Sara Blaine Jewelry Designed Exclusively for Willow House

I am so excited about our new designer jewelry!  Contact me today to schedule your show.

The Mistake of Florence Chadwick

http://www.maxlucado.com/facingyourgiants/


"In 1952, she attempted to swim the chilly ocean waters between Catalina Island and the California shore.  She swam through foggy weather and choppy seas for fifteen hours.  Her muscles began to cramp and her resolve weakened.  She begged to be taken out of the water, but her mother, riding in a boat alongside, urged her not to give up.  She kept trying but grew exhausted and stopped swimming. Aids lifted her out of the water and into the boat.  They paddled a few more minutes, the mist broke, and she discovered that the shore was less than a half mile away.  'All I could see was the fog,' she explained at a news conference.  'I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.'


Take a look at the shore that awaits you.  Don't be fooled by the fog of the slump.  The finish may be only strokes away.  God may be, at this moment, lifting his hand to signal Gabriel to grab the trumpet.  Angels may be assembling, saints gathering, demons trembling.  Stay at it!  Stay in the water.  Stay in the race.  Stay in the fight.  Give grace, one more time.  Be generous, one more time.  Teach one more class, encourage one more soul, swim one more stroke."


I LOVE this story out of Max's new book, "Facing Your  Giants!"  If you have never read one of Max's books, I encourage you to start with this one.  You can even read it online if you don't have access to a bookstore or the library.  


God bless,


Darlene

60 ways to make life simple again

A friend sent this to me this morning, and I loved it so much that I thought I'd share it with you. When we were young life was easier, right?  I know sometimes it seems that way.  But the truth is life still is easy.  It always will be.  The only difference is we're older, and the older we get, the more we complicate things for ourselves. You see, when we were young we saw the world through simple, hopeful eyes.  We knew what we wanted and we had no biases or concealed agendas.  We liked people who smiled.  We avoided people who frowned.  We ate when we were hungry, drank when we were thirsty, and slept when we were tired. As we grew older our minds became gradually disillusioned by negative external influences.  At some point we began to hesitate and question our instincts.  When a new obstacle or growing pain arose, we stumbled and a fell down.  This happened several times.  Eventually we decided we didn't want to fall again, but rather than solving the problem that caused us to fall, we avoided it all together. As a result, we ate comfort food and drank alcohol to numb our wounds and fill our voids.  We worked late nights on purpose to avoid unresolved conflicts at home.  We started holding grudges, playing mind games, and subtly deceiving others and ourselves to get ahead.  And when it didn't work out, we lived above our means, bought things we didn't need, and ate and drank some more just to make ourselves feel better again. Over the course of time, we made our lives more and more difficult, and we started losing touch with who we really are and what we really need. So let's get back to the basics, shall we?  Let's make things simple again.  It's easy.  Here are 60 ways to do just that: Life is not complex.  We are complex.  Life is simple, and the simple thing is the right thing. - Oscar Wilde Don't try to read other people's minds.  Don't make other people try to read yours.  Communicate. Be polite, but don't try to be friends with everyone around you.  Instead, spend time nurturing your relationships with the people who matter most to you. Your health is your life, keep up with it.  Get an annual physical check-up. Live below your means.  Don't buy stuff you don't need.  Always sleep on big purchases.  Create a budget and savings plan and stick to both of them. Get enough sleep every night.  An exhausted mind is rarely productive.  Get up 30 minutes earlier so you don't have to rush around like a mad man.  That 30 minutes will help you avoid speeding tickets, tardiness, and other unnecessary headaches. Get off your high horse, talk it out, shake hands or hug, and move on. Don't waste your time on jealously.  The only person you're competing against is yourself. Surround yourself with people who fill your gaps.  Let them do the stuff they're better at so you can do the stuff you're better at. Organize your living space and working space.  Read David Allen's book Getting Things Done for some practical organizational guidance. Get rid of stuff you don't use. Ask someone if you aren't sure. Spend a little time now learning a time-saving trick or shortcut that you can use over and over again in the future. Don't try to please everyone.  Just do what you know is right. Don't drink alcohol or consume recreational drugs when you're mad or sad.  Take a jog instead. Be sure to pay your bills on time. Fill up your gas tank on the way home, not in the morning when you're in a hurry. Use technology to automate tasks. Handle important two-minute tasks immediately. Relocate closer to your place of employment. Don't steal. Always be honest with yourself and others. Say "I love you" to your loved ones as often as possible. Single-task.  Do one thing at a time and give it all you got. Finish one project before you start another. Be yourself. When traveling, pack light.  Don't bring it unless you absolutely must. Clean up after yourself.  Don't put it off until later. Learn to cook, and cook. Make a weekly (healthy) menu, and shop for only the items you need. Consider buying and cooking food in bulk.  If you make a large portion of something on Sunday, you can eat leftovers several times during the week without spending more time cooking. Stay out of other people's drama.  And don't needlessly create your own. Buy things with cash. Maintain your car, home, and other personal belongings you rely on. Smile often, even to complete strangers. If you hate doing it, stop it. Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to your grandfather and the same level of patience you would have with your baby brother. Apologize when you should. Write things down. Be curious.  Don't be scared to learn something new. Explore new ideas and opportunities often. Don't be shy.  Network with people.  Meet new people. Don't worry too much about what other people think about you. Spend time with nice people who are smart, driven, and likeminded. Don't text and drive.  Don't drink and drive. Drink water when you're thirsty. Don't eat when you're bored.  Eat when you're hungry. Exercise every day.  Simply take a long, relaxing walk or commit 30 minutes to an at-home exercise program like the P90X Workout. Let go of things you can't change.  Concentrate on things you can. Find hard work you actually enjoy doing. Realize that the harder you work, the luckier you will become. Follow your heart.  Don't waste your life fulfilling someone else's dreams and desires. Set priorities for yourself and act accordingly. Take it slow and add up all your small victories. However good or bad a situation is now, it will change.  Accept this simple fact. Excel at what you do.  Otherwise you'll just frustrate yourself. Mature, but don't grow up too fast. Realize that you're never quite as right as you think you are. Build something or do something that makes you proud. Make mistakes, learn from them, laugh about them, and move along. Oh, and enjoy life's simple pleasures, They're free and better than anything money can buy.

Willow House Jewelry

Here are some details you have been waiting for because I know some of you are confused!   Why jewelry and is it combined with your home decor parties?    We are all about SIMPLY GOOD DESIGN and whether you want to accessorize your home or your outfit… we’ll be able to help you!   We are going to be the first lifestyle company ever to allow our business owners (yes, we own our business) to sell multiple product lines.

1. We are launching a totally separate Jewelry Division… If you want to sell our brand new jewelry designs… and not home decor, that’s great… but if you want to double your opportunity to party – then you can sell home decor too.  The choice is YOURS!

2. We are forming our pre-launch team now to launch this fall!  Spots are limited and time is critical so please help me spread the word and share with your friends who may like to get in on the ground floor to be one of the first in the nation to launch our NEW division!

3. We have partnered with a known jewelry designer who is designing a line exclusive to us (to be announced June 1st).

4. The sneak peek photo shows trendy gold jewelry, but we’ll also carry silver and pieces with semi-precious stones!  So exciting to have so many choices!

Contact me today to just find out more… the only way you’ll know if this is for you is to ask me questions…. and trust me… I am VERY excited to share the news but I won’t talk you into anything.   I am SIMPLY EXCITED!!!! I’d love to have you, or someone you know, on my team to help me launch this or to just be one of the first hosts or of course…. you can always just purchase from me if you like!

Also, I am still selling home decor too, which is my first passion… so you’ll have to tell me what I can help you with!

Breaking News!

Have you ever thought about selling jewelry?  That's right.  I said JEWELRY!  Become a Willow House consultant now and attend convention in July!  Call me for details.

Poem...by Naomi Shure

I rush to the next point

So there I can wait—

Ugh, this ‘in between’

Is the place I most hate!

Digging in heels,

Grasping for security

Give me new focus

And do so hurriedly!

My searchlight scans

Beginning to see

Dusty little treasures

That once were me..

“Give them back!”

My heart exclaims!

I’ll wipe them clean

And work through pain!

I'll retrace those steps

That lead to this place

Of anger and judgment

This bitter distaste..

Uncovering dust,

Promising to forgive

If I want refocus,

I will have to relive:

Doing the work

At once I chose not—

Repatching, renewing

Returning— my heart.

Finished "The Shack" again yesterday.. This time, it took me to a place of exposing the bitterness in my heart, and yearning to clean out the closet.. Wrote this poem concerning all of that this morn. If you haven't read it, you should!

Blessings

Laura Story

from the album Blessings

Buy on Amazon

We pray for blessings 
We pray for peace 
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep 
We pray for healing, for prosperity 
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering 
All the while, You hear each spoken need 
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things 

(Chorus)
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops 
What if Your healing comes through tears 
What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near 
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise 

We pray for wisdom 
Your voice to hear 
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near 
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love 
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough 
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea 
And long that we'd have faith to believe 

Chorus

When friends betray us 
When darkness seems to win 
We know the pain reminds this heart 
That this is not, this is not our home 

Chorus

What if my greatest disappointments 
Or the aching of this life 
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy 
What if trials of this life 
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights 
Are your mercies in disguise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

March Madness Sale!

Contact me at darlenesdesigns.suddenlink.com to receive these prices.  They cannot be ordered online.  If you would like me to email this flyer to you so that you can have a better viewable copy, just let me know.

Sign Up in March and get Four FREE Products!

Become a Consultant in March and earn four stunning pieces to add to your Starter Kit!  When you sell at least $1,000 in Personal Retail Sales by April 30, we'll send you four bonus items!  That's more than $770 in products for only $199!  Each item is a great seller, and you'll love the impact they make at your parties.


And, the mini kit has been extended through March so you can start your own business for only $99.  Contact me for further info.

darlenesdesigns.willowhouse.com

LAST DAY TO JOIN AT 1/2 PRICE!

http://mystyleshare.com/Videos/Detail/74


Watch this video at our new site, "MyStyleShare," to see what being a Design Consultant with Willow House is all about!  Last day to join at the 1/2 price rate of $99!  Contact me at facebook.com/darlenesdesigns.

NEW Kitchen e-Boutique!

http://www.kitchenmoderne.com/Default.aspx?opuscid=480257

Check out my new kitchen store--the first of many wonderful e-boutiques we plan to roll out during the second half of the year!

MyStyleShare.Com Launch!

http://www.mystyleshare.com/Pictures/Detail/913
Check out the photo of my Cordova Nesting Tables on our new Willow House site!  For the next few days, we are only allowing Willow House Consultants to sign up for MyStyleShare. But we’ll soon open up the community so all of our hosts, customers, family, and friends can join.

Don’t forget — you will be able to share any of your photos and videos that focus on style. These can feature Willow House products, but feel free to showcase any areas of your home or ideas you have. Our community’s not just about Willow House — it’s about your style!

The Invisible Mother

 

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?”  Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner because no one can  see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. 

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'  I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?'  I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'  Some days I'm a crystal ball: 'Where's my other sock? Where's my phone? What's for dinner?'  I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature, but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!  

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'  

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

*        No one can say who built the great cathedrals. We have no record of their names.

*       These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 

*        They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

*        The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. 

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.’  And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'  I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does."  No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.  

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.  When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table."  That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, "You're gonna love it there."  

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.  

The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.  

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know. I just did.  

God's Wife

An eye witness account from New York City on a cold day in December, some years ago: A little boy, about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering with cold.
 
A lady approached the young boy and said, 'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'
 
'I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes,’ was the boy's reply.
 
The lady took him by the hand, went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.
 
She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed
his little feet, and dried them with the towel...
 
By this time, the clerk had returned with the socks.. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him
a pair of shoes…
 
She tied up the remaining pairs of socks and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'
 
As she turned to go, the astonished kid caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tears
in his eyes, asked her,  'Are you God's wife?'
 

Cleaning for a Reason

If you know any woman currently undergoing chemotherapy, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - once per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service. This organization serves the entire USA and currently has 547 partners to help these women. It's our job to pass the word and let them know that there are people out there that care. Be a blessing to someone and pass this information along.

http://www.cleaningforareason.org/

S*N*O*W D*A*Y Humor

Wednesday Words

"But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah..."  Jonah 1:17

Have you ever felt "swallowed up" by the "big fish" in your life?  I am doing a wonderful Bible study entitled, Jonah by Priscilla Shirer.  And as we studied the other evening, we noticed that the Bible says that the LORD provided the great fish for Jonah.  It wasn't a punishment.  It was his salvation! 

Maybe that big fish in your life that seems to be swallowing you up and keeping you from what you want to do and where you want to go is really your salvation.

I don't know about you, but it is so comforting knowing that when I am drowning in my own life choices, God will come along and save me from myself.  It may be a big fish or something I don't readily recognize as His hand, but He will always be with me and protect me so that I can get back on the road to Ninevah!

Tuscan Canisters in Outlet!

Beautiful blue glazed pottery and graceful, functional design? Robin’s-egg blue with a hand-brushed edge looks gorgeous. (set of two; Medium is 4 5/6" square x 8 3/4" tall; holds 6 cups. Small is 4 5/6" square x 8" tall; holds 4 1/2 cups.)

 

Medium and Small-$24.96 set (reg. $89.95)

Have you had enough of your job?

Are you tired of leaving your child with someone else every day while you go to work?   Does it seem like you always have more month than money?  Do you dream of a job that would showcase your talent?  Would you like to be your own boss?

Willow House could be the answer to your prayers. 

And, if you have ever considered becoming a Design Consultant with Willow House, this is the time to join.  The start up price has been cut in half--only $99, and you can benefit from Double Hostess Dollars when you do your first party to get even more free product to start your business and enjoy in your home. 

Try us.  You have nothing to lose and so much to gain!  This offer ends February 28th.  Call me for an appointment.

Gallery Flatware Retiring

Just found out our Gallery Flatware is retiring after this spring to make room for a new flatware set in the fall.  If you need to complete your collection or you have been waiting to start one, contact me today!

Buy 1 set for 4 people get the 2nd set 50% off OR buy 1 place setting get one 1/2 off - February only!  Supply is limited!