His Voice...

Good morning!

This is my favorite kind of morning.  Overcast.  When I wake up and see gray skies, I get up and turn on every (and I mean every) little lamp in our house.  And then I feel cozy.  Cozy is one of my most favorite feelings in the whole wide world.  

And on a weekend, I love waking up when my body is ready to wake up.  Not when his is.

This is Newmis.  He looks cute, but not around 5 am.  He likes to meow about 75 times in less than a minute to tell me he's hungry.  But thanks to him, once I was up, I couldn't go back to sleep.  

So I did something this morning that I rarely do.  After I showered, I went into the backyard and slipped into our jacuzzi.  So unbelievably peaceful.  The whole neighborhood was still asleep, the birds were just starting to stir, and it was truly just so peaceful.

(This was my view.  See all those little nests up there?)

When I got in, the jets were already on as they're on a timer that I don't know how to turn off.  But as soon as they shut off, I heard nothing but the subtle sounds of nature.

Where I grew up, all we had were little brown sparrows.  And the only time we saw them was when we were eating outside at McDonalds.  We would break off pieces of our French fries and toss them to the awaiting birds.  But where we live now, there's an abundance of different kinds of birds.

I heard the pecking of a woodpecker in the tree behind my fence.  Once I heard his little taps on the tree, I saw him doing his thing.  So neat.  I heard a hummingbird zip by my head and onto the branch above me.  When they sit still, it's amazing to see how long their little beaks are.  I heard a squirrel scratching himself relentlessly as if he had a case of poison ivy.   I even heard the cackle (is that what they do?) as ducks flew over me probably from the lake near our home.  And this was all in just a few early morning minutes.

But it got me thinking.  I'm in my backyard a lot.  And I rarely hear any of this.  The radio is playing on our patio, this guy is chomping on his bones

loudly, I might add,

or there's a construction crew somewhere cutting down a tree. 

But that doesn't mean that these sounds aren't there.  It just means that I don't hear them.    

And that thought made me want to blog.  

I hear from God when I'm quiet.  Not when I'm buzzing around from errand to errand, but when I sit with Him, just the two of us without any distractions. That's when I hear Him the most. 

If we went out into our backyard tomorrow when the kids at school across the street are out at recess, when my neighbor's construction crew is putting in their new pool and my Chris Tomlin CD is blaring a little too loudly on our backyard speakers, we most likely would never hear the woodpecker's little taps.  They're there.  We just woudn't hear them.

I think it's the same with God's voice.  We can't hear it when its competing with so many other sounds.  Voices.  Stuff.

But when we take His hand and bring Him to the shores of a beach, to the top of a hill, to the pews of a church or to a chair in your backyard, and lay our needs at His feet, He will hear you.  And in His time, you will hear Him.

I have.  

And there's nothing I love and crave more than His voice.  

So if you have a hard time waking up before your family and need a little nudge to find some quiet time with God, I can always drop this guy off at your house.

xox.

  

Opportunities...

Happy belated New Year!

Anyone stay awake to ring in the new year?  I've only met two people who did.  Our family was out cold by 9 pm.  We're so fun.

So, I just wanted to get caught up a bit.  I've received lots of emails asking how I'm doing.  I think some of my friends get a bit nervous when I'm not blogging.  Maybe they think something's wrong.  Well, rest assured dear friends, I'm doing great.  My latest cat scan revealed that all of my lesions have shrunk by 50 percent on this new regimen.  My doctor, after reviewing the scan said, "That's exciting!"  Nothing better than making your oncologist excited!  My tumor markers are elevated, but they assure me that a good scan trumps blood work, so all is good.   The only bummer is that I ended up in the ER with a horrific migraine last week.  A side effect of one of the drugs I'm taking.  It was rough.  But I'm now equipped with heavy drugs to combat that should another one creep into my head.  

On to better news.  

I titled this post "Opportunities" because there's an abundance of them on the horizon.  

Last month, we were asked to speak at Inspired31's mother/daughter retreat.  We were asked to teach a break-out session on our class His Flower Girls.  We're condensing our 4-hour monthly class into 50 minutes.  We've never done this before, but we're very excited to give it a shot.  We've also been asked to decorate the cake table at the event.  Everyone is to bring a bundt cake and a glass cake pedastal.  We thought it would be cute to sprinkle the table with a few chalkboards that read, Nothing "bundt" love for Him! and Nothing "bundt" praise for Him!  Of course, I will do my best to resist trying them all!  

We've also been asked to speak at Chelsea Cameron's 24/7 Family Class in February.  So many of her students came to our Christmas home tour.  And as they were walking around, I thought to myself, "You guys are the perfect students for our class.  Young moms, with little kids, and new homes.  You need to take our class and become Flower Girls!"  So we're looking forward to sharing our testimonies and decorating tips with them.  

And one of the coolest opportunities that may come our way is that the founder of Inspired31 has asked to feature our home (and Teri's) in her upcoming new book on hospitality.  I am in awe of how God is using this home for His glory.

At our class just this past Saturday, I had a thought.  I told the girls that when I was in the sixth grade, I bought a gold necklace and wore it around my waist as a belt.  The very next day, another girl did the same thing.  I was devastated!  I HATED when people copied me.  My mom would always say, "It's a compliment, a form of flattery."  I never saw it that way.  Fast forward 40 years (I mean 20 - wink, wink) and now I beam with joy when I hear someone has copied something that I've done.  I encourage these girls to take pictures of our home, to run out to the store where I bought something they like and see if there's another one.  Who woulda' thought!   

That God of ours can change hearts. 

 I know that because he's working on mine.

So before January comes to a close, what can you lay before the Lord?   How do you want Him to use your gifts?  What opportunities do you want to ask Him to bring your way?  

You two could make an amazing team this year.  Give it a try!

(Then I want to hear all about it!)

  

For the Tough Times...

While I was ordering turkey at the Gelson's deli counter on Friday, a man asked me if I had heard the news about the shooting in Connecticut.   I did.  But I didn't want to talk about it.  Didn't want to think about it.   A few hours later, my girlfriend called me crying.  She was crying because she felt blessed to be picking up her daughter from school.   

It's been three days, and I choose not to watch anything on tv about the tragedy.  I can't.   Or to read the yahoo updates that are flooding my computer screen.  I just can't.   All I can do is pray for peace for those who lost a loved one.

Today I ran into a thrift store on the way to a friend's house.  I found myself looking at the hundreds of books on the shelves. My eyes locked onto one with yellow words.  "For the Tough Times" by Max Lucado.  Yep, this would be the book I would need to read today.  I just finished it.  I wanted to share the last few paragraphs with you.  

The last chapter is called "Do It Again, Lord."

"Most of all, do again what you did at Calvary.  What we saw in this tragedy, you saw there on that Friday.  Innocence ended.  Goodness suffering.  Mothers weeping.  Evil dancing.  Just as the shadows fell on our children, the darkness fell on your Son.  Just as our world has been shattered, the very child of Eternity was pierced.

And by dusk, heaven's sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock.

But you did not waver, O Lord.  You did not waver.  After your Son lay three days in a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday.  Do it again, Lord.  Turn this Calvary into an Easter.  

Thank you for these hours of prayer.

Let your mercy be upon all who suffer.  Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years and experience.  Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain.  Give us grace that we might forgive and faith that we might believe.

And look kindly upon your church.  For two thousand years you've used her to heal a hurting world.

Do it again, Lord.  Do it again.

Through Christ, amen."

Home Tour, Part 2

OK, now that I'm more awake, I have more accurate numbers from our home tour.  YOU helped us raise a whopping $1,775 (are you kidding me!!!) and 34 girls have signed up to be His Flower Girls.  Wowza!

And now, in better lighting, I present to you Teri's home. 

Enjoy.

Front Door

Living Room

Stockings in Living Room

Vintage Hymn on Tree

Handmade wreath on vintage armoire

Names of God surrounding a Christmas crown

Living Room Mantle

Family Room Christmas Tree

Family Room

Family Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

Again, we thank you for making yesterday so very special.

After such a success, we look forward to hosting another home tour in the spring.  "He is Risen!" will naturally be our theme.

xox.

Sharing His Birthday...

Well, it’s almost 11 o’clock tonight as I write this and I am overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed by your kindness, generosity and friendship.  

Today was the first Christian Girl’s Cottage Christmas Home Tour (say that fast three times) and what a day!  Both of our homes were visited by about 75 women, both in the day and in the evening.  And what troopers those evening ladies were!  It was freezing cold out tonight, but they were bundled up and once inside, made our homes feel cozy and warm.

I saw old friends and made sure-to-be new friends.  I loved sharing the day with women who love the Lord and love decorating homes.  What a combo!  

As I sit here tonight and reflect on my day, I am in awe of God’s blessings in my life.

I feel wonderful with no side effects from my treatments, have a husband who works hard so I can spruce up our home a bit and share it with others, and friends who come along side me and shower me with such amazing support.  In awe.

So to recap the day, I think Teri and I raised close to $1,500 from donations and boutique sales for the “can’t do cancer without God” ministry as well as for a local family who was recently brought to our attention.   And just as exciting -- 28 girls signed up to take an upcoming His Flower Girls class!  28!  Again, in awe.

So for those of you who couldn’t make it today, I took a few photos of our home.  I ran over to Teri’s between tours to take photos of her home, but the lighting wasn’t great.  So I will share photos of her home in another post.  

Front Door

Entryway

Dining Room 

Dining Room

Happy Birthday, Jesus! 

Christmas Tree

Place Setting

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Family Room

Family Room

Family Room Christmas Tree

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

 Table

Kitchen Fireplace

Homemade (not!) Cookies

The "Guest Cottage" Bed

Stockings in the "Guest Cottage"

Well, I'm whooped.

THANK YOU again to everyone who shared their busy Thursday with us.  Teri and I loved each and every minute of it!

From our house to yours, 

"Happy Birthday, Jesus!"

   

Christmas Home Tour...

Well, just three more days until our first Christian Girl's Cottage Christmas Home Tour.  We are so excited to open our homes to you, sharing our love for the Lord to all who enter.  

If you love the look of modern homes, then stay home and wrap presents. :)
Because both of us love everything vintage, farmhouse, English and French (with a touch of thrift store!)
Our homes aren't dripping in Christmas -- we don't have the time and energy to do that.
Just a few touches here and there that say, "Happy Birthday, Jesus!"
Completely doable and enjoyable.

 You'll be treated to hot apple cider and sugar cookies as well as our boutique filled with gifts of faith for family and friends. 

 The tour is our gift to you, though we hope you consider making a small donation to my ministry, "can't do cancer without God."

Here are the details:

Thursday, Dec. 13th

9:30 am to 2:30 pm and

6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

My home is located in the Foxmoor neighborhood (right before Westlake Elementary School) at 1608 Brentford Avenue, Westlake Village.   From Westlake Blvd. turn right onto Devonshire Avenue, then left onto Brentford Avenue.  We are in the cul-de-sac with the white picket fence.  805.373.1986

Teri's home is located in the North Ranch neighborhood (right past the Thousand Oaks Post Office) at 3333 Alleghany Street, Westlake Village.

From Thousand Oaks Blvd., turn onto Duesenberg Drive, then right onto Clearwater Street, then right onto Alleghany.  She is on the left hand side before you enter the cul-de-sac.  805.796.8194.

Feel free to start at either home, but make sure you see both.

 (The boutique is located at my home.)

We are so very excited to share this Christmas with each and every one of you!  

"Oh, Come Let Us Adore Him!"

Christmas Memories...

Whenever I read Country Living magazine, I find myself a tad envious when I read, “My grandmother’s garden smelled of gardenias,” or “the smell of pumpkin pie reminds me of home.”   No smell reminds me of home and I don’t even know if my Grandma had a garden.  But one thing that brings my childhood immediately back to me is the sound of Christmas music.  You too?  Or is it just me?

I was recently leaving Cost Plus (by the way, they have the cutest linen Christmas hand towels I’ve seen this year!) and as I got into my car, I heard my first Christmas song on the radio, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Bing Crosby.   And before I could put my car in reverse, the tears were beginning to well up in my eyes.   

And as they do each and every single year, I always ask myself, Why?  What is it about Christmas music that always gets to me?

I’ve thought about it long and hard this year, and I think it reminds me of safety.  Being safe in the home that I grew up in.  No one had died, no one was sick, all was well.  My life consisted of Barbies and brownies.  And maybe, although I couldn't wait to grow up, there’s a little part of me that misses that.  Really misses being back home with my family.

As I hear familiar Christmas songs like the Carpenters’ ”Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" or Perry Como’s “Do You Hear What I Hear” (boy, am I old or what?), I’m instantly transported back to our family room.  I remember sitting on the couch, watching the Santa Claus Lane Parade while my mom reaches over my head to balance our little red and green felt elves on the branches of a manzania tree branch that “decoratively” hung on the wall over our couch.  I think I hated that thing.  

I remember our fake Christmas tree lit with old-fashioned colored bulbs and lots of silver tinsel.  It stood beside two shelves that held our Encyclopedia Brittanicas.  Anyone remember those things?   And I remember my mom hanging our red "velvet" stockings with the white furry cuffs (that I think everybody had in the 1970s) on the mantle.  Since our mantle was made of used brick and you couldn’t put nails in to it to hang up the stockings, my mom would wrap a rubber band around each loop of a stocking and then wrap the other end around the end of a brick.  I remember, even as a kid, thinking that was an ingenious idea.  Then she would put a sheet of flattened cotton on the mantle and nestle some white plastic reindeers in it.  Each year, it seemed that a reindeer would lose another leg or another antler.  But up they went.

And that’s the visual each and every year I hear a familiar Christmas song.  Funny what sticks in your head, isn’t it?  

Another thing that sticks is at the end of the night, when I would be in my bedroom putting away my presents (one year I got several pairs of Dittos and Luv-Its with matching tops -- now that was a good Christmas!) my mom would come in my room and ask if I liked everything I opened.  Then she would hug me and choke back the words, “I love you” while standing in front of my closet.   I would also choke back the words, “I love you, too.”  We’d pull back from each other and kind of laugh that we were both crying.  I think the tears came because we only said, “I love you” on Christmas night.  Kind of weird, huh?  But those three words just didn’t flow in our house, though we knew our parents loved us.   Hearing those words was kind of a Christmas gift too.

So as December begins and we draw closer to Christmas Day, may your memories be good ones.  I hope my kids remember loving their stockings more than their gifts (I did!), sharing God’s love with family, friends and strangers (we’ll be “elfing” this year -- knocking on a few doors sharing cookies and small gifts) and most importantly, that Jesus’ birth trumps any Christmas gift they could ever ask for.

Speaking of Jesus' birth, my friend Teri and I will be opening our homes on Thursday, December 13th for the 

Christian Girl's Cottage first Christmas Home Tour.  

Our decorating is nearly complete and we're thrilled to share our love of Christmas and our love for the Lord with all of you.

Once we put the final touches on them, I'll share a few photos of both of our homes along with an invitation with all the details.

Our home tour is free, but we're hoping to raise a little money for the "can't do cancer without God" ministry that God has so richly blessed our lives with.

Please mark your calendars (before they're jam-packed) for December 13th so that we can see each and every one of you.  Now that would be a good Christmas memory!