Monday, August 30, 2010

Summer’s last hurrah…

On the calendar summer ends in late September.  In my mind, it’s the Labor Day holiday weekend that is summer’s last hurrah.  It has been quite a summer for us.  It began with moving my mama into assisted living while we were at the same time repainting and reflooring our house due to a smoke damage incident.  We had a lovely week and a half of vacation after that month long ordeal, then headed home to the business of summer camp, children’s ministries training in California, and the emotional move of middle daughter and her family to the east coast, on top of the normal demands of life and ministry.   So, hubby and I, as is our tradition, are winding up this last week of summer and recharging for the upcoming busy fall season with a few days away.  I am resting and recuperating from the emotional ups and downs of the past months, I am spending time soaking up the sun before I head back to the cool northwest, I am listening to the wooing of God’s Spirit calling me to wholehearted love and I am saying yes, I am enjoying my husband, I am purposefully savoring the sweet nectar of this last week of summer.
 

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Still following,
Elizabeth

Today I’m linking to

Tuesday Unwrapped at Chatting at the Sky

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Thank You, Daddy..

Baby granddaughter is 18 months old.  Her vocabulary is growing daily.  Before she became fluent in anything more than gibberish, her mama taught her a few words in sign language, words like please and thank you.  When she did begin to talk her first word was Daddy.  Soon she was saying Mama, Papa, Nana, and the list now grows almost daily.  On this day each week when I count my many blessings, I realize how even our baby granddaughter has all the words necessary for gratitude, “Thank You, Daddy.  Thank You.”
 
 
My continuing gratitude list #578-590



-a bouquet of dried lavender


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-the first cup of coffee in the morning



-time with baby granddaughter
 


-clean bathrooms

 

-scrubbed floors

 

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-lunch and antiquing with a friend
 

-a hummingbird right outside my office window
 

-cool morning air
 

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-all the little things that my husband does for me
 

-middle daughter, son in law and grandbabies arrived safely in South Carolina
 

-a wonderful end of summer getaway with my hubby
 

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-a good report from home
 

-time in the sun with the Son
 

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Gratefully yours,
Elizabeth
Join me and the rest of the gratitude community here~


holy experience

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Altogether lovely…

 

 

DSC_0005softened His voice and speech are exceedingly sweet; 

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 yes, He is altogether lovely [the whole of Him delights and is precious].

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This is My Beloved, and this is my Friend…’

Song of Solomon 5:16 Amplified Bible

Thursday, August 26, 2010

I simply remember my favorite things…Friday’s favs…I’m lovin’ Camas Antiques!

From Portland, cross the Columbia River and head east on Hwy. 14 and you will soon be in the quaint little town of Camas. 

There you will find Camas Antiques.  Love, love, love it!

Want to see why?

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Look Honey, there’s one of your long lost relatives shopping for antiques…a fellow Stewart wearing the family tartan kilt!

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The prices here are really great compared to many antique stores.

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Hey, I recognize those birds…they aren’t antiques, they’re from the Dollar Tree.  But I LOVE what they did with them.  Cute!

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And now what I bought…I spent a whole $15, and what I bought wasn’t antique either.

I bought a shell ball…

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a braided rope ball…

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and a wicker ball sitting right next to one of three little Dollar Tree birds that I already had.

Watch out little birdie…I have plans for you now!

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(For you locals, downtown Camas is having their Vintage Faire this Saturday, August 28th, from 9 to 4.)

 

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Elizabeth

Today I’m linking here~


Tidy Mom I'm Lovin It Fridays

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

“”Old Blue”…now glazed and waxed…

When we refloored and repainted our downstairs and switched over to a more beach cottage look I sanded this old blue dresser to distress it.  I liked it, but something wasn’t quite right.  I knew it didn’t look like other distressed furniture I had seen on decor blogs or while out shopping, but with my lack of furniture finishing experience I didn’t know what was missing.

 

Before:

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Then I read on several blogs about adding a glaze over painted furniture and then finishing it with a paste wax finish.  I know nothing about glazing, but I read on someone’s blog, (and if it’s yours please comment me so I can give you credit), that you can make a simple glaze with Burnt Umber acrylic craft paint thinned down with water.   So, I hauled “old blue” out onto the deck, brushed on the watered down paint, wiped it off with paper towels, and repeated until I achieved the right look.  When it was dry, I wiped on paste wax, and when that was dry, buffed it with a soft cotton sock.  Now, I think “old blue” is perfectly imperfect!

 

After:

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My husband, who is normally pretty uninterested in decor and therefore frequently doesn’t notice changes, noticed the change in “Old Blue” right away.  He said, “I really like it now!”…and so do I!

Still following,

Elizabeth

Today I’m linking here~







Night and day…

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First born daughter was born with lots of dark hair and was well over eight pounds.  Her birth was surprisingly easy.  She slept through the night at two weeks old.  She nursed easily, readily.  She was an easy baby, and me in all of my twenty year old wisdom and arrogance thought, “I’m a good mom!”, and inwardly judged those with “unruly” babies.

 

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Three years later her little sister was born.  It was a traumatic emergency caesarian birth.  She was 6 pound 6 ounces of blond, blue eyed energy.  She cried non-stop.  She painfully snacked, pulled away to look around, and came back for a few more sips every time I fed her.  I once recorded in her baby book the day she was content for 45 minutes straight.  She was, and at age 30 still is, a night owl.  I agonized over what was wrong…was it her difficult birth, had I not bonded with her due to that?…didn’t  I  love her enough?… maybe I didn’t know how to be a good mom after all.  My pride and arrogance came crashing down.

 

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By God’s grace, one day I bought the book The Strong Willed Child  by James Dobson.  In it he explains that some children are born with a strong will, and that usually they are the ones that God has a unique purpose for, one that will take a strong willed person to fulfill.  He writes practically, Biblically, how to deal with a strong willed child.  That book changed my life, and my relationship with my second born.  I began to pray for her in a whole new way.  I began to speak aloud to her, every time she asserted her strong will to disobey, “God gave you a strong will to do something great for Him.  Satan wants you to use it to disobey.  You must choose to obey Jesus, and you learn that by obeying Mommy and Daddy.”  These words became my mantra to her before she was old enough to understand…but I wanted them to sink into her spirit. 

 

At age five, my second born announced that she was going to be a missionary to Africa.  At age 16 she took her first trip to west Africa.  At age 30, she has never wavered from what she believes to be God’s call on her life.

 

It’s been 33 years since that arrogant young mom held her first born and thought she had it all together as a mother.  I had a third daughter, three years after my strong willed one was born.  If possible, she was even more compliant than her oldest sister.  But by this time I had come to realize that anything right I had done as a parent was pure grace and mercy from God.

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

Today we are blogging about Prayerful Parenting.  Join us here~


holy experience

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Savoring summer’s end…

Summer is winding down…

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and autumn is knocking at the door.

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I am unwrappping and savoring the last of summer’s gifts…

barbecues

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…granddaughter sleepovers

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…open windows

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What are you unwrapping today?

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

linking to Tuesday Unwrapped

at

chatting at the sky