Just following Jesus in my real life...: September 2010

Thursday, September 30, 2010

I simply remember my favorite things…Friday’s favs…I’m lovin’ flea market antiques!

Last Saturday was a fabulously beautiful fall day. In our lives full of busy-ness, it’s a rare treat when I get to do something just for fun with one of my daughters. When I read about this on the BarnHouse blog, I knew I wanted to go, and I was thrilled that my oldest daughter and baby granddaughter were able to go with me. We thoroughly enjoyed our day in the country, and browsing the wonderful flea market antiques.

Love at first sight…

This wonderful snack shack is one of the first things to greet you upon entering…

I don’t know which looked more delicious, the food or the way the food was displayed!

Shabby chic wonderfulness…

The old berry picking crate was tempting…anybody else out there who used to earn money in the summer berry picking?

I was excited too see this old bed frame…I have the same bed in my spare room, painted shabby chic white!

Love, love, love the “frenchy” grainsack pillow…

Love all the rusty, rustic goodies…

I wanted to pry this sign right off and put it above the cabinets in my kitchen…swoon…

Oh that table!

What a great way to spend a beautiful autumn afternoon!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Elizabeth

I’m linking here today~

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Made to fly…

When I was a girl I had dreams of flying

Gliding really, there was no effort, no arms flailing

The dreams were vivid

The scenery, the sensation

Me soaring over my familiar neighborhood on Dartmouth Street

I never told anyone

Until now

That God made me to fly

Because even I forgot

Mama, she had a way to keep me grounded

She kept Daddy grounded too

‘Til he just flew away with someone else

I think he flailed his arms and beat his way out of the cage

but I don’t think he soared

Me, I got some of Mama’s sense of responsibility

Practicality

So in the getting married, having babies, ministry

Like I said, I forgot that I was made to fly

Except, when I sang or danced or played with those babies

When I made our home a cozy nest with more imagination then money

When God helped me help someone or I taught God’s Word with heart aflame

In times like those, I felt my feet leave the ground a bit

But hard times came, and with them, shoes made of cement

Then a year or so ago my heart did what my mind didn’t understand

I quit the job that filled up my days

My mind thought it was that I needed that time for ministry

That was an important part of the reason

But my heart knew it was more than just that

My heart knew that at my age, if I didn’t start to fly

I never would

One day, I sat at a computer and started typing

At first the words came from my head

But then they started to flow from my heart

My spirit

One day, I picked up a camera

And the world around me became beauty for me to capture

It nourished my heart

My spirit

One day I bought canvas and brushes and paint

and I didn’t know what I was doing, but I did it anyway

A painting came out straight from my heart

My spirit

And when I do these things

or sing or dance or play with my grandbabies

or make our home a cozy nest with more imagination than money

or God helps me to help someone or I teach God’s Word with heart aflame

In times like these, I feel my feet leave the ground a bit

I may not be soaring yet

But I’m getting higher and higher

Because now I remember that I was made to fly

Still following,

Elizabeth

Happily linking here today~

Today’s Simple Pleasure…

Trying something new…

my very first attempt at painting.

Fall Mantel with Autumn Banner…

When I decorated my mantel for fall I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.

(Yes, I dare to leave my solid brass sconces in their original untrendy, brassy finish, because I’m a decor rebel!)

Then one evening, while hubby was gone to a meeting, I had an idea of something I could do with materials I already had around the house.

First I put on my pajamas…

then I put the movie No Reservations in the dvd player…

(these two steps are VERY important)

then I spread out my supplies ~~all over the bedroom floor~~ in my special, highly organized, crafting room…

then I made a template for the “pennant type triangles” (measure five inches from the corner and put a dot, put a dot at the center two and a half inch mark, from the center dot measure down six inches and make another dot, connect that dot to the two outer dots at the top and you have a perfect triangle)…

then I cut out the template and used it to cut out six triangles from burlap…

using a yardstick to give make sure all the letters were approximately at the same point on the triangles I used a sharpie and freehanded the word a-u-t-u-m-n…

then I dipped the sharpie point in black craft paint (because I didn’t have a small enough paint brush) and went over the letters in paint…

afterwards I quickly rinsed off the sharpie, and it still works!

(Are you in awe of my highly technical craft skills yet?)

I took three long pieces of jute twine and knotted them together at approximately six inch intervals.

I wanted something thicker than a single piece of twine.

Other ideas might be a piece of rope or cording, a strip of fabric, or braiding some twine together…I just used what I had and did what was easiest.

Then I hot glued on the burlap triangles, spacing them a bit apart.

I hot glued on artificial fall leaves on the top corners of each triangle.

Now my mantel looks like this!

Still following,

Elizabeth

~happily linking to the Nester’s fall mantel party

and Hooked on House’s fall decor party~

Monday, September 27, 2010

Tutus and llamas…

When autumn begins with gray skies and rain

and then suddenly a day comes when it’s all golden and sunny

and the sky is cornflower blue

sometimes on a day like that

the best thing to do is to don your favorite tutu

and wave bye-bye to the city

and run away to the country

with the llamas and the sheep and the goats

and the chickens and the turkeys

and do a little twirl in your tutu

there in the autumn sun

Still following,

Elizabeth

linking to

Tuesdays Unwrapped at chatting at the sky

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Miracles…

I had a scare this month. A big one. The big C runs in the family on my mother’s side…colon cancer. My aunt and her son both died from it. As a believer in Jesus Christ I don’t believe I have to passively accept things that run in my family line, whether it be a sin tendency or a sickness, so I bring these things to the Cross in prayer. As a believer, I also believe God gave us doctors and medicine and wisdom and responsibility to take care of our bodies. So, as unpleasant as it is, I go to the doctor and get checked for this type of cancer. The doctor found something the first year I had the test, removed it, and sent it to the lab. The biopsy results showed pre-cancerous, but NOT cancer. Doctor’s orders were to come back in a year for a recheck. Two weeks ago I went back…and it was back. They removed it as best as they could and sent it in for a biopsy. Right away I started contacting family and friends and asking for prayer. For the first twenty four hours, I felt wrapped in peace and love. I had a quiet confidence that God was in control and I had nothing to fear. A couple nights later, I couldn’t sleep. Fear began to torment me…thoughts of what if. The next day the doctor emailed me the biopsy results. Again, pre-cancerous, but NOT cancer. (Thank God!) I felt like a thousand pound weight was lifted from me. I did a happy dance! However, the doctor felt he should send me to a surgeon for a consult. The possibility was that they were not getting all of it removed and that was why it was recurring. The possible solution…remove that section of the colon. Friday, I saw the surgeon. His conclusion, just a minor procedure needed, but no drastic surgery. Thank God! God gave me an undeserved, unearned miracle.

Today, I began to think of how everyday God blesses me with undeserved, unearned miracles…most of them taken for granted, unnoticed. Things such as, my heart kept beating and my lungs kept breathing all day long. Today, I drove here and there and everywhere, safely with no accidents. Today, we had more than enough food to eat. Today, all of our needs were met, and even most of our wants.

Oh, we’ve gone through some really tough times in our life. Times of deep, painful loss. Times when we prayed for a miracle, but didn’t get the answer we wanted. Even then, God helped us make it through. He helped us to keep walking, to keep putting one foot in front of the other, when giving up would have been a whole lot easier…and that too, is an undeserved, unearned, miracle.

My continuing gratitude list #631=#645

-a call from my sister, “If you need me to come, I’ll come.”

-babysitting for baby granddaughter when her mama and daddy had to go out of town