my prayer

 Today I pray that my children's memories will be filled with 

images of their mother's warm touches,

snuggles with stories,

and road trips to favorite places - just the five of us.

Today I pray my kids will remember the times of

family traditions,

celebrations,

and birthday, after birthday, after birthday

of feeling significant and loved.

Today I pray their hearts will be built upon 

time spent together,

enjoying one another,

learning from each other.

Today I pray their minds will recall 

words of love,

actions of gentleness,

and many,

many

smiles.

in case you're wondering....

I'm in one of those pathetic "funks" that causes me 

to tell myself NO ONE is wondering, but in case you are...

I'm still among the living even though it's been two weeks since I last posted here.  

Perhaps you've imagined that I went through with my desire to heist the

beauties from camp that I photographed and have now been in "the clink" for 14 days...

not so.  (not this time.)

I have been back at camp, though, this time in the kitchen baking up a storm.

It was a challenge, but in a really good, life-giving kind of way.

I really do enjoy working with my hands,

even when they ache by the end of the day.

This back-and-forth to camp has been really hard for me this year.

Maybe it's my age...

do people really struggle this much in the second half of the 30s?

dislike.

Anyway, as I've been catching up on all the fun blog posts I've missed in the last week, 

I've begun to sink a little....alot.

Perhaps I should have done this after I was little better rested.

If you're reading this, I probably don't need to explain why and what I mean.

so i won't.

If you're reading this, you will understand why Lysa Terkeurst's post spoke to my heart 

as though the Lord Himself reached across and took my hand,

gently patting it and reminding me of His endless love and approval of me,

just the way He made me.

If you're struggling like I am, maybe you want to head over for some good encouragement,

and the challenge to "get prayed up" today.

source

Go on over and have a cup of coffee with Lysa at:

Brutally Honest -Lysa Terkeurst

vintage finds

alternate post title:

things i'd like to steal from camp.

a camp that has been around since the '50s and has been on the receiving end of many a household purge has loads of cool stuff.

let the record show that i am not one of those people who enjoy refinishing furniture 

~it's a loathsome task, in my opinion~

but i do agree with Nate Berkus, Sarah Richardson and others who tell us that old furniture has more "soul" than new pieces.  

and so i've been known to scrape and sand, prime and paint a thing or two over the years.

if camp ever wanted to purge some of it's things, i would be first in line for these:

i'd paint this RED for my son's room - it's so nautical-ly cute!

the curvy top drawer makes this one special -
 maybe in the hall for linens?

this lamp base could be a fun pewter or maybe eggplant colour with
a little spray paint, perfect for our bedroom.

not sure if i'd even paint this - it would sure be great in my
dining room...my table linens would love it!

and maybe it's because i so wish for a small table for an eat-in kitchen,

or maybe it's because these cute tables were so plentiful....

cute drop leaf!

this one has already been refinished - now we're talking!

can you tell this one is metal?
love!

don't worry - i'm not about to steal from our bible camp

(my daughter saw the "alternate title" at the top of the page and was a little concerned.)

dreaming requires no sweat equity!

lightbulb moment

Tomorrow we head out for our first week of CAMP this summer!  Let me clear: it's camp, not camping.  This is the Bible camp where my hubbie and I grew up and later met and fell in love. (awww....) Now we've continued this tradition with our kids who've been going every summer since they were babies.  Early spring, the question is never if we will go to camp, but how many weeks we'll be there.

We love it, but there is a fair amount of prep that is necessary to move our family of 5 out there for a week. As I avoided getting the laundry started (can you tell I do that alot?), G and I talked about some of the things on the "don't forget" list.  I mentioned that I had the bright idea (haha) of bringing one of the kids' nightlights, which looks more like a mini lamp but has only a 4 watt bulb.  Since we'll all be in one room, I thought, the kids would be happy (since I've crippled them to be content in the pitch black) and I could keep it by my bedside for night time reading.

"It works for everyone!" I proclaimed, but quickly added, "oh, except for you...."

(For my dear husband prefers to sleep in the blackest of black rooms.)

"I guess if I were better at being a submissive wife, I would leave the light behind and lay with the kids in the dark so they wouldn't be afraid." I said, half jokingly.

"No," he replied, "as servant-leader, I would put the need of you and the kids ahead of myself and the light would stay on."

"But a good wife wouldn't even mention the light and just give you what you prefer..." I tried again.

"And a good husband would look for ways to lighten your load, and make the family comfortable," he countered.

"Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ." I quoted religiously (haha).

"As your husband, I'm instructed to love you as Christ loved the church and gave up His life for her.  If Jesus gave up His life, I'm pretty sure He'd be willing to give up a night's rest."

"So I guess if we really made every effort to look out for each other's best interest (Phil 2), marriage would essentially be a piece of cake."

"Yeah.  I guess so."