God is good

I was reading some old Dear Friends from Sew Beautiful magazine and I came across this one from May, 2005 which was in celebration of 100 issues of Sew Beautiful. I thought you might to read this especially as we celebrate 30 years of Martha Pullen Company in 2011! God is so good all the time. I send my love to you.

Philippians 1:1 and 3-4
1 I thank my God every time I remember you.

3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 4:6 and 8 and 13 and 19
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

8 Finally, brother, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.

13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

19 And my God will meet all your needs, according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Dear Friends,

As we celebrate publishing our 100th Sew Beautiful magazine I would like to reflect a little. Sew Beautiful began as a pipe dream with no money to fund the dream, no magazine staff, no computer in the business—just a dream. I had written several books on heirloom sewing which were quite well received. Having been established since 1981 the business was bumping along with a lot of joy for a lot of people but was struggling financially. We had a dream of creating a magazine with our beautiful heirlooms, full sized patterns, smocking design plates, lots of ideas for sewing, techniques for heirloom sewing-in effect what Sew Beautiful was and still is. I had a personal dream to give the credit, publicly to God for the whole magazine as well as the whole business. It was critical to me that scripture and this Dear Friends page be included in every magazine. It was and is.

For my scripture for this special magazine, I have chosen a few of the verses I clung to when Joe and I were trying to make a decision whether or not to plunge in. This meant selling retirement property to fund the magazine. Joe really believed in the magazine more than I did in the beginning. I was never concerned that it would be loved by everyone who loved heirloom sewing; I was terribly troubled about how we would finance it and keep it going. Repeating in my heart and mind daily were Philippians 4:13 and 19.

Armed with clothes from everyone I knew who sewed beautifully, their children and grandchildren for models, Joanna in her beautiful clothes, Scott Wright to do the layout and design, Kathy McMakin to help me write, Patty Smith to do the majority of the sewing and many prayers from many people, we published the first issue, “Back to School,” in the fall of 1987. The rest is history and God has been faithful to always keep us going.

God has given us the strength to keep creating Sew Beautiful issues and indeed God has met all of our needs in publishing this magazine. I never in my wildest dreams thought we would be stronger than ever 100 issues later. You have been our faithful and beloved readers. Without God and you there would be no 100th issue of Sew Beautiful. Without our wonderful readers (that’s you), designers, technical and artistic staff and faithful advertisers there would be no 100th issue of Sew Beautiful. As we celebrate this milestone, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It is truly our pleasure to come to your home bringing the joy of sewing. “I thank my God everytime I remember you.”

May God Bless You,
Martha