stories from my booth

Things have been so busy! I am swamped with etsy orders right now, so I only have a few minutes to write, but I really wanted to take the time to tell y'all some of the amazing stories from my booth last week!

Here's a few of my favorites:

I made this necklace a few weeks before the women's conference. I found this amazing antique pendant at my favorite little antique shop. It is a cloisonne piece that has a beautiful handpainted scene on it. As I studied it and prayed and talked with a dear friend and also my sweet hubby, I decided to name it "treasures in hidden places". The name is based on the story of Moses in the book of Exodus. The scene on the pendant reminds me of the tall reeds that baby Moses was hidden in. It's one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I remember as a child always looking at the drawing of the princess taking Moses out of the basket hidden in the tall reeds by the banks of the Nile River. That image always fascinated me. As Moses grew to be a man, he went on to lead the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt. 

The first day of the conference, a beautiful woman named Marian came up to the booth and was immediately drawn to that necklace. She fell in love with it. Then, she asked me what the inspiration of the piece was. And I shared with her about the story of Moses hidden in the reeds. She then began to share with me that she was Egyptian. And that she had a heart for the Egyptian people! So amazing, y'all! Even as she was standing at my booth, she took a phone call with someone and was speaking in Egyptian Arabic. It is the most beautiful sounding language, by the way.

Finding that necklace encouraged her so much (and me as well!) , and I am sure it will serve as a reminder for her to pray for the Egyptian people and also remind her that God's hand is upon her. I am confident that He is going to use her - big time!! - to bring many Egyptians out of bondage, (just like Moses did all those years ago), and into total freedom in Christ! Hallelujah!

On the third day of the conference, before I left to go to my booth, I felt led by the Lord to make a necklace with the shape of Africa stamped on the disc. I knew in my heart that I would meet someone that day that would need that necklace for some special reason. And lo and behold, a sweet woman came up to my booth later that afternoon and picked up that Africa necklace. She shared with me that she has a friend that is in the process of adopting a child. And that the very night before, the adoption went through! The child was theirs!! She bought the necklace to give to her friend.

God's timing is perfect. He led me to make that little necklace at the exact right time. If I had made it just one day earlier, it would have been before the adoption was approved. I LOVE it when He does things like that! :)

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OK - just one more:

On the second day of the conference, I woke up with this phrase in my head:

I am victorious.

And as I sat down that morning to make a few new pieces for my booth that day, I knew I needed to make one with that phrase on it.

Later on that day, a sweet lady came up to the booth and immediately picked that necklace up. She began to tell me that her name was Victoria. And more importantly, that at a very young age, God told her that she was victorious. And for her entire adult life, she had major difficulty believing that truth about herself. She doubted that she was really victorious, like the Lord had spoken to her heart thirty years earlier. As she picked up that necklace, and ran her fingers over the little letters, you could almost see the faith and ownership of her identity in Christ come to the surface. That little necklace was a very specific message and loving reminder from her Heavenly Father. A reminder that He still declares that over her today. That she is still victorious!

Isn't that awesome?!