If you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know I love coffee (hello, my blog is named after coffee!).  Now, I confess, I have not always been a coffee drinker, in fact, I was adamantly  against it for so long. I protested to all my coffee drinking buddies that their teeth would turn brown and their bodies would pay the price {insert evil grin}.

Then I had my second child.

Really, need I say more?

Sleepless nights and a zombie like state quickly changed my perception of coffee.  Next to Jesus, it was my savior.

And, BONUS, it taught me that all those years I thought I was lazy I wasn’t…turned out I was just tired!

So, coffee is glorious and beautiful and magnificent to me.  And because I love my coffee so much, I think it should be adorned.

Seriously.

Hence, the new item in my shop.

Perfectly cute and practical coffee cuffs.

‘Tis true, my coffee will now be adorned forever, and I will no longer have to remind the good folks at Starbucks to please give me a coffee holder. Ha! No more boring brown, wasteful, coffee holders!

Boring. Wasteful. Blech.

Hello thing of beauty and practicality!

Incidentally, this lovely cuff actually has two purposes – the posy pin comes off and you can than adorn yourself, your purse, or whatev. Fabulous.

These upcycled coffee cuffs are made from repurposed felted wool sweaters. Each one is embellished with an adorable design including an owl, a sweet bird and a simple posie pin.

Now, let’s say you don’t drink coffee (what is wrong with you?!), these cuffs are also great for your tea, water bottle, or even to wear. They are great as a marker for which coffee or water bottle is yours when you’re out as well.

Such cuteness all around.

Here’s the deal, these coffee cuff designs are not sold anywhere but in my little ‘ol Open Sky shop…and there are only 12 sets available.

These are the designs you will receive in your set of three should you decide to adorn your coffee (the posy pin will differ in colors – it will be like a little surprise in your mailbox):

If you’d like a set, they are only $6 a cuff – you will use them again and again. Enjoy the cuteness!

The winner of the Modern Bird Studios custom art is…

JESSICA!!!!!!

Congrats! Please email me with ‘Winner of Modern Bird’ in the subject line!  :)

Remember, you can take 15% of your custom order with code: WARMCUP

(This discount will expire in on Friday the 16th.)

The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child’s Heart for Eternity

Here is a little bit about the book (from Publisher’s description):

“…it has been on Sally’s heart to write a book that will draw mother’s back to God’s original design for motherhood and the home…Sally moves beyond inspiration and encouragement, to instruction, vision and mission as she explores the biblical design of God for mothers that transcends cultures and trends. Drawing on challenging insights from Scripture enlightened by her own experiences as a mother for 18 years, Sally draws a biblical and very personal portrait of motherhood that reveals the heart of God for all mothers of all times. This book, filled with personal anecdotes and stories, will refresh your vision for biblical motherhood, renew your commitment to your precious children, and prayerfully bring the reviving Spirit of God into your home and family.”

I have not yet read this book, so it will be fresh for me.  What do you think? Want to book club it together?

Maybe in The Coffee Talk Community?

Thoughts? Would you be in?

I am so giddy.

The Relevant Conference agenda is now up!  You can see it here.

If you are not yet familiar with Relevant, you can read the mission here, see who is speaking here, and while you’re at it, go ahead and buy your ticket and book your room here (can you smell the chocolate?!).  :)

Oh what fun we are going to have! (Thank you thank you thank you wonderful sponsors - if it weren’t for you Relevant wouldn’t happen!)

See you in October!

P.S.  If you haven’t already, you can grab your Relevant Flair here!

If Piper Could Say One Thing to Rising Church Leaders

Excerpt:

If at the end of your life you could say one thing to the next generation of church leaders, what might it be?

…I think I’m going to say to them on my death bed, “Make the Bible the supreme intellectual and emotional authority in your life, for the sake of magnifying Christ in the fullness of his person and his work, so that generation after generation preserves the foundation and the capstone of the glory of God in Christ, and the grace that is the apex of that glory.”

… “Hold fast to the Bible. Base everything on the Bible. If you are going to criticize somebody, criticize them from the Bible. If you are going to affirm somebody, affirm them from the Bible. If you are going to do a strategy, do it from the Bible. Be a Bible saturated people.” That’s what will make for long term staying power for the gospel.

…People who reject the Bible for God become idolaters. The only God worthy of knowing and loving is the one we meet in and discover through the Bible. I do want him to be everything, and the Bible is secondary compared to him; but if we try to say him or something about him without stressing the foundation of the Bible, then we will lose what we are trying to preserve after a generation.

Read the whole article and watch the video here.

Yes and AMEN.

Related:

Why Do You Believe the Bible?

Do You Believe the Scriptures are Sufficient?

Worth your time, I promise.

I always believed in God.

When I was little I had a bible on the floor by my bed.  I would pick it up, open the first page, and start to read. I didn’t understand it and before I even got to the second page the book was closed, laid gently back on my floor.  And I prayed instead.

I talked to the God that I knew in my soul.  I didn’t know His name.  I didn’t know His theology (my parents weren’t Christians).  I just knew.

When my sister was kidnapped by her father and I prayed that she would be found and she was. I knew.

Read the rest of my faith journey on (in)courage today…

New to Like a Warm Cup of Coffee?  Subscribe here and you will never miss an article.

It is so weird to have such conflicting emotions about people.

I am such a sensitive soul, and I’m learning to grow a thicker skin while yet maintaining who God made me to be.  I am easily won over and I cannot hold a grudge for long…just ask my husband (he wins every argument because all he has to do is look at me kindly and speak a gentle word and I’m a puddle).

The strange love part comes in when someone hurts me, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and I find myself so angry at them, but then seeking to understand them better, looking deeper, and finding that I cannot stay mad.  Then pride comes in.  I don’t want to say, “hey, I really like you but I don’t want to like you because you are a meany.”

Because deep down, they really aren’t a meany, they are just wounded, just like I am.

Or maybe they are mean, or misunderstood, or whatever.  It doesn’t really matter, I don’t think, because the emotions I’m contending with don’t affect them.  I am the one who has to sort out with myself.

Part of my emotions also push me to want to defend myself, cry ‘FOUL’ and hold the line.  Then, there is this spirit in me that says, “let it go, your identity is in Me, not what others think of you.” And man, that is hard to reconcile.

But it is true. He gives identity, and He is the only one with the authority to do so.

So while I sit here and squirm in my skin, trying to figure out this strange love, I’ll remember His words,

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”  Colossians 2:9-10

“A seed is useless until it is cast into the soil where it will die in order to become something greater-a plant, a flower, a tree.  In the same way, my dedication to life at home as a mother is a seed of sacrifice.  I give up my own desires and sacrifice my gifts and talents so that new life may come from me.  I am buried in the rich soil of housework, homeschooling, character training, disciplining, and the myriad responsibilities of make a home.  To many in my generation, my decision to stay at home is a fruitless sacrifice, a waste of feminine intelligence and abilities.  To me, though, it is a small sacrifice if by it I may send my children into the next generation bursing with spiritual life, ready to change the world for Christ.”

“If I want to be set apart for God’s purposes, then I need to have an intimate knowledge of the God whose purposes I want to serve.  The more I fellowship with him through prayer and reading his Word, the more clearly I will begin to know and recognize his will for my life.  While other trusted believers may provide some needed wisdom or perspective, God’s will is primarily a personal matter discovered through prayer, reflection on his Word, and daily obedience.  God’s will is not something hidden that needs to be found but, rather, something that needs to be done.”

-Sally Clarkson, Seasons of a Mother’s Heart

“…Only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42

One thing.

Him.

Where do we find Him?

In a living book…so sharp…

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

He is there…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

So I cling to the only true thing.

Jesus Christ, the very Word of God.

And I trust His Words because I trust Him.

I’m searching and praying and listening and trusting…sitting at His feet, hanging on to every Word…

“…Mary, who sat before the Master, hanging on every word he said.”  Luke 10:39

Photo: Maurice Denis, Mary and Martha, 1896