What news do I have to share with you today?  I can tell you that we have turned a corner in our family and have seen some significant blessings in recent months.  My husband has passed the five year mark free of cancer.  Our son, after three and a half years with complex medical issues, seems to be improving significantly.  He hopes to return to college in August to finish his final four classes and graduate.  After 16 months without full time work, we are no longer among the unemployed.  And Net's Art is growing with new product lines being developed all the time and sales up a good bit over last year's.

 And we have friends!!  Some are new and many are old--I mean long term--friends who are family to us.  Recently two of them have offered to help me in really generous and practical ways. One, who has followed me through every recent trial, shows up consistently with lovely gifts--a yellow mum or a dinner, a card or a list of orders she just really needs filled.  I took her with me on a short trip recently and she spent part of each evening folding and cutting note cards with me.  Did you know that our work is all hand done?  We stayed up late into the night without even realizing the hours were passing so swiftly.  What a sweet servant heart she has!  Another has a background in merchandising so she knows all kinds of things that would never occur to me about getting my products sold. If you notice that the website seems to be greatly improved, it might be because of suggestions she made.  She's so easy to be with and so devoted.  She helped me set up and sell products at a weekend ladies' retreat in the spring and I was greatly blessed by her presence. With her, I can just be me.  She laughs with me and she lets me cry when I need to.  She too has offered to help me in any way she can.  As I think of these two, I am also reminded that a couple who used to live nearby and moved far away contacted everyone in their new church to let them know about our website.   We still hear from them at least weekly.  Isn't it wonderful when distance has no bearing on a relationship?!  When we faced unemployment for extended months, twice there were surprise checks that came to us to help see us through.  God worked through others too. Each left an imprint on our hearts and lives.  I wish you knew every one of them.  They're  "kingdom treasure", Christian friends who help us face the storms of life and watch for the sunshine.  It always comes.  Now that's good news, isn't it?           

                   Love in Christ, Net

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