Handmade Grace

I spent a lazy afternoon the other day flipping through Instagram, just clicking on different people that were friends of friends, you know what I'm talking about. I know I'm not the only one that does that. Till I stumbled upon someone that was making items just like I had out last fall.

Honestly, my blood started to boil.

Did this person rip me off?
Are they copying me?
This is why I hate doing handmade sometimes.
I should just quite.

While my thoughts were stumbling down a dark path, my heart was racing as I quickly begin to check if this person followed me. In that moment my phone froze, pushing me a little further to the edge. The edge of throwing it all away, deleting my etsy and crawling in a ball to crying into my coffee about my lack of creativity, or the ramped stealing of ideas in the handmade community, which ever came first. Suddenly this statement started rolling around in my head....

Does it matter?
Does what matter? Does it matter I was ripped off? Yes.
Does it matter? Does it matter that I might not be as creative as I thought? Yes.
Does it matter? Does it matter that I could miss a sale because of this? Yes. 
Does it matter...

My pride started to crack, my ego started to fall.
It doesn't matter...
God provides for me, not a scarf or earring sale. As much as my pride can be bruised, hurt, or angered, it all goes back to God. God gave me creativity. He gave us all creativity, it doesn't matter if if is used in a handmade shop, a new recipe, a bedtime story to a toddler, God gave it to us. Each of us. Who are we to judge how that creativity is shown. Who is to say that they were the first person to ever think of  **insert your creative idea here**?

Can it hurt to be copied, yes it can. Just don't forget the grace. Don't forget the God given grace that He gives each of us. We don't deserve it, but He gives it freely. We don't deserve His provision, but it is always there. He doesn't need an etsy sale to give out that provision. Each of us are handmade in grace by God.

So crochet on sister, rock out those scarfs.
I hope God uses them to bless you this season, abundantly more then He used them to bless us last year.