Abiding

The first time I heard the word 

"abide"

was 

when we lived in Alaska. 

We were in a lifegroup with some of the most

amazing people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. 

Chris and I grew up a lot in that lifegroup. 

Our leader talked a lot about abiding-- 

that our relationships with God shouldn't be us going to Him 

when we need something or when we feel like talking to Him. 

It should be this constant-never-ending-on-going experience. 

The highs and lows of the day, the mundane moments that seem too boring

to bother God with...ALL OF IT! 

Though that was 10 years ago, I'm just now

truly learning how to abide in Him. 

I've started a new business. There's SO MUCH I could share about that, 

but that's for another blog post. Today's post is about

an experience I had today. 

This whole new business endeavor has been 

so challenging, but so very rewarding, and 

honestly the most fun I've ever had in my life!

I'm doing what I love and I get to make money doing it?! 

But even though it's been such a fun experience, 

it's been a very spiritual experience! 

He has shown me that if it's important to me,

it's important to Him! 

So, before I go to thrift stores, I pray.
I ask God to show me which pieces are mine.

I pray that He will give me creative ideas. 

I pray that He will give me His eyes to see

not what's in front of me, but what things are capable of 

becoming!  

Today I drove up to Goodwill.

The parking lot was about as packed as it could get. 

I hate crowded stores, so I took one look and was about to drive away!

But I stopped myself. 

I prayed first. 

I asked God if there was anything in there

that I was supposed to get.

I still felt a pull to go in.

I prayed again, "Okay, Lord, if I'm supposed to 

go in there, will you just confirm it by giving me a good

parking space? " 

I was just about ready to leave, when one of the 

best parking spaces opened up!

I kid you not! 

So, I thanked Him for opening it up for me, 

parked and went in. 

I grabbed my cart and prayed, "Okay, Lord! You brought me in here!

What do you have for me in this store? Open my eyes! Let me see 

what you see!". I walked around for a while, and nothing major

caught my eye. So, I prayed again, "Lord, if there's 

something here that I'm supposed to get, will you show me? And

if there's someone here that I'm supposed to talk to 

or share with, or pray for, show me! I know you brought 

me to this store! This was your idea, not mine!".

I turned the corner and found this:

I thought it was cute, so I grabbed it. 

I found a few other small things, but honestly, I 

was kind of thinking, "Well, that was anticlimactic!" 

I got home, and Chris started inspecting this 

candy dish. He said, "I'll bet this is 

worth a lot!"

Turns out that it's not worth tons...

but it's worth way more than I paid for it!

According to how much they're going for on ebay, it's 

worth about $50!

Not a bad score!

It's not about the $45 I'm going to make from this 

experience! Honestly, none of this is about the money!

God is showing me how to rely on Him fully!

He's teaching me how to 

listen and obey!

We've told our boys to "listen and obey" 

since Cade was a toddler! 

And now WE'RE learning to listen and obey!

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."

       John 10:27

No matter what your situation is right now, 

talk to Him about it! 

There's literally nothing too small or

insignificant to talk to Him about! 

Talk to him, and then be still 

and listen for His voice! 

He's speaking!

Listen and obey!

Home Re-vamp {helping a friend} Phase 2

After I replaced my friend's chairs
{see phase 1 here}
it was time to think about
wall decor in her house.

I needed an
awesomely cheap
way to make a big impression
on a s small budget.
So, I immediately thought about my
mirror collage.

This is my favorite collage
in my house,
and my friend has always liked it...
so I got to work making one for
her home.

First things first:
scour
every thrift store
within a 20 mile radius!

The frames I found ranged
in price from
$2 to $5.


They don't have to be gorgeous!
They just need to be a variation of different
shapes and sizes.
Really any mirror will do--
plastic,
wood,
porcelain
it doesn't matter,
 just as long as it has a
nice shape.

Then, using painter's tape,
completely cover the mirror.
Sometimes it helps to use a
butter knife to
tuck the edges of the tape
under the frame
so that it makes a clean edge.

Now comes the fun part!
Go to town painting the frame
whatever color your heart desires!
I usually would have used
spray paint,
{my BFF}
but I had some paint left over
from the chairs I painted for her,
so I just used that.

I didn't want to just have mirrors
on her wall.
I wanted more
texture and color.


I found a fun way 
to do that: 

I found this over-sized key
at Hobby Lobby
for about $4

I spray painted it white,
and then had my husband
drill holes in the board
so I could attach the key with wires.

Then secure with wire

Hot glue a pop tab or
wire on the back,
and you're good to go!

 

 Lastly, I wanted another

pop of color,

so I found a cheap "H" at JoAnn's

{H being the initial for their last name}

 

and painted it

 peacock blue,

which is going to be 

the color of their 

dining room table

 

So there ya have it--
it adds a
lot of personality
to this room
on a shoestring budget!


Go forth
 and
 be inspired!

Home Re-vamp {helping a friend}

I've been helping a friend
"cozy-up" 
her home for a while.
Step by step her house
is being transformed from
a "bachelor pad" (her words!)
to a cozy, comfy, welcoming space.

What's one of the biggest
ways you can make a huge impact
on a budget?

Beautiful dining room seating!

Her dining room chairs had
seen better days.
So, I went to work and found
mismatched
chairs for her table.
I had great luck looking at
thrift stores and on Craigslist.

SCORE!

Not everyone likes the
mismatched look, but she's a
super-hip
super-trendy
super-happenin'
gal who wanted a shabby, eclectic, urban feel.


When looking for furniture to refinish
don't look at all of its
imperfections!

Most of the chairs I found had terrible
stains on the upholstery.
But, you can always
CHANGE
the upholstery!
Focusing on a dining rooom chair's
upholstery imperfections
is like those people on House Hunters
whining about the color of a room.
{are you kidding me?! It's called paint and
you can change it!}


Instead, look at the bones and the lines
of the furniture!

This chair is absolutely
stunning!
It just needs a little love!





I used the painting technique I used

on my barstools

and then I finished them off with a

few coats of a clear

topcoat (spraypaint, of course).

I reupholstered the seats with a fun,

bright fabric,

and

TA-DA!

 

{Yes, I'm aware that this isn't the same chair

I was showing you earlier. Note to self:

remember WHICH chair

you took the before picture of.}

I'll be back soon with more fun

projects from her

Home re-vamp!

Shoe Organizer Advent Calendar

As soon as I saw 

this advent calendar

on Pinterest I was

 smitten!

All you need is 

1) shoe organizer- I got mine at Walmart= $5

2) free printables (on link above)

3) card stock= $4

4) clothes pins- Dollar Tree= $1

5) spray paint- had it on hand, but can get

it at Walmart for about $3.50

6) hot glue- Dollar Tree= $1

7) double sided tape or Elmer's Glue

Did somebody say spray paint?

 I'm in!

Here's Eighteen 25's version:

And here's mine:

I cut my brown card stock wider than she did,

in order to fully cover up the pockets.

I found these cute little Santas

at Archiver's and hot glued one

of them on to one of the clothes pins.

That way the boys know 

which day we're on for the count down. 

I love how it turned out!

The pockets are a great size for 

small gifts for the boys, or cards revealing

the special activity we'll do each day of the month. 

It's become one of my 

favorite 

Christmas traditions!

CHEAP Storage

You Guys!

You're SO not gonna believe this! 

I found this pin on Pinterest
about spray painting storage bins from the
Dollar Tree,

and I was like, "NO WAY!".

So, of course I had to try it out, because it's like the 

cheapest storage solution on the planet! 

So, I went to the Dollar Tree to get my bins.

Unfortunately, the size I needed was hard to come by.

I had to go to two different stores, 

and I only came up with six 11x11 bins.

So this is what they look like:

  

BUT...

AND

Buy these:

The tan is so much easier to cover, and since 

I was painting them blue, the spray paint 

covered these like a dream. 

The other two styles were horrid. 

Don't get them. 

Just don't.

I started out spray painting the bins in a box, but they

wouldn't stand up very well, so the best method

I found was to just hold them up and 

go to town!

Of course, it's always a good idea to wear gloves

when you're spray painting,

but I have a tendency to do things the 

messy way!

Case in point:

FYI, here's a fun little tid-bit:

What does one do when they're covered 

with blue paint and look like they're 

a member of the Blue Man Group? 

I had a feeling that my usual solution of 

scrubbing my hands with steel wool wasn't gonna 

cut it this time, unless I wanted to remove 5 layers of my 

epidermis!

So, once again, Google to the rescue!

OLIVE OIL!

Rub your hands with olive oil for a 

few minutes, and then rinse off with Dawn. 

You're welcome.

So, you wanna see how they turned out?

Not bad, eh?

Not too shabby for $6.

But I've still got some work to do...     

Now, if I can just find three more....

Thank{ful} Indeed

You see....

Bud Hodges doesn't know how to quit. 

Soon after Mom and Dad got married, Dad took on 

some side jobs to get extra cash. 

One of his side gigs was fixing lawn mowers. 

 

He'd fidget with a part and pull the starter rope.

Nothing.

So, he'd fidget with another part and pull the starter rope.

Nothing.

Time after time.

Hour after hour.

Mom would just stare out the window shaking her head, 

wondering WHEN that man would just give it up already!

{I would have given up after the second pull.

Clearly I've been graced with my Mother's patience}

A year ago, this is how Mom and Dad spent 

their Thanksgiving

According to the pulmonologist, Dad would 

NEVER 

be able to survive without a ventilator.

So, when he finally got healthy enough to go without it, 

they kept him prepped for it for a long time

 (with the passy-muir cap covering the hole),

because going back on the ventilator wasn't a question of

"if", it was a matter of "when" in the minds of the specialists.

But they'd never met Bud Hodges before....

and they'd never seen the works of 

My God!

Not one of those doctors would have believed that

one year later, Dad would be alive and well!

Yesterday my mom and sister took him to his old stompin' grounds--

Pizza Heaven!

Back before he got sick, he would stop there on his way

to check the oil wells on his Cisco route.

Just about his most favorite place in the world to eat! 

I guess you could say we're all pretty Thankful this year! 

Thankful for a wonderful Savior who has 

carried us through the 

Darkest of Days! 

Thankful that God made my Daddy as stubborn as a mule, 

so he would never be able to give up!

Thankful that he's getting stronger everyday!

Thankful that even when every doctor 

{except for our beloved Dr. Matter, of course}

told us Daddy had 

NO CHANCE 

of survival,

Our GOD fought for us!

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Exodus 14:14

      Yes, indeed.

Peace in the Storm

The last few days have been so very difficult. 

More to wrestle with 

think about

and pray about 

than I've had in a long time.

Decisions needed to made

that I didn't want to make.
I could feel the enemy pushing me down,
restraining me
and paralyzing me.

And yet when I went back to God's Word

I found the answers and the

sustenance I needed. 

His presence is the only place to 

find true peace.

Loving this song today.

So thankful for God's peace and

for the knowledge that He will make all things new

in his time.

Believing...trusting.
But until then,
I will walk in the knowledge
that I have done all I can do,
and the rest is up to Him.