Farewell Christmas 2007

The days of December have quickly passed along and the new year approaches with it's lingering presence, just days away. I can feel it breathing down my neck. I will miss another year transfered into my memory and I long for the newness of another. 2008. We spent our week before Christmas visiting with family in Louisiana. Unfortunetly on our trip into La. we experienced a tragedy with Butterfly. After a few hours of driving with heavy eye lids we stop for a breather and some coffee. A few minutes at the table of a restaurant and our beautiful Butterfuly found my cup of very hot coffee. We were unaware that she was in reaching distance of the cup until in a split second. One second we were all laughing and about to enjoy our road trip break and the next we were frantically rushing to the hospital where we found out she had second degree burns on her forearm of her right arm. We were devasted that she was in so much pain and in guilt for some how allowing it to happen. We praised God though that it was not much worse such as her face or all over her body, it was a big cup and it soaked her jeans and sweat shirt. God is good. The incident we know had a purpose and we trusted God in it, though we may not fully understand why these things happen. The rest of the trip went smoothly and she was given the strength to endure her injury with no signs of pain or discomfort at all, again praise God!

While we were in Louisiana we were able to visit with many family members and just enjoy them. Unfortunetly my side of the family had to cancel on us for medical reasons and we were all really disappointed with that. We were also extremely blessed to visit with some friends as well... one of my closet friends and let me tell you that there is no one friendship like hers. We enjoyed a fabulous time of shopping together.

Monday, also known as my birthday and the day before Christmas or Christmas Eve, we were on the road again. We left Louisiana at 11:45 and walked in our door at 7:30 completely exhausted but anxious about our family celebration of Christmas. Christmas day was a BLAST! The Littles loved all of their gifts, of course! and we had so much playing together with them. We then were so blessed to spend an amazing time of fellowship with our close friends for dinner. Praise God that He brought us all together on such a special day.

And now we are back to reality... bills to pay, books to return to the library, homeschooling planning for next week, a house to straigten, clean, declutter and organize, loans to tackle, new habits to form, resolutions to make, lists to conquer, cars to clean and register, old toys to dispose of and new toys to embrace, laundry to do, meals to plan and sleep to get. Oh, it's good to be home, :0).

JOYfully in Him,
Kelli

Look what I did today:

My Bedroom Before....

My Bedroom After....

I don't know how our room becomes so overtaken with stuff but it does and it drives me nuts. I have not been able to get to it in the last week so today I made it my major project. My boys are both away for the week so I thought I would take advantage of that and totally tackle it. I wanted to quit so many times but reminded myself of the reward that would be recieved afterwards, mostly the peace that immediately follows. I am so amazed at the peace that flows from the room now. Iam now sitting in my clean and clutter free room about to read my bible and visit with my hubby before I watch a little Everybody Loves Raymond and then drift off into dream land for a few minutes before my Butterfly wakes up for her midnight snack :0).

Tapestry of Beauty

I have a desire to Glorify the Lord in my calling as a homemaker. Tapestry of Beauty is my definition of my desire in this area of my calling. It is based on the title of a book called God’s Beautiful Woman by Elizabeth George and its foundation is from the Virtuous Woman and her model. Proverbs 31:22 “She makes herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.” My home, this Little Place, is where my heart lies and is where I find my delight and my complete contentment. It is a place of peace and a refuge from the world. Lately the Lord has been stirring my hearts desires to have fruitful hands in the creative way of pouring my love into my family and home. This little place is an expression of me and my family in every corner and crack. The couch, hallway (as small as it may be), kitchen, laundry corner :0), bookshelves, armoire, coffee table, rugs, curtains, dinning room, bedroom, kids rooms and all of those who dwell inside will speak to those who enter of who we are and I desire to be apart of the making of many of those, adding the work of my hands to them, with a touch here and there of creativity for the Lord. I also want my home to radiate a love for Christ and His glory in a way that it can not be missed. My heart is here in this Little Place and instead of only allowing a few faucets to drip my love onto and into it I want them to pour out with passion and diligence! This is my mission for my Little Place……….to make a Tapestry of Beauty. Join me while I learn how to do this and feel free to give any of your insight and suggestions….they are welcomed with extreme delight!

I wrote this a year ago as a discription for a blog I started over at Homestead Blogger. A year ago and my heart is still in the same place beating with passion for my Little Place called Home. I have such a desire to be a more fruitful and joyful homemaker. Since Baby Girl is only 4 weeks old and life around here is still running a little on the crazy side my attempts to more fruitful will be slow going but the thoughts in my head are rushing out constantly and I can’t turn them off. I hope to begin soon and can not wait to share my journey! Tell me do you desire to be a more fruitful homemaker? This includes being more organized, frugal, joyful and productive not in just ordinary ways but in creative ways as well. I will begin next week with trying out homemade cleaning solutions and recipes. I encourage you to join me in this exciting journey… a journey to bless our families and our Lord with the works of our hands from the overflowing of our hearts.