The Words of my Heart

You know how there are those times that we get really passionate about something, think about it in our minds and hearts, then poof, we get lost in the busy of life and never do anything to share that passion we had? Well, I feel like I am in lost in the busy of life right now and NOT sharing the passion of my heart as I should be. There is a burning in my heart to share CONSTANTLY about the anchor of my life. But as I reflect on the day each night, it strikes me that I seldom SPEAK of Him. I wonder each evening, "Do those around me KNOW how I made it through today? Do they know that they can have the same anchor, peace and promises? Do my friends, family, customers, and those I come in daily contact with KNOW that my life is dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ, and without him all is lost to me? Can they see it in my life? In my actions? In my words?" And many days I feel that I fall short.

I often times find myself bogged down in the troubles of the moment and negative. I know in my HEART and MIND that the Lord is in control. I know that He works ALL things to His glory. I KNOW that He has my family in the palm of his hand. But it is so easy to be down, to be negative, to be just as so many others in this society that we live in. But that is NOT how I want to live my life. It is not the person that I want to be!

Do you find yourself counting your lot in life and justifying your bad attitude? I do. There are so many things that I AM as a person.

I AM the mother of a special needs child.
I AM the wife of an addict.
I AM a business owner struggling in this economy.
I AM a mom fighting to feed her family and keep a roof over our heads.
I AM a woman who battles her own health issues daily.

But the truth is that there are MILLIONS of people who deal with these same things EVERYDAY.

I am NOT the only mom to a special child out there. The truth is that there are tons of moms like me everywhere you look. Some of the people I respect most are those that do what I do everyday, only better, like April, Carla and Michelle. I look at these women and see what an amazing job that they do with their special boys and pray daily that I could do half as well with mine!

There are countless wives out there that are married to addicts of all kinds. And I am sure that most of them walk through their days with a million times more grace and patients than I do. I freely confess that this is my greatest shortcomings. I have no patients with my husband, no patients with his addiction, no patients with the SLOW process of stepping out of the darkness and into the light. I want it done NOW. I am tired of living in the shadow that covers our family from all of this. If you ever want to pray for me this would be a CONSTANT need for me... to have PATIENTS, GRACE and UNDERSTANDING in this area of my life.

As I drive down the streets and see empty building after empty building, as I attend local business meetings and see fewer and fewer in attendance, and as read about those throughout our country I KNOW that I am not the only business owner struggling. I know that I am not the only one daily weighing my passion and belief in my business against the stark reality of meeting my basic obligations with it. This is a tough time all over for small and big business alike.

I could go on and on, but I am sure that you are intelligent enough to look at my list and see, clearer than I, that I am not alone in ANY of my struggles. Each days millions of other women around this country face the same things I do. My questions is, do I face these things in such a way that brings glory to the ONE and ONLY Lord, Jesus? Do I rest peacefully enough in Him? Do others see his goodness and grace in my life? Do I SHARE my passion, faith and unmovable belief in Him with others?

A few weeks ago at church we had a guest musician do worship. He is a very talented young man and the time with him was very passionate and Spirit filled. I especially appreciated one particular song that he did. It really sparked something in my heart and got me to thinking.... real, deep thinking. I even jotted down the song title to look up the lyrics and share them here. I have turned this song over and over in my heart many times. But then it happened. I got busy. This came up and that came up. Everywhere I looked something was distracting me, and I did not share this amazing song with you. And then I forgot about it. Clean out of my mind it was. Until today. And God so gently nudged me and said "Remember? Remember what you wanted to do with that song?" And guess what?? I DO remember. I want to share it with you! So without further to do, here it is! May the Words of My Mouth by Tim Hughes....

May the Words of My Mouth
(and yup... I could NOT figure out how to embed it here, so you have to hear it there... sorry!)


Lyrics:
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart

Bless Your name, bless Your name, Jesus

And the deeds of the day and the truth in my ways

Speak of You, speak of You, Jesus

For this is what I'm glad to do

It's time to live a life of love that pleases You

And I will give my all to You

Surrender everything I have and follow You

I'll follow You

Lord, will You be my vision,

Lord, will You be my guide

Be my hope, be my light and the way

And I'll look not for riches, nor praises on earth

Only You'll be the first of my heart

I will follow

I will follow

I will follow You


This song embodies my hopes and desire on the type of person that I strive daily to be. I want the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart to bless Jesus, every minute of every day! And I pray that the deeds of my day reflect what is important to my heart. I have a heart for people, and want to live in such a way that anyone I come in contact with feels that love and knows that it is but a taste of the love of the Lord! And I pray that daily my actions, steps and life will be a form of worship to him!


How about you? Did this song speak to your heart? Does another always lift you up? I must say, since 90% of the time I listen to kids worship music I like upbeat fun songs about the Lord, but this one really nailed me! I so wish I had a few extra dollars to get the CD of it, but it must go on that never ending wish list of mine, because CDs are just NOT in the budget!


Well, I must be heading off to the sunset about now, but I hope that this got you thinking, because I know it got me thinking. Now my goal is to turn those thoughts into actions, so that every person I encounter in a day KNOWS without a doubt that there is something special in my heart! And I know that this will be a challenge, but hey, I like a good challenge, don't you? Pray with me on this and more?


Blessings!

SLOCM Business Expo @ the Plaza

So yesterday was the San Luis Obispo County Mommies Business Expo at Mission Plaza. We were hopeful for a very successful event and meeting lots of new customers. The booth set up wonderfully, even though I had thought that we were a little light on merchandise going into the event. As it turned out the booth looked great, and we had more than enough since it was WAY TOO HOT for the customers to be out. You just never know when you plan these shows. You never know what Mother Nature will bring in the way of weather. And in this economy, you never know where the dimes will fall.

Isn't it cute and colorful? I thought so.... course I could be a bit biased...

The highlight of my day ended up being the kids dancing. They are just so darned cute, how could that not be a high point?? Thankfully they were on early before it got REALLY HOT. So they did well.



This is fro Happy Feet, a dance Audrey has been performing for a little while. It's really cute and she knows it really well. This time the other little girl who is usually in this group did not come to the performance so Audrey was up there all alone with the boys... she looks so small this way!

But she still had so much fun!

And it's amazing when she can keep up with those big boys!!

Aren't she just so cute?? Sparkle girl...

This is one of Josie's groups. This was the first time that they performed this dance. It's to the song Traveling Soldier, and was choreographed by Marci (the tall one on the right of the photo). It was a very beautiful lyrical number and Marci did a great job on it! I actually don't have many photos of this one because I videoed it for you...but the video quality was really poor so I will have to do it again next time. But I think you will love it! It's a great dance!

And here is the other one of Josie's groups Shakin' their Tail Feathers! This is a fun dance that they do!

Isn't she just getting SO BIG???? I can't believe how grown up she is!

Boogie down girls!

And final bow, for all of those who journeyed out into the heat to perform. It seems like the studio is getting smaller and smaller. I am sure it is a sign of the economic times, but it is so unfortunate! I hope that we get a few more dancers soon so that the studio will stay open!

Overall, it was a very disappointing day. The weather was too hot, not many people journeyed down town. Those that were there were NOT spending money. And with the heat I got VERY SICK. I had a horrible heat triggered migraine that knocked me out for the rest of the day, had me sicker than sick, and has me kind of out of it still today. I am not sure that it was worth it at all, but I do know that somehow, the Lord will make good out of ALL situations. SO it will be interesting to see the good in this one....

On the up side there are lots of great treasures currently at the store, and even more to go on the Etsy site very soon! And I am looking forward to making GREAT Halloween costumes very soon... I have so many beautiful ideas in my mind to create. It should be tons of fun!

Blessings!

Beauty all around us!

It's been a REALLY rough few days. I am tired. I am beaten down. I am depressed. And I HURT. But I am trying to remain positive, look at the blessings in my life and be the woman I am called to be. Sometimes in all that life gives us, it's best to take a step back and have a little time out! I needed that today :) Well... if I were honest I have probably needed that for awhile, but I took it today!

I have not had time to read many of the blogs that I regularly read these last few days. It's a fact of life, I just can't always do what I want to! But in catching up I read one of my dear friends post about her Rocky Mountain Sunsets HERE.... and decided I have not allowed myself to enjoy a central coast sunset in way too long!

So tonight Audrey and I headed up to my all time favorite thinking spot to enjoy the sunset... and it was a BEAUTIFUL one too!

I love this ranger station... anytime of the day!

Can I just say that we are so blessed to live within 4 minutes of this beautiful area. Some days I take it for granite... and I so shouldn't! I LOVE this spot! Even though a million other people were there tonight too. It was still beautiful. Just not peaceful, due to a hoard of SCREAMING children, none of which were mine!

Thank you Lord for this blessing!

Gretchen

Summer is OFFICIALLY OVER in my house!

I am so excited.... Summer is OFFICIALLY OVER in my house!

Yes.. I am one of THOSE moms that is happy to have the kids at school 6 hours a day so I can have a few minutes of peace. I really don't think that is a bad thing... it helps me maintain my sanity!!

So here is my big first grader, and my bigger (by a little bit) Fourth grader! HOW did they grow up so fast????

And here we are at school... aren't they just too cute?
(yes... I may be a bit biased!)
And YES, that was an Audrey creation on her outfit... my little fashion diva!

So they are off and running, and I FINALLY get a few minutes to sit down and blog...I feel like it has been SO LONG, but in truth it's been a week since my last post. I guess I should be a bit embarrassed that I MISS writing and blogging when I don't get to do it regularly... but I am not :)

It has been a really BUSY last few days of summer. I tried to cram way too much into it, but we managed. I am REALLY excited because I *think* that I have found a solution to the diaper dilemma!!! It has been SO HARD.. but I think this is it! I am going to try it for a full week at school before I say for sure.. but it looks promising, so I am so relieved!

On the Butterfly front, things have been really steady which is good. I am pleased with how well we are holding our own in this Topsy Turvey economic time! We are in our last two days of our Back to School Sale, and then we are getting ready for the BIG Chamber Mixer on Sept 9th, mark your calenders because you are ALL invited and we would *love* to see you! Then just a few short days latter on the 12th we will be having our HUGE Halloween Extravaganza!! This is always so much fun (and so much work so I better get moving on it hu?)!

Oh.. and I can't wait to show you the treasures I have been making, have found recently at garage sales and have been dreaming up in my mind!! There is so much I am just biting the bit to blog about... beware I feel a blog surge coming on!!

But for now, I have TOO much laundry to do at BB before my day gets too crazy, and I have a BUNCH of sewing to do for the show THIS Saturday (Ahhhh.. so soon???) So I best sign off and see you soon!

Blessing!

Blog blog blog

Brianna says I have to blog,.... she is such a BRAT!!!!!
So here... BRAT child!
Check out what we did last night....

k... so if you haven't been into Butterfly Boutique you might not realize that THIS is my shop.. Butterfly Boutique, and we rearranged ALL of the furniture, fixtures, etc in it last night!

From the front door...

from the back door....

Toys & shoes....

Infant Boys and more toys.. and hats and fitting room too :)

Hip N Funks & Squeaky Shoes!

Tutus GALORE!

This is the corner that we didn't get too.... it's still a MESS!!!

Yup.. still a few piles to deal with ..

What did you do fun last night??

OHHH YEA... and it's ALL BRIANNA'S FAULT that we moved everything too :)

Blessings!

It has been a super busy weekend... but I FINALLY got the pictures of Project Surf Camp from Friday finished!!! You ready for this one??

My little surfing crew... we made it a family day!

Beware.. there are SO ANY great shots I have NO IDEA how I am going to pick just a few for here... so this might be picture overload... sorry!

Friday August 14th's camp.... a little smaller than the last group, but still JUST as fun!

For those of you who didn't see THIS post, let me tell you about Project Surf Camp. This is an AMAZING organization that puts on half day surf camps for disabled people. I can NOT say enough great things about this group. They are my new heroes!! And it takes a lot to impress me these days too. If you love people, love God OR love surfing I would encourage you to check them out!! And if you are the parent of a child with special needs.... this is a MUST do for next summer!

You can get to their web page by clicking on the Project Surf Camp banner at the top of this post. Yup, that is me being helpful! :)

My beautiful Morro Bay, CA...

I can NEVER get enough of this view.. I love it!!

The hardest part for Nathaniel is helping carry his gear to the beach. I have to say that so many people I have dealt with would just DO THIS for the campers, saying it hard so we won't make them do it. I *LOVE* that these guys make the capers carry their own gear!! Seriously, the things that are truly worth while in life take hard work sometimes! And the campers ARE capable, why undermine their confidence by doing it for them! What a great life lesson in a simple tasks!

At first the only thing Audrey was interested in was building sand castles....the other girls, aka Brianna & Josie, were INSISTENT that they were not getting near the water, they were only watching Nathaniel....

and he is so darned cute to watch too!! It just takes my breathe away seeing him do this!

See that look of sheer joy? That makes this mommy's heart sing!!
Thank you Project Surf Camp and the wonderful people behind it for this gift!

He even got up on his knees a few times this week!! How cool hu?

Here's my other cutie patootie... isn't she grand?

Ahhhh... I am GOING he says!!

And wait a minute.... I thought she was building sand castles???

Yea... they got her on the board too! Isn't it cute??

She was so excited!!

Cute girls hu? I ADORE Amelia!! That girl is great.. and she blew my mind when she told me that she is the same age as my Bri!! Crazy!

Speaking of my Bri... here she is with Audrey.. Can you see her thinking "hey, that looks fun!"?

Nat came up with a new game (well new for him anyways) He called it wave racing. He loved it!!

Audrey is at it again.... once she was introduced we had a hard time keeping her off the board!

Here Nat & Audrey are wave racing... too cute!

And they both tried standing together too :)

Opps.... a little wipe out! But we keep telling Nathaniel that wipe outs are part of surfing! All great surfers wipe out sometimes!

Remember I told you that Bri & Josie were JUST GOING TO WATCH????

This is an interesting form of watching Josie....

Some serious conversation during a water break :)

Now look who's JUST WATCHING.... Bri AND Josie are both on the boards now!!

Silly Girls!

And he's back at it too!

And her too!! ??

I think I have a new addiction for all four of the kids!!

Looks who's going backwards now!

Ahhhh.. this girl is just TOO CUTE! She makes her mommy's heart sing too!! :)

Ohhh La La! Look at Brianna! She made it up onto her knees!!

Kaleb helping Audrey...

MANY apologies for spelling it wrong last time Kaleb!!

I don't know for sure... but if I were a betting person, I would bet that faces like this is why the WONDERFUL volunteers at Project Surf Camp give so much!

Of course she looks like she is having fun too!

My little surfer dude!

Once again we were blessed beyond words by our day with the group fro Project Surf Camp!!

THANK YOU GUY & GALS!!!

And if you are popping by from a link, leave some love in the comments section and let us know that you stopped by! We love hearing from our guests!!

Blessings!

PS... if you didn't get enough pictures, you can check out the whole albumn HERE