Until Next Week!

~On Vacation until August 3rd~

I've been so busy at my sewing machine this week that I haven't updated my website at all. So I wanted to leave you with a small sampling.

Enjoy!

~Tina

*Inspired by a bit of whimsy pattern




















*Bit of Whimsy Monkey Pattern

*Inspired from a bit of whimsy pattern

Awwww....NOT Free Friday =(

It's with a happy and a sad heart that today is Friday. I have been working very hard this week to complete all my orders before vacation. Today is Friday and reality is setting in....I will not be able to send them all out. I feel very blessed but overwhelmed with all the wonderful orders that the Lord has given to BbB. I feel as if I'm letting you all down by not having everything completed, but what He put on my heart is just to keep moving forward while keeping you updated with where I'm at. The great thing is that I have worked through most of my orders so I know better how to give an accurate lead time. I have contacted all of those who's order will not be completed. If you have NOT heard from me and your ship date was in July, then I will be finishing up your order today and shipping it either this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Today I'm trying to get as many dolls done as I can, plus Laundry, house pick-up, Laundry, unpacking my kids from round one vacation, Laundry, trip to walmart, plus re-packing the kids and myself , plus of course more of the "big L", there will be no Free Friday this week. Sorry =( It is with a heavy heart that I say that because this is the first week since I started the BbB giveaway that we have not had one. I will have email access when I'm gone but will not respond to any emails until I return. Laura and I are working hard at getting everything more organized and better managed for shorter lead times and better communication with all of you! Thank you so much for everything!!
~Tina

Marvelous Prayerful Monday!!

I enjoy Monday's....
I know to most that sounds crazy, but Monday is my day to catch up on things after the weekend. I look forward to Monday's...but I have been dreading this one! It is very hard for me to NOT have my children around and with me at all times. Today, the oldest three are traveling with Grandpa and Grandma and cousin Julia to TN. They are so excited!! They packed as soon as they found out about the trip... three weeks ago! =) It will be such a blessed time for them as well as Gpa and Gma! I, on the other hand, do not want them to go! I will miss them too much! I want them to stay home safe and sound! What am I going to do without tucking them in at night?! How am I going to get through three days without them?! There are a lot of "I" in those statements and what the Lord has been telling me over and over is that it is not "I" but "HIM". No matter how much I want to keep my children here with me, like a mother hen with her chicks tucked under her wings...I am to let them go. They are really His anyway I'm just lucky enough to be their earthly Mommy! So off they go this morning with LOTS and LOTS of petitioning prayer for the Lords will to keep them safe! I praise God for the love we have for our children. When I think about that love...how strong and unconditional it is, it's hard to realize that the Lord loves us so much more than that. Our simple minds can't comprehend that love...that AGAPE love the Lord has for His children. Anyway, I ask that if my sweet children cross your heart today that you would say a prayer for them as well.

~

So the winner of Yay Free Friday this week will be...........
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:49
Timestamp: 2008-07-21 09:42:50 UTC


kp. said...
i love your creations and free fridays! :-)

CONGRATULATIONS!!
~
Just a reminder, that I will be gone on vacation July 26th-August 3rd. I will do my very best this week to complete all orders in house. I'll keep you updated through the week. I thank you so much for your patience and understanding!
Off to sew I go... =)
~Tina

Yay...It's Free Friday!

Happy Friday Everyone!!!

I added a new picture on the BbB website homepage!

Since I've been playing (still playing) catch-up on orders this week, I didn't get anything extra made up for Free Friday. So I thought I would offer another free custom doll of your choice I thought it would be a special treat since I will not be taking custom orders again until August 11th. Please know though, that it will be the last week of July before I will get it shipped out to you so as long as that's good with you...enter by leaving a comment under this post. Entries will be taken Friday-Sunday and I'll pick the winner Monday. Only one entry please and don't forget to leave your contact information.

Thank you so much!!

~Tina

I am Thankful...Thursday

One of the wonderful blogs I stumbled upon was CLOTHESLINE CHRONICLES...my life by the load . I Love that title!! Well she does a wonderful Thankful Thursday!! You know in all our business (at least mine) I don't want to miss a moment to give thanks to our Maker. But that means you actually have to slow down and take a look around you. To ponder on Him and His word...to just say thank you! So in honor of Clothesline Chronicles...here is my Thankful Thursday!

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:11

I praise God for early mornings. From seeing the
sun rise, the first cup of hot coffee, kissing my hard working husband goodbye as he leaves for work, for quiet moments with just Him, for prayer, for those early morning pick ups and dishwasher unloads, for my most productive time of the day, for kissing sleepy little heads as they roll out of bed with a smile (most of the time), for this day He has given to me...
~
For my crew who keeps me in line during the day!







~
For new bikes and summer-time fun!!














~

To be able to stay at home with my children (and crew) to enjoy the blessings of the day and sew all my little blessings for all of you! I've been talking about it for a while...kind of joking...about taking my sewing machine outside. Well today I did it...I spent the day outside with the kids! Having so much fun just being with them, watching them, listening to them, yet keeping busy at my sewing machine as well.

It has been a wonderful THANKFUL day!!!

Wordless Wednesday!

My Kolton ~16mo. old

The Take No GLORY Newsletter

I want to take a moment this morning to share a little about Take No Glory. I play their music that is here on my blog. I first met Eric and Mandy Wood a over a year ago. They are from Ft. Wayne, IN originally and is affiliated with Calvary Chapel, as am I. They came to play at our Fellowship and shared their testimony of how God has called them to minister through their music. They have two young children Eden and Elijah who of course stole my heart! The Lord used them to speak to me. The Wood family sold everything but a few personal possessions along their van to go and spread the truth of Jesus Christ. They completely depend on the Lord to fill their every need and to lead them where He wanted them to be. THAT is faith!!

Well, I gave Eden one of my very first scripture dolls and Elijah a little moo monkey. I wanted to thank them for their ministry to the Lord. What a blessing...anyway, Mandy (Eden and Elijah's Mom) really encouraged me to make and sell these dolls. Well I did tell her I sold them on Etsy a little bit as a hobby but at that time, I really didn't put scripture on them as I did Edens doll. So the Lord moved in my heart through that situation and since then Baby be Blessed came to be. You know, the Lord just spoke to me and said I should be giving the life God has given me to the Lord. Everything...even something as simple as a hobby of making dolls! I wish I could share all the stories and blessings that these simple dolls have given. Now don't get me wrong, it's not actually my dolls but the word of God that is on them. But WOW...how God can use, and desires to use, everything you give back to Him! so Eric and Many joined up with another husband wife team from CA and took on the name Take no Glory with them. All of their music is free, just to spread the news of Jesus Christ. Well God is so awesome and has grown the Take no Glory team to nineteen people who has been lead overseas right now to minister. They have seen and experienced so much just simply by being faithful and obedient servants. Simply trusting and following the Lords will. Now that doesn't mean life is perfect and wonderful. That is not the world we live in! The enemy is real and wants to hinder the Lords work. I'm just so thankful that we are on the stronger team! Every week Take no Glory mails out a newsletter. I wanted to share it with you! I praise God for the work they do in His name! They really need all of our prayers. It really takes the Lords strength to stand up in front of people who ridicule truth. I pray that maybe a seed of truth was planted in the hearts of those people. I encourage and ask you to pray for Take no Glory!! Add them to your prayer life as I have! Their is much power in prayer!! Also pray for all of the people that cross paths with them. Pray that Jesus Christ would be glorified. Take no Glory have pure hearts for Christ and continue to walk forward in obedience truth!

********

PLEASE PRAY FOR US !!
Intensity From Sunrise To Sunset
July 15th, 2008

"Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty." "The LORD says, 'I will rescue those who love Me. I will protect those who trust in My name.'"(91:1,14 NLT)

Jesus has really blessed us this week and given us peace as we have spent time meditating on Psalm 91. As our team has worked from sunrise to sunset day after day, God's word has spoken powerfully into our hearts. The intensity of this week's ministry was only bearable and enjoyable because of the authentic ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

"It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit says the LORD of Heaven's Armies."(Zechariah 4:6b NLT)

This week we were able to teach that, "God is real, Jesus is alive and there is a purpose for your life!!" in 20 different religious education classes at The Ilfracombe College here in North Devon. This school is like a high school in America with kids ages 12 to 18. These "religious" classes are often taught by pagans and usually include Islam, Hinduism, Satanism, Buddhism, New Age and "Christianity" which is really just taught as a Roman Catholicism lumped with Judaism.During the morning and afternoon on Tuesday through Friday we shared testimonies, answered questions, played music and explained our faith in Christ to hundreds and hundreds of kids that know very little or nothing about the One we serve. Many on our team said it was one of the most fruitful times of ministry they have ever been involved with! As the teachers introduced us, we simply told the students that we are: "an American rock band that is on a world tour to tell everyone who will listen to repent of their sin, trust in Jesus and become bold Christ followers." After making the kids laugh & open up by acting like "crazy Americans" and giving away free CDs we invited these students to ask us any questions they would like.Understand that out of the 1,000+ students, there are only a couple dozen faint-hearted believers that get persecuted for being a "stupid Christian". We also we able to experience true persecution as we were ridiculed and disrespected in every class we were able to teach. Sometimes the kids made statements like: "Your gay" "God isn't real" "I believe in the big bang" Often times the kids would ask tough questions that took Spirit filled answers: "Why is there suffering in the world if there is a God?" "If God made the world, who made Him?" "How do you know Jesus is God?" Then there were those wonderful questions that always led to the Gospel being presented: "How has Jesus changed your lives?" "What types of miracles have you experienced?" "Why did you become a Christian?" We understood why the Apostle Peter told us to always be ready to defend our faith.

"If someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way."(1st Peter 3:15b,14a NLT)

One of the great blessings Jesus gave us this week was a little time for our band to practice some new songs we believe the Holy Spirit wants us to share while we are here. We were able to rehearse on Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon.On Thursday we were blessed to do a worship concert in Bratton Fleming as a follow up to the last Roadshow. The next day we had the opportunity to do two evangelism concerts in Ilfracombe. In the afternoon we played a handful of songs at The Ilfracombe College during their lunch break. The auditorium was packed with over 400 students, some of them hearing about our Lord Jesus Christ for the VERY FIRST TIME!Friday night we did a concert with Universal Royalty in a church right across from the local nightclub. It was awesome to see locals walk in to hear about Jesus just because they were headed to the club. It gave our team a rare opportunity to witness to those that would never have normally listened to the message.On Sunday our team was invited to lead Calvary Chapel Woolacombe's morning church service and evening prayer service. During the morning we led about 10 worship songs with the congregation singing louder than the sound system could go. In between the music, Eric and Ian taught though 2nd Corinthians 5:11-15 in a way that was encouraging and exhortive.Take No Glory is blessed to have three lead singers that all switch roles (Johnna, Landon & Mandy) and two Bible teachers that have chosen to preach together as a team. It is a great physical example that our team takes no glory from Jesus because no one person is exalted above another. We pray that Jesus is the ONLY ONE that is praised and remembered! That night we lead about a dozen different worship songs and had a powerful time of prayer during Calvary's evening service.

"Meanwhile, our enemies were saying, 'Before they know what's happening, we will swoop down on them and kill them and end their work." (The verbal response to the enemy was) "Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight!" (The physical response to the enemy was) "We worked early and late, from sunrise to sunset."(Nehemiah 4:11,14b,21a NLT)

And that is exactly what we have been doing, working from when we wake until we sleep. Before you send an email that exhorts us to rest, know that each of us spend quality time alone with Jesus on Mondays and all of us still spend time together praying and fasting on Tuesdays. We are helpless to do anything spiritually beneficial without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. If we don't have intimate time to hear from God we will be destructive in our actions rather than productive.The spiritual attacks that we have endured this week are memorable. Dreams, visions, prophesies, gripping fear, verbal assult & physical aggression were consistent. The locals would tell you that they're more likely witches than Christians here in North Devon. Jesus is alive, but Satan is alive as well and he wants to destroy us. However, as he desires to "swoop down, kill us and end our work" we respond with the courage of the LORD!Demonic attack is a reality that drives us to our knees desperate for our King to shelter us as He has promised. Because the Holy Spirit is our strength, we are willing and able to do more than humanly possible! We choose to fight this spiritual battle because Jesus is "great and glorious". We are so grateful for the battle that reminds us to pray with more passion and zeal.

"Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hears and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."(Philippians 4:6,7 NLT)

We love to partner with you in prayer. How can we be specifically praying for you and those you care about? Know that we are so VERY grateful for your prayers! Please pray for our: [1] time and intimacy with Jesus [2] unity in the team [3] effectiveness and spiritual fruit [4] supernatural protection (hearts, souls, and minds) [5] health [6] marriages (Ian&Johnna Jeff&Melaine Boy&Ellena Eric&Mandy) [7] kids (Nadiya, Elijah, Eden and Kanani) [8] other servants (Landon, Chris, Connor, Kalei, Kauhi, Naili, Landrew) [9] preparation for the concerts and outreaches ahead [10] financial provision for what's ahead & all our debts to be paid.

Also please pray for Scott Cunningham and his family (Wife, Megan and 5 daughters: Madison, Rileigh, Emaline, Sabella and Analise). They arrive in England today and Scott will be leading our team for the next month here in London and then in Austria. Scott is a music pastor and songwriter from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in California. Every year Scott travels to Devon to do free concerts here with Creation Fest. He has combined his great passion for God and his ability to communicate through song to create a powerful worship album called "Grace Amazing" and has just finished his new album "Till The Whole World Hears".

"In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone."(2nd Peter 1:5-7 NLT)

We have now "finalized" our schedule for our last 3 weeks here in England. We have dozens of events on our calendar during the next 20 days. And it looks like after we serve in Austria, from August 6th to 20th, we will do three-day outreach events on the east coast. We are praying about serving with Ken Graves in Bangor, Maine August 22nd, 23rd & 24th. Then serving with Joe Mann in Fort Wayne, Indiana August 29th, 30th & 31st. Finally serving with Tom Camp in Lafayette, Indiana September 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th.We have a vision to do Friday night "Worship, Prayer & Communion" gatherings. Then on Saturday all those that attended the gathering can go out and evangelize in the morning / afternoon and invite people to a Saturday night "Free Rock Concert" where the Gospel will be preached boldly. Finally we meet again on Sunday morning for "Church & Baptisms". Please pray as we begin to plan these weekends with the local pastors that have invited us to come serve their communities.

"You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail."(Proverbs 19:21 NLT)

Joyfully serving Jesus,The Take No Glory Teamlandon bailey · chris eggert · jeff huff · melanie huff · connor marone · ian utile · johnna utile · boy vierra · elena vierra · kalei vierra · kanani vierra · kauhi vierra · nadiya vierra · naili vierra · eden wood · elijah wood · eric wood · mandy wood · landrew woolworth
href="http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1102037515283&a=1102171380772&ea=thomp4%40nktelco.net" target=_blank>info@takenoglory.com P. O. Box 28919Santa Ana, CA 92799http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001BX_cLOXSMKFuqDrfnCrJCkuStpjgAmdoZGnuE1T-zDqtVBnxhGyn2zWr5nMhRh3p2rcRvoQHSIUPXuUKnQEKE0yU_ZiEWLsuWI72VPlsB_HVvlWvJfGAog==http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001BX_cLOXSMKG7wxyc_JxqVR0VihICxOcaFRLUzqV7peqbXBR4JUUzpRBinO8ps7xTFr4nucdeK0gfbi_t2tM-jcprQ-ydS_efJZ4ms69lz1MoocSRmTEtIAxBsbViSSgVTake No Glory is a musicianary band of men and women that desire to be founded intimately on the living Word & empowered powerfully by the Holy Spirit who are simply saying "Yes!" to the call and commission of the Lord Jesus Christ. These musicianaries do this through responsive lives of worship that love God, love others, and primarily serve the world through music, teaching and the giving of themselves financially, physically, emotionally and spiritually all for the glory of God alone. This ministry team offers their new Christian rock worship album "Wake Me Up" to download freely. Download this free Christian music or email tnG to request a free copy and they will gladly mail one to you. May the Lord bless you!

The Marvelous Monday Winner!!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend!! The sun is shining bright here this morning and I'm enjoying my first cup of hot coffee....Mmmm....nothing can beat that first cup! So before I reveal who the big Yay Free Friday winner is, I want to share with you the sweetest picture of my little Brianna (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/briannabotts)!! I could just smoosh her up!! Here she is reading her book with her doll Chrissy!

Brianna is one of the little girls who's life just touches me to the core of my being! What a gift she is from God! Brianna and her family are woven into my prayers...she is always on my heart! I ask that she would be a part of your prayers as well! What a sweet little miracle!!

~

So I know you all stopped by to see who the winner is right?! Well, again I went to random.org for the winner.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:57
Timestamp: 2008-07-14 10:45:35 UTC

YAY!!!!! We even have the husbands entering!!!!

Jeff said...
these are so cute. They would make a great gift for my wife.Jeff

Congratulations Jeff!!

I hope your wife Loves her little Moo Lamb!!

I hope everyone has a great week!

I'm off to the sewing machine!!

~Tina

Yay...It's Free Friday!

Is it Friday already?!

This week has really flown by!!

My Giveaway this week is a

sweet little cow print lamb.

To enter the giveaway, please leave your contact information in the comment section under this blog post. Entries will be accepted Friday-Sunday and the winner will be chosen on Monday. Only one entry please and you must re-enter to win each week.

Thanks so much everyone!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Tina

Good Morning with a BbB Update!

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm typing this quick (I hear Kolton fussing upstairs) to give you all an BbB order update.... I feel REALLY guilty now taking the weekend off because all of your orders that were to go out on the 6th/7th are still sitting here on my sewing table. They were almost done and didn't figure I'd have trouble getting them finished up, but I've had a pretty busy week working with children, more children, laundry, laundry and laundry...did I mention laundry? I will be finishing up 11 orders today that will either ship out this afternoon or tomorrow morning with the balance of dolls by the end of the week. If you have a deadline for a birthday gift ect...please send me a note to make sure that I don't miss it. And of course....this rolls down to all the orders due to ship on Friday the 11th. They will be pushed out to early next week. I pray for your understanding and please contact me with any concerns. I'm thankful for all the doll orders that the Lord gives me I figure He won't give me more than I can handle, so instead of not taking any more orders until I'm caught up, I will just keep working faithfully during this busy time. Thanks so very much!!

~Tina

Tina

It's a Marvelous Monday!!

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing 4th of July holiday weekend! We had a pretty quiet weekend. We went to my Dad's house for supper then just watched the fireworks from there. We usually go uptown, but Kolton was really scared at the sound, so we decided to watch from a distance. The other three were a little disappointed but understood. We will be back up town again next year! Other than that we just worked around here at home. I really feel a guilty for taking the entire weekend off from Baby be Blessed. When I have something that needs worked on it is hard for me to put it down and not work on it. But the Lord is teaching me (I learn the hard way) to put a balance on things. Today is showing the rewards of that break! I feel recharged and have been working hard since about 5:30 this morning. But, I'm sure you aren't here to talk about little ol' me.... =) You want to see who the winner is right?! So again (because it's easy and fair) I went to random.org for the winning number. Those who forgot email info and have two comments will of course only be counted once.

And the winner..................

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:28
Timestamp: 2008-07-07 12:46:41 UTC

Danielle said...
i LOVE cats and would love to win this little kitty for our little girl! She is precious.God Bless!Danielle

Congratulations Danielle!! I snuck a peek at their blog and you should see the adorable little baby girl who is going to get this kitty!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered this week!!

I hope every one's day is a great one!!

~Tina

Yay...It's a 4th of July Free Friday!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

I want you to meet the newest BbB addition...Miss Kitty! As Kolton would say....AWE!!! I wish I could have gotten a picture with better lighting, but it has been so cloudy and rainy!! She is made from the same BbB pattern as the lamb and bunny just with kitty ears of course and a little different arms/legs. She measures a little bigger 18" which doesn't include her ears. Made from a wedding ring pink chenille body, espresso brown minky dot face, safety eyes, handstitched nose/whiskers and heart on chest. Then of course the cute-cute cotton polka dot fabric in the inner ear and matching removable skirt. Her scripture patch belly reads, "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God." Isaiah 61:10

To enter the giveaway, please leave your contact information in the comments section of this blog post Friday-Sunday the winner will be chosen on Monday. Only one entry please and don't forget your email!!

Have fun at the fireworks!!

~Tina

Tuesday Ponderings...

God's Gift for Mothers

published by Thomas Nelson

As you know, I am a stay at home Mommy of four with extended daycare children. That in itself gives you a lot to do daily. A lot of arguments to settle, a lot of scraped knees to clean and tears to wipe, and witnessing blessings of them showing love and kindness to each other. The grind of trying to keep up on just the basic housework is a tiring thankless job and if it doesn't get done, the clutter makes me a crazy cranky woman! And then to add in this wonderful doll ministry....This is truly a service, a gift, and an honor that He has given to me. Baby be Blessed is not looked at as a business. It is a daily privilege that for whatever reason has been given to me. It is molded in and around my husband, family and extended family. And lately I've felt that I have too much...I can't control it all. Can't manage it all. Can't do it all! But this is a good place to be. The Lord allows us to go to this place so that we may NOT control, manage, or do it all in our own flesh. We can't....I certainly can't. And please don't misunderstand this blog post. It is with a joyful heart that I type not a discouraged one. If I was standing by myself...I would be discouraged, but I'm not. I felt led to share because I know as woman we are given a lot of responsibility. A lot is on our shoulders. Many things we do that go unseen by others. But where is our heart in that? Are we getting bitter or discouraged? Are you yelling at your husband for leaving his dirty socks on the floor again?! I have before...a few times. To keep a sane mind and joyful heart what do we need to choose to do? First we need (I need) to keep my eyes on the Lord first. What is His work for me today? Who is He going to place in my path? Are my thoughts pondering on Him and His word, or on my own which usually have "poor me" in there somewhere. I love just reading God's word. That is where we need to start and finish, but I've had this little devotional for a while and though I have read it in the past, I felt led to grab it off the shelf again. I would like to share the first entry.

*****

Abide

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5

When a mother chooses to abide in the Lord, she will infect her entire family with His love and create a bond that will enrich her life and bless her marriage.

***********

So today as I "chew" on this little devotional I want you to do the same. Are we the vine growing out? And what kind of fruit is coming off that vine? The Holy Spirit is so faithful to reveal to us if there is a stinky, slimy grape on the vine. If your fruit is good so will your attitude, and oh how that trickles out to your husband and children. And the great thing is that if there is a stinky, slimy grape we can just give it to Jesus. I pluck mine off the vine daily, sometimes hourly.... =) Then there is that "for without Me you can do nothing" We think we can....but really in our own strength we just really mess things up and get angry and frustrated in the process. The Lord always works things together for good to those who love Him. I always stand back in awe of how He works...even in my housework which seems to be coming last these days. It always gets worked out. When I stand before the Lord, I want him to say "Well done good and faithful servant." What did I do with what he has given me to do for Him. Some days it's the dust bunnies, other day's it's something else. Today, I'm going to be listening closely. Making sure that I am being faithful in what He is telling me. So off I go to fold another pile of laundry...having a thankful and joyful heart. Talk to you all soon!

~Tina