Suzanne Schaffer

If you're out and happen to see me squeezing my eyes shut like this guy, know that it's God working in me and I'm trying really hard to adjust my attitude. The squeezing of my eyes shut will likely result in not-so-flattering wrinkles, but it's keeping me from rolling my eyes.

Something the Holy Spirit has been dealing with me about.

You're rolling your eyes at me right now, aren't you?

As I shared with my Bible study group a few weeks ago, most of my sins are secret sins. The ones no one knows about. The unseen. But just because they are unseen doesn't mean they aren't as wrong as the ones that can be seen. 

The attitudes of my heart cause God pain. He knows my heart, He knows how I truly feel about everything. Even things that don't deserve my attention or opinion.

A neighbor's dog barking at me while I walked down my driveway this morning resulted in me squeezing my eyes shut as I immediately went into reaction mode.

"Shut it," I hollered…

There are two types of people in the world. Coffee drinkers and tea drinkers. There are two types of people in my home and they are the same as the above. One of us (the one who has a beard*) prefers coffee. The other detests it.

Okay, maybe that's a little harsh. 
I don't detest coffee. 
I love the smell of it and I  love it as an ice cream (hearkening back to some of my earliest memories in Rhode Island, indulging in Newport Creamery's coffee ice cream as a very little person). 
But hot, in a cup? No thanks. Cups are made for tea.

My husband received a Christmas gift that's been life-changing for him. It's a cold brew coffee maker. He makes tomorrow's coffee today. This involves a drippy filter and this morning he grabbed the closest thing to hold under the drippy filter while carrying to the garbage can.

My breakfast plate.

I'd just defrosted my Ezekiel Bread raisin English muffin in the microwave so I could cut it in half and toast it. My plate was waiting for…

In 1970 a movie called Love Story was released, challenging a generation to believe, "Love means never having to say I'm sorry." 


Insert eye roll here.

I remember watching this movie in the 80's because it was a classic. I knew immediately the message it was intending to teach was foolishness. And now, after being married for twenty-seven years, I know it more than ever. Because love means saying I'm sorry. The truth is, we mess things up. It's what we do. We're human. Feelings get hurt, whether intentionally or not. We always hurt the ones we love. Because we are people. We are a box of disappointment wrapped up in pretty paper. 

Sometimes our perceptions of how we think things should be and the reality of the way things are cause tension within us and we lash out. Life rarely responds the way we hope it will. Pies get dropped. Coffee spills. Hospital visits ruin vacations. Stress levels rise and we react instantly instead of thinking through. Our voices ta…

All of the books I read in 2018 Favorites are in bold

January

1. Oath of Honor by Lynette Eason 
2. The Man He Never Was by James Rubart
3. The View from Rainshadow Bay by Colleen Coble
4. The Air I Breathe by Louie Giglio
5. All Things Bright and Strange by James Markert
6. The Wrecking by Christy Barritt (Kindle)
7. Hidden Currents by Christy Barritt (Kindle)

February

8. Why I Hate Green Beans by Lincee Ray
9. The Masterpiece by Francine Rivers
10. Flood Watch by Christy Barritt (Kindle)
11. Shadows of Hope by Georgiana Daniels 
12. Fatherless by Dr James Dobson & Kurt Bruner

March

13. Beneath the Surface by Lynn H. Blackburn 
14. Where the Fire Falls by Karen Barnett
15. If I Live by Terri Blackstock (Kindle)
16. Plain Threats by Alison Stone 
17. Murder in the Locked Library by Ellery Adams
18. Desperate Escape by Lisa Harris

April

19. Pelican Point by Irene Hannon
20. No Less Days by Amanda G. Stevens
21. Dangerous Waters by Christy Barrett (Kindle)
22. Royals by Rachel Hawkins 
23. Begin Again by L…

I'm pretty sure when I say Be Dazzled all my friends think of the 80's gadget used to decorate clothing with bling and how much it reminds them of me. 

And rightly so. 

I admit, I love all things sparkly. 

Sequined shirts. Glittery shoes. Jeans with embellishments. Sparkly fingernails. Check. Check. Check. Check.

Yet there's so much more to this phrase.

I saw a pin on Pinterest a few months ago that read, "God must be really disappointed if we aren't dazzled at least twenty times a day."

While I don't think He's in heaven shaking His head if we aren't dazzled by His creation, I do think He appreciates it when we are.

This has skipped through my mind ever since I saw it and I've begun to be intentionally dazzled.

When I turned on the yard light at 6:00 AM to let the dog out and saw the frost glittering on the grass like a trillion diamonds, I was dazzled.

When I made a middle of the night trip to the bathroom and saw the crescent moon hanging in the sky…

I know I've been bad at keeping up this page lately. It's fourth quarter on eBay. That should explain it all. I'm busy shipping, listing, cleaning, sourcing. 
I also know you've been craving my 2018 list of favorite things. 
It's kind of a tradition. And probably only important to me ha ha.
So here it is. The moment you've been waiting for.

Suzanne's list of favorite things: 2018

Gentle Leader Headcollar.  This is life-changing. My dog cannot pull me when we walk. She used to lunge for rabbits, she used to dig her feet in and lean to one side if there was something interesting to smell. Now we walk and the leash is loose the whole time.  Get one. Trust me. Your dog will hate it for the first week or so but will then be used to it.  Sunbeam heating pad with massager. This folds over my shoulders and relieves my stiff and achy mess in minutes. It's bliss. 


Nail polish by Starrily. It's the best I've used and the prettiest. This shade is called Sea Glass. It …