There Really is a Sweet Pea

You may remember at the end of my last post, I talked about a book titled: Sweet Pea and Friends: The Sheepover. I had read about the book on Susan Branch's blog post, and of course, I love sheep and lamb so I had to order the book.

I was tickled when the book came, but I soon realized I had much more than a book. All of the animals in the book live on a small farm in Essex, Vermont. The owners, John and Jennifer Churchman, have used their skills of photography, painting, storytelling and writing to give voice to the stories of the animals that live on their farm.

There is a second book out titled: Brave Little Finn. And they create cards from their storybooks, and yes, I've ordered a few. There are also fine art prints, collectibles and yarn. They're also on Facebook as they tell the adventures of their barn yard. (www.sweetpeafriends.com)

                                                    How could I resist this sweet card!

I always love to read a story where people "fall into" a new career. It's worth your time to see their webpage and enjoy a few smiles. I'm sure glad I found Sweet Pea!

A few words . . .

Words. They can really affect your heart. As I go through my hymnal each morning, reading the verses, the words songwriters come up with never fails to move me. The following words  touched my heart recently.

"Like the arching of the heavens, lift my thoughts above; Turn my dreams to noble action, Ministries of love."
                                                                                                       God, Who touches Earth with Beauty
                                                                                                                        by Mary S. Edgar, verse 4

I know my actions are certainly not noble (possessing excellent qualities, especially in one's character), but I like to think sometimes they are. I recently read a sentence that went something like this: "Everyone sins, but for the Christian who is strong in faith and tries to live according to God's Word, sin is the exception. One tries very hard to do right. It is those who sin without conscience and live in their sin that reject Christ and does wrong."

"Great tranquility has he who cares neither for praise nor criticism. He will be content whose conscience is pure.  You are not more holy if you are praised; nor more worthless if you are criticized  What you are, that you are; words cannot make you greater than who you are in the sight of God." Thomas A Kempis (c. 1380-1471)

As I continue to go through boxes in the basement I uncover special memories. The other day was one of those times.

Many years ago I found the above book at Lang and it tugged at my heart. The drawing on the front expressed my feelings for friends. I was able to purchase a few of the books and gave them to special friends. There was also a figurine of the drawing on the front that I was able to gift a few of my friends with.

I haven't found my figurine yet, but hope to uncover it soon. You can buy the book on Amazon, and ebay has a number of different figurines from the Special Friends series. This figurine is of Kate & Molly! I think there were a series of Special Friends figurines.

And each day I find my new home is becoming just a little bit more like . . . home.