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My Two Valentines

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 “What’s that thing?,” my hubby asked, with a nod toward the kitchen table.

I’ll have to admit that my thrift store globe looked kinda strange with a fresh coat of chalkboard paint.  Like one of those rubber kickballs we had in elementary school, only black.

“I’m working on a Valentine’s Day project,” I replied.

“You’re something else,” he said while making his exit with a shake of his head.

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What is “something else?”  Do I take that in a good way or in a bad way?  A criticism or a compliment?  A comment like that could have, at one time, sparked any variety of response from me!

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Marriage, even good marriages, can be so hard.

Maybe you, like me, have experienced either internal or external stressors that build to the point of making you feel like you’re going to break and you end up taking it out on the one who knows and loves you best.  There may be words, tears, stoney looks, and silence.  Put two strong willed people together and there can be a huge impasse.

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Over the course of our marriage we’ve been through many ups and downs, and since we’ve come out much stronger, we love sharing our experience, strength, and hope with others.  When you put yourself in a position of teaching others though, they tend to look up to you and see only the success.  What they may not see is the hard work, sacrifice, late nights, tears, adversity, doubts, disappointments, courage, determination, risk, failure, persistence, change, struggles, and prayer . . . LOTS and LOTS of prayer . . .

...and the work continues . . . because the marriage relationship is never static. Click To Tweet

When I was thinking about what to write on this Valentine’s Day globe I thought of all kinds of romantic verses I might use.  Then I remembered John 3:16 in the Bible, which represents to me, God’s ultimate Valentine to us, Jesus.

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When we – my husband and I – were mired in our stubborn, ugly, selfish ways, Jesus is the One who came to lift us from our life of bondage and set us free to live life to the fullest in Him.

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Sometimes even now, when pressures build, it takes deliberately recalling just how deeply stuck-in-the-muck we were and reflecting on God’s amazing grace toward us, to extend grace toward one another.

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Remembering renews our faith in God’s power to restore and gives us much needed strength to move through the mires of this complicated life.

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Along this path there will come those things that hurt us, but in order to remain in right relationship with God and each other we make the choice to forgive.  That releases God to work in our hearts to heal the hurts and will ultimately grow our love even stronger.

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  Sometimes walking through the hard times in marriage is a fairly simple stroll, side-by-side, spurred on by belief in the commitment we’ve made to one another.  Sometimes the walk is more difficult, two people clinging tightly to one another as they sludge on through together.  Sometimes it is one pulling the other with all his or her might to bring them both through to firm ground on the other side.

 We are lucky (though I know it’s more than luck), that it isn’t just the two of us, but that we also have God on our side.

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”  Eccl. 4:12 NLT

That’s the reason this Valentine’s Day post is for my two Valentines, my husband and God, because we wouldn’t be a WE without Him. 

Moving on to another conversation a few days later:

Mr. OTN:  Did you see that I tried to call you earlier?

Me:  Yes, I’m sorry I missed your call.  What did you need?

Mr. OTN:  I was on my way to work and I was simply overcome by how much I love you.  It brought tears to my eyes and I wanted to tell you.

Amazing love, amazing grace, amazing work of the Lord in our lives.

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Click on the link to download this Free Printable: ForGodSoLoved

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY DEAR FRIENDS AND GOD’S RICHEST BLESSINGS TO YOU,

My Signature

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Message Center Wall

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Do you have a place where you keep your mail organized?  Ours used to be the kitchen table, with a few strays making it onto the kitchen counter top or over into the living room to land on the coffee table.  It was a mess!  But now, while it’s not perfect (a few pieces still somehow seem to end up next to Mr. OTN’s leather recliner), it is OH, SO MUCH more organized.  
My inspiration came from Pottery Barn.  Every time I looked at their pictures of home offices with neat storage solutions I knew I wanted to create something like that for myself.  I decided to use the wasted space on the entryway wall just off the garage, as it would be strong encouragement to drop the mail here before it got around the corner to the edge of the kitchen table.
 Now while the Pottery Barn pictures were pretty they were a little too “officey” to suit my taste.  Thus, the decision to create my own style of message center.  I’ll take you step-by-step through each element of the wall.
 This is my Chicken Wire Message Board which I shared in an earlier post. You can view the complete tutorial HERE.
I purchased this wire mail organizer at Marshall’s for $12.99 and this is the piece that has really saved the day.  I love the grand size of it . . . three feet tall . . . as it will hold a LOT of mail before I get around to organizing it. Magazines and large mail goes on top and envelopes on the bottom.
Do you remember the popularity of golden oak?  Mr. OTN had an entire office of golden oak.  Desk, bookshelves, file cabinets, wall organizers . . . That’s what this piece was before a few layers of  paint and some burlap over the cork.
I loved the idea of adding a magnetic board for displaying a few of my favorite photos.  With the right tool it is super simple to cut sheet metal to fit into an old frame (tutorial soon to come).
Not only do I get to see my funny family members every time I walk in the door . . . 
  . . . but it has also made my refrigerator less cluttered!  Now I use the side of the refrigerator to write daily reminders to myself.
I added this antique brass hook to hang miscellaneous items, such as my purse, a sweater or, right now, my apron.
I wanted a chalkboard for writing messages.  This old tray was $2.99 at one of my local thrift stores!  Gorgeous piece, perfect price! With the addition of a little chalkboard paint it was ready to to carry the sentiment I’m feeling right now, living on a lake in the summertime.
So this is my message center wall.  Mr. OTN picks up the mail on his way down the driveway, drops the junk mail right into the recycle containers in the garage, and the rest of the mail into the mail bin.
 Space-by-space we are creating order in our home.  
It is so much fun making OldThingsNew.
 
       Blessings to you, 
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!! Sunday:
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Stemware Dipped in Chalkboard Paint

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2012 – I feel almost guilty that this year has been such a good year for me personally when, for so many others, there has been only hardship, pain, tragedy and loss.  In years past, I have had those times that I was thankful when the year came to an end and where my New Year’s wish was filled only with the hope of something better.  The way of life is a bit like a ferris wheel.  We buckle ourselves into the seat and wait for the ride.  Anticipation becomes reality as we feel the rush of being carried upwards to that highest place, where we can look out over the whole world and delight in the thrill of being on top of it all!  Sometimes the ferris wheel pauses here and we squeal with laughter and enjoy the moment to the fullest as we set our seats to rocking.  Other times there is no pause at all and as soon as we reach the top the ferris wheel begins it’s rapid descent.  We feel the drop in our stomaches as we head back down to the real world at the bottom of the wheel.  Then begins another ascent . . . and the ride continues . . .
Few people I know have perfectly steady and untroubled lives, . . . and those that do I really wonder about!!!  If we are honest with ourselves, and others, we all have problems and we all have things that just plain break our hearts.  I’ve been in places of brokenheartedness and I’m so thankful for those God sent into my life in those times to offer hope for a better future.  This has been a very good year for me.  A year of sweet memories made with family, old friendships renewed, new friends made, hard work rewarded . . . blessing upon blessing upon blessing.  It brings me such joy to be a part of  the ministry of Freedom Session and to be able to offer God’s hope to others.  I truly believe that there is a purpose to all the hardships we experience in life and I also believe that the core of our pain is the core of our purpose. 
So . . . on to a celebration of the year to come!  This is a fun project that I saw on my favorite TV network, HGTV!  It is stemware dipped in chalkboard paint (this is not the same as the chalk paint that I use to paint furniture).  As you toast the New Year, you and your guests can write your names or initials on your glasses to keep track of them.
Since my focus is OLD THINGS NEW I took a trip to Goodwill where I found these glasses on sale for .99 cents apiece.  While I was there I also found a tarnished silver tray for $2.99.  I’ve been keeping my eyes open for one of these, with this specific purpose in mind, so how fortuitous that I found everything together!  You’ll notice from the close-up of the stem that this is not just plain glass but really nice crystal.  What a buy!






I had some chalkboard paint on hand from other projects . . .

. . .  so it was as simple as dipping the base of my glass into the paint like this . . .

 

. . . letting the excess paint drip back into the can . . .
 

. . . and then setting it on waxed paper to dry.  Note:  This will NOT work well if your paint is too thick.  An alternate method is to brush several thin coats of paint on with a soft paintbrush, allowing the paint to dry completely between coats.

 

While these were drying I painted the bottom of the silver tray with three coats of chalkboard paint, allowing it to dry between each coat.  Any chalk will work to write your message but I really like the chalk pens found in the bridal section at Michael’s.  They fly off the shelves fast so I bought two to keep on hand.
 

 

As you can see, our New Year’s toast will be made with a fine Sparkling Grape Juice!!!
 


 
And now, my wish for all of you in 2013 is that family bonds will be strengthened, friendships (old and new) will be rich and rewarding, you will find something positive in every situation (even when that’s hard to do!) and that God will bless you in every area of your lives.
Oh . . . just one more thing!  I want to wish you all the gift of SILLINESS and LAUGHTER . . .
 
 
. . . even when . . .
 

 
 . . . that means laughing . . .

 
 . . . at YOURSELF!!!
 
 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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