After my children were growing up I started taking an interest in porcelain dolls. I started collecting
some and Ron saw how much I liked them, and thought, instead of collecting them, I should be
making them.

Now I never consider myself talented in any way, but I have a sister,(Marie ), who is an excellent painter
and draws beautiful. I felt when it came to talents, I was left out. *S*.

Ron kept onto me about learning how to make dolls and soon he was beginning to ask other people if
they knew of anyone that gave lessons and found no help. Then he surprised me for our 25th
anniversary. He bought me a kiln and also lined me up for some doll lessons in one of the shops about 85
miles from here. I thought I might as well try and so I went to the classes that were set up for 3 days.
When I went in the instructor had everyone introduce themselves and tell why they were taking the
classes. Everyone in that room already knew how to make the dolls and they were there to get the
diplomas to set on their walls in their shops. The instructor was very patient with me and I was thinking
I was not going to learn or remember any of this, but of course I did.

I was some disappointed in the class for it was lesson on reproduction dolls ( antiques) and I was more
into the modern dolls.

On the last day of the class I was getting acquainted with this one lady, and she was asking me if I was
planning on opening a shop up to sale dolls and to give lessons. I told her that my husband
bought me a kiln and I did not know a thing about them or even knew anything about making a doll,
until I came to the class and still felt like I knew not much. This lady invited me to her shop and said
she would teach me anything I wanted to learn. She said she would love to teach me. So I took her
address and phone number and went home with great expectation, knowing I had a place to go to learn.

The following week I called her and asked if she would mind if I would come and see her and she said to
come on. When I walked into her shop, I couldn't believe all the many different beautiful dolls a person could
make. Her name was Ruth and I stayed the complete day with her, and soon her husband came in from work
and they invited me to stay for supper. I felt like I knew them all of my life. Then we set another time for me to
come back. She and her husband kept showing me more and more how to do the dolls and how to work my
kiln, just any thing I needed to learn they kept teaching me.

One night I stayed later with them, and the subject switched to the Lord. The door opened where I could
tell them my testimony. Would you believe it, they were also Christians and also had the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Then Ruth went on and told me how her 14 year old son was killed in a car accident and
how soon afterwards she too had a nervous break down, as I had. She told me how her husband bought her a
kiln after she came home from the hospital and bought her a doll mold so she could learn how to do dolls. She
told me of how every night she went to her knees and prayed, asking God to help her with the doll making , and
let her learn to do them well. She told the Lord if He granted this, she in turn would turn around and teach a
another person how to make dolls who needed to learn, and she said that person was me. Now I don't know
about you, but I feel the Lord put her in my path so I could be blessed and "how blessed I was."

Every week I went to Ruth's for the full summer. She taught me so much and so did her husband. They
encouraged me to start a little shop after I felt comfortable with it, and that fall I opened my shop in our
garage. I ran an ad in the paper and that week I had 6 women that made appointments to come and
make dolls.

I started out in the day time with one lady and I prayed that I would not be nervous as I showed her how
to do the dolls for my hands use to shake awfully, and since my healing I was not nervous like I was.
That week I had the rest of the women coming, and soon I started having several women coming to
make dolls.

Finally I bought an old trailer house and we gutted it and started making it into a shop for my dolls. I
bought a trailer for 500 dollars..and felt like I was blessed in finding this trailer house.

It took over a year before I was able to get into my shop, and I was thrilled when it happened.
One day I had a phone call from the news paper company. They wanted to come out and look at my dolls.
It did not sink in at the time why they were wanting to come out. They sent a lady out and she asked
me every kind of question, and she never said then what she was going to do. Then a week later she
called me again and asked if she could bring someone to take pics of my dolls. They did and asked more
questions and left. Later I received a call from them to look at the Sunday paper for they were going to have a
special write up. When the paper came out I was totally surprisec not only did they do a write up but they had
me coverd for two full pages. Again God was sending me another Blessing. That week I had phone calls
constantly and even had people coming down the interstate, who saw the paper, calling to buy dolls. God does
watch out for His children.

I stayed with making the dolls for some time, but then my heart was being led in a different direction, to help
others, and my dolls became more of a hobby than anything else. Once in awhile I still give
lessons or someone calls wanting to buy a doll., but I know longer advertise, for now I am working at
a regular job and my work does not give me much time to do the dolls. Someday when its the right
time I will go back to making the dolls.

I have given my dolls to different people. Once I gave a doll to an elderly lady who had no family left at all.
She had told me when she was growing up, her Father did not allow them to have toys and she had never
owned a doll. So one day I took the doll over to her, and when she held it in her arm it was worth it to me, for
her face lit up. She was so happy and she rocked the doll and held on to it like a real baby. It brought some
joy into her life. Some times I give the dolls to children who I know are not going to have much of a christmas.
After all, what Christ did for me by letting me learn how to make the dolls and blessing me with bringing
Ruth into my life, I can say thank you to Him, by giving a doll away.