{re}imagined Closet Doors

I wanted to give you a peek at our closet doors.  I painted them with Old White and have begun hand painting a French Graphic on them.  It is going much quicker than I thought, though still time consuming. 

I am not sure if the pictures do it justice, but they are turning out amazing!  I will distress them once I am done and then wax them.  What do you think?

First I traced the graphic with carbon paper behind it.  Yes, they still sell carbon paper, right by the only typewriter in Office Max.

Here it is once I traced it.

 

Here I have begun filling in with my ultra-skinny paint brush.  Isn’t it looking so cool???

I know precious little of what it says, hopefully nothing to risqué.  (blouses and pantalons are obvious)

May God bless you and keep you!!

Even On My Worst Day . . .

Since setting out to really understand what the Word of God says about me this year, I am, just now, finishing the book of Colossians.  Nearly a month in this one, little book. 

Before going on to my next epistle, rather back to Galatians, I wanted to give a quick recap for myself.  I began to write the words that summed up what I had discovered about myself while studying this book.  It’s kind of a cool list, hope it blesses you as it did me.  Go ahead and read through the book of Colossians for yourself, studying out what these words mean, that we often times, flippantly toss around.

Here we go:

I have been . . .

QUALIFIED . . . DELIVERED . . . TRANSLATED . . . REDEEMED . . . FORGIVEN . . . RECONCILED . . . BURIED . . . RISEN . . .

And I am . . .

CHOSEN . . . HOLY . . . LOVED and COMPLETE!!!!

In Him and because of Him!  Not because of anything I have done, or need to do, or could ever do to qualify me.  Nope, even in spite of what I might see in the mirror some days I am all of these things! Even on my very worst day I am STILL qualified, delivered, translated, redeemed, forgiven, reconciled, buried, risen, chosen, holy, loved and complete in HIM!

Man oh mister, if I could just live in this reality what reason would I have to be discouraged??  What could be the cause of a bad day??

Perfect Peace

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  Isaiah 26:3

Peace.  The Lord has been teaching me about peace lately.  A message that seems to be a theme these last few years.  To be honest, peace is NOT my default.  Stress, hurry, anxiety, push, burdened, overwhelmed.  These are my default.  These are the lies I listen to on a daily basis.

I have been challenged of late to reevaluate what I really believe.  Not what I ‘say’ I believe, but what I must really believe.  I feel as though the Lord continues to show me that how I act really shows what I believe.

For instance, I ‘say’ that I know I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.  But I 'act’ as though I need to somehow earn this righteousness, earn His love and acceptance.

This morning as I was praying and meditating on peace and choosing peace and letting the peace of God rule my heart, the above verse came to my mind.  I thought, ‘yes, Lord, what a lovely verse.’  Warm fuzzies filled my heart.  Yes, as I keep my mind stayed on You, YOU keep me in perfect peace.  Love it.  (But wait for it.)

“Because he trusteth in Thee”  Ahhh, why/how can one keep their mind stayed on Thee?  Because they TRUST in You!   Perhaps my innate inability to ‘keep my mind stayed on Thee’ has to do with my trust in You.

When the wheels begin to fall off my day or my life, I lunge for control.  I acquiesce to stress, anxiety, push and pressure. Without even a second thought, no less.  No peace, only tension.

But, when my trust is totally and utterly in You and I don’t need to control or handle all ‘this’, then I am able to keep my mind stayed on Thee.

Off to practice peace, to trust and rest . . . pray for me as I am still in my quiet time chair, behind closed doors, in my pajamas, sipping tea, oblivious to the ‘mess’ out there.   Wait, perhaps I could just stay here all day with you???  No?  Okay, I’m off.

Peace be with you, my friend!

 

Look What I Got!!

I am in the process of slowly converting our somewhat traditional 8os Ranch, that we decorated in a Tuscan décor several years ago, into a beautiful ‘shabby chic’ prairie style farmhouse.  Not an easy task with all the oak trim that I am not allowed to paint.  But, my dear husband has allowed me to paint the cabinets here and there, so there is hope.

We are painting over all the dark and heavy colors with light and airy colors.  Mostly, Bone White by Olympic. It is the perfect ‘off-white’ for our house.  Not to stark, yet clean and beautiful.

I have dreamt of having a beautiful chandelier in our bedroom and now it looks like my dreams are coming true!  It might be too big for the space, but we will see.  It is hanging safely in a corner of our room while the room gets painted and we figure out how to hand the beast from the ceiling.  It weighs a ton.  But oh so beautiful with all the baubles and bangles!!  I {heart} crystal chandeliers.  I also {heart} Craigslist!

Isn’t she pretty??  I also plan on incorporating that gorgeous antique mirror pictured. 

We found a beautiful, massive wood panel that we will make into our headboard.  I’ll paint it all Old White  and shabby it up.  I keep you posted as we progress.  Just had to share my lovely find.

Call Upon the Lord

The battle for my mind and thoughts continues.  Some days I seem on top of it, often times I feel like I am casting down wrong thoughts continually.  Kind of like disturbing a beehive, all kinds of ‘bees’ buzzing around me, stinging me every now and again.

I am well aware that hormones are factoring in here as things are changing with age, but the torment at times is so frustrating.

My heart is ever before Him for discernment, wisdom, revelation, conviction.  I know He leads and shows me things to deal with, but there are times when I just feel so weary of the battle.

Yesterday was one of those days.  I began reading Psalm 18.  I can’t remember what led me there . . . but I know WHO did.

It is one of those Psalms that just empowers me!  I start to sit up a little straighter, my head lifts, the heaviness in my face and heart begins to lighten.  The ‘fight’ starts to come back.  By the end of the Psalm I come out boxing!  Try reading it when you need a pick-me-up.

I also remembered an ‘oldie but goodie’ praise song and could not stop singing it all day.  My family seriously began to wonder if I flipped my lid.  I would burst out singing and startle every one.

Yesterday turned out the be the most joy filled day I have had in very long time.  I don’t mean a good, joy filled day, I mean walking on air, singing all day, crazy kind of joy!

For Thou hast girded me with strength for the battle!!

Praying for you right where you are at that He would be the lifter of your head.  Call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall you be saved from your enemies!!

The Fun I Have In a Day

Hello, Ladies!  I had the idea to share a recent post that I put up on my {re}imagined blog, just so you could see some of the work I am doing.

I thought I would give you some peeks at the fun I have in a day.  Most of these are custom orders.  Who wouldn’t love a client who brings you pieces to paint and say, ‘I don’t care what color, I will love anything you do.’  Really?  She is a peach to ‘work’ for. 

Here are a few of the the pieces as well as a few of my own. 

This new sign idea came when we met some friends for breakfast and one of them mentioned how they were ‘never what their dad wanted’.  I couldn’t let that lie go on without correcting.  I quickly pointed out that they ‘were exactly what their FATHER wanted!’   So I made him a sign, just like this, so he never forgets.

This one I made for Mr. {re}imagined, it was his birthday yesterday.  He (we all do) needs this message too, and he loves Olive green.  Isn’t it great??  Available for custom order if you are interested.  Maybe someone you know needs to really know this, or, maybe you need to be reminded.  Just let me know.

What’s a girl to do with a cute wood crate?  Paint it all chippy and old looking, of course.  I painted the ‘Fresh Eggs’ on it and then distressed making it look very old. 

This is an adorable table that a sweet gal saw on my ‘yet to be {re}imagined’ post.  This beauty was painted in Country Grey, sort of an oatmeal color.

These vintage shelves didn’t even make it to my blog.  A couple was here looking at other pieces and picked this for me to paint.  Chateau Grey and Old Ochre.

These two are a couple of the fun pieces I am painting for that wonderful client I mentioned.  The first one was painted in a custom mix, making it a beautiful jewel color.  I didn’t ‘love’ the lines of the second piece, just not my style.  But when I though of doing it  with this ‘ombre’ idea I LOVED it.  It looks amazing!

It is no secret that I {heart} green!  I think that is an understatement.  I painted this old white dresser with Antibes green and put lots of very dark wax on it.  I painted it with lots of texture so the wax would really stick in the grooves.  The pictures don’t do it justice, so cute.  I will be photographing it officially and putting it on the for sale page soon.  Unless someone wants it before I get it there.

See, told you I was having fun. Praying blessings and joy in your life!!

Michelle

Birthday Boy!!

My Dearest Brian,

Happy Birthday!  This is one my favorite days of the year because it is the day you were born!  You have been a blessing beyond my wildest dreams in my life.  I shake my head in awe, so often, that I would be blessed to be your wife.

You are the epitome of a ‘steady man’.  Faithful and true.  You are like a rock. Yes, sometimes this bothers me, especially when I want to ‘jump off a cliff’, but I truly am thankful for this quality.  We balance each other beautifully, I think.

I cannot believe that you are forty-nine years old.  Remember when that seemed so ‘old’?  It is so true, what they say, about you anyway, you really, really do get better with age!   

I love the fun we have, the laughter we share and the dreams we dream.  Nobody makes me laugh like you do.  You can be so naughty sometimes . . . and I LOVE it.

You are a treasure, Brian, and I am very rich woman. Happy birthday, my sweet!!

May God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you!!

Your adoring wife forever,

Michelle

How He Sees You

As I am seeking to find out, and really believe who I am in Him; looking to see myself as HE sees me, I am finding all kinds of little nuggets.  Before, I would read them and move on. Now, I stop, linger, meditate, ponder what my thoughts would be like if I really BELIEVED this particular scripture.

I find myself still in the first chapter of Colossians.  Today it is Col. 1:22. (with part of verse 21)

. . . yet now hath he reconciled

In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

First of all, I just love the thought that I have been reconciled to God.  I was instantly brought back to last March, when the Lord was revealing loads of “guilt and shame”  I felt almost as though His voice was calling out to me, pleading with me to ‘be ye reconciled to God’, in my mind.  It is already a fact, but I need to believe that I have been reconciled to God!!

On to how He presents me . . .

Holy:  set apart, sanctified, consecrated

Unblameable:  the absence of internal blemish, legally unaccused

Unreprovable:  free from any legal charge at all

Now, I don’t always ‘act’ holy, but because of what Christ did, I am holy.  When I read verses like this the ‘yah, buts’ come quickly to my mind.  ‘yah, but, you should see how I act sometimes’, or ‘yah,but, you don’t know the unkind or judgmental thoughts I have’, on and on. 

But when am I going to stop looking at things ‘below’ and start looking on things ‘above’?  When am I going to walk by faith and not by what I see?  When am I going to really believe the word over what I see in my own heart?

That is what this year is about for me.  Choosing to believe the Truth over what I see.  The more I meditate on and believe the Truth the more it becomes a part of me and transforms not only my mind, but also my heart and my actions. 

I really believe that holy people (that’s you and me) who really believe they are holy will actually ‘act’ holy.  Make sense?

 

 

Complete In Him

Colossians 2:9-10

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

You (and I) are complete in Him.  Complete!  When you read that, what thoughts come to your mind?

I challenge you to get in a quiet place and say, ‘I am complete in Jesus, I lack nothing.’  Now, pay attention and even write down what thoughts come to your mind as you meditate on the fact that you are, indeed, complete in Him.

What are your emotional reactions to this thought.  I have read that our beliefs drive our emotions and our emotions drive our actions.

Your ‘emotional’ reaction to this thought, more than likely, reveals your true beliefs.  If our beliefs are wrong, our emotions are wrong and our actions will also be wrong.  We will make wrong decisions based on our emotions that stem from our beliefs.

What I believe about myself, my standing with God and my true identity in Christ determines the how I ‘feel’ about myself and the quality of decisions I make.  I can continue to be caught up in a vicious up and down cycle, a sense of lack (incompleteness) or I can begin to believe, really believe what the Word of God says and thereby change my heart, my emotions and break the cycle.

I have begun reading through the New Testament searching for the Truth of what Christ has done and who He says I am in Him and what I have in Him.  I am choosing to take His Word at face value, simply believe what it says, even when it contradicts what I see and what I feel.  I have purposed to lay down lying vanities, my own opinion, possible false teachings that I have been swayed by, traditions of man and a ‘works’ mentality.  I want to hear HIS heart, the Truth, for it is only the Truth that will make me free and break this cycle.

Father God, open our eyes to who you say we are.  Let our identity be in You and You alone.  Expose the lies we have believed.  Teach us.  We humble ourselves, lay down our opinions and doctrines and want to learn only from You.  In Jesus name we pray.

Speak and Believe:

“I am complete in Him.  I lack nothing.”

New Word For 2012!

I so toyed with the idea of my word for the year being “fearless”.  God has been unearthing fear in the deep recesses of my heart.  As I recognize more and more of it a holy determination rises up in my spirit.

But alas, my Father has a better plan, which He ALWAYS does! (no matter how much I try to convince Him my plans are pretty good)

He has shown me over the past few weeks where I believe we are ‘going’ this year.  It is not so much a fight against fear as it is a filling up of who I am in Him and where my true security lies.

You see, I can fight fear all I want, but until I find my security, my identity, my all in Him and His righteousness it just might be futile battle.  Until I believe to my very core that I am righteous, already, because of what Christ did, I will continue to strive and fear and sense a ‘lack’ deep within me.

He has shown me that my fear is rooted in a sense of lack, that something is missing in me, thereby making me ‘feel’ unlovable, unaccepted, unholy, unrighteous, unsafe and unloved.

I am beginning to really grasp that I can ‘think’ I believe certain truths, and ‘say’ I believe certain truths, but how I live my life, how I respond to life shows what I really, truly-ooly believe.

I sense He is taking me on a life changing journey this year.  A very exciting journey.  It feels like it is the “next” step in this healing process that really took wings in May of 2010, when he radically healed and delivered me from a tremendous amount of bondage. (start at the bottom and work your way up)  I have sensed it for weeks and weeks now, something new about to break forth.  I feel pregnant (not really pregnant)  about to give birth to something beautiful, wonderful and exciting.

The scripture He gave me for the new year is found in Isaiah 43. (the whole chapter, really, but specifically the following)

“ Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old. 
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert. . . 
. . . To give drink to My people, My chosen. 
This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My praise.

And my “Word” for the new year??  Righteousness!

Yes, righteousness!  I have my bags packed, really just my bible, a pen and a journal, and I am ready to go!  I hope to share this journey with you.  My “goal”, if you will, is to seek to immerse myself in the scriptures about who I am in Him.  Meditate and study righteousness.  Read, speak and believe the Truth about His righteousness that is now mine.

Do you have a word or scripture for the new year?  I would love to hear it.

New!!

Happy New Year!  Can you believe it is 2012 already.  I have been meditating on what the Lord has done this past year and I stand in awe!  I feel, more than ever, that time has flown by.  I have decided that MY year only had eight months in it.  That’s why it was so busy.  A lot got packed into eight months!  You know, January, February, March, April, May, June, July and Augember.  That is what I call the time frame between August and December, Augember.  It was one giant blur!

I looked back to see what my ‘scripture’ for the year 2011 was and just smiled when I realized it was EXACTLY the perfect scripture for our year.  Go back and read it, very encouraging.  This year, more than ever, has been a “clear cut exhibition of God’s capable care”.

2011

Read Ann’s life changing book, One Thousand Gifts . . .

Our firstborn “Came Home”!!!

I reached my first “1000 gifts”

Started my “I Believes”

Dealt with Guilt and Shame and learned some deep lessons on Peace

Dumped a ton of “Performance” and “Drivenness”

Celebrated One Year of Healing!!

Got free from the “Never Good Enough Syndrome” 

Exposed Rejection and and saw how it manifests.

So, this year I read a life changing book and listened to a life changing, paradigm shifting message.

The end of July is when the obsession  passion began with find treasures to {re}imagine that would later grow into a wonderful business, much to my surprise.

We were blessed with a precious new grandbaby!  And spent lots of time enjoying her.

And that, my friends it where it all turned into a blur.  The Lord has blessed us and given us so much favor with this furniture business.  But, like most things, there is another side.  The ‘success’ of this business sort of sent me into a tailspin as deep self-doubt, fear, insecurity, lack of trust, fear, fear and more fear began to rise to the surface.

Amidst the crazy pace and extremely full plate I was battling these old enemies, and for a time, didn’t even know I was in the battle. 

So many more wonderful deliverances, deep valleys, heart struggles.  Many beautiful memories and quite a few things I would like to forget. (which I will when I apply my new Scripture of the year, soon to be revealed )

Happy New Year, Sister!