Random projects we've been working on

It's been a busy, busy place around our home the last several weeks. Indoor soccer finally came to an end last weekend, while church choir is picking back up full-swing and it won't be long before baseball and softball practices begin!

But we've been doing plenty of non-sports activities around the house, too. Have a look at some of our projects.

The first one is part of our great room remodel project that is sort of ongoing. Taking out the fireplace gave us this huge wall, and we've been contemplating how to fill it. We started with this dominant double canvas art work that ties in the ceiling beam color-wise. We want the things on this wall to represent what's important to us as a family -- those things that all four of us love. Well, we all love books, the outdoors, God, the Cardinals. So we've got our "tree of life" that is actually the tree from our field that I photographed. I bumped up the contrast on the image and knocked off all the tiny branches in Photoshop. 

We decoupaged pages from books onto two canvases of the same width. Harry Potter pages, because that's a favorite. And then I found an old devotion book with prayers and poems of faith in a resale shop. We rounded it out with another old book that had extra crusty, yellowed pages to give the wall some texture and "pop." 

And then I had a brilliant idea -- most of mine are, right? Anyhow, we had an old coffee table in the garage. Dan stripped it and painted it black to match our end tables and then we decoupaged the same types of pages in the middle. 

Here's a closeup of the tree canvases before they were hung. Printing out the tree on individual sheets of paper and wrapping it around the edge of the canvas was a bit harder than I thought I would be. Especially when I lost a piece and had to go back and crop out that section again. We still want to put a bird on a branch -- a Cardinal bird, of course. But Abby insists it has to be a Cardinal I've photographed so that the piece is 100 percent original. She's a stickler! Next up: filling in the space around this artwork. I'm envisioning favorite family scriptures artistically represented with -- maybe -- one family photo. We have plenty of photographs all over this room, so I don't want to overdo it on photos! What I love about this wall is that it will represent art we made and things that are important to us. 

Today we've got Boy Scouts Pinewood Derby all day. Here's Ryker's car when it was still a work in progress. It turned out very cool looking! And just wait until you see Abby's -- completely envisioned by her!

I liked this photo, so I had to share! She thinks her eyes are green, but here in front of these bleachers, I think it's quite obvious they're blue!

 Ryker's made shot at the last basketball game. 

He played most of the game (they only had six players) but sat out when his leg "hurt." We were chuckling when we saw him looking all cute and cross-legged on the bench. My baby. Getting a little misty-eyed here, so moving on....

Ryker bringing the ball down the court. We think he's amazing. Yep.

I'm so excited about this, though the notebook seems to be missing at the moment. Abby has picked up where the Harry Potter series left off and is writing her own epilogue novel. And...it's amazing! We thought she was copying something when we picked up the notebook and read it. Then we watched her scratch out two full pages at Ryker's basketball game and knew it was all her. She even explained her creative process -- amazing! When/if we find the notebook, we're going to let her start her blog. I'll type it in for her since she's not very fast at typing. Please send her lots of encouragement so she'll finish it. 

As she read it to us, her toes were wiggling like wild. She gets that from her mema (and maybe her ADHD). Her toes NEVER stop moving. :) 

Here's Ryker reading an equally awesome story that encompasses little monsters, windshield wipers, and me threatening him with death while pointing an umbrella at him (this is fiction, folks, I swear. we don't own umbrellas!). 

Lent: It's more than just giving it up

In my church, we don't exactly make a big deal about Lent. In fact, I don't think anyone's mentioned it. Ever.

Growing up Lutheran, it was a major holiday. But all I recall about it is Ash Wednesday. The appeal for a child: black ashes on your forehead that your mom actually won't wipe off -- immediately anyway. And that's about it. A lot of people I knew gave up something, but they were Catholic. Lutherans didn't always do that. 

Lent is not Biblical, at least not in the sense that Easter and Christmas are actual events. Lent is not a day or even a ritual recognized in the text. But it is Biblical to the extent that (when practiced as intended) it celebrates disciplines that we should be incorporating in our walk with Christ -- fasting, praying, meditating, etc. -- all in an effort to grow closer with our Savior. I like the way this blogger explains the connection between the Bible and Lent: http://www.flowingfaith.com/2011/03/is-lent-biblical.html. 

What Lent means to most people is "giving up" something. You hear people talk about what they're giving up, though rarely do you hear them explain why they're giving it up. Some fast from something -- sometimes a meal once a week or red meat. Often people give up sugary foods -- chocolate or soda -- and some are forfeiting Facebook. 

It wasn't until a few years ago that I really understood why we should fast or give up something in discipline with our faith. Jesus did it and he talked about it as if it was something we would simply do. He expects it of us, not at Lent, but as a general practice. Why? 

When we give something up, we replace it with something spiritual. The time it takes to prepare and eat a meal -- or surf Facebook -- can then be given to God. To listen. To hear his call. To pray and meditate. Fasting also allows us to live a life with less, giving us perspective on those who, not by choice, do so daily. In other words, most of the world's population. A great resource on how to fast and why is Richard Foster's "Spiritual Disciplines."

While I hadn't planned to give up anything for Lent, I realized that I sort of have. I turned in my resignation at my full-time job a couple weeks ago. I'm giving it up. Permanently.  

There are a lot of reasons, really. But what it boils down to most is that I am not serving God, nor listening to God, in my current schedule. Something had to give. And so I prayed about what to do, and he made it clear that he wants to be first in my life (I knew this) and that I should be obedient to this -- immediately. 

Like a child, I dug my heels in hard at this message. It seemed sudden. Dramatic. Unnecessary. I attempted to negotiate just like a child might. I fussed and complained. Still, he was unrelenting. He wants more of me, and serving him and my family from home is where he desires for me to be. 

While I'm giving up my corporate position, I'm not going to stop working. Because I need some kind of income to sustain our budget. Not much. Certainly not what I was earning. There won't be many dinners out or trips to the movies after we make the transition. We'll have to save a little more, do a little less. We might even have to give up on the idea of visiting my sister in Germany, which really stinks. We've been here before, financially speaking, and it's OK. Really. 

I don't know how it will work. But what I know is this. He demands that I be close to home, work from home, serve him better and put my family above my work. My faith is in him, and I know I don't have to worry. That's what he says, right there in his word. I'll trust him to work out the details. I know it will be just fine.

In the meantime, my forfeiting a full-time career will open up time, a lot of it since I don't know what I'll be doing when I begin working from home -- maybe some photography, some writing, Zumba with the senior ladies at my church. Who knows! But ahhh! to have time! Time that I can dig deeper in the scripture, pray and give myself more fully to God. And that is how I plan to celebrate Lent. 

Have faith....chase your dreams

"If you have an idea, get it out of your head. Create a prototype, get it into the world and then do it. Do it on a small scale. Make something you can hold." What's your idea? You know - that spark you keep dreaming about and doodling while you're on the phone. Draw it out, create something and tell someone else about it. Make it real, and start living your passion.

 I read this on a blog, and it made me think – maybe I’m a touch ADD. My head is about to explode with ideas. I always have unfinished projects, ideas for books, artwork I want to pursue and craft projects I'd like to do with the kids. And then there’s my work, my blogs, my photos, homemade gifts, household projects, and the list goes on…and on.

Right now, I have this great business idea spinning around in my head so fast and no time to sit down and develop it. Yet I’m obsessed with it. Add that to my feelings that I could not seem to juggle the work-life balance of full-time management in the corporate world. My creativity feels stifled during the bulk of my 40-hour work week. I have no voice; my ideas and opinions, they don’t count; and I feel integrity is at stake. And so I’m definitely not living my passion, despite the great-paying job that others would desperately chase in this economy. Here I am, running from it. It makes me sad for myself, like something is wrong with me. I feel like I don’t fit in. Like I don't appreciate an opportunity. When when I attempt it, I feel like a Stepford employee. That’s just sad, too. It seems I've lost my joy.

I want to create. I want to unleash my ideas. That’s what I would encourage my children to do. “Have faith, face your doubts, be courageous and chase your dreams,” I would tell them. So why is it so hard for me to convince myself? Why is my own self-confidence so beaten down? It's unlike me. I'm wondering...what do I have to lose?