Sweet Smells Vision

Wow! 2016 is over, and we have an exciting new year ahead of us. It seems that the world, including my friends and family, had a rough year in 2016. Whether it was health or finances or even both!  As I was reflecting and praying about the new year the Father reminded me of his plans for Sweet Smells, and encouraged me to post them on my blog.
Sweet Smells came to be in early 2015. I had quit my job in December  2014 because of my husband's failing health. I have always wanted my own business  and had even had a jewelry business that was shut down in 2008 due to the economy . So, I prayed fervently  about my new venture. In March of 2015, I was awakened at 2 a.m with a vision of what Sweet  Smells  would eventually  become. God advised that it would also have a tea shop and would be a place for people  to come relax and unwind from their hectic  lives.  We would also have a place where we would be able to pray for others.
I believe  2017 will be a year of change and I look forward  to seeing Sweet Smells Shoppe get closer to the vision that God has set forth. Please join us in our prayers for our company to grow and become a blessing to many others.
Don't forget to send us any of your prayer requests that you would like us to pray.  May God bless you and your family.

Summer Giveaway!

To enter:

1- Like the original post on Facebook Original post on Facebook

2- Add a comment of what your favorite fall scent is (for next giveaway). 

3- We will announce the winner on July 9th.

4- Relax and have a Great Summer!

Building your Faith

Recently (well the past few years) I keep hearing how you must stock up on food and water because there are going to be catastrophes that will stop us from being able to go to the store and other issues.  I agree being prepared is good, but may I propose a different preparation?  As God's people, he has offered us supernatural ablities that are preformed by the Holy Spirit that resides in those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior.  John 14:16-17 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."  When you recieve the Holy Spirit, you are then commissioned in Matthew 10:8 to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."  In Acts 14:3 it describes how the Holy Spirit helped Paul and Barnabas "3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders."

To explain that first is a foundation of what I am about to propose.  I agree that in the next few years we are going to have some struggles.  Revelation clearly states that we are going to have tough times ahead.  Especially for Christians.  I believe God will be there for us supernaturally, as he was for the children of Israel in the desert.  God supernaturally provided food, water and other provisions.  If he grafted the Gentiles into His family, why would He not do the same for us as he did for Israel.  Remember in Numbers 20 "7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him.10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank."  Christians will supernaturally be protected as long as they have faith.  Another old testament story about supernatural provision is in Kings 4:1-7 "4 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.”2 So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 4 And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.”5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”

I believe that we should have a little stock of food and drink, but I believe that we should really 'stock up' on our faith.  Hebrews 11:6 states "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

How do we build our faith? You must read and study the bible.  Some find this hard to do, and they are not sure where to start.  I found that the SOAP (Scripture, Observation,Application, Prayer) bible study is very helpful.  I suggest creating a journal that is yours where you can write down what you are learning and finding.  You may even find that you hit the same scripture twice at different times in your life and it gives you different revelations.  God will speak to you and you will find the truths of the Bible.

The Supernatural

Hebrews 6:1-2 "1Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.…"

The Lord has really been speaking to me lately especially about the supernatural.  I currently make soaps, bath products, and candles; so I research a lot of natural ingredients.  Ultimately I have met a lot of New Agers and Wiccans.  I love people, so I try to be respectful in all that they believe.  In knowing God and the Bible, I know he put many healing herbs and minerals here for us to use and learn about.  He has given me the desire to learn about them.  In my teachings in church, I have always been advised that we should never get mixed up with witches or psychics or any other person in the occult.  They told me to never touch a Ouija board, that bad things could happen.  But I never understood what it meant.  Satan makes the supernatural powers he gives very enticing.  He is truly winning people with the promise of power and money.  In learning more about Wiccans and their craft, I heard stories of wiccans who was drawn in so deep that they had darkness come on them.  By darkness, I mean they would have nightmares of being strangled and wake up unable to breathe, they would feel shadows watching them.  They would even feel their lives were in danger.  I did not like what that sounded like, so I started learning about God’s version of healing with plants and read that he did put them here to heal us (Revelations 22:2 “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.”) 

But what about these practices that was able to do magic, or speak to the dead, or even know the future?  I feel this is where many churches have failed us, by teaching that there is no such thing as the supernatural, or that the supernatural is only of Satan.  God is so much greater than Satan, he knows that we are fighting a battle that many people are not even aware of!  God has a supernatural power much greater than Satan’s!  He has sent the Holy Spirit to all that have received Him in order to help us.  As a Christian, we should be able to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons (Matthew 10:8 “8"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give”).  So why are we not learning this in church?  Well most churches are teaching logical theology.  Most people do not understand that without medicine or other chemicals, how can we be healed by just a person laying their hands on us and praying?  That is not logical, but it is how the Holy Spirit works!!  God is here with those who believe, and he expects us to feely give.  I can tell you that personally, I have failed many times.  I have a hard time praying in public when the Holy Spirit tells me that I need to pray for that person.  I get embarrassed and feel that people will think I am weird.  The Holy Spirit has taught me many new things about how healing works and what His supernatural power is like.  Satan doesn’t WANT me to pray for others and release the Holy Spirit.  Love is the greatest commandment.  I pray that you the reader will feel the Love of God and will know that you are the reason Jesus died on the cross and rose 3 days later.  In those 3 days, Jesus took the sins of the world and went to hell and defeated Satan.  Satan is a defeated foe.

St. Patrick's Day Giveaway

March is a crazy month!  We have St. Patrick's day and Easter all in 1 month!  I am so happy to finally feel some warm days, so I decided to spread the cheer.  Our giveaway will hopefully bless you and help you to relax and rejuvenate.  I am giving away a small gift bag with our Luck of the Irish soap.  This soap has a wonderful lather and leaves your skin feeling so soft.  Then we have one of our AWESOME bath bombs!  The bath bomb makes your water feel so good, and the smell is a relaxing scent of mango, papaya and coconut with warm vanilla surrounding it.  We've also included a sample of our Irish Breakfast tea.  This gift is the perfect 'Me' time experience, all you need is relaxing music and a good book :-)

To enter, share our post on facebook, instagram or google+.  I will draw a winner, from those who have shared our post, on March 15.  I will e-mail the person who wins.

Good Luck!

Goodbye 2015! Hello 2016!

I know, I know!  This should have been posted in January, but I am a procrastinator :-)  A new year has come, and life is just as crazy!  Last year a lot happened in my personal and professional life.  My husband (who has CNSV) started to get worse, so at the end of December 2014 I quit my job and started my online business Sweet Smells Shoppe!  Wow, this has been a fun and challenging year.  I love making soap and candles and have had a blast starting up this business.  I believe God has given me a heart to be an entreprenuer, and a love for making soap and candles.  But most of all, God has given me a heart to help others in any way I can.  I prayed all year about this business and what I should do.  God even gave me plans for my future store, even adding a tea shop to the plans!  I had been so excited, but then It happened.  My husband, Jason, had stroke number 16!!  My plans started to fall apart at the seams!  He was in the hospital for over a month starting in May of 2015.  Then he had to go back for even more chemo!  Jason hates chemo.  I prayed for his recovery and focused my attention on him, letting Sweet Smells go to the wayside.  I had kept up my blog, but then in August we had another type of disaster, our water heater exploded.  Wow!  I begged God for a break, I felt I could not handle anymore.  Life was piling up and I couldn't function.  But God (don't you love it) was with me and our family through everything.  Things that I had prayed for (with no hope of actually recieving) were actually happening!  Jason started to recover and I am happy to say can walk without any help!  But during this time, I really had to lean on God.  He sent provisions that I did not know were even possible!  God has taught me a lesson, that I need to rely on him rather than my own understanding.  As Proverbs 3:5-6 states "5Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight"

So here we are in 2016!  I am (still) learning to trust God in everything.  He has promised me that we will have a store, I just do no know the details.  I am trusting in God to show me this.  I am just sitting back and enjoying the ride.  I am now working on liquid soap, and loving the creativity.  But I am still making my bar soaps because of all the fun ingredients I can add to them (and as always the colors)!  I am also making more time for family, and friends.  As I have said before, God has given me a love for people, so I am always researching different methods to help other people.  So for 2016, I promise to blog about more recipes and alternative ways to help with everyday issues.  I also want you to know that I am here to pray for YOU!  If you have any prayer requests you can leave a comment in the comments area or email me at sweetsmellsshoppe@gmail.com .