This is a continuation of my previous blog: "Weaved with Stories, Adorned with Love" To get the full picture it might be good to start with that blog post first.
After Grace's idea to begin with a bracelet before I leave, I began searching for a bracelet. Side note: I LOVE THE BEACH, everything about the beach, the smells, the sights, God’s beauty everywhere you look, the simpleness, the relaxation, really just everything. So, being the nautical person I am I love anchors. I love them because they remind me of the beach, I love their complexity, I love the way they look, I love that they serve as a stronghold- something that stands firm and secure and I love that Hebrews 6:19 encompasses the spiritual anchor. In my quest for a bracelet I knew I wanted an anchor bracelet. While on Etsy I began looking and looking for the bracelet until I found the perfect one. I saw it an just new. So I clicked on it an bought it. Right after I bought it Grace came up and said, “Would you mind if I bought the same one? Or what if you bought 10 more bracelets and sold them for $10 that would be $100 to go to being fully funded and that way they can serve as a reminder for the people who are close to you to be praying.” Naturally again I was like I’M SO GLAD YOU ARE A VISIONARY!
I ordered 10 more and shortly after I received an email from the girl that makes the bracelets saying that because I had two separate transactions I paid too much for shipping and she was going to refund me the money. I replied thanking her for the refund, explaining that I was going on a mission trip for 11 months so every little bit helps. I then explained to her this vision of getting a bracelet in every country with the hopes of knowing the stories of the people who made them and how her bracelet was the beginning. I asked her what her story was and if she minded if I shared it on a blog. She told me she didn’t mind me sharing. She told me that she lived in China and she always felt inferior and fat, that she never felt like she quite matched up. One day while at school a girl noticed her bracelet and told her how beautiful it was. She said that after that day she didn’t feel inferior and she wanted to share that beauty with others through her bracelets so other people wouldn’t feel inferior.
Gosh her heart is just so beautiful that she would want to share that beauty with others and wouldn’t want anyone else to feel ugly or unwanted. Whether she knows it or not she has a heart of God. Because that’s what God wants for us. He doesn’t want us to feel insignificant, He doesn’t want us to feel unworthy or not beautiful, so He gives us hearts and spirits that are adorned with beauty, grace and love. Because I have dealt with similar thoughts, I shared with her verses that I remind myself of daily that help me know I am a daughter of the King of Kings and that because I am His heir I can never be inferior. I haven't heard from her since and I don't know what those verses may have meant to her, but I am thankful for her story and for her creativity because this bracelet is a beautiful reminder of God’s goodness and love.
Here is my first of 12 bracelets:
I told you it was beautiful. It’s also amazing because the verses I found to go with it I feel like are my verses I will be praying over myself and my squad this next year.
Hebrews 6:19-20 “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”
Ecclesiastes 4:12 “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
Ephesians 3:20 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
This is going to be a blog series that I hope y’all will be excited about keeping up with. I will post a picture and story of the new bracelet I get in each country. I’m excited to see the beauty in each bracelet but really I’m excited to wear with pride the stories woven within each bracelet.
With all my love-
Cam
