I'm back

ONE week...how can so much happen in one little week?  Even the past couple days.

After the party I took a week to regroup, refresh & get back to basics.  Without a pressing project at my heels I could finally breathe.  3 days actually, of nothing but breathing…. & taking care of my boys, of course.  What a joy just to watch them grow!  They're playing together a bit more which mainly means Tiernan pinning him to the floor & Koen giggling.  Pretty adorable.

I laid my heart on the line at my party & shared things I know God wanted shared. I know this because I spent many hours in prayer.  I prayed that I would speak only what God wanted me to speak, that the right ladies would attend, that everyone would have hearts to receive whatever God had for them. I also had some mighty prayer warriors lifting me & the other ladies up in prayer.  I can’t begin to tell you how many women were drastically affected by that evening!  I’m still getting calls or emails with great reports of the things God is doing for them.  To be utilized by God in such a way was a true honor & I hope each person will know their Maker & Savior in an intimate way from here on out.  He is a BIG God and NOTHING is impossible for HIM!!!!

I have so much inside me.  I can only share bits & pieces at this point and some not at all as I have to guard what God has given me personally until it’s able to be seen in the natural.  But something to ponder as I’m walking this out right now….Have you ever felt wrongly judged?  Well I have.  Recently…. 

After the party I took a break from blogging…..from talking to anyone…. so that the things God was/is doing inside me could saturate my soul without being exposed to judging eyes.  I will NOT allow the spirit of offense & strife to mess with me & rob me from what God is doing in my life right now.  I’m just a bit shy getting back in the swing of things with this blog.  As if I’ve missed you but I’m nervous to let you into my heart again.  Silly?  Well, we’ll just have to see how it all plays out

Now that I’m back I don’t even know where to begin. 

  In this lesson I’m learning I ask you to learn alongside me:  reflect on what God is sharing with YOU… guard it...pray about it...read the word...what does He say about your situation in His word? 

A good friend taught me ages ago that you must keep your mouth shut when you don’t have the freedom or peace to share.  That’s one lesson I learned the hard way & honestly, am still learningJ

Proverbs 4:23

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²³Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.

housework can wait! much to do

Koen just demanded this nap so I’m at home trying to finish creating one more art piece for the show...I mean party Saturday.  Too much to tell & each moment I spend typing I feel I neglect my duties. 

Dad is working on the chest cabinet (painting & adding legs) and “Faith”—which is the word spelled out in old rusted tools or parts of things...most I don’t even know what they are but I dug them up & they inspire me!  BEAUTIFUL!!!

¨      Measure & cut piece for one of the Huge squares of old wood we have

¨      Print image with CC West—I hope they can have it in time!

¨      Parking sign—cut & paint

¨      Setup sign-in book pages with pens

¨      Sand chair down a bit

Laundry??? 

Dishes???

FLOORS???  May have to wait till next week!

Now back to work.

pickin' with the gang & serious forward motion.

3 days late!  I haven’t updated you for 3 whole days!  Well, it’s been a little busy to say the least.  I mean really, you can’t imagine. 

Clearly giving you 3 days’ worth of updates would bore some of you to tears so I’ll start with last night. I had a friend over to stay the night & HELP me with...well, anything & everything to do with this party.  So we all played with the boys, ate dinner, Marc gave T a bath, I put Ko down then work began...

We started with our Scentsy orders for the party.  In order to make this happen the 3 of us had to smell each & every scent.  TonS!  Marc finally broke out the bag of fresh coffee beans.  Good move Honey! After about 23 different yummy fragrances & a few hairy ones, we were all a bit slap happy for some reason.  Giggles ensued.  And continued...fizzled...then returned for a grand finale.  Fun times.

Music is pretty final.  I wanted a jazzy bluesy funk all in the Christian genre.  Nearly impossible feat.  She did a great job coming up with various artists & sounds to make the evening great (I can see its been loads of work for her...huge blessing).  I picked up a couple Big Band Swing CD’s.  Come on, you know you want more swing music in your life.  Now, if we could just have some cool God music with that beat...NICE!  The music is pretty random with a funky, jazzy, contemporary, hip hop vibe.  It’ll have a little something for everyone.

I was able to formulate a plan for the Scentsy table setup (since that only came up in my plans yesterday...guess I’d better get on that). 

Marc has also been a HUGE help the past couple days. We went pickin’ on his parents land as a family & found this amazing piece of corrugated rusted tin that will be perfect for a big lovely work of art.  He’s also been helping me brainstorm and making sure I haven’t forgotten anything—a few things already have come to light so thanks Honey. 

We’re planning to get some carpentry help from my dad—going Monday to San Antonio after he gets off work to discuss a couple projects (and maybe leave them with him to finish:)  He’s amazing & I just know he’ll be able to pull it off.  So happy happy to have help in this area...especially since I’m down to the wire.  Less than 7 days left & I need to make a HUGE statement.  I hope the world is ready for this husband & wife duo.

Love & hugs...sleep well,

Trish

Help is here--now take it!

God is sending me the help I need and now I need to find the time to reach out and ask for help...today was all about my family!  I felt a bit scattered but all in all it was a great day.  Did you see that amazing blue sky with puffy white clouds?  My favorite kind of sky actually.

Marc worked on the jeweled cross for a while after the boys went to bed & I sat across the table from him.  Its looking rather good. 

I finished the “G” which I painted on an old railroad tie.  I have about 15 more so I’ll take orders at the party if anyone wants a monogrammed conversation piece for their entry...perhaps above the door bell:) 

Have a vision for 3 more paintings on old wood...just need to make time to be creative.  Now would work but I’m fading fast...thought I’d drop an update in case I have any readers yet:)  Some people seem to think a blog has to be purposeful.  Isn’t this full of purpose?  To share the Favor of God on our lives & how it affects those around.  And from time to time random thoughts about life, family, God, hair, The Party, and food.  Ok, food doesn’t get too much attention on this blog, lets be honest!

That’s all for now my friend.  Till tomorrow (should be picking up my clock then). 

Love & peace

Trish

how to recover a chair with a hot glue gun...start where you are

Some of you may already know but one of my favorite quotes was taken from someone, perhaps famous, but I can’t remember who...

Start where you are,

Do what you can and

Use what you have

That says so much right there about our business and our style.  So in order to promote the use what you have line I’m all about reusing, recycling & GIVING generously.  I’ll start randomly showing stay at home moms how to do things, create things, organize things, etc.  I add the word randomly because I don’t know what that looks like for me with 2 little ones, a husband, a decorating business, my art, our furniture projects, this party I’m planning and a small portion of my brain dedicated to the technical aspects of this technical world I’m making every attempt to keep up with through blog, website, and facebook.  Anyone else have a lot on their plate...raise your hand.  I know too many moms to count who have their plate just as full if not more than I do.  Surround yourself with a strong support team.  I’m still building mine right now.  Pray in the people that will be part of that team...pray blessings on them, financial increase on them, healthy family life, peace & joy as well as LOVE!  God will send you the right individuals who will help you shine & guess what...in the process YOU get to bless their hat crooked!  You know what I mean by that...bless them SO much by a smile, a touch, a listening ear, a caring heart, a special gift and your loving words.  God loves when you love on His sons & daughters. 

So the question I have for you tonight is a question a dear friend from church asked me when I had just had Tiernan, How is your relationship with God? It was a tough question to be asked in the middle of the hustle & bustle of checking kids in, greeting friends that pass, and remembering diapers.  I said it’s good, I’ve been having great quality time with God.  I mean, what do you say to that?  No, I’m really not where I should be, could we talk?  NO.  I didn’t even feel at the time that my walk with God wasn’t close.  I thought all was great.  Now a couple years later I realize that was just the beginning.  My walk with God is so much more than it has ever been.  Its not just a “hallelujah I’m healed” kinda deal.  It’s the real deal & some days more than others honestly.  Some days I get wrapped up in life then turn to God & ask Him His opinion of something.  Other days I can sense Him walking with me & guiding through each conversation, decision and memory.  The good news is I’m NEVER going back!!!  I’m so happy to be walking through this life growing closer every day to God & my husband...each day brighter & brighter.

That all being said... ask yourself...just you, no one else around...

How is your relationship with God?  Every relationship involves 2...are you seeking Him?  Asking Him into every moment of your life? 

Proverbs 3:5-6 says

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart & lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct & make straight & plain your paths.”

So trust in Him, inquire of Him.  What does He want you to see today?  What does He want you to do today?  Do it...walk it out.  He’ll be there to guide & protect you.  If you wonder where in the Bible to find that one check Psalm 32:8.

On a silly sidenote before I head back to my chair project...Marc ran a video of me on YouTube which I’m going to try to attach to my blog.  He wasn’t supposed to get my face & I forgot to address the camera to explain what I was doing.  But ya know something... this isn’t my regular thing. Sometimes I just need to figure something out & work it through.  That’s a whole other entry & since I don’t think you can take it right now I’ll have to save it for another day...remind me to tell about the process, how I work & why you’ll have to excuse me as we take this journey together.  Together...you, me and anyone else out there reading this quirky, long winded, random words on a page blog.

Love...

Trish

healed & prosperous! You???

Healed!  I am healed!  So I felt totally terrible all morning & honestly slept on & off until 2pm.  When I woke up at 2 after eating I noticed my prayers were answered!  I was totally healed.  I’m not even messin’ around when I say I felt terrible.  Some kinda funk had gotten into my chest & was affecting Marc & the boys as well.  We all seem to feel fantastic & it goes to show the God we serve is a good God who still heals, saves, delivers & sets people free!  WOOHOOO!!!

When Marc & T went down for their well deserved nap Koen & I were left to ourselves.  I took a video of him crawling all around, ignoring me & eating food off the floor.  When Ko finally joined the other boys for his nap it was party time for me.  I felt fantastic!  This video I shot of Koen embarrassed me to the point of cleaning my floors on my hands & knees.  That lasted for about the time it took to finish the playroom floors (and that was just cleaning around the rug).  The real action started when Swiffer entered the scene.  I was a busy bee cleaning all the floors ...oh, not any of the bedrooms actually...so what took me so long?  I also cleaned the kitchen & spray painted a frame for the Psalm 32 art.  I said I wasn’t going to work in the garage today & I meant it.  I worked on the front porch. 

I also kinda finished ... ok almost finished ... the Louis Shanks chair.  Which, by the way, I don’t think I’m gonna sell.  I think that’ll be added to our staging inventory.  Gotta start somewhere, right?  Marc ran a video of me on YouTube which I’m going to try to attach to my blog.  He wasn’t supposed to get my face & I forgot to address the camera a lot & explain what I was doing.  But ya know something... this isn’t my regular thing. Sometimes I just need to figure something out & work it through.  That’s where all this talk about helping the normal housewife do things to save her money.  Hence this blog entry. 

Sprayed the butterflies again on the unnamed butterfly art I have yet to reveal.

I think I have the plan for the top piece of the side table.  The one where I used the drawer as a jewelry caddy.  Anyway, I’m between 2 ideas... gluing old foreign stamps on the entire surface then painting over with a scripture or something OR I could paint it, do a painting on top of that paint then seal it really well & make another table out of it with funky legs.  I wonder what will happen with that one!  Any suggestions?  Crickets.

Anyway...God just continues to show himself more & more each day.  Through my new friend Cat He told me I was going to have each hostess draw & give their gift away themselves.  Each hostess will also get 30 seconds to talk about what they do, who they are & whatever they want to share in that time... could be words of encouragement, a story, something interesting about them or what they make or do.  It’ll be perfect.  God has His hand on every aspect of this party.

Praise God I’m healed & prosperous!...how about you?!?!

Love...

Trish

missing church today:(

I hate missing a church service!  Especially with the anointing so strong the past few months ...you really wanna be at every one.  You see, we’re blessed to receive rich word at our church, however my family is missing today because we are overcoming!  We are NOT sick!  We are the healed of the Lord!  Marc & I were talking & asked ourselves do they really want us greeting at the front door today the way we look & sound…probably NOT.  Sorry John to cancel on you last minute!  The good news is God shows up at our house too…right where we are.  He is so faithful.

To top it all off...it’s POURING...with lightning & thunder (favorites of mine),  I’m going to guess we’ll be exiting that stage 3 drought we’ve endured for so long.  Now that makes for an amazing day of restoration with my family. 

So today there will be NO work in the garage so no project update this evening.  Maybe some insight, a story or some words of encouragement later.  Have a blessed day & feel free to send some scriptures or prayers for healing our way!

Thanks for your prayers & LOVE

Trish