10 Years Later... And Some Spray Paint

In the spring of 2003 I put my 13 year old crafting skills to work on an unfinished chair. I only know it was the spring of 2003 because I happened to write it on the bottom of the chair.

   

Please note the moving sticker. And a truly theological quote about 'best friends' scrawled around the base of the seat. This chair has been through many stages of my life - including that awkward middle school stage.

But my favorite part lends itself to a small bit of maturity. I penned, in what I thought was a fancy font, Romans 13:14, "Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ." I wanted to remind myself to dress appropriately, and not follow all the trends that the mall was throwing at me at that age. It was an honest effort but you can just ask my mom - it didn't work!! I was violently effected by the need to have the coolest clothes, even if they weren't good for a young teenage girl to wear.

Now my chair is a lovely shade of blue. Sitting with it are the suitcase that I wrote about here, an orange chevron pillow I picked up at Hobby Lobby, and that super cute cat painting was a house warming gift from my aunt. It is a Laurie Meseroll painting. I think it adds a little character to my eclectic room!

Although I still love the verse from Romans, I have a new verse that reminds me how precious my whole self is to the Lord. It comes from 1 Corinthians 6:20: "You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

Rather than paint penned across the top of a tacky but loveable chair, the verse is crudely written on a note card and tapped on the inside of my closet door. It hangs there to remind me of that truth while I get dressed. It is also inscribed upon my heart.

Kendal

Twine and Hooks

Here at "The Kastle" we have picture molding. I know, what is that? I wondered the same thing! My first thought when I walked into my house for the first time was, "Why is the crown molding removed from the ceiling about an inch?" I thought it was so strange! Then my smart and savvy friend told me it was picture molding. Our walls are plaster so nails either tear up the wall or do not go in very well. So, we use the molding to hang things!

My roommate and I both have names that start with 'K'. That has been very convenient when it comes to decorating. This is also why we have started to refer to our home as "The Kastle". The fact that our dad's think we are princesses might also have something to do with it...

The hooks either slide right over the top of the molding or need to be nailed in. Both ways work.

When we were first presented with the molding I was upset with it. I did not like that I would have to change how I like things to look or how I am used to arranging things. But I wanted to respect my home, so I did not want to just go blazing about with nails everywhere. Now I love it! I think it is so unique to our home and just adds to the girlishness of it all.

Isn't that life for us? We are presented with something we are uncomfortable with but then before you know it, you love it and would not want it any other way.

My pastor once said, "Contentment is not a matter of circumstance, it is a matter of choice." Are you going to be content today? You have the choice to be.

"...I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little." Philippians 4:11-12

Kendal

"Oh, That Came Out of the Garage..."

The first time I saw my new house there was this furniture piece in the garage. I silently wished that if we got the house, the piece would stay with it. Sure enough, we got the house and the piece stayed with it! When I found this guy, he looked a little disheveled and in need of love (and paint!).

With broken doors and broken feet - not to mention a few dead bugs all around - some cleaning and hammering and sanding had to be done before I could start painting.

I chose the same yellow that I used on the desk I painted that you may have seen here. I knew I wanted it to go right by the front door as an entry way table. I could just see it all coming together!

Can you spot our gnome? :) He is our little door keeper. He still doesn't have a name... I'm open to suggestions!

That garden stool was my late Aunt Fran's. I love it! And I love seeing them in magazines for over $200 and knowing Aunt Fran was ahead of her time.

In our house we hang things using the gallery molding. It is really neat! At first I couldn't see how that would work out, but I really like it now.

I have absolutely loved making things in my house look cute and match mine and my roommates personalities, but I am reminded of 1 Peter 3:3-4. It says, "Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. (ESV)"

I want our house to be a place full of beauty because of all the friends and family we hope to have in it to fill it with warmth and love. That, to me, is precious. And apparently God thinks so, too!

Kendal

My Weekend Backstage

This past weekend I had the honor of helping out with the Youth Evangelism Conference here in town. Our awesome youth minister asked if I could help out by picking up and dropping off one of the singers from the airport. Not. A. Problem. How cool is that? The next thing I knew we were doing everything together - which included shopping around town and singing along to Taylor Swift. This particular singer happened to be Jamie Grace known for this song, among others: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISgr8SgCYbY

It was too cool to see the whole conference come together. I got to experience sound check and set up and tear down the merch table. Everyone was working so hard to make it all come together! I had absolutely no clue what all went into conferences like this. And I'm so glad I was able to have this experience. All the volunteers and official people and artists and speakers worked so hard to make everything go right. All of them. I will be more appreciative of their hard work at future conferences. I was exhausted by the time we went home!

I got to sneak in a friend of mine backstage for a little bit. Someone else needed to experience behind the scenes with me!

 

Jamie Grace had a walking boot on the whole weekend and had to use either crutches or a wheelchair to get around. That definitely added another aspect to getting around. I was always trying to be one step ahead of her in what she would need, be it a door open or asking myself "Now where did those crutches go?!"

About the T.Swift singing I mentioned earlier... about 15 minutes before she went on stage the second day she asked me (knowing that I love me some Taylor) how the chorus went to "Ours" by Taylor. Of course I belted it out and played it on my phone. The next thing I knew she incorporated it into her set along with something clever about how love songs don't have to be about boys - they can be about our great God, too. Part of the "Ours" chorus says, "life makes love look hard" - Amen girl!

I have a few posts coming up soon about the renovations on my house. I have not been writing lately because I've been working on all the projects! And now they are finally done and I can tell everyone all about them!

Kendal

Weddings!

What a great time of year - wedding season!! I love it. So many of my sweet friends are in love and I have so enjoyed helping them celebrate. Last summer I was finishing up with my undergrad and was working every day where the traffic had really slowed down because the students had gone home. I found myself with a lot of time and these weddings to look forward to. I began stitching two prayer towels for my friends. They were mostly completed last August, but I finished them up this spring. My finishing touch? A poem to tell my friends they had been prayed for with each stitch.

I cut out a bird shape and a large heart shape to trace for the prints and then used a water-soluble marker to draw out the rest.

I have been working on some other crafty things lately, but they are all in the middle stages of finishing. Hopefully everything will start coming together soon and I can blog some more about my projects. There are so many changes headed my way, I am one lucky and blessed girl!!

XX - K

Not Your Typical Cake

I have never spent a lot of time with someone through their pregnancy. But when I started working in September my friend was two months pregnant. So I have been able to see her grow and experience a lot of different things with her over the past few months. We've had so much fun talking about and planning for her baby. When it came time for our office to throw her a shower I just couldn't help but try to make it as special as I could. She had never heard of a diaper cake when I told her that I wanted to make her one. All it took was a Google image search and we were both excited.

As we can see, the theme of the shower was monkeys and brown and green. Her baby boy Caiden is going to be a little monkey! He will be her second child but first boy.

The best part of going through her pregnancy with her has been to be so excited about bringing a new life into the world! She already loves him so much, and honestly, so do I!

A couple different verses remind me of our talks about him:

Psalm 139:13
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

and

Jeremiah 1:5
"I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart ..."

How precious is that little baby!! Only a couple more weeks until we meet him. And how wonderful that God knit him together and knew him even now - before he has been born!

Fishing

For Valentine's Day I wanted to put a twist on a Valentine idea I had seen online. How fun to swap the idea of candy and cheesy love notes for crackers and, well, a cheesy love note! They say "Will you o'fish'ally be mine?" and have goldfish crackers in the bags. I made these for my high school community group. I added Matthew 4:19, "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men" to keep with our fish-y theme and our Bible study.

I was so excited to make these little treats that I bought all the supplies about 3 weeks before Valentine's Day! I know they didn't turn out as crafty or as interesting looking as the ones I had seen online, but they served the purpose I wanted them to: To convey the message that the best love we have in this world is a Holy love. 

Our C-Group has been the most encouraging and uplifting thing in my life these days. We spend every Wednesday laughing and sharing our lives and praying for each other.  This is most of us from this past weekend at Focus Weekend. We are posing with one of our mascots, Marvin. Our other mascot is Henry the Giraffe. Obviously.

I love these guys so much that I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving them for graduate school! I prayed so fervently that I would get into school in Tulsa so we could all have the opportunity to be together for the next few years. And you know what? I AM GOING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA!!! I still can't believe it! I am so excited.

Hopefully next year for Valentine's Day my craft will be a little prettier, but bring about more exciting results!