Monthly Archives: October 2022

Oct26

Preparing Our Hearts For Thanksgiving Gratitude and Christmas Joy

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Just in case you wondered why the Family Dollar drop-in visit yesterday……

Well of course all the running around was for a couple future DIY Christmas projects!! A little create and connect going on over here.

My mother-in-law Bobbie Caldwell is and has always been so creative. The work of her hands continues to bless others and our family. She has always enjoyed making her home a warm and inviting place. I so love that about her.

I also LOVE making beautiful spaces in our home for every season. Since she is living with us now, I wanted to add some fun, thoughtful and creative ways that we can engage with each other, the grandkids in order to make her Thanksgiving and Christmas super memorable this year.

So I bought a new, smaller Christmas Tree which has totally made me rethink how I normally decorate. Well- according to Monty Self our “new” forever Christmas tree has arrived so that we can get rid of the “old” big tree he struggles with and grumbles about getting up the stairs every year. 🤔🙄

For My Fall/Thanksgiving table scape I could not find any small pumpkins that I loved. So I purchased cream napkins from Target and made small pumpkins by repurposing old round nakpkin rings. Add a stick and you have a “custom” pumpkin to match the vision. Pictures to follow. Wish I’d made a video while making them. 🤦‍♀️

Secondly, Bobbie loves the front porch and back porch outdoor spaces at our home. {So do we} She has already spent many hours sitting and rocking the days away. So I wanted to make each space warm and thoughtful. Like home for her. So I grabbed a new rug, changed up the plants, added throw blankets for the cooler days and festive pillows. I still have one empty wall that has inspired me to add a special word of welcome and a message.

So back to the story at hand-

The Dollar Tree now owns Family Dollar and has really amped up the game for DIYer’s. So my day yesterday was centered around my doc appointment with a stop into Big Lots, Marshall’s, Walmart and Family Dollar. Gathering the needed items has been a mission of late and truly a labor of love.

I just wanted to share with you how passionate I feel we should be about following our hearts as it relates to the things that will bring meaning, fullness and joy to the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. The Lord has already started preparing my heart for the busy days ahead. Most all of the “gathering of goods” is done. Now to enjoy the process and live present in each moment that the Lord allows us.

Our homes are sacred! It is where most of life really happens. Our values, commitments to one another and the passing on of faith and faithfulness dwell there. So at peace in this season of our lives. Just had to share a glimpse of our “perfectly imperfect”world.

Thanksgiving- gratitude

Christmas- the coming of our Lord

Share the joy…..

Preparing Him room today in my soul…..

Maybe we’ll share a Facebook Live when we get down to crafting.

Oct17

For Everything There Is A Season

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This room holds so many sweet memories. We purchased our little plot of land in the mid 90’s, built our home in 1998 and it would become our forever home after Monty’s retirement from the US Air Force in 1999.

This was our Ashley’s room and a little differently decorated for our busy high schooler. Truth is, it changed very little through the years. High school. College. Purchasing her first home. Securing a career that she was made for. Finding the love of her life. Marriage. The same….. that is until we welcomed our first grandchild Mason Blake into our tribe.

New paint. The daybed with trundle replaced by a crib for our grandson. Every new grand-baby to come Emma Mae, Abbey Glenn, Nolan Edison and William Tyler have slept peacefully beneath our beloved family tree. The room has held such fullness of love for our #tribeoffive Surely, this room filled with toys and a toddler bed became a mainstay of our every day.

To everything there is a season. Monty’s 90 year old mom’s health had been failing over the last couple months. She was in a place where we felt it was time to bring her to our home. She agreed it was time and for the best. So, we needed our 4th bedroom to be with us upstairs, which meant moving the playroom downstairs.

So after the flip-flop of rooms was complete, we moved Bobbie in. She now enjoys a beautiful bedroom fitted with her childhood bedroom set and lovingly says it feels like home. A special thank you to my sister-in-law Dianne for helping me sort through clothing and putting things away.

We have spent many hours making her room feel special. Today, we were finally able to get the curtains up, adjusted her heated throw, managed all of her special things and put the family pictures in the places she wanted them. We would not have it any other way. We will forever cherish the memory of this new and beautiful journey!

Early spring of this year Bobbie battled breast cancer. She has been doing well but we have sadly learned that her cancer has spread. Not the news we wanted to hear but she is so happy, at peace, comfortable, safe, enjoys the porches on warmer days, loves it when friends stop by, family are in and out and we have found a beautiful rhythm for her (our) days over here on Hardin Rd. We will forever be chasing sunsets and tonight the beginnings of this day’s end did not disappoint.

Today, we met with workers who will help us navigate her life and health in the weeks and months to come for as long as the Lord wills. We find rest in knowing that God has ordered the number of her days. And so we are settling in, believing God for peace, His perfect will and comfort over the days that she have been given.

We know that God is with us all in every season of our lives. When we face the unknown, we can trust that He is in control and working out every situation for our good. She has led us well, is at peace with God and it is our joy to walk alongside of God’s beloved. He has been so good to her and she gives thanks daily for His faithfulness.

In Isaiah 46:4, God speaks over His beloved Israel- We know He is the same God. The same yesterday, today and forever. His love and compassions never ceases. What an incredible truth to know as we face the end of our days.

To these words we cling.

“I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born. And I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray. I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back.” Isaiah 46:4