I Broke One of My Own Rules . . . and I'm So Glad

January 31, 2019

I've been creating cards for many years. It grew out of this desire to celebrate special people in my life in a personal-touch kind of way.

Over the last few years, I've grown that passion into selling my own line of cards. But regardless if my cards are for one person or hopefully countless persons, there is one thing I've always done with them:

I use my own words.

That may sound strange, but if you look at cards (and signs) out there, you will see many that use famous people's quotes like from Shakespeare or the Bible. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that--clearly, famous words sell cards (and signs). However, I felt that using my own words was one way I could set my products apart from others.

And then I met a guy whose words I'd never seen anywhere except in a tiny little old book, and I wanted to share him with the world (or at least my little world).

His name was Brother Lawrence, actually Nicolas Herman. At 18 years old, he entered the French army and fought in the 30 Years' War. After a life-changing experience, he became a Christian and then dedicated his life as a monk. His writings were pieced together after his death into a little book called Practicing the Presence of God.

What's so incredibly enchanting about this book is that Brother Lawrence shares time and time again how he practiced living in God's presence. And there was no big secret or magic formula. He just practiced doing it, and like almost anything you practice, he got better at it.

That's it.

Here are my cards.

You can also check them out at my store by clicking right here. 

And while I don't plan on breaking my "Use My Own Words" rule very often, there's almost always a good reason to break a rule every now and then.