Archives for June 2016

At least once a year I share some kind of Timbali Crafts giveaway because this is a company I can easily get behind.  After returning from Swaziland and always having an evening with Timbali’s founder Julie and seeing all the women’s beautiful creations I always want to share the love.  It’s a highlight of every trip.

Here’s a snippet about Timbali from their website:

The women who create Timbali Crafts are all volunteer cooks at community based feeding centers, called Care Points*, throughout Swaziland, Africa. In this tiny nation with the highest HIV/AIDS rate, and lowest life expectancy in the world, the needs are immense. In spite of their own hardships, the Timbali women help to feed more than 2500 children each day. They are incredible! 

Timbali started in 2006 (a bit by accident!) to reach out to the physical and spiritual needs of these hard-working women. At the request of a local pastor, we started a Bible study with some of the women to encourage them in their volunteer work. It quickly became evident that something more needed to be done so that these ladies, who were serving their communities in such a vital way, could also provide for their own families.

So we started praying…and we made some really ugly greeting cards (blessings to any of you that bought those!). We didn’t have any start-up money, but a friend heard what we were trying to do and gave us $150 to buy our first little batch of fabric. Eventually we started making handbags (which also had some issues at first!) that have evolved into the beautiful products we produce today. What we first thought would just provide a little income here and there for a few women, has become a major source of income and outreach to 100+ Swazi families!

You guys, this company is legit and I seriously could not love it and these women more.  You can read more about their company HERE.  I also use their products every single day.  I have a zipper pouch which holds my makeup, I use their cosmetic bag to hold all my Bible journaling supplies and I have their regular bags like the sling, shoulder bag and their market bag for every day use like my purse and pool bag.  I use these products and they are awesome.

And now I want to share some favorites with you!  One winner will take all these goodies home: Africa ornament, zipper pouch, cosmetic bag, Masugo Market bag and large padded zipper case (can be used for iPad).

Here’s how you enter:

Please leave a separate comment on this post for each entry.

Entry #1 Leave a comment…any comment will do.  Maybe tell us which bag up for grabs you like the best or some summer fun you’ve got planned 🙂

Entry #2 Go “Like” Timbali Crafts on Facebook.

Entry #3 Share this giveaway with your friends on your personal Facebook status, Twitter or Instagram. You can use the Facebook and Twitter button at the bottom of this post or just copy and paste the link at the top in your status or tweet bar.  There’s a picture posted with all the goodies as well on my Instagram…@pitterpatterart…feel free to re-post it.  Let’s get the word out about these amazing ladies.

Again, please leave a separate comment on this post for each entry.

Giveaway will end this Monday, June 13th at midnight and I will announce the winner on Tuesday.  Goodies will be mailed directly to the winner.

That’s it.  Hope you guys have an amazing weekend.

Happy Friday!

Day three home and yesterday I came down with a fever and some funk.  It feels like a sinus infection so I’m trying to get some rest here and there plus I’m taking a random antibiotic I had on hand.  I’m crossing my fingers and toes because this is no way to kick off summer.  We had plans to already make our presence known at the wave pool and yet, here we are…Day three home and still no wave pool.  I mean, has summer even really begun if the Kelleys haven’t hit up the wave pool yet?  I think not.  Here’s to hoping Cipro is going to change my life by tomorrow 🙂

My head is a swirl with thoughts and feelings about our trip.  I find myself nodding off between our life’s wild present state…all the ins and outs of our family of 7 and foster care…and our sweet time in Swaziland with our friends and all those precious faces.  I’ve been reading through my journal and reminiscing about each day and all the thoughts they held.

One thing I struggle with is the wording of “mission trip” for these adventures.  It feels cheap and it comes out of my mouth with quite the bitter taste.  I suppose we are going with a mission in mind, but only if the mission is to simply visit with and love on our friends.  And really I’ve just stopped saying “mission trip” all together.  Now when people ask what we’re doing, I just tell them we’re going to see our friends because it really is just that.

These trips are about relationships.  They are about friendship and love and camaraderie.  They are about loving on our neighbors, treating each other as we want to be treated ourselves and realizing the impact love, friendships and real relationships can have on ourselves and communities full of people.  They are about the message it sends when we fly across the ocean just to hang out with some of our favorite people for a week…just because.  Cuddling babies, playing with kiddos, spending time just together and laughing it up is my kind of mission if I have to have one.

As I’ve been reading through my journal I noticed on almost every day I wrote about something I felt was a mistake…maybe we messed up in a certain manner or said something that could have been heard as insensitive or something I wished we had done instead.  I wrote quite a bit about “getting this right” and not offending our friends.  And when I re-read all this it just confirmed even more my thoughts on what a sweet back-and-forth relationship this really is.  I mean, I think these same thoughts about my relationships and friendships here in the US.  I think through how I handle myself and what I say to certain people and re-assess situations which took place wondering if I just messed up big time or maybe I should have handled myself in an entirely different manner.  Did I make them mad?  Did I hurt their feelings?  That’s not really what I meant by that.  I hope their ears didn’t hear that message from my words because what I meant was something totally different.  And sometimes apologies are in order…you make them, ask for forgiveness and move on.

In the Johannesburg airport on the way home I had a sheer moment of panic when I thought I’d lost my phone.  I instantly thought about all my pictures and how they would be gone forever.  I was sad for Harper because she would have no photos to go with her trip.  Then I thought to myself “If you have no photos of this trip does that make this trip any less impactful on your heart and these relationships Laura?”  And the answer is absolutely not.  Then I took a deep breath and realized how photos or no photos didn’t make or break this trip.  What would make or break this trip would be the lack of friendships…if no relationships we’re tended to or forged.

I’ve thought constantly about what I hope Harper forever took away from her time at the Ngungwane carepoint in Swaziland, Africa.  I prayed for a passion to rise up in her for injustice.  I prayed her heart would see how amazing and joyful this country and these people are despite their “need” or “lacking of” in our eyes.  I prayed a plethora of things over her heart…all of which are important, but I realized what I really hoped for her was the exact same thing I hope she takes away every single day from her life in general…to love God with all her heart and soul and to love others.  That’s it.  It’s pretty simple and yet life changing.  I hope she understands how Jesus poured Himself into relationships and wants us to do the same.  If we try and see each other as God sees us…if we see each person as an unique and special human being created in His image…if we see each person as our neighbor…if we see each person with love and compassion…then it all boils down to love again and again and again.

I love how The Message words Matthew 22:37-40

 When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”

Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

I keep running our time in Swaziland over and over and over again through my mind.  I keep pouring prayer over this trip, our friends and team members.  I keep praying we glorified God and would continue to glorify Him.  I keep praying for these sweet relationships and that God would allow us to venture back sooner than later and that others would want to join us.  I keep praying He teaches us more and more how to love and to love really well.

 Happy Thursday!

PS:  Check back tomorrow for a Timbali Crafts giveaway.

Harper and I landed in Nashville around 10am this morning.  We’ve been home all day trying to recoup and chill and enjoy our sweet people we’ve been away from the past 11 days.  We came home to buckets of water balloons filled waiting in the yard, balloons with sharpie written messages scattered over the floor of our freshly cleaned house…of which Harper and I covered in all our dirty clothes and souvenirness in mere seconds after arriving home…and Josh Kelley home for the day.  It has been a pretty sweet day.

As always with these trips, my thoughts are all over the place.  I actually took a fresh journal this time since I was not taking my computer.  It was different for me to write my thoughts instead of typing which sounds semi insane, but really is so different for me.

Harper did awesome.  I was so so glad she came.  Our team was amazing and I’m going to start working out next year’s trip details asap.  You should come with us.  I’m serious.  If you’d like more information just email me or message me HERE and I’ll pass along information once I have it all nailed down.

I can’t begin to even tell you how wonderful it was to see all our long distance friends and spend so much time with them this week.  It always blows me away and I loved our team experiencing such special relationships and friendships again and some for the first time.  Good relationships can be the absolute sweetest.

God gave me lots of really great scriptures while in Swaziland…scriptures which were perfecto for my heart and for circumstances currently in our life.

One thing I constantly thought about was how He sees me.  He sees me and He sees you…He sees us…anywhere and everywhere.  No matter what.  He sees where we are and what we’re doing.  He sees the beautiful and the good.  He sees the painful and the hard.  He sees what seems to be so fitting & just and He sees what seems completely unfair & unjust.  He sees us as His children and nothing surprises Him.  This ran through my brain all week.

We have friends who live in very hard and unjust situations & circumstances.  I won’t sugar coat their pain and loss, but they are beautiful and joyful and resilient.  They know Jesus as their strength and hope.  He walks with them day in and day out and their faith is freakin’ astounding.  They ministered to my heart, yet again, this week and I walk away, yet again, simply astounded by God’s presence in them.  His glory.  His might.  His goodness.  His peace.  His strength.  In them.

Harper fell asleep about an hour ago on the couch.  I can barely keep my eyes open.  Everyone is in bed and I sit here pecking away at these keys.  I keep praying over this trip.  I know the actual physical trip is over, but God is not done yet.  He is still working and moving and teaching and guiding and changing and I want Him to do all those things in me.

So, I’ll be back tomorrow as long as I can keep jeg lag at bay.  I’ve missed you guys.  It’s so good to be back!  Plus, you know there will be an awesome Timbali Crafts giveaway this week.  I am a Timbali lady for life.

Happy Tuesday night!!!