Take a peek to the right!

Look carefully...do you see it there on the right...."Gathering Wood".  Grab a cup of tea and let me tell you about this....

I had a sweet email asking about placing their banner here on my site....never considered that before so I  went to their website to "check them out".  Go there...now...click there on the picture on the right...I'll wait......

Aren't you amazed?  aren't you glad you went?  Their trays were so beautiful that I called my boys to look ...."someday" I whispered.   And not just the trays!  It was all beautiful.  I contacted them again and told them to send me whatever they wanted to place on my blog.  They did and I did Gwen and Mark did.

Then the amazing thing happened...I wrote to them and asked if they'd like me to do a post...you know...sort of point them out to y'all.  They wrote back with a bit of their story and asked if I'd wait a bit...till I could see a tray and hold it in person!!! These dear people wanted to bless me with a gift!  I was thunderstruck!  Imagine! I am so amazed at my Father, who provides for our needs and every now and then tucks in a wonderful desire of the heart.  I am amazed at the generosity of the Father's children whom He uses to bless me!

Let me tell you about THE TRAY. I will always think of it as THE TRAY.   Fed-ex showed up just before 8:00 am while I was out doing chores (bet he's still talking about that at "the office").  I'm sure I smelled like the buck I had just been wrestling with (who is in full rut). I was trying to free him from the bucket he was wearing around his neck, my hair was wild, (from the said wrestling), my boots were covered with chicken manure from working in THAT area....I was wearing farm clothes (need I say more?) and I was holding back our farm dog Faith who wanted to eat the nice man with the big package.  Who expected company at 7:45 am? I'm just saying.

Well, I knew what was in the package...and I went straight to my Mom's house.  She was eagerly anticipating it's arrival also.  I wanted her to share in the joy of opening it.  We tore into it, and opened the box and...except for a couple of soft gasps.... silence reigned.  Which, if you have read this blog for very long, you know is highly unusual for me AND my mom.  It was THAT gorgeous.  The wood, the script, the handles...everything about this tray says HEIRLOOM! As beautiful as their pictures are on their website...it doesn't do justice to the detail and quality of this tray.   It is a thing of beauty....something to hand down to daughters and granddaughters....to give Mom's on Mother's Day and Christmas.  It was so beautiful it. made. me. cry.

Let me share what Rebecca wrote me about their family:

My husband is a General Contractor and has been in the business for twenty-five years.  Although Gathering Wood is not yet his full-time vocation, it is our prayer that it will be soon.  We have been married for sixteen years and have two precious children.

Our family was going along through life and, from the world’s perspective; there was nothing in need of change.  We have a wonderful marriage, two darling children whom we homeschool, a lovely home, and a strong income.  Oh, but there was something inside us that yearned for something different ~ but understanding it and pursuing it was all too elusive.  Throughout the past two years or so we have been greatly impacted by the teachings of a couple of ministries and by films like Inherit the Land and A Journey Home from Franklin Springs Family Media.  Slowly we began to believe that this elusive “thing” in our hearts was all part of God’s plan for our family and with that being the case, we became eager to pursue.

For the past year we have been in the process of starting up our family business to enable my husband to work from home with his wife and children alongside.  My husband is working towards wrapping up projects with his partners in his construction business so that we can move our family.  There are so many reasons why we have considered a move for our family.  One reason being my husband’s drive.  He currently drives a minimum of 130 miles per day (on Southern California’s infamous bumper-to-bumper highways) which adds considerably to his time away from home.  This leaves very little time to devote to his family and to start a family-business.  We currently make all our pieces in our garage-workshop and we have a great need for space.  Considering the cost of homes and workshops with acreage in California (and various restrictions on home-based businesses as well as other considerations), we have decided to move out of beautiful California.  The cost of our future purchase is our main factor as we desire to remain debt-free.  We hope to find a little house with a workshop on a bit of land somewhere.  Since we would also welcome a homeschool-friendly state, we are researching Idaho and Indiana.

Our children are looking forward to the day when their Daddy works from home.  They make up little stories throughout our day of what it will be like.  We try to create opportunities for them to work with my husband as much as possible.  Our daughter, Allison (age 10), helps in hand-painting the carved lettering on our Wall Art and Serving Trays.  She has also shown an interest in ArtCam, our CNC Router software, and wants to learn how to design pieces.  Our son, Jameson (age 8), peels off the adhesive mask which is applied to our pieces to protect the wood during carving and helps his Daddy attach the hanging-hardware on our Wall Art.  Jameson also assists his Daddy on runs to the Lumber Yard.  Our children help with various things around our garage-workshop; from sanding to sweeping.  We pray for many more learning opportunities for our children to work alongside their Daddy once workshop space permits and when my husband is able to devote more time to Gathering Wood.

I am so impressed....giving up the "American Dream"  to pursue our Father's purpose and calling in their lives!  I'd just love to hug her neck!

Oh!  Did you want to see THE TRAY?  I gave it a place of honor....at least it will be there when I'm not using it! This looks out to our entire living area, dining area and kitchen.....it even catches your eye when you step in the front door!


So, for those of you looking for a truly heirloom gift...look no further!  Whether it be for a bride, a daughter's hope chest, or whether you are looking for something that will truly grace your own home...visit Gathering Wood....you can get there by clicking on their ad....to the right!

Father, each time I see this beautiful tray, remind me to be grateful, and remind me that I can show my gratitude by doing as it says....Serve One Another!