sunday inspiration.

-- 1 --

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a list of ideas on how to care for orphans. This wonderful list, from Rage Against the Minivan, is far more extensive, and lists a lot of specific organizations that are doing this kind of work.

-- 2 --

Can you imagine praying for discomfort? Actually asking for anger, tears, and foolishness? Read this Franciscan benediction (found via Michael Hyatt):

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen.

I honestly don't know if I have the courage to pray this. Do you?

-- 3 --

I love these creative gift packaging ideas from Scrapbooks, Etc (part of Better Homes and Gardens):

(Source: Embellish a six-pack holder or takeout box)

-- 4 --

I love this candle chandelier, but I'm wondering - wouldn't the candles potentially drip wax on the table? Or maybe on someone's head? Maybe if it had a glass on the bottom?

(Source: The Painted Home)

This idea is similar - I'm not sure which one I like more!

(Source: Junk Market Style)

-- 5 --

These little photo keychains are adorable, and look really easy to make. I'm thinking about creating a few for kids' Christmas gifts this year.

(Source: Do It Yourself Gifts)

every day for a month, the conclusion.

One of my goals for the year was to post every day for a month. I'm not sure why I originally chose this as a goal - maybe because a friend told me I should post more often (thanks for the encouragement, Melissa!), and maybe I was just curious to see what I could find to write about for a month.

Here are some of the things that I've learned:

• I heard someone once say that if you want to be a writer, you need to do it every day. It doesn't even need to be very good, but you need to develop the discipline to write even when you don't feel like it. I don't have any aspirations to be a writer, but I do think that's a healthy guideline for any skill or habit you want to develop.
• Writing can be very therapeutic. It sometimes takes me a long time to process something, to work it out in my head. Some things, especially problem-solving kind of things, need to kind of marinate for a while, but there's also a lot to be said for processing out loud. Writing kind of works the same way.
• On the other hand, its very difficult to write about something when you're in the middle of processing it. I think there's value in getting not-yet-fully-developed thoughts down on paper (so to speak), but its still very difficult to explain something that I haven't quite figured out in my head.
• Forcing myself to write out what I'm thinking teaches me things, about me. And I think it will be interesting to look back in a month, or a year, and see what new things I'm learning. And what old lessons I need to learn again.

I don't really write this blog for anyone but myself. I write it because I have something I want to say, or something I want to share, or because I just like the process of journaling in this way. Yet I still hope that this blog represents who I am, the things that I care about and spend time on and the things that matter to me. In forcing myself to write every day, I think I've come closer to achieving that. In the last month, I've written about my faith, about CASA (twice), about children's ministry, about Africa and processing that, about family, about home and craft projects, about songs that I liked and songs that were incredibly powerful for me, and more.

Now that I'm at the end of the month, where posting every day is no longer a (self-imposed) requirement, I'll slow down, but I am hoping to write more frequently than I was before.

sunday inspiration.

This week's inspiration post will be a mish-mash of the deeper, the practical, and the crafty. Because that's just where I am right now.

-- 1 --

When you've seen poverty, or suffering, or need, what next?

"I am terrified that now I have seen — I am responsible, and my response is pitiful. What in the world does it take to be radical? Give me that aisle!

I had written in my thank you card to Shaun on the way back to the airport, on our way back to our plush lives, 'I pray I fight the middle to my last breath.' "

~ Ann Voskamp,
When You're Dying to Live Radical: Fight the Middle Ground, from her blog A Holy Experience

-- 2 --

Amy and Brian from A Little Busy took a little-used corner in their hallway and turned it into a mini library with built-in bookshelves. I love the way they made this into usable space.

(Source: A Little Busy)

-- 3 --

Have you seen this? Wall art made from canvases, spray paint, and a doormat. I've seen the idea before, but I think this might be my favorite version.

(Source: Sprik Space)

-- 4 --

 
I think if I were buying my house again, and hadn't yet refinished the floors, I just might paint them all, especially in fun patterns like this:
 

(Source: Grams)

 

-- 5 --

 
I love these mirror frames made from old pallets. I especially like the layered look to the frames. I'm thinking about redoing this frame to use similar old, weathered and rustic wood.
 

(Source: Young House Love)

singing over me.

Tonight, this song is whispering truth to my soul.

When I waited so long
When my tears were my song
With my hope nearly gone
You held me, God

To believe in the face
Of the dry, weary place
When you felt far away
You held me, God

Oh, there is freedom in surrender
Oh, I know it

Your songs have never stopped
You've been singing, always singing over me
Your words are still enough
And you're singing, always singing over me

The chaos in the cause
Teaching me to see, Lord
The beauty in the storm
So I believe

When I see through your eyes
Through the testing of time
Every cloud silver-lined
Cause you're with me

Oh, there is freedom in surrender
Oh, I know it

Your songs have never stopped
You've been singing, always singing over me
Your words are still enough

And you're singing

You give me faith
You give me strength enough to wait
To stand in faith
And listen for, listen for your melody

Your songs have never stopped
Your songs have never stopped

Your songs have never stopped
You've been singing, always singing over me
Your words are still enough
And you're singing, always singing over me

Your songs have never stopped

You've been singing, always singing over me
Your words are still enough
And you're singing, always singing over me
Always singing over me, always singing over me
Always singing over me

reorganizing the bathroom cabinet.

This is just one more project in my continuing quest to get rid of the things I don't need, organize what's left, and hopefully in doing so, create space for the other things God wants to do in my home and life.

My friend Heather asked me if I could watch her boys one evening this week while she and her husband ran a few important errands. I was happy to - I was just planning on being home, working on house stuff, and I always love hanging out with their boys.  So while the boys played for a while with their brand new toys and with my dogs, I looked around to see what kind of straightening I could do in bits and pieces. I decided to sort through some of the stuff in my bathroom cabinet, particularly getting rid of expired medicine, both mine and the dogs.

Once I got going, I kept at it, until I had tossed the stuff I didn't want, laid everything else on the counter around the sink, and pulled off the old contact paper and shelf liner. I was going to start loading everything back in, until I remembered that I had always thought it would be fun to paint the inside of the cabinet (and it would clean it up a bit, too, as the white was looking pretty dingy). I figured it wouldn't take long to paint and it wouldn't hurt to leave the stuff sit out on the sink overnight, so after Heather and Nick picked up the boys, I spent a quick 15 minutes painting the inside of the cabinet.

(the before - see, grungy, right?)

Its not a perfect paint job, but its definitely good enough for the inside of a cabinet! I loaded everything back after giving it a full day to dry. I got rid of a lot of things that I don't need, and was also able to move some extra supplies in here from the hallway closet, where they'll be more visible and more likely to get used. This will also help when I re-organize that closet a bit - its a little more full than I'd like.

All told, I spent maybe 30 minutes on this project, over three different times (sorting/unloading, paint, and putting everything back). Sometimes I wonder why I make things so much harder than I need to? Planning is all well and good, but there's a lot to be said for just getting it done, too.

homemade christmas.

Normally, by the end of October, I've finished writing my Christmas gift list and have purchased at least a third of the things on it. This year, I'm way behind - I've only finished one gift (mostly), and there are still several holes left on the list. And to make things worse - this year I've decided to make all my own Christmas gifts.

My main problem is the guys - its hard to find gifts for men and boys that they'll actually use.

In the meantime, here are a few great homemade gift ideas (that I'm not using):

Transform an inexpensive thrift store frame with spray paint and textured fabric, or make a beachy frame with scraps of wood:

(Sources: Bower Power and Sawdust and Paper Scraps)

Create a unique collage out of a thrift store cubby organizer or a wooden utensil divider:

(Sources: Honey and Maple Syrup and me & my scraps)

Create a fabric-covered notebook or make a journal out of old board books:

(Sources: mine and Red Heads Craft More Fun)

Frame travel mementos or a map that has personal significance:

 

(Sources: Martha Stewart and 33 Shades of Green)

Fill a pop-top can or homemade gift box with small items:

(Sources: Blue Cricket Design and Yoke Bakery)

Back to my dilemma - anyone have any gift ideas for men and boys for me?

brand new day.

The video is interesting, but I heard this song today, and I really like it.

Most kind of stories save the best part for last

Most stories have a hero who finds you make your past your past
Yeah, you make your past your past

stepping up.

I have a love/hate relationship with TV, and some other time I might write about that in more detail, but today I want to talk about something I watched last night. I saw last Thursday's episode of Private Practice (a show that centers on the lives of doctors in a California medical practice), and the end of the show disturbed me so much that I'm still thinking about it.

The episode was large about Betsy, who's father died at the end of last season. Her mother was a drug addict who died earlier. In this episode, Betsy's aunt dropped her off at the medical practice, because she couldn't/wouldn't care for her any longer. A few of the doctors considered adopting her, but all of them ultimately decided not to, and called social services to take her instead.

Perhaps its because I feel like I'm in an in-between place, a place of waiting for God to say, "That big thing that you've been preparing for? This is it. This is how I want you to serve me and love my children." And maybe its because the issues of adoption and orphans are weighing so heavy on my heart right now, but I wonder about how many times the right thing to do, the thing that God asks us to do, is right there, staring us in the face, and we walk away because we're afraid of what we might need to give up. It breaks my heart to consider how many times we let even the most obvious opportunities pass through our fingers.

I know this is a fictional story, that's its not real, but I think the lesson of it is true. And so tonight I'm wondering about the opportunities that God has placed in my path, and whether there are some that I've passed up, even as I'm praying for his clear direction.

my life is like white water rapids.

A few months ago, at a women's small group, my friend Heather asked us to come ready to share a metaphor we would use to describe our life:

I feel like I'm barely treading water.
My life is a 3-ring circus.
Life is a roller coaster and I'm just along for the ride.

At the time, I said my life felt like a trip on white water rapids. It was fairly calm at the time, but the crazy stuff was just around the corner - and it was a good kind of crazy, the fun and adventurous kind, the kind you actually sign up for.

Lately life feels more like swimming in a current - if I don't pay attention, I can look up and realize that I've drifted off the course I want to be on. Its not anything in particular - just the general busy-ness of life. Its so easy, isn't it, to get caught up with the flow?

Heather challenged us, as she was challenged, to be intentional about changing our metaphors. Instead of treading water, thinking of Peter walking on the water to Jesus.

I'm curious - what are your metaphors for life? And, if they're negative, how can you change them?

sunday inspiration - food.

Row 1, left to right:
Chicken Cacciatore with Rice from Hunt's Recipes
Peanut Butter Trifle from Just Sew Sassy
Pasta with Roasted Broccoli from Gina's Skinny Recipes
Eggplant Parmesan from Newly Woodwards
Caramel Sauce from The CooCoo Nest

Row 2:
Spanish Rice from Our Best Bites
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers from A Year of Slow Cooking
Summer Salad from Everyday Insanity
Phyllo Fruit Tart from Gina's Skinny Recipes
Chicken Potpie Empanadas from Real Simple

Row 3:
Chocolate Croissants from From Glitter to Gumdrops
Holiday Cheese Truffles from Beneath My Heart
Zucchini Pizza Bites from Gina's Skinny Recipes
Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies from Inside BluCrew Life
Meatless Enchiladas from One Lovely Life via Life is Just a Bowl of Cherrys