Bless the Lord Oh My Soul

For a few years I have been writing a devotion on the Etsy Christian team every second Monday of the month.  You can see them at  http://castteametsy.blogspot.ca/

I also write in a journal what God has or is putting on my heart.  I feel he wants me to share on my thoughts on my blog. 

I have always struggled with saying Bless you Lord as I feel he has everything, so why does he need my feeble blessing.

Today as I read Psalms 134, 'Come bless the Lord, All yea servants of the Lord.' I pondered what it really means to bless God. Do I go around saying bless God or is it deeper than that?


I worship God, I try to put him first in my life, to be obedient to Him and follow Him as best I can. I believe that worshiping God with my life is the same as blessing Him for that is what he desires, me.

Muskoka Lakes Art Festival

Today I worked at a day camp showing kids how to quickly sculpt an animal, pinch pots or  flowers.

One Of a Kind Kitchen Back Splash

When I was growing up I learned to sew my own clothes for 3 reasons.
   1) In those days it was the norm for girls to learn to sew.
    2) Material was .25 to 50 cents a yard, which meant I could make nice clothes really cheep.
    3)And  I like to have things that are different than what other people have, to be unique.

These days instead of sewing I make decorative and functional pottery.

 We had a pile of plain white ceramic tiles for our kitchen back splash.  Since I still gravitate to different things that others don't have I put my artistic gift  to some use.  Using China paint I decided on a theme of birds, butterflies, insects and berries and started to paint. 

After many hours and two firings in the kiln I had 10 unique tiles.  That was last summer. Once winter came Dave had some time to put my tiles on the wall. 

Now I have a unique kitchen back splash that I doubt any one else has. And all it took was imagination, several hours, paint and tiles.  If I had to pay some one to do this it would cost me several hundreds of dollars of labor time.

So what do you think of my back splash? I can't take it with me if we move, but I can make another one.

A Spot Of Tea

My title needs to be said with an English accent.

I have always been intriqued by tea pots.  Maybe it is because I've been drinking tea since I was a preteen.  My parents didn't have much money when I was growing up and tea is cheaper than milk. 

I have a friend who sells really good tea of many flavours.  When they come to visit John and I sample tea while his wife and my husband sample scotch. Each to their own.

I don't collect tea pots expect on my pinterest  at http://pinterest.com/joycebutler/.

 Tea pots can be made into all sorts of designs and here are a few of them.

So much tea, so little time. 

Now that I have mastered making lids on my pottery perhaps soon I'll be able to show my own tea pots.

In a previous post I showed my cups just after they were turned, in the dry clay stage.  On left of the picture are some of my black and white stripped cups.

These two mugs are the finished product of those mugs. The bottom pictures shows the inside of the mug. 


 No two have an identical design as the stripes find their own space.

They are popular and at time I am sold out.  I will have more by March.

Why Worry?

This morning before I got out of bed I asked God what I needed to do to improve my Etsy on line sales. Instead of hearing an answer I felt I needed to get out of bed and journal and read my bible.

I went to Matthew 12 and read the first few paragraphs.  The Pharisees were harassing Jesus because his disciples had picked some grain on the sabbath because they were hungry and were walking by a field.  Jesus asked the Pharisees what happened to King David when he ate the sacrid bread from the sanctuary when they were hungry, nothing. Jesus then asked  who is in charge of the sabbath, man or God.

So who is in charge of my life, man or God?

Unfortunately I have had many people in my past who have tried to control me and impose their will for my life onto me. This has lead me on a path of destruction, which I have been trying to shake for far too long.

How has this been destructive to me you wonder? Shouldn't we take good advice?  I once had a pastor who never gave us advice, no matter how much we needed it unless we asked for it and I liked that.

Most of my life I have been doing things because I feel I should do them and not doing them because I enjoy doing it.

To boost my Etsy sales I've been told to do certain things such as make sure I post items in the morning. So I'd get up and post first thing.  I have gotten exposure, but not sales.

For a year now I have been learning to play the drums and I am on a worship team at church. Due to the lesson I feel I need to squeeze in my practice and I have lost the joy of actually playing.

Making my pottery has become the same thing.  I feel I need to produce pottery and I do it when I don't feel like doing it, therefore I can't do as good of a job.

The only boss I have over me is God.  For years he has been telling my to enjoy my life.  When I listen to what others tell me I should do I loose that joy. 

I study other peoples' lives and learn from them.  As I was growing up my father would never tell me I had to do something.  He always asked if I would do it.  I knew I had to do it as he was my father, but I enjoyed doing what he asked, because he never demanded. He just turned 90 so maybe there is long givity in living like this. 

I admire the pastor at church who wants participation, but only if he asks and gives us a choice.  I am turned off by those who tell the congregation they 'have to' do something.   Those who tell people to do things are going against God's plan as he never once has told me to do anything.  He always asks as he has created me with a free will to say yes or no.

God has also given me a free will to lead my life with joy not stress, to do things because I want to do it, not because I feel I should do something.

'Wanting', to live my life, brings joy to my live.  'Having' to live my live and doing what I think I should do brings stress, worry and sadness and that is not God's plan for our lives.

In January 2012 God impressed upon me to simplify my life.  I feel He is continuing this line of thought by getting me to enjoy my life.  Last year I closed and opened many doors in my life to simplify. I can't wait to see how this will play out this year.