Sometimes you flourish, but it seems like many more times, you just flop. Too many times in life we become discouraged in the flops. Nothing seems to work out like it's supposed to.

No matter how hard you try to pay off that bill, another unexpected bill will inevitably make its way to your mailbox. You've told your children repeatedly to not color the furniture with nail polish, and the nail polish calls their name, begging to be opened and poured out...anywhere.

You struggle to keep your head above water by cleaning, cleaning and cleaning your house, but you always lose the battle as soon as everyone gets home from school and work.

     There are some days when I feel like all I do is live one big flop. And I don't just flop with crafts, and small problems. Often times I've flopped as a mother and wife, causing damage to my family. Other times, I flop in my friendships, hurting the ones I wish to keep closest. 

      But the most damaging flop is when I ignore the One whom I am supposed to love the most.

It's funny, but in ministry is the one place you would think you can never forget God. He is the one your whole job is based around! But it's easy to get caught up in the doing, and forget who we are doing it for!

     I challenge you to take time to remember Him this week. Remember all that He's done, remember where He's brought you from and where you'd be without his grace!

     Sometimes it helps us to know that we're not the only ones who fail at this.

Here are a few flops to make you feel better and to remind you that we all flop. Just don't forget to get back up and try again!

Setting up for the big project...

Have you seen all those awesome washer necklace tutorials on Pinterest?
Me, too. Except I didn't read the tutorials. I just tried to wing it.
So I started with some small washers.

I laid them on a sheet of cardstock and painted them with various nail polish colors. I tried scooting them as they dried, but they only ended up stuck to the paper. Total flop. I ended up chucking them all. Here's a link to how to do it right.       
Nail Polish Washers

My biggest problem when crafting is that I neglect to make sure I have all the supplies needed before I begin. This project started out really cool. A whole mess of safety pins, and a stash of various beads. This was going to be an awesome bracelet... Except I only had enough stretchy wire to go through one side...and I ran out of safety pins.

So I thought I'd add some beads to the one stretchy wire to make the bracelet. But the safety pins were so heavy, it just didn't work.

I hated to waste all that time, so I threaded the pins through a small plastic headband. Which turned out cute...see below.

Here's the floppy, the headband was now so heavy that it all pulls to the side, and continually pushes my hair forward. The headband then ends up on my forehead.

Want to make the bracelet right? Click Here for instructions for the bracelet above.

Well, you win some, you lose some. Hopefully these flops give you some inspirations for what not to do! You can't flourish until you've hit a few flops, so count them as an accomplishment.
What flops have you accomplished lately?

Ciao!

Today I dropped off my oldest daughter at camp. This is her third year going to camp, but this year it was harder for me to leave. This seems like a very significant year. She is now officially a pre-teener, and has moved up from kid's camp to pre-teen camp. Why is this significant? Partially because it made me realize just how old I am. But, mostly because I still remember my years at pre-teen camp.
When I was eleven years old, I was a camper at the same church camp where I left Ally today. During that week of camp, I don't remember who the camp speaker was. I don't remember what team I was on for activities, and I don't remember who my friends were. I do remember vividly what happened in one of the altar times. When I was eleven years old, I felt God call me into a full-time ministry. I knew that one day, I would serve my church in some kind of capacity. Of course, being eleven, I thought that I would start out singing in small churches, and eventually become the next Sandy Patty. (A famous contemporary Christian artist of the time.)
I never became famous. But I did make it into full-time ministry. It didn't quite start out the way I imagined, though. I was certain that full-time ministry involved sitting on the platform during services, speaking to large crowds of people who are hanging on every word you preach, and spending time praying for lovely, grateful people.
When I was about seventeen, I told my pastor that I felt called to ministry. I was sure he would ask me to speak in church, or put me in charge of some kind of ministry. He did. He told me that he was glad God called me, and he really needed someone to pick up the used Kleenex, in between church services, from the altar areas. I didn't complain, I just started doing this each week for several months. That was my first ministry experience, and I have to say, it was the best lesson to learn. You can't do ministry unless you can serve and do the menial, thankless jobs.
Now, I know that ministry is not glamorous. It's about serving others, whether they appreciate the things you do or not. It's about serving behind the scenes, at times.
Today was a good reminder of how I began ministry. I hope I never forget that ministry can be as simple as a booger-tissue, cleaner-upper.
My favorite Bible verses are in 1 Corinthians. Chapter 15:57-58 "Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
Anything you do for the Lord is important, no matter how small! Flourish in the small stuff!

Today's Flop or Flourish came from a few weeks ago...

Flop:
I saw a great (or so I thought) idea on Pinterest. Ice cube painting. I teach kid's church, and it has been an insanely hot summer. I loved the idea, but I didn't have the watercolors the pin suggested using. I'm not big on following directions, so I thought, hey, why not just use food coloring. Some of you are already groaning because you know what's coming next. We took the ice cubes and fabric to the picnic tables and began to paint. Very quickly, fingers were stained, and kids were wiping their hands on their clothes...Sorry to all the moms. After about a minute, they all wanted to stop because their tiny fingers were frozen. Ah, well, you don't always flourish, but you gotta keep trying!
Ciao!