Guest Blogger: Jennafer Martin PAJWLH

Some of you may know Jennafer Martin as the Senior Editor of Creating Keepsakes Magazine. That is how I originally met her at a lunch meeting for a company that I use to work for. I am so glad that I was able to really get to know Jennafer through the years and to find out what a beautiful heart she has and her gift of helping others. . Besides working for Creating Keepsakes, Jennafer is also a business owner at zoesoulspa.com.  She does some amazing things with her gifts. From what I have noticed about her,  she has a very special way of understanding a persons heart and that is why I asked her to join us this month as a guest blogger. She enjoys many different types of crafting. I love how she incorporated the theme into her project. 

From Jennafer: 

Relationships Are Important to the Heart & Spirit  

Amanda and me, 2011

My younger sister, Amanda, is one of the most important people in my life. She always has been, although I didn’t always know it. We’re very different from one another, so different that people who knew us growing up seldom believed we were related. Those differences as well as just being sisters paved the way for many arguments and rivalries. And even though, in an attempt to patch up fights and help us understand the importance of this relationship in our lives, our mother would often tell us “Friends come and go, but you’ll always be sisters”, I still sometimes found myself wishing to be an only child. 

That’s the way it is with sisters, right?

These days, my sister’s importance in my life is a given, and one I’m grateful for. Amanda and I are still very different people, and we lead different lives. She’s an environmental biology major and I was an English major. She’s a wife and fabulous mom to my niece and nephew, and I’m an unattached mom to feathered kids. We think differently and have different talents and gifts. But we also are great friends and learn a lot from one another. I’m incredibly proud of her and proud to be her sister. Our mother was right: friends have come and gone, but we’ve remained and always will be sisters. And I’m so thankful for that.


What are some of the most important relationships in your life? Whether they are romantic or platonic, familial or business, relationships are a big part of what makes up the fabric of our lives. They offer us support, challenge us, and help us grow and enjoy life. They also help our spiritual wellbeing. Because the essence of spirituality is connection—to people, to purpose, to ourselves, and more—connecting with others through relationships helps to ground and center us, reminding us that we’re not alone and that we’re loved, that our lives have meaning and purpose. Relationships lift us, get us in touch with our truths, and give us perspective to get beyond the day-to-day stresses and move forward. That they add joy to our lives is a plus.

In honor of relationships being such a large part of our hearts and spirits, I created this necklace to accentuate the importance of that heart connection with rose quartz and rhodochrosite beads. Both of these gemstones exude love, connection & healing, strengthening the heart chakra---things relationships give us as well.

  

It was simple to create by stringing the beads first and then cutting and threading tubing to finish. It makes a great gift to give to someone you love or a gift to yourself to remember those you love.

This week, I encourage you to make time to connect with someone important in your life. Whether you enjoy a good conversation or a fun activity together, be present and enjoy that connection. Let it relax and rejuvenate you and add meaning to your life.