There's No Place Like Home..

Four and a half years ago we moved into this home. Since then, we haven't really made it our own. It has a very eclectic feel to it (so we've been told) but it's eclecticity is quickly approaching cluttered-ness and it is making us both crazy! We moved in only 5 months after getting married, so we've accumulated a lot of stuff since then, considering we didn't have much to start with. Other than a few personal touches (the lime green bedroom, for example) it's really..how to put this..very blah. I think we've felt that since it's a rental, we didn't need or want to put much effort into it because we knew we'd be moving 'soon'..fast forward to 4 1/2 years later..

I've been doing little projects the past few weeks in hopes that the simple effort would produce great results. I think I'm on the right track! It's gotten depressing, because it's an old house, things just don't clean up as well as we'd like so even with our best efforts, it never really looks good. Here are some of the projects we've done, or are planning to do:


This is the nightstand I painted a couple of months ago, with the tree design on the side. Here I'm showing off my 25 cent candle holder! It needs different candles, but we get the idea, right?


AMAZING FIND!! A friend and I made a quick trip to the farmer's market while and it was love at first sight! This adorable little spice rack was -brace yourselves- $6.50!! How could I pass that up!? I also got a $2 zucchini .. no really, its huge.

Let's zoom in for a moment.

My good friend Whit got me this amazing-beyond-all-words plate set at a thrift store a couple years ago. It has 8 mugs, 8 each of salad and dessert plates and a pedestal/platter ..all for $13!!





I'm also working on a bed-side table that came with a dresser my mom got for Toby. She cleaned and refinished it but there was a big black stain on top, like a messy paint can was set on top of it. So I decided to paint it and I love it more than I thought I ever would! I was afraid painting it would ruin the antique-y-ness but I really think it brings out the design really well! It's not finished yet but again, you get the idea.

My mother-in-law gave us this great little hutch and I finally decided too put something in it. I love old books and Daniel has some great ones -King Arthur, and the Lord of the Rings set.. and Toby's special rocks from some of our trips.

Daniel wants to build raised garden beds to fancy up the outside of the house and the first one he wants to build will be around the base of this not-so-lovely pine. You can see the string marking the outline. I'm very excited about this!



There are more projects we hope to do (like painting our dining room that is currently wears hunting-dogs-and-geese-wallpaper) but I'll post those when we get to them. God has blessed us with an incredible deal on our rent and we're just realizing that no matter where we live, we need to make it feel like home.

My wall-art projects last week: (scrapbook paper=cheap art!!)

Hide it Under a Bushel, NO!!

"Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:15-16

I say this out of my own guilt; Christians need to stop hiding in their comfortable homes, their comfortable social circles, their comfortable worlds. I, WE, know that we are called to share God's Word with everyone. Romans 10:14-15 says, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

Sure, God is just and will only hold us accountable to what we have learned (read: if a tribe somewhere never has the gospel shown to them, God will judge them according to their hearts. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20)but this doesn't mean we can just sit back, relax and hope 'those people' happen to recognize God somehow. There is a specific call for the church to send out believers into the world to share the gospel.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 we read that, in Christ, we are reconciled to God and therefore "Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." Ambassadors go into other nations to represent their country/cause to people who don't necessarily know anything about that country/cause and they do the business on behalf of their nation or beliefs. Because Christ died for us, we are new creations in Him and we are to go into all nations and do the business of the Lord, working as the voice and hand of Christ!

"He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13 We are to work as one body to share the love of Christ through His resurrection for one purpose -to build up the body of Christ! Good works aren't what get you into heaven. They are a result of your love and devotion to God. There is nothing you could possibly do to make you good enough to earn God's love. HE LOVES YOU ALREADY and is just waiting for you to accept that! It isn't He who has turned away from us; we have turned away from Him.

We are called to do the work of the Lord while here on earth and with that comes suffering. Yes, that means life will not be perfect. Becoming a disciple is not a magical way to become rich, healthy and have a perfectly comfortable life. God might use you in some way that you don't really have to go through many trials. But he might use you in a way that causes suffering in every way imaginable, as a test of faithfulness to Him. "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.." Here's the beauty in the suffering.. "..But take heart! I have overcome the world." What an incredible promise! Christ calls us ALL to live for Him, to share God's Word, and though He tells us very clearly that we will endure trials and suffering because of this calling, we don't have to worry because He is risen and waiting for the right moment to draw us all into His arms, into God's glory!