In 2009 my sister-in-law introduced me to jewelry making. We spent many Sunday afternoons beading together. After about a year I had made more jewelry than I could wear or give as gifts. So I began to think about what I could do with it. At that time I was receiving God's healing from past hurts and was finally beginning to know my individual worth to God. Being gifted as a teacher I felt compelled to share this new learned lesson with other women. I thought I would give the jewelry I made to women at the local abuse shelter with a card telling them how valuable they were to God. However, God was working out a different plan. You see, at this time my night-time reading was Divine, by Karen Kingsbury. Divine is about a contemporary Mary Magdalene. In this book Mary recounts her past of physical and sexual abuse, drug addiction and suicidal thoughts and shares the salvation she found in Jesus with a client at an abuse shelter she runs. After finishing this book I realized that the women at the shelter need so much more than a piece of jewelry. They needed what the shelter provided. That led me to opening a shop on Etsy. With the income I made from selling my jewelry I could financially support the Alternatives for Battered Women organization.

The combination of the healing I personally received from God, my desire to share the message that we are treasured by God, and my love for making jewelry led me to sell my handmade jewelry at www.etsy.com/shop/GlimmerOfBeauty. My hope is that the jewelry I create is a glimmer of the inner beauty placed in each woman by God.

You will notice when you visit my shop that most of the beads in my jewelry are glass. I love working with glass. I love how the light reflects from it, passes through it and creates movement across the piece. I feel uplifted, energized and at peace when I'm working with glass and bringing colors together to create something beautiful. I think I am so drawn to this medium because my spirit is drawn to the light of Jesus. When I think of Jesus light filled images of nature come to mind. Glass is also an ordinary material but when placed in the hands of an artisan it becomes something extraordinary just like you and I in the hands of God. How can I not love spending time with glass when I am constantly reminded of my God?

I have been blessed to know Jesus since a child. My closeness to the Lord has changed over the years. I've spent time in the desert; time on the mountaintops. I have not always been aware of God's presence in my life. But as I look back the evidence of his faithfulness to me is abundantly clear.

I hope you can find a piece a jewelry you love from my shop. But more importantly I hope you find the love of Jesus your Savior.