Trust

  Sometimes I find it difficult to trust.  I am not sure why that is, maybe I have been let down too many times in the past.  I have been finding though,  that I can trust God completely.  Lately,  I have been asking Him to open my eyes and help me to be sensitive to see where He is at work around me, and He is answering that prayer ! 
   Those of you that know me well know I do get nervous in situations where I am singing.  There are times when that nervousness causes me to "crash and burn" !  We've all done that at one time or another, maybe not singing,  but in some situation ;0)
   I went and sang at NATS last weekend.  A singer prepares three pieces for their genre ( classical and/or musical theater) and presents one to the three judges, then the judges choose your second piece to perform.  I had been praying for weeks for this.  Not "oh Lord let me win this competition....."  It was "Lord, you have given me a desire to sing, You created me to be who I am, please don't let the fear get in the way of the voice You have given me," then, and I do not do this, " Lord, I trust you will do this for me", and was confident in that.   I also had a few close people praying that He remove the fear as well.  He did it !  Why was I surprised?  He is faithful !  For me, though,  I just feel that I am being presumptuous by saying "Lord, I trust you will do this for me".   Maybe He wants me to crash and burn to learn something from the situation !  The whole experience was just a big eye opener for me, plus God working and accomplishing the goal I had of not letting the fear take over.  To top it off, one of the judges said my high range had a "beautiful full sound"  Praise the Lord, because those are the notes that I was afraid of ;0), (not so much anymore).  I am just so incredibly thankful for what God is showing me about myself, even the painful bits, and those around me. 

For His Glory !
Margaret

Slacker....

Well, I can admit it, I'm a slacker.  I had all these great intentions of writing my blog more often this year, so much for that happening !  So, here I am, and I am going to try to be more diligent with it. I have found that I really do enjoy writing, although I am not the most elegant with words ( sound familiar, I'm thinking Moses !)   You just get a bit busy raising children, keeping a home, being a wife, a friend, etc. that activities you enjoy go by the wayside for a little while.  Not that I don't enjoy those aforementioned things, well, housecleaning is okay, but not my favorite ;0) We get away from things that we enjoy,when in different seasons of our lives, and I think it is time to get back to it !

TTFN,
Margaret

Well, here are some photos, unfortunately they are not as bright as I would have liked and you don't get some of the intensity of color.....  I really need to read up on photographing jewelry.   Maybe get a stand to display pieces on, that would work :0)




  The blues in the photo at the right don't ring true.  The briolettes in the center are a more vibrant color than is depicted here.

I love this stone.  It is tourmalated quartz.  It is neat seeing the black fibers snaking through the white, sometimes clear quartz.

Blessings !
TTFN, Margaret

Butterfingers, unfortunately not the candy.

  A friend got in touch with me and asked if I had any jewelry stock that she could come and look at.  I thought this is a great chance to sit down and create some pieces since I have not done any jewelry making in awhile. 
  You see, I have been considering going back to school for some time now.  It has been on my heart for months now and  what I thought I would start with, to get my feet wet again, is a Certified Gemologist certificate from the Gemological Institute of America.  It is mainly online,  but I would  have to go to Carlsbad, California for a week or two,  for lab classes. 
  Now, back to where I started.  I was all excited to be working with silver wire, findings,  and beads again.  I had all my tools out and in some semblance of order, I am not an orderly person, in fact organized chaos is a good description.   My board was out and I started pulling out some beads.  Blues, greens, black, purples, all different colors.  I started working with some silver wire to make some loops for an earring, I grabbed a bead, oops, there it went....  Falling to the ground under the desk, where it was dark and hard to see since it is a little dark downstairs, if you ask me. ( I'm all for a hundred watt bulb right over my head when I work on something)  I found the bead, then went on. This happened a number of times for several days.    I started working on a bracelet, earring, and necklace combination for myself made with Rainbow Flourite and silver.  I took a larger silver bead and all of the sudden, plink, plink.  If falls from my fingers down behind the boxes next to my desk.  I took a deep breath, a little frustrated from the other beads I had been dropping previously, and went on.  It happened again....  I would have to say the last straw, as far as me realizing maybe I should not get a Certified Gemologist certificate and possibly work at a jewelers down the road was when I was polishing a glass bead.  It's called blueberry glass.  It has a slight hue of blue to the glass and blue striations through it.  It really is very pretty.  So, I was polishing this bead since it picks up fingerprints very easily, with a cloth and apparently squeezed a little too tightly.  It flung forward into one of the compartments in my little roll top desk.  It's still there, I didn't even bother to get it.  I just sat there and thought to myself,  if I were working at a jewelry store, I would be the one who has some woman's diamond that costs thousands of dollars and I just flung it across the room.  Then in my minds eye, I saw myself crawling around on the floor looking for it....  No employer would be too impressed with that I would have to say !  Then I thought to myself, "Lord is this way of showing me to just start classes for a vocal performance degree?"  I do feel that it is the Lord impressing on me to start classes.  I don't  know why, but I do know it hasn't let up for months and months.  I'll just keep praying for clarity and see where the Lord takes me.

TTFN, Margaret

ps  I'll post some photos of what I made soon :0)

Wow, it has been a busy month and a very busy year.  It has been good though, God is very good to us and blesses us way beyond what we deserve.  I started singing with a new group this year, Vittoria Ensemble, and it has been terrific.  It has been nice getting to meet new people and sing with "old" friends.  The best part is we have a terrific conductor who wants us not to just sing and hit the right notes, but she wants us to bring across the emotion of the music.  We perform polyphony style music which was new to me.  It was a little challenging at first, but now, love it !!  Our first concert was in St. Dominic's, which is a beautiful stone church with stained glass windows, dark wood pews and altar.  It really is a wonderful place.   When we first started practicing there it was amazing.  We would be going through a piece and all around us you could hear the echoes of the our voices coming back at us.  In our first concert I sang the piece,Qui Sedes ad Dexteram Patris, He Who Sits at the Right Hand of the Father Have Mercy on Us.  What an amazing experience. I was nervous because my voice teacher had talked to me on several occasions about the acoustics of the room and how the sound will be bouncing off the walls and coming back at me but when I sang, it was fantastic and one day, Lord willing,  I will do it again.

I have to sign off, my hubby is calling.
TTFN, Margaret

Autumn beauty

  Have you noticed the colors of autumn this year?  I was amazed driving down the road a few weeks ago at the brilliant reds and golds that surrounded the streets this year.  I don't know that I have ever seen the leaves so vibrant here in Colorado, compared to where I grew up.  This season really takes my breath away.  The cool crisp air, vibrant hues, waiting for those cloudy gray days where the wind blows the leaves all over that you just raked into a pile.  I love the scents that I equate to autumn as well.  Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, all those yummy smelling spices.  It is a wonderful time to stand in awe at the beauty our Creator shares with us ! 

  There are a few photos of some tree's and yes we were at the cemetery for Hunter to get photo's for his photography class :0)   I thought they turned out nice !

TTFN,
Margaret

Sometimes I wonder....

 I  felt the warmth of the sun on my skin while peering through the overgrown cucumber plant, looking for some fresh vege's to enjoy.  The silence, broken.

 "Baby!"
 "Babe, where are you?"
 "Baby!"

  I continued to look through the garden for a few more minutes.  I gathered some tomatoes, checked the pepper plants, excited to see a yellow pepper almost ready to harvest. 
  Then I went inside to see why I was being beckoned.  There he stood looking at me, then glancing at the cream colored linoleum that had a river of liquid running across it. 
  "What is it?" He asked.
  "What is it?"  I repeat, looking at the counter covered with coffee from the coffeepot I had started several minutes before.  "The coffee pot wasn't put in correctly and it is leaking all over."
  I stood there taken aback and then started laughing.  My husband is a bright man, but there he stood as coffee was pouring all over the counter and floor, just looking down, calling out to me.  Then he finally started cleaning it up, with my help of course !
  How has the  male species made it thus far, only by the grace of God !

I love my hubby !

TTFN,
Margaret