Friday Favorites #11: Four Weeks Worth

Dear friends,


Oh my!  It's been four weeks since I compiled a Friday Favorites post. Well, life happens!  But not to worry, because I continued to "star" intriguing blog posts in my Google Reader, so it's just a matter of going down my list for what I want to include this time.  I've tried to include little snippets for most of them to whet your appetite for reading more!  There's a litta bitta everything here!


First, my own posts: 

• A Spiritual Warfare Prayer - intercessory prayer for those we love
• Weekend Gratitude: Lord, Have Mercy!  I don't need empty religion, but fullness in Christ.  Not everyone who teaches the Bible is Christ-centered.  So much of what we hear can be misleading and actually turn us astray from truth.  We need to know it for ourselves, reading Scriptures and meditating on what the verses say.  Even a paragraph or a chapter a day can make such a difference.   Nurturing our personal relationship with Christ will help us to endure the temptations brought by suffering, peer pressure, loss of spiritual emotions, the hypocrisy of other Christians, and our own failures and sense of unworthiness.  Since Christ has taken the punishment for our sins, we can be free to walk in a new life of victory as the Holy Spirit works in our hearts.  ~~ Bonus: "Lord, Have Mercy" music video
• My Thoughts on CJ Mahaney and Sovereign Grace Ministries - This candid post is the reason my main blog has had over 3,700 page loads in less than one week.  Yes, it is quite direct.  Yes, it is quite controversial.  But I hope that it is filled with both grace and truth for the hurting. If this post upsets you, be sure to read the one about bitterness by Wendy Alsup that I have linked below.  Friends, pray for us.  The SGM church movement, of which we are former members, is going through a time of severe turmoil, and their future is unknown to anyone but God himself.  An author well known to the home school movement, Josh Harris, is right in the middle of it.
• On Mommy Blogging: Image, Identity, Authenticity and Freedom - The truth is that we all project our images.  We all have our identities – public and private -- and blogging is certainly intertwined with that.  Perhaps my blogs make it seem like I think I have it all together, that I have all the answers.  I sincerely hope I am not casting that impression.   
• Weekend Gratitude In Advance: Anticipating Blessings - Micah's birthday gerbil, a party with dear friends returning to Italy, Independence Day festivities
• Weekend Gratitude Sunday Edition: Jacob's First Birthday - You do want to see some adorable pictures, don't you?  My favorite is the cake frosting squished between his chubby fingers.
• Weekend Gratitude: Lake Sybelia at Sunset, Lake Lily at Dusk - I love sunsets, clouds and lakes.  Put them together twice, and we have a very lovely evening.  This is an almost entirely photographic blog post.  You can see one of the pictures above. 
• Happy Birthday to My Firstborn!  She's 24 now, and a mommy herself, but when she was just a little girl, as cute and sweet as she was, I got frustrated with her one day.  I snapped, "You drive me bananas!"  To which she instantly replied, "Well, YOU drive ME strawberries!"   That's her below when she was a toddler and then a few weeks ago at her son Jacob's birthday.

 

What Bitterness REALLY Is by Wendy Horger Alsup at Practical Theology for Women

The “Bitter Card” has trump power. Pop that baby out, and you can dismiss the criticism. It’s played this way: person A has a grievance that he/she does not feel is being understood. Eventually Person A vents too often, too emotionally, or even sinfully, or gets too close to unsettling the happy delusion of the establishment and consequently in danger of getting too much influence. At this point, play the “Bitter Card.” This puts them on the defensive and, in the minds of the clueless, guts their argument. Plus it has the added benefit that you can say that their defensiveness is proof of the truth of your claim. Often people who play the “Bitter Card” employ Hebrews 12:15 and warn that the bitterness could result in the defilement of many. So, let me explain. Biblically. 

My friend Tonya Travelstead, a piano teacher and fellow blogger, composed the "Life Lessons from Music Practice" series as a women's devotional.  So good!

• Life Lessons from Music Practice: Rest Notations
• Life Lessons from Music Practice: The Whole Note--Relax and Let It Play
• Life Lessons from Music Practice: Playing With Others
• Life Lessons from Music Practice: The Song Your Life Sings  (reminds me of my poem "This Is My Song and I Sing")
• We Do Grace...Truly a Home Sweet Home
• BOGO McDonald's Tropical Fruit Smoothie, Frappé or Lemonade / Expires July 31, 2011

The Empty Bowl by Laura Parker at Deeper Story  (Laura, her husband and three children left their home in the mountains for the jungles of Thailand, where they currently serve as directors of a children’s home for at-risk girls.) 

While churches in America pass the plate, locals in Thailand fill the empty bowls. And this concept of the empty bowl is based on the belief that whatever the Universe hands the monk, will be enough for that day’s provision of clothing, food, and money. It is a dependence on Bigger Forces to supply the need. And I watch respectfully from my window in the early morning light, and I witness the curbside ceremony of giving, receiving, and blessing from a religion so new to my observation. And I am handed a beautiful picture of practical trust and simple dependence, played out by shorn-headed men and pajama-clad women.  

And, with that in mind an idea of giving from our American abundance to people around the world who have been affected by messy tragedy...

Cleaning Bucket Care Kits by Julie Druck at Life in Skunk Hollow

Last week one evening we had the privilege of spending several hours with 80 other believers packing 500 cleaning bucket care kits for people in natural disasters around the world. We formed several assembly lines and packed the buckets filled to the top with various cleaning items, trash bags, clothesline and pins, dust masks, bug spray, and gloves. What a blessing to stand around the stacks of buckets, place our hands on them and pray for those who would one day receive the kits. It is, indeed, a privilege to serve.

The Homeschooling Mom Derby by Karen Campbell at www.thatmom.com

What a tremendous lesson this tiny bit of southern history holds for homeschooling moms! Sometimes, especially at the end of a bad day or in the middle of some particular occasion when we brush up against an “Iroquois,” someone who is doing seemingly amazing things with his or her life, we are tempted to think that we have not done anything very great with our own lives, that others may think we have been “turned out to pasture” for choosing to be home to care for our dear husbands and our precious children!  We have not made a million dollars or won any race. In fact, sometimes we are not very good at just being in the human race! Often these feelings of inadequacy come at high school or family reunions where friends and relatives appear to be more successful than we are, planting doubts that we have chosen the right path. However, the truth is that most of us are much more like Bonnie Scotland! While we might not receive immediate treasures or rewards, our greatest blessings will come one day through the future generations of our children, through the eternal rather than the temporal!  Just think of that as you continue running your race today!

How to Become Your Spouse's Best Friend by Michael Hyatt Now become that person for your spouse. That’s right. Turn the table. Make this a list of the kind of friend you will become. I can promise you this: anyone who does half of these kinds of things will have more friends than he or she knows what to do with. But what if you focused this effort on your spouse? Think of the possibilities.

The Color Green by Sarah Clarkson at Thoroughly Alive 

Down I went into the green bowl of our valley with wet pines scratching the sky all round, their needles scenting the air. I got out of the trees onto a crest of hill from which you can spy out miles of mountain range, north to south, plain to peak. Behind me, the storm had hunkered into a navy sulk that flickered with lightning. Before me, the evening sun clung hard and bright to the foothills, spilling a last light into a wide, summered field all wet and 
green on my right. 


And by Sarah's lovely mother Sally Clarkson at www.ITakeJoy.com (I'll be posting of review of Clay and Sally's wonderful big fat third edition of Educating the Wholehearted Child soon!)

• Jesus is my center - a Celtic prayer
• Today, I will sing, dance, laugh, love and be a child once again

A Summer Ramble by Tonia at Study in Brown

And on that thought, what if we approached every holiday, every birthday party, every phone call with the desire to be a blessing?  What might happen in our families if we refused to be quickly offended?  If we were more interested in the other person's growth than our own gain or recognition or approval?  What if we showed up to serve rather than be served?  Might that begin to ripple out too and bring God-life to a family? I've always thought our ministry should begin - and be best - towards those whom God has given to us first.

 

One Potato, Two Potato by Cheryl Bastian 

The fresh smell of spring and the heat of summer bring gardens of plentiful learning activities. Seems like every time we turn around we are enjoying another experience involving fruits and veggies. Here's a sampling of our fun, with a few extras tucked in for good measure.

Well, I guess that about does it for now!
Until next time!
Virginia Knowles
www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

A Spiritual Warfare Prayer

Dear friends,

Someone I love very much sent me this prayer, which she is using to intercede for a family member who is does not yet have a living relationship with God.  She asked me to pray along with her each day.  I thought this prayer might be useful to some of you, too.  As you pray, just fill in the blanks with the name of your loved one.

“Lord, I pray…”

That You would lift the veil over _______

That Your Holy Spirit would hover over, protect and fill _______

That godly people would be in their pathway each day

That You would cast down anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God, specifically pride and rebellion

That You would take down all strongholds, such as thought patterns, opinions on religion, materialism, fear, etc.

That You would bind Satan from taking _______ captive; bind all wicked thoughts Satan has placed in his mind

That the armor of God would be placed on _______ and he would become an effective doer of Your will

~*~*~

Here are three other posts about intercessory prayer that you might find encouraging...

• What Are You Looking For? includes a story about Hudson Taylor and his parents' prayers for him, especially when he was spiritually wandering as a teenager 
• Praying for Your Children includes Amy Carmichael's "A Parent's Prayer", as well as Scriptures to use while praying, and other ways can intercede for our children and for ourselves as parents. 
• Got Prayer? includes prayers from some of the great Christian saints throughout history.  Here are two of them...

The Church has not yet touched the fringe of the possibilities of intercessory prayer. Her largest victories will be witnessed when individual Christians everywhere come to recognize their priesthood unto God and day by day give themselves unto prayer. – John R. Mott

The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray. - Samuel Chadwick

Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down. - John Wesley

While we are on the topic of prayer, I would like to ask you to pray for me and my family as God leads you.  I would be delighted to return the favor, so if you have a prayer request, you can write to me at virginiaknowles@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

www.comewearymoms.blogspot.com

On Mommy Blogging: Image, Identity, Authenticity and Freedom

Dear friends,

Are you ready for my musings on the subject of blogging? Thanks!  Don’t mind if I do!  

A bit of background, shall we? I have been writing for the on-line community on the topics of education, spiritual life, and family life for 13 years now through my Hope Chest e-magazine, and blogging for over three. I technically have seven blogs, though I only post at least weekly on a few of them: my “life” blog, a blog of encouragement for moms, and a preschool/elementary education blog. I think there are about 550 articles on them, including excerpts from two of the home schooling books I have written. Most of my posts are about whatever is on my mind at the moment that I think might be interesting, inspiring, amusing or otherwise useful to someone else out in cyberspace. I try to be intentional about what I write, and think about who might be reading it and how it will affect them. My thoughts have certainly morphed over the years, definitely more divergent and less rigid, and hopefully for the better. 

Writing, for me, is a potent means of self-expression. It helps me think. I’ve often said that I can’t NOT write. It is an integral part of who I am.

Not only do I write about who I am, I write myself into who I am becoming.

Meander with me a moment longer into perhaps unfamiliar territory? I regularly read two blogs written by ex-members of a church organization of which I too am an ex-member.  Some of it is pretty dicey stuff, which is understandable since it is written from grief, confusion, pain, and justifiable anger over distressing, long-term, unresolved issues. I take it with a grain or two of salt, realizing that most of it is valid, but still trying to use discernment. I agree with enough of it to keep reading and occasionally contributing my own comments. It helps me to realize that I am not crazy to be concerned about the things that were red flagging in my mind for years. It helps to know that I am not alone. I think one thing that strikes me about these blogs is that while they are a bit raw with emotion and assertions, there is reality and authenticity to them. Maybe because most of the people there post their comments anonymously, they relish the liberty to express their deeper feelings that they had squelched for so long out of fear and peer pressure. They work it out and find healing and refuge as they write and interact with each other. I have my own angst as I write, but I try to be civil and encourage others to consider their words carefully, too. I try to reflect the heart of Jesus no matter where I am and who is reading.

One of the minor themes I’ve noticed lately on one of these protest blogs is a disdain for young mommy bloggers (within this group of churches) who write as if they have all of the righteous answers to dish out to the unenlightened, who are perfectly submissive wives, sage mothers, uber creative homemakers, chirpy friends, sentimental photojournalists. Yet there is often also a paradoxical element of self-deprecation, with a constant thread of “I am such a sinful person, I need to repent about this and this and this.” This little bunny trail complaint about bloggers is that these young women are projecting an unrealistic image of their lives so that others will know they are piously committed to the whole devote-my-entire-life-to-this-particular-rigid-model-of-church-and-family-roles-and-only-in-my-four-walls-homemaking-lifestyle-even-though-I-am-such-an-unworthy-little-worm.  Wow, that was a mouthful!

You know, I really couldn’t say one way or another whether that is true. Maybe for some of them, some of the time? Many of the young mommy bloggers in our old church are my friends, and I don’t see that in them. To be honest, I really don’t know what is going on in their minds, and it’s not my place to conjecture or judge. I want to give them the freedom to blog in their own style, for their own reasons, whether they tell it like it already is or tell it the way they aspire to be. What they say is a blessing to me.

Speaking just for myself, I can get a bit Pollyan-ish and rose colored glassy on my blogs. Sometimes it’s because things really are going well for me at the moment, and I want to capture it in my memory before it disappears. Other times I blog about something cheerful just because it’s the only way I can keep my sanity when another element of my life looks dark. I write my own light. There is a purpose to all of it. I trust God is going to use what I write no matter why or how I write it. I try to be appropriately aware of my inner impulses as I write, but it is not healthy for me to over-analyze this.

The truth is that we all project our images. We all have our identities – public and private -- and blogging is certainly intertwined with that. Perhaps my blogs make it seem like I think I have it all together, that I have all the answers. I sincerely hope I am not casting that impression. I personally wouldn’t mind being more transparent about my struggles, but there is a matter of prudent discretion. My family has a right to privacy. Plus, you never know who is reading what you are writing, and how they are taking it and what they intend to do with your information. Do you know what I mean? So I might come across like one of the Happy Clone Bloggers at times, too. My utmost apologies. I’m really a worm in disguise. No, not that either. There must be a happy medium somewhere!

The ironic thing is that a while back, one of the pastors of our former church (whom I still appreciate, despite the problems there) was preaching about something or other and tried to encourage the women, “Don’t feel like you need to work at having the best blog.” I don’t know quite why he said that. In hindsight, I think maybe his point was that we should avoid the performance mentality of comparing ourselves to others in a way that makes us feel inadequate. But I felt a bit miffed and unsettled. Maybe I took it wrong. Maybe I read something else behind the words, based on my lingering impressions of that church culture as a whole. Part of it was that I had the uncomfortable sense that he was pointing a proverbial finger right at me – one of the most prolific bloggers in the church and an independent thinker. But even apart from that (most likely imagined) personalized impression, I felt like the pastor was subtly communicating to all of us that blogging was a frivolous hobby, a waste of time that we should be devoting to something else. That we shouldn’t bother pursuing excellence, thinking for ourselves, and expressing our own divergent opinions. That our words, feelings and attempts at Titus 2 mentoring don’t matter as much because we aren’t the ones behind the podium. I felt dismissed, minimized, as a woman and as a Christian created to be creative in the image of an amazing Creator. 

I do work hard at blogging, not to prove that I’m a better person but to become a better person -- and to help others do the same.

So what is the “take away” point of this post? I’d like to share a word of advice to blog writers, and another one for blog readers.

To my fellow blog writers:  Find your own voice and write from your heart. You are your own person and you don't need to conform to groupthink. At the same time, feel free to dabble in a new idea or style that you see on someone else’s blog. (I get a lot of mental sparks from bloggers like Ann Kroeker, like the "Curiosity Journal" and "Food on Fridays" memes that are meant to be imitated.) Even as you borrow ideas, put your own unique twist into whatever you do. Don’t feel like you have to be stuck in a single genre; variety is the spice of life. Write the kind of things you like to read. And don’t feel like you must protect your image or prove your worth. Our kids are terrific topics for mommies to write about, but don’t put them in a fish bowl or on a pedestal. Be real. Be discrete. Be creative. Be authentic. Be kind. Be truthful. Be yourself. Be like Jesus. That is not a contradiction, because he does not create cookie cutter clones. Each person can be like Jesus and still be completely unique. Each member of his body reflects him in a different way (2 Corinthians 12). Think about what will bless and equip your readers. Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

To my fellow blog readers: Don’t take everything you read too seriously and don’t feel like you (or your children) have to measure up to everything you see. Glean what you can use, and buzz past the rest. Read blogs from a variety of viewpoints to stretch your perspective and hone your own convictions.  (On a practical note, using www.BlogLovin.com is a handy way to keep up on blogs you like, without having to go hunting around to see if there is a new post.  You can read all the current posts from all your favorite blogs in one place!)  As you read from different blogs, respect where people are – either in their “season of life” or their background or in the way they see things. They aren’t just like you, and that’s a good thing! There are some blogs that I stop reading because they just consistently irritate me and I don’t need that extra stress. There are others I stop reading because I don’t relate to them as well, and I don’t have all the time in the world. If I add in new blogs to my reader, I look at removing others that I’m not as thrilled about anymore. I have to be selective and read what feeds and challenges me. I try to read, reflect, and respond. Bloggers need feedback! Feel free to leave a comment and share your opinions if they will be helpful. Encouraging words are manna to a bloggers soul. But be careful about flaming a blogger with a sharp comment if you disagree with their post. Endless blog arguments are a waste of time and can be quite agitating to the soul. Again, the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

I guess that's about all I have to say right now, but I wrote another article a while back that is closely related to my thoughts here: Do It Well, But Keep It Humble 

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think about any or all of this!

Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

Friday Favorites #10: On Puffin Mumpkins and Pringles (And Being Broken and Real)

Dear friends,


Welcome to Friday Favorites #10!  As usual, I have a few stories and pictures to tuck in!  And my favorite links for the week will be embedded right into the stories.


Today my daughter Naomi and I drove over to our former church to deliver books to be sold at the big used curriculum sale tomorrow.  It was lunch time and we were quite hungry (yes, I know, poor planning) so when we stopped at the gas station, we picked up some hot dogs and soda to munch on before going to Aldi for groceries. She is a really terrific shopper.  I rarely buy groceries without her because she has a good sense of what we have at home and what we need for meals.  Besides that, she is just plain fun to be around!  


After the curriculum sale tomorrow, we are going to a nearby pool for a small family reunion with Thad's aunt and uncle, two of his cousin's kids, another of his cousin's family, two of his sisters, two nieces, our own ten children, my son-in-law and my grandson.  Did I say small reunion?  Oops.  That's 25 people right there!  (See our last get together here: 

More Weekend Gratitude, This Time in Pictures with a Recipe for Bread Pudding.)

Anyway, we're supposed to bring our own lunch and a snack to share, so Naomi and I were debating what kind of snacks to buy.  I grabbed some tortilla chips and cookies, and she suggested Pringles potato chips in a can.  I never buy Pringles, but occasionally she does with her spending money.  I had a funny flashback to childhood when one of my own cousins, at a small family reunion, had a major hissy fit because one of her Pringles potato chips was broken.  Mind you, normal potato chips that come in a bag are often broken by the time you even open the package.  But we have this expectation of Pringles.  They come in a can, sheltered in that perfect round tube.  They are not supposed to be broken before we eat them!  And my mind leaps to the metaphor of how when we shelter our children, we have expectations that they will be completely whole.  (Let's not stretch the metaphor to "before we eat them.")  And yet we are humans.  Humans get all broken inside.  Rules meant to shelter us can sometimes suffocate us or break us instead.  Sigh.  A friend wrote to me recently, "We home schooled and did all the "right" things and yet it is not the picture we had in mind for our children. I guess God has a path for us that we will not understand this side of heaven."  Oh, I wish everyone would realize that home schooling is not the answer to life's problems.  Neither is doing all the "right things."  We are all broken, but some of us don't realize it yet because we're too busy to conforming to the rules that promise us perfection.  I do long for heaven, when I can see how it all works out.  The stories we will tell of grace and redemption!  All of this also relates to a blog post I wrote on my main blog this morning, which you can read here: A Sacred Romance in the Deeper Places of Our Hearts. I do hope you'll take a peek at it.   It's a good one.  Anyway, just the nostalgia of remembering my cousin's temper tantrum compelled me to buy a can of Pringles.  We'll see what happens tomorrow... If something is broken...


Since Father's Day is coming, I also wanted to buy ingredients for a special breakfast for my husband Thad.  We'd been buying all of this picnic junk food, so I wanted it to be something healthy.  He likes healthy.  I spotted a jar of apple sauce on the shelf and remembered I had just read a recipe for Multi-Grain Pumpkin Muffins on one of my favorite blogs (by Sheri Graham).  I already have a can of pumpkin in the cupboard, so I figure that will be just the thing for Sunday morning.  Naomi is not fond of pumpkin (I like to make Pumpkin Streusel Muffins and Peach Pumpkin Muffins).  She protested, getting her tongue twisted in the process, "Puffin mumpkins!  I don't like those!"  Puffin mumpkins!  I like that garbled phrase.  We shall have to always call them that, much like we call gingerbread "zinzerbread" because a little girl who visited us once called it that.  Naomi also doesn't like Banana Cake, so whenever I make a batch, I always make some without bananas.  We call it "No-Nana Cake."  I assured her I will do the same this time, making some pumpkin muffins and some blueberry.   And I'll make some sausage quiche.  Sounds like a plan to me!  And since we're talking healthy food, I should also say that I bought plenty of fruit (frozen berry mix, fresh strawberries, cantaloupe, etc.) for a fruit salad for our picnic, too.  Honest, I did!


Also while we were at Aldi, we saw a display for a wasp trap.    Apparently the wasp flies into it and can't get out.  Sounds like the song "Hotel California" to me: "You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."  They were only $3.99 and we have a bunch of wasp nests right outside our front door, so I bought one and hung it up just about a foot from three or four nests.  




The wasps were buzzing right on one of the nests as I hammered in the hook.  I think one was fanning the nest dry as they were building it with mushed up wood pulp.  They have no idea of the new "digs" I have planned for them.  Pre-fab plastic, no chewing or fanning required. Hey, why don't you move in right now?  :-)








Another kind of wasp or insect (my son says a mud dauber) built its nest right on the leaf of the potted tree just below the other nests.  What's funny is that it is an artificial tree.  






And what's even funnier is that I found a grasshopper on a branch of the same tree, at least five feet off the ground.  I wonder if he is disappointed to have climbed so far up and then realize that the tree is inedible.  But he didn't seem to be in any hurry to go find some real food.  He's still clinging to the tree!  I guess he's still luckier than the grasshopper I stepped on this morning when I stepped out the door.

Well, we do like real food around here, and sometimes we grow a little of our own, though I am a black thumb when it comes to that.  Thad had mentioned seeing an upside down planter for growing tomatoes without having to worry about weeds or grasshoppers, and they had them at Aldi for $4.99 so we bought one of those, too.  I've been told fresh from the vine tomatoes are heavenly to taste.  I don't eat fresh tomatoes, but I'll bet my husband will enjoy them.  Come to think of it, though, if that grasshopper managed to climb the artificial tree, he might just find a way to get to my hanging tomatoes, too!


Well, I guess that's all the stories for right now in this post, but here is another link that has stories in it, too: The Impulsive Decorator's Room Redo #1: The Front Hallway

Oh, and lest I forget, since I am linking this to Ann Kroeker's Food on Friday blog meme, here is the link to her most recent post, too!  Food on Fridays: Easy Chocolate Pudding.   Got a blog post even remotely related to food?  Link up and join the fun!








Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
www.comewearymoms.blogspot.com

The Impulsive Decorator's Room Redo #1: The Front Hallway

Dear friends,

So it started with a pile of shoes.  My younger five kids and I have a habit of taking our shoes off as soon as we come in the house -- which is a very good thing -- but they also have a habit of just throwing them on the floor in the front hallway -- which is not a good thing at all.

This being summer break, I'm sort of on a home organizing and decorating kick.  I tackled the master bedroom a few days ago (that will be my next post in the series) and then started to turn my mental energies to our front hallway when I passed the aforementioned messy shoe pile one too many times for my aesthetic comfort. 

Oh, we've tried throwing all the shoes in a big basket or two, but then they end up pulling them all out looking for the right pair.  I decided we each need our own labeled container.  But what kind?  I didn't want plastic bins or cardboard boxes, since this is the first room visitors see when they enter our home and I like to make a favorable impression.

Yesterday, I went to the household storage department at Target, looking for something pretty and practical.  They had some nice canvas bins, but they cost about $7 each.   For six bins, that would be $42 plus tax!  Yow!  Not in my budget, honey!  So then I stopped by Deals on the way home.  It's like a glorified dollar store.  First I spotted a stack of wicker baskets for $3 each, but they looked bulky, and not very well made.  Then, on my way back out of the store, I hit the jackpot.  I saw a rack that had packages of fold up canvas bins, 11 x 11 x 9, for only $1 each!  Yes!  Each one is just big enough for several pairs of kids' shoes.  And they have stayed neat since yesterday!

I made little initial labels, cut out with decorative-edge scissors, and attached them to the handles.  Then I lined them up in a row on the hallway floor and filled them up.  It all looks so much better!  

Red, white and blue is not my usual color scheme for the front hallway, but I decided to build around it using what we already have.  I wanted to stick with a vintage country theme, with stripes, checks, and hearts for patterns, and muted shades of red and blue. I noticed that there was already a red and blue wicker basket on the chair, holding library books waiting to be returned.  (The chair is a family heirloom, too fragile for sitting!)

Then I remembered a homey woven blanket with a similar color scheme on the back of my easy chair in my bedroom, so I folded it and placed it in the open bottom of an antique radio cabinet.  (We had to remove the damaged lower doors many years ago.  There were blue and white handmade quilts there before, but they are now on the chairs in my bedroom.)

For the top of this cabinet, I borrowed some vintage Harvard classic books and a small stuffed "Faith" heart from the living room, and a wedding picture (with similar color accents in the frame) from the master bedroom.

Across from the cabinet, there is the hall table which has the shoe bins lined up under it. I moved an antique book stand (from Thad's aunt) and my grandfather's Bible in from another room, then leaned a "Love Begins at Home" framed needlepoint across the front of it.  Above, I first hung a stained glass mirror that my mother had made for my college graduation 26 years ago.  Unfortunately, the colors were wrong for the new scheme.  After looking around the house for something more suitable, I chose a framed geranium poster from the living room.  The verse, translated from French, reads, "The joy of the Lord is my strength."  

Since many of my decorations have sayings related to faith, hope, and love, I opened the Bible to 1 Corinthians 13, part of which says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails," and "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

I hung a welcome sign with dangling hearts directly across from the front door; it came in from outside where it was hanging under our mailbox.  

The Faith-Hope-Love angel, a gift from my sister-in-law Dana, came from the living room.

After I had been twiddling around with decorations from other room, I started wishing I had a small rug to match the new color scheme.  I had an extra hour out while my teenage son was at Bible study tonight, so I visited Bed Bath & Beyond and JoAnn Crafts.  JoAnn had a whole aisle of patriotic country-style red, white, and blue decorations, all marked at 60% off, but I had enough of those kinds of things.  I didn't see a rug I liked, so I didn't buy anything at all.  It was tempting, but anything more would have just been clutter. 

My final piece?  I remembered that a couple of years ago, I had a lovely picture of a house with the saying, "God rest your hand upon this door and bless this house forevermore" hanging next to the front door. But when Thad repainted that one wall, he took it down, and I hadn't seen it since.  I had looked for it a while back, but hadn't found it.  God's hand was with me tonight, though, because after a quick prayer, I found it in the second place I looked -- wedged between my husband's desk and bookshelf.  Ha!

So there you have it.  I started with a messy pile of shoes, and ended up with a lovely entry way!  And since I was mainly using what I already had, I only spent $6.42 for the whole project!  Not only that, I was able to bring a bit of variety throughout the house by rotating artwork between rooms, such as swapping out the big waterfall painting from over the hall table for the geranium poster that was over the living room couch.


I should note that in addition to the shoes, I was also spurred on by reading the chapter on "Entrances" in Alexandra Stoddard's book Creating a Beautiful Home which I picked up at our library bookstore's bag-of-books-for-$2 sale.  Here are her introductory thoughts: "From the moment you open the front door to your house or apartment, you instinctively feel the emotional rush of being home.  The entrance hall is the face and character of the house.  Just as a writer must find his or her voice, your place of entry -- like the first paragraph of a book -- conveys the whole feel of the house, its atmosphere and integrity, the voice that hints of home.  Immediately, you reveal your story. So begin by asking, What are your major messages?  What do you want to express to yourself, your family, and friends when walking through the door?"


I want people to think about faith, hope, and love -- and to feel welcomed by our family into our home!  I also want my family to see a reminder to love each other!  Yes, indeedy, we do need that!


How about you?


Blessings,

Virginia Knowles

www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

P.S. If you would like to see what the hallway and living room looked like during autumn decorating, you can read this post here: Easy Autumn Decorating on a Dime.  You will see a lot of the same objects, just in different places!


P.P.S. Next week, I hope to show you my master bedroom "redo" -- which started with trying to wipe a few smudges off the wall...