Missions slideshows

We had Secret Church this Friday night and i made these slideshows from BBC mission trips and some trips I have been on for the breaks.... except I didn't get to share them. Something about my mac not being compatible with the church's system.... oh well. It worked out well because Secret Church had awesome info and videos on the persecuted church around that they shared during the breaks (that we didn't know they were going to have). My heart is still so full and processing everything we learned/experienced last night. I will blog about it soon. In the meantime, be in prayer for the persecuted church around the world. We watched a video about some men in India who saw people in their village killed and their homes burned and lost everything in this world because they were Christians, and they still proclaimed victory in Jesus and gave Glory to His Name. What an eternal perspective! It was truly beautiful.

I hope the faces of these videos encourage your heart to pray, send and/or Go and to be a blessing to the nations today.

Some "LOVE" was added to our picture wall

I had a blank canvas hanging on my picture wall that I needed to do something with. I had a few different ideas but nothing that I really was in love with. Then I thought of this well known sculpture:


And thought.... how can I put that design on my canvas? This is what I ended up with:

What you need to do this too:

Canvas
Paint
Contact Paper
Scissors
A printer

What I did:

I enlarged the LOVE picture and printed it out. I cut out the letters to sort of make a stencil for my canvas.

I traced the stencil onto contact paper, and cut it out.
I painted the canvas white (I know its already white, but I like the texture of paint better than the plain canvas and I thought if I needed to touch up any areas with paint, it would be better if the whole thing was already painted white).

After the paint dried, I stuck the contact paper to the center of the canvas. If I ever do this again, I'll use a vinyl that will stick better. The contact paper didn't stick to the canvas as well as I had wanted it to.

I painted over the whole canvas (with the contact paper still stuck to it) with green paint.
Then I removed the contact paper from the canvas.... to reveal the LOVE :). It bled in a few areas. If you used a better vinyl I don't think it would do that as much. I had to touch up a few spots with white paint, and then I had my finished product.



Pretty easy. Things I will do differently next time will be to use spray paint instead of using a paint brush, use something that sticks to the canvas better, and maybe even do it on a piece of sanded wood instead of canvas. Anyways.... I hope you like it!

I also recently got this 8x10" canvas for free (well shipping was $15.... but that is still really cheap for a gallery wrapped canvas!). I still need to find something to put under my tree canvas. I have a shadow box I am thinking I will put there... I just need to decide what to put in it.



I hope you are enjoying this beautiful day!

craft hope - {spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time}

craft hope - {spreading seeds of hope one stitch at a time}

Life was busy... and then we went on vacation.

Sorry for not blogging much lately. Our lives have been a little bit hectic and then we were out of town for a week. My cell phone broke while we were in Florida, and we did not have internet access, so it was actually a really quiet, restful, technology free vacay. I loved every second of it. Our vacation consisted of lots of reading, pool time, beach visits, time with my sweet grandparents, shopping, more reading, sleeping.... and rest. It was nice. Very very nice.

The one thing I realized as we were driving back to our home, is that this place is actually starting to feel like home to me. It has taken a while, and it's been a little rough at times, but I am now truly thankful that God has placed us here. I'm thankful for the sweet friendships I have made. I'm thankful for the church He has placed us in. I know this is where we are supposed to be right now, and I'm looking forward for what is to come while we are here.

Speaking of being thankful.... my book club just read One Thousand Gifts: A dare to live fully right where you are by Ann Voskamp.
The perspective this book gives you is invaluable. Here is the description on Amazon: Just like you, Ann Voskamp hungers to live her one life well. Forget the bucket lists that have us escaping our everyday lives for exotic experiences. 'How,' Ann wondered, 'do we find joy in the midst of deadlines, debt, drama, and daily duties? What does the Christ-life really look like when your days are gritty, long---and sometimes even dark? How is God even here?' In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts.

In the craziness of life, this book reminds you to slow down, fix your eyes on Christ, trust Him, and be thankful. Read the book. You'll definitely be challenged/convicted/blessed by it.

And here are a few pics from our vacation :)

Secret Church

THIS will be at our church on April 22nd. To sign up to come go HERE. I can't wait!

Shutters

Now that it's warming up here in Spring Hill, we are starting to tackle some of our outside house projects we didn't finish last year. One of those projects is too paint our shutters, but I haven't decided yet on which color. Here is our house and our faded not so pretty shutters right now:

They definitely have seen better days and need a little face lift. I have narrowed my choices down to the following colors:

A very dark navy blue:

Bright Red. (I really like the red, but I am am not sure how it will look with our brick color)

Or... white:


Or is there anyway my house could look like this because I am in love with this color combo:

That might take more than a little spray paint :(.

So that's my dilemma. If you have any input let me know. I'll post some pics when I finally decide and it's all finished.

Sick day=Art day.

I recently saw this tutorial on tip junkie, and I had to give it a try as well. I thought it would be a perfect addition to our picture wall. It was super easy.... and really cheap! At West Elm, this piece of art would cost you a pretty penny. All I had to buy was the canvas, which I found on sale for like $3! I have been sick all day, and so instead of infecting middle Tennessee with my germs, I stayed home... ALL day. That is difficult for me, but at least I had time to craft. I did this whole craft on my couch. Well... not really. I spray painted it gray yesterday (outside of course). The rest was done on my couch. The mod podge could have caused some damage, but I was really careful. Here are pics of the process, and the end result.


I added the word "LIVE" to the bottom. Our picture wall captures some our favorite moments we have had while we "live" on this earth. I also feel like it's an encouragement to keep on living the life God has given us to the fullest (John 10:10).


I like what it added to our picture wall. You might have noticed the blank white canvas on the wall. I have a plan for that and I will blog about it when I finish it. Hopefully it won't taking getting sick again to get it done :).

Hannahs Hope Orphanage - Ethiopia

Lord deliver me.

This past weekend, I was so blessed to be able to go on a retreat with the female students/leaders from our church. We studied women in the Bible and how God used them, provided for them, prepared the way for them, guided them and so much more. It was great.

At the retreat, I finally met Sara Beth Geoghegan. Brian has been friends with her since college, and I have heard so much about her.... and I was finally able to meet her in person. She is a beautiful woman with an obvious desire to glorify the Lord through her life and music. She led our worship time, and it was amazing, but I was especially blessed by the following song she sang. Here are the lyrics:

Lord deliver me from the desire to be noticed, loved, exalted

Lord deliver me from the desire to be favored, popular chosen or acknowledged

Lord deliver me from the fear of being wrong, forgotten or ignored

Lord deliver me from the fear of being humiliated or left behind

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You

Grant that I may seek to comfort rather than be comforted by others

Grant that I may understand and love more than be understood and loved well

Lord deliver me from the desire to be noticed and encouraged

Lord deliver me from the desire to be appreciated and included

Lord deliver me from me, Lord deliver me to You.

So beautiful, right? Every since I heard it, these words have been on my heart. This song put into words many of the fears and desires that women struggle with. I was deeply encouraged/convicted as I sang it. Thank you Sara Beth for a great song. I know the Lord is using it to encourage many more.

A beautiful family

I saw this special on the Today show today about this family who has adopted children from Africa diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. I read an article on the family as well which talked about their faith in Christ and their willingness to give up some of the pleasures of this world such as vacations and new things to give a home to children that are orphaned and rejected by most of the world. What a God-glorifying and selfless family. Here is the video.