!

And the cottages!

And the lighthouse at the background. They sell handmade candles.

Inside.......

Autum candles....

Winter candles.....

Wedding candlelights

And christmas trees made of candles.

The fruits were also candles!

In Norway we used a lot of candlelights to decorate our homes, in parties, as gifts, or to  make the darkest winter cozy! Light do something with people.

God said: We are the light of the world and we shall let our light shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5: 14-16)

I began to ponder about it because there are also different kinds of lights. And what kind of light I am or you?

Red 

Yellow

Green

 Dim 

Flashing 

Are we the red lighs that reminds people that they have to stop to avoid danger? 

Or  yellow lights that makes people to slow down? Or make people to enjoy the beauty around them?

Maybe I am the green light. Always on the go. 

How about dim light? It is good when we are going to sleep or make a romatic evening with the one we love. Are we like dim lights  that makes people we encounter to relax?

Flashing light: Reminds me of a lighthouse that gives signals to sea voyagers at night so that they can navigate in the dark. Are we that kind of flashing lights that help those in darkness to find the right way?

But no matter what kind of light we might be, we cannot shine on our own. Like all these kinds of light, they have a source of energy. 

       Jesus is our source of light. So if we want to have the light of life, we just follow Jesus!

How about leading someone out of darkness into light? Think how wonderful it would feel! So go ahead friends....spread light around you! Remember, we are the light of the world.

JOY

A dear old lady that made us cry!

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There are different reason why we cry. It can be tears of sorrow or tears of joy.  But this dear old lady  told us a little bit of her lifestory that was very touching. So we all shed tears of sorrow and joy!

For those who are following my blog knows that every fourteen days, we visit the elderly to share  God's words with them, sing  and bring food to them.
And from this gathering this lady told her tear shedding  story.

She told us her childhood days. That  they were not rich, but never went to bed hungry and they survived from day to day . Although they had a little farm with some chickens, sheep and cows, they didn't live in luxury. Especially during the world war too. In fact she remembered that her parents many times had problems paying the bank loan. And one night she couldn't sleep because she heard her mother and father talked about the problem. But her mother told her that she must not worry, because it will be alright. Her parents believe in God and they always pray and read the bible at home.

She remembered one time a committee set a date for a lottery so that they can collect money for a project.

 In addition there will be a get together party later. And each and everyone should bring a gift to donate to the lottery and food for the gathering.
Her mother baked bread and made cheeese to bring.

borrowed picture 

                                                     But they didn't have any gift to give.

As her mother thought about it, she found out that they have one nice red  bowl in their cabinet.
They used it once in a while when they have dessert at home. And her mother said that they can donate the bowl. Her brother did not want to and was very angry. He said that it was the only one they have. But their mother told them that they ought to give. So she took the bowl, put eggs on it and donated to the commitee.

At the gathering their mother gave them ten cents each so that they can buy lottery tickets to support the project and maybe they can win something. And on the table, there were so many things that they wish they could win. Because they  were children, they must go home earlier than the parents and didn't have the chance to know who won. The next morning, she woke up and went first to the kitchen. And guess what she saw on the table? Their own bowl with eggs. They won it back and another bowl with apples in it. Not only God gave them back their precious bowl, they also won another bowl and it  was pretty much like what they have only in another color. And her mother put her arms on her shoulder and said " God is always faithful to bless those who are willing to give. And she never forget those words.

She told us that her father had epilepsy and they grew up seeing him having severe compulsions many times, although he was taking medicines. But it did not stop her father from working so hard to support them. Everywhere he went, he take with him a pocket bible that he reads all the time. And it had given him the strength that he needed everyday. This pocket bible was so worn out that when she went to bible school, she made a skin covering for  it so that her father can preserve the holy book.

And this is the bible that her father had. For her, it was very sacred to hold  it because she knows that her father's own hands carrried this holy book. And her parents was  a living witness that those who put their trust in the Lord will never lack anything. She said that as she grows up, she experienced how God helped them in many ways. And still is now that she is old.

So each and everyone of us were teary eyed after she finished sharing her story.

But everything went well later. We served cakes, fruits  and sandwiches.

                                                        At last, smiles on their faces!

                                                      Until next time again.

                                                                             JOY



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