Just to Repeat

I have created a new blog for personal reasons. If you would like to follow me there please email me at thewoodwifeswares@yahoo.com so I can give you the new link.

Thanks hope to see you there....Donna

ATTENTION ALL - new blog

I have a new blog and I am going to shut this one down. The reason is that a family member has degraded this blog and my beliefs and I just don't feel comfortable writing about myself here any longer.

If you would like to follow me on my new blog please send me a convo on Etsy or send me an email at thewoodwifeswares@yahoo.com and I will send you a link to it. I will also post it on a private discussion on our team page. I will send everyone I can think of a personal note with my new link as well.

See you on the other side....................

St. Therese Quote

I am still reading her autobiography and she is so amazing. Here is one quote that really touched me since I love having holy things around me. While on her trip to Rome to ask the Pope to let her join the Carmelite order of nuns Saint Therese gets to see many relics and holy places. She states;

           "And my soul grew through contact with holy things."

                       

St. Therese of Lisieux

I have been reading her autobiography 'Story of a Soul'. It is wonderful. My friend Ann gave it to me and what a treasure!!!

Did you know that Saint Therese knew she was going to be a saint when she was young? Quote from the book.
"I don't count my merits because I have none, but I trust in Him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits."

The book is wonderful and you will fall in love with this saint. She is my special one and this is helping me get to know her better. She loved gardens and flowers and that is why she called herself the 'little flower of Jesus'. 

We could all learn so much from her. Doing the little things with love was her way.

A couple of her quotes...

“May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.”
― St. Thérèse de Lisieux

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”
― St. Thérèse de Lisieux

“When I die, I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens,I will spend my heaven by doing good on earth.”
― St. Thérèse de Lisieux

Thank you Ann, for this wonderful book!!!

Pygmy Goat Babies

Hi all, please ignore my floor we are in the middle of a re-do and good thing or I wouldn't be able to have these goat babies in the house. Our kitchen is attached to the living room so they can wander back and forth. Guess what else? Little Diego my recent Chihuahua rescue,  no more then a pup himself is taking care of them. Licking them, cleaning them,and herding them around. See pics....brought tears to my eyes - how sweet is he? It is like I saved him so now he is helping to save the goats!! Awwww. Remember these babies are tiny and smaller then a Chihuahua - also they all look the same so I have to take one out of the tote, feed it and then put it on the floor and pick up the next one!! We are milking one of the mothers who didn't want her babies and adding whole milk to that. Two days in and all are doing well and trying out their legs as they hop around the house with Diego and the rest of the gang.

My Mary Story

Some of you know my story - some do not. I just thought I would share it.

My Mary Story (so far) 1-10-12

                What makes this even more amazing to me, is that I was raised Methodist, where Mary is not really spoken of except at Christmas. When I was a little girl I was a very spiritual and  faithful. Jesus was foremost in my thoughts.  I would sing songs about Him while I played on my swing set in my backyard. When I made my confirmation I saw white images gathered up at the altar which made me feel overwhelmed with light and I was filled with awe and almost passed out. That is when I knew there was ‘more’ out there. Not only was it my church confirmation it was also my ‘confirmation’ that all was not as it seemed. I also need to add that I was and still am a very vivid dreamer and I have always listened to the messages in my dreams.

                 After my confirmation experience I felt the church lacking somehow and that the feminine was missing. So I left the church to follow my own path which naturally led me to more goddess centered faiths. I did feel very at home once I knew there was a divine feminine and I knew this is what I was looking for. I researched many goddesses and different faiths including Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, Wicca, and so on, always finding the positive in these faiths, always drawn to the feminine aspects in them. As I read about different goddesses I always felt that something was missing, none were quite right. The funny thing was that I kept looking for a goddess in a prayerful pose dressed in robes. The closet thing I ever found was when I read the book and watched the movie The Priestess of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. These women were devoted to the goddess. They wore robes and had blue crescent moons on their foreheads. This is what I wanted. Since Methodists for the most part, only take Mary out at Christmas and then put her back with the other nativity figures – Mary did not pop into my head, but as you see I was getting close – the devotion, the robes, the crescent moon……

                  This whole course of events took about 35 years since I had left the church at age 15. I am now 54 and two years ago my life changed forever in the best way possible.  Right before that life-changing event however, I had a profound dream where my angel showed up bright and large in front of me. She touched me on the forehead and told me I was no longer going to follow my goddess path that there was something more for me. I was upset, surprised, and confused. What else was there? What else indeed.

                  A few months later I was on Ebay looking for vintage jewelry and a large Miraculous Medal was listed. Hmmm there was Mary – I felt instantly drawn to that medal. I bid on it and won it for a couple of dollars. It was tarnished and sold as is. While I waited for it to arrive I went back over my journals and saw so many dreams that I had had with clues about Mary. In one dream my diseased father had told me to look for a woman in blue robes with stars on them. I had even drawn a picture in my journal of theses robes.  Anyone who has any idea of Mary would have known that was about her right away but not me. There were many other clues as well. So on New Years Eve 2009 the medal arrived. I cleaned it and it turned out be sterling silver!! It also said on the reverse “Children of Mary Convent of the Visitation”.  I put it on my nightstand and went to bed.

               That night a miracle happened. I dreamed that Mary herself stood in front of me dressed in beautiful blue and white robes with a smile on her face – she was all bright and surrounded by light. In her hand she had that very same Miraculous Medal and she was holding it out to me. She said these exact words, “Put this medal on a string and wear it close to your heart always”. When I woke up I knew my life had changed. I felt like I was in love, I was like new. I immediately put the medal on a chain around my neck and I haven’t taken it off since.

                The next day I researched the medal, since I knew nothing about it, or Mary, for that matter. Between then and now I have had many many dreams of Mary, Jesus and saints. In one dream Mary asked me to make rosaries so I researched them and bought one on Etsy to study. Now here I am on Etsy selling rosaries and other holy art – and finally after all this time at age 54, I am doing what I love to do – combining my art and holiness, and all because I listened to my dreams and Mary. I need to also say that different saints have shown up in my dreams as well and since I did not know anything about them I researched them and found out so many amazing things. Each saint dream is a story in itself. I feel truly blessed. 

                 Since I am not Catholic I find all of this even more amazing, and because I tell my story to others I had found so many other non-Catholics, who have also been drawn to Mary.  In one of my dreams, Mary told me that she does not belong to the church she belongs to us all. She also told me when I asked, that she wanted everyone to have rosaries – and that they did not have to be prayed the traditional way – just with positive thoughts and good intentions. She said that rosaries were for everyone, as a way to be close to her, and focus their prayers.  So my story continues……as my home fills with Mary statues, and saints, and rosaries, but especially with Grace. I am thankful everyday that Mary showed up and I listened!!!!

Paint Party Friday Finally I Painted

This is a painting I did after being inspired by a friends painting of the same saint. I still like hers better but this is my attempt. This is Saint Theresa of Avila she was a mystic and is the patron saint of writers, people in need of Grace, and she is good for  headaches. I did this on stretched canvas 11x14. I exaggerated her eyes because when I look at this old painting of her - it is her eyes that draw me in.

So here is my more folk art style version.

.

You can see more art at Paint Party Friday here.

 Happy Paint Party Friday!!