Heavensentdesigns's Blog

It’s been a long hot, very hot, summer.   The garden was planted and harvested.  Grandchildren came, stayed a few days, and went back home.  Termite damage was discovered and repaired.  The cleaning of the shop was taken in manageable bites, inventory counted,  packed up and sold.  Major family dynamic was changed with the engagement and 6 weeks of preparing for a wedding. Wedding dress designed and made and packing up and moving said daughter to new home. Teaching a quilting class stretched me new ways, and starting an Etsy shop has proved to be challenging.

Most days I’m just not sure what direction I should go in….I’ve not seen a clear path in any particular way, so I just keep putting my feet one in front of the other. It is a life of learning to trust more, leaning harder, and having just enough faith to carry me through to the next thing.   It is comforting to know that He will not let me go through doors He has closed so as I move I can be sure He is directing my steps even though I can’t see a change in the path or landscape.  I think this might be the place where many christians stumble and fall.  When things don’t seem to change, we get the idea that God has abandoned us and that’s just not true.  I have to remind myself often that my ways or timing are not His.

One thing I am re-learning is that there is much more to me than the “business”.  It’s so easy when you’re self-employed and wearing all the hats, that you kind of loose your identity.  And along with that , it gets real easy to try and do things in your own strength, and try to take the credit for any success.  This of course is wrong and ultimately self defeating. Any success we enjoy is only because of God’s grace and favor over us.

So this transition period I’m in is not the easiest place I’ve ever been but I’m learning slowly to be more patient as He completes His work in me. My husband always has told me to go straight if I’m not sure which road to take….and that advice has consistently kept me from getting lost.  So I’ll keep trusting Him and  keep moving until I find a sign that tells me turn or find a new door to pass through.

Today I’ve been sewing on music folders.  What is that you say?  For over 20 years I was a member of the choir at First Baptist Church in Jacksonville.   The entire time, I used the same black vinyl folder for my music.   When the music minister left and went to another church, he found that the folders being used were falling apart and called to ask me to make ones like were used at FBC Jax.  So, I’ve been working on 300 black vinyl 2 pocket folders which makes for pretty heavy stacks.  The folders are flexible, tough, and roomy.  This is one of those jobs that can get really boring so to combat the monotony of it, I try to picture the person who will use it.  Some day we will sing together in Heaven’s Choir and the sound will be beyond anything we’ve ever heard here.  It makes me remember a vivid dream I had a number of years ago…….I had stepped out of my home to find the air sparkling and brilliant.  The sky was filled with angels and the music was like nothing I had ever heard before….it was glorious!!!!! Then one of the angels stepped in front of me and said, “You shall see Him in all His Glory”.  I woke up!  I wanted to go back and hear the music again.  So as I sew the stack of black vinyl music folders, I will also pray for the choir that will be using them…..someday we will sing together in front of the throne of God.

Yes that is what I am.   I get comfy in what is familiar and find it hard to learn new things sometimes.  The “true and true” fits most of the time and I find myself resisting stretching myself especially in areas of technology.   Today, I’ve been working on setting up my Etsy store and find that I’ve allowed myself to get rusty in navigating set up procedures.  Eventually, I figure it out after about 3 calls to my daughter.  This makes me think about my spiritual habits/life as well.  How many times do I try to do things the same way without getting the desired results before I humble my self before the Lord and ask for guidance or wisdom?  I am finding more and more that I must admit my frailties in so many areas every day not just occasionally.  If I am to be a creature of habit, then I so desire that the habit be “total submission to the Lord in all things”.  When I am weak, He is strong.

We’ve printed a new catalog showing some of our gift items that we are now producing.  If you are interested in obtaining one, please email me at heavensentdesigns@windstream.net

Designing and printing a catalog is always a monumental process and I’m always glad when the project is completed.  We have determined through many years of creating catalogs, that people don’t really care much about the cover, but of the content inside.  We have given extra effort to explain each product and to be informative as to all our services .

This catalog shows but a brief sampling of the items we are now offering, but it will give you a start in understanding the new Heaven Sent Designs.  We have a long list of new items we will be adding regularly so if you want to get updates please be sure you indicate that in your email and we will be sure to add you to our mailing list.

I look forward  to hearing from you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and He shall direct thy path. Prov. 3:5-6

I’ve been holding off for some time writing this post as until now, the timing did not seem right.   The Lord has brought me through the pruning process and I now feel as though I am ready to bear new and better fruit.

For 21 years, I’ve owned/operated a small company called Heaven Sent Designs.  I designed and manufactured worship banners and costumes for Church passion plays.  Along with a few employees and one very loyal and helpful husband, we were able to help thousands of churches across the US and in 15 countries with their special programs and with bringing art into the worship facility.  My dream when I started was small but God had much bigger plans for me.  I can never list all the wonderful experiences I enjoyed because of this ministry, nor could I ever give credit to all the people who helped me along the way with ideas, accountability, inspiration and hands on assistance.  There have been several who had the ability to “open doors” of opportunity for me which ultimately grew our influence in this area of church life and worship.  The work has been challenging beyond my wildest expectations but fulfilling as I’ve seen over and over God’s mighty hand of provision, protection and blessing.

In recent years, we’ve seen vast changes in worship styles and focus in our churches.  Trying to fit the resources and abilities of the church to minister to those who need it and still fulfill the great commission has been often a trial and error process.  Some churches seem to get it right quickly while other struggle.  Our world is changing so fast and along with that, our physical earth is groaning.  Natural disasters are frequent and it is the church who always steps up to help people get back on their feet.   Along with the changes in governmental leadership, economics,  and culture, there seems to be less and less interest and desire to use the products I’ve been producing over the past years.   This is not to say I’m quitting…..this is to say, that I have come to the realization I must change and adapt.  A friend once told me that I needed to let the Lord show me how I could reach the most people in the most effective way with the time I had for the cause of Christ.  For today and onward, I am going back to my roots  which will enable me to have a more personal involvement into the lives of individuals.  Where as I will not be mass producing products, I will now work on projects that require custom techniques and an individual approach.  So whether it be sewing a few bridesmaids dresses, making music folders for a choir, sewing a backdrop, creating special character costumes, or making specialty items that will help a new mother care for her baby, I am looking forward to seeing how God will use my talents, resources and abilities in the coming days and weeks.  I have made many wonderful friends because of God using me in this capacity in the past and am excited about this place He has led me to for this time in my life.   I will be developing a shop on Etsy and also premiering new products on this site so bookmark this page and check in often.  Heaven Sent Designs is going to better than ever before and we are very excited about what God is going to do with the new format.

Yesterday I went into town to do some intense power shopping for fabric.  I was out all day, and only hit 3 stores.   This year I will make about 40 costumes in just a little over 3 weeks.  Some of these will have multiple parts and there are a few that only have 1 piece to make.   What makes this year different from the rest is that we are doing a new script and therefore have some different scenes.  We will be adding an expanded scene around Procula’s character and I will be making 3 more Roman Women.  These will be colorful, very feminine and flowy.  Also we will have the marriage miracle scene with a Rabbi, Bride and Groom, Parents of the Bride and servants.  I have chosen to take the perspective that this is a wealthy family and the the costumes will be in white, gold, cream and beige.  I love doing work like this because it allows me to break away from the regular drab biblicals and get creative with some of my nicer fabrics and trims.  I also will be doing new outfits for the 16 dancers and this is the biggest challenge of all as I’ve looked for fabric for 3 years to get the exact look I’m after.  I think I’ve finally found it….am waiting on swatches sent through the mail.  So these will be the last ones done as I won’t have fabric in hand for at least a week.

In past years, I’ve pretty much handled all the costuming myself and it has continued to grow into a bigger job each year.  This year I decided it was too much for one person as the cast is 80 plus people and that doesn’t include the choir, dancers or angels.  So I’ve been praying for someone to assist and Thurs. night one of my favorite people from choir stepped up and offered to help.  This is a huge load off my shoulders.  We’ve already got a great start….all the basic robes have been unpacked and put on hangers and I’ve about 20 costumes assigned.

One of my characters this year is a seller of purple.   I’ve been trying to learn how to use my embroidery machine more  to it’s capability and so I’m embroidering a 5 color design along the bottom of each sleeve.  It’s coming out really pretty.  This is the first time I’ve added embroidery to any of my costumes and I hope to really expand this technique on more of my costumes.

So tonight as I look at my work room, the tables are piled with stacks of fabric from burlap and fur for John the Baptist, to silk and brocades for the wedding party to tapestry for Abraham’s coat and many others.  It’s organized chaos but only for a short time.  This is what I love doing and I’m blessed to be able to be a small part of this great production.

My computer sits in front of a window with south exposure so I look out onto my backyard, and from this position can see my naked garden and the chicken houses.  The land is finally drying up all though there is still a fair amount of water in the ditch, and finally warmer temps are in the forecast for early next week.  The seed potatoes are at the hardware am I’m wanting to get some in the garden but I’ve not been able to till up the plot.  Heavenly Homemakers ran a post last year about growing potatoes in a barrel and I’m thinking this might just be the ticket for me to try.  One advantage would be that it would be easier to keep the “girls” from nipping off the new leaves…at least I don’t think they’d want to hop down into a barrel.  However, on that thought, every time I open the corn bucket to give them a treat, Hodini (a barred rock hen that manages to get out of the yard every day) hops in the bucket for her own personal buffet.  Now that’s just greedy!

Seems our life has been dominated by computer issues lately….I’m sure you all have had experiences to rival or exceed mine.  I remember thinking early on when I started Heaven Sent Designs that I could do everything without a PC and held out for 5 years before getting one.  And boy were they expensive back then!  The past two weeks have been spent in repairing/redoing actually a new website because of serious problems (not of our making) with the old one,  and in getting this new blog going.  There’s always the issue of enough security and that is a question I’d like answered by one big establishment in my world as to why they don’t have a better security plan in place.  Can’t really expound on that, just suffice it to say that some places that should have the utmost security don’t and it may surprize you if you knew.   How’s that for a little paranoia?  Actually I think I can say with 99.9% confidence that sites that require your credit card info have as much security as can be had.  It’s the other kinds of information I wonder about….membership  records, addresses, phone numbers, email accounts within the place you work.

Sometimes it just takes an extra measure of faith to trust the Lord for protection in these areas we can control, and pray that those who have the responsibility to protect their members, customers, friends and clients do so.  Friend or foe, computers are a necessary part of life these days, and we can’t just sit in front of sunny window and pretend that our computer will never be corrupted.  So make sure your firewalls are in place, you’ve the right virus protection, you know who uses your computer and why, and when you’ve done all you know to do, then leave the rest to the Lord.  Then you can go sit in front of that sunny window and dream about the garden to plant.

Yea Whoopee and Thank the Lord, Joel and Erin.  Our new web site is up and running.  Photos are loaded and look sharper and more uniform.  The shopping cart is working.  We’ve still some tweaking to do but that all will come about in time.  We still have some time to get a few more banners in for Easter, as well as some costumes so if you’ve forgotten to order, or have just made up your mind what you need, give us a call.  We will do as many orders as is humanly possible.

Also just as a reminder, check the blog often as I will be adding more and more photos to the custom pages, and plan to share some of the stories behind the banner designs, as well as some of my experiences in banner ministry over the past 23 years.   I hope to add some helpful tips to those of you who make banners, as well as offering periodically some of our materials/supplies on special sales.  So bookmark the blog and check in with us often….you will be glad you did.

Scripture for today: 33: 10b

They say change is bound to happen and most times it’s out of our control.  Recently circumstances forced us to make some drastic changes in the way we market and advertise and those changes are still in process.  I am speaking mainly of our website, but also the catalog we’ve printed out for many years.  Some times it is very hard to be proactive…we’d rather just sit back and not address certain things, but I believe that God would have us embrace a lifestyle where change is anticipated and accepted without kicking and screaming.  I believe that it’s these times when we can prove that we really do have faith in God, and that we trust Him to preserve and prosper His children.   In spite of a challenging economy, natural disasters, hackers, rising vendor costs, and extreme lifestyle changes, God has still been faithful to us at Heaven Sent Designs.  We may have to do things a little different, and you may for a short period of time find it easier to call than go to a website or catalog, we are committed as always to bring the best in Worship Banners and Biblical Costumes to the customer.   We ask of your prayers and patience as we adjust, develop, restructure and revitalize all that you have come to know as an extremely reliable and helpful source for “Making His praise Glorious”.  We are excited and eagerly anticipate the new directions God is leading us and invite you to watch and see what God is doing in our lives, with our resources and talents.

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