Monthly Archives: June 2012

worship wednesdsay: who doesn’t love a good makeover?

20 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Worship Wednesday

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

My mom, sister and I used to love watching TLC’s show What Not to Wear. It was great. They take a man or woman who has terrible fashion sense, throw out all their clothes, and start a wardrobe over from scratch. My favorite part was always the shopping. I used to seriously consider dressing like a bum to see if I could get on the show and have them hand over a $5000 gift card. Wowza.

This show came to my mind this week while I was thinking about the sermon from a couple of Sundays ago. It was out of Ephesians chapter 4:

 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

But you have not so learned Christ,if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Let’s focus on that second paragraph. Just like in the show, you must put off your old self. Throw that in the trash can. You don’t need those baggy pants of ignorance. That old shirt of blindness is so yesterday’s news. And let’s not even start on those shoes of lewdness and uncleanness.

So get rid of those things. Take them off. They aren’t the garb of a follower of Christ. You have been set free from those things. The Lord has called you to turn away from all ungodliness. The Bible says in Titus 2:11 & 12:

 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.

Now we don’t just take off ungodliness. Imagine if that show ended after a person’s wardrobe was all thrown away. They most certainly can’t walk away naked. That would be awkward. So also are we as Christians called not only to put away our old selves but to put on the new man created in righteousness and holiness. Putting off the old self is simply  not enough. That leaves us open and vulnerable to the world and the devil. Instead we are expected to cling to the new man God has created, holy and righteous. Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

It’s like the final outfit at the end of What Not to Wear. The participant comes out of the dressing room, wearing an entirely new outfit, bought under the instruction and & supervision of Clinton & Stacy. If we, under the direction of the Lord and instruction of the Bible, put on pure things of holiness & righteousness, we will be new. The old things are gone, and we are a new creation in Christ.

i offered to buy orange flowers

12 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Happy Home, Tutorials

≈ Leave a Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Why hello there friends. Remember me? I like to blog. Occasionally I actually get off my tush, get my act together, and post something. Today is going to be one of those days.

Because I’m so excited! (And I just can’t hide it *weird dancing* I’m so excited!)

Ehem, move along folks, there’s nothing to see here.

Except THIS:

BAM! How ’bout them apples? All blue and nice. And I totally offered to buy orange flowers. More on that in a jiffy.

(Don’t you just love the word jiffy? I’m resurrecting it. Who’s with me?!?!?)

Focus. Focus. Focus. I’m so sorry. I’m trying really hard to stay on track here, but I’m suffering from temporary ADD. I can’t focus on a blooming thing for more than about 5 seconds. Which unfortunately is about how long it takes me to type a sentence. Also why I’ve now rambled on about nothing for 150 words.

Let’s launch into today’s tale, shall we?

It started when we got out of greek class. My lover had been anticipating summer (as was I) to be a time of projects. I launched an aggressive DIY/decorating attack on our bedroom a few weeks before school was out, which you can read about here and also here. We had pretty much caught the fixallthethings!! bug by the time I had the headboard done. We’ve managed to finish about a dozen one thing. I was tempted to lie to you there. I wish it we had a dozen things done in a month. But nope, we definitely just have one.

Our adventure started with a trip to Lowe’s. Which is almost as bad as Hobby Lobby for me. I go in for one thing, and come out with ten. I would like to buy one of everything they have in there, but since I have no place to store a ten-foot tool chest my wallet is out of danger. For now. Since this was our project my lover came along for the shopping trip. Which also helps keep my wallet out of danger. He’s a lot better on getting what he came for and leaving. It’s weird.

Our adventure took us to the gardening center. Looking for terra cotta pots. Dude, there are like a bajllion variations of pots in the world. I couldn’t handle it. All kinds of sizes. Momma sized pots and daddy sized. And little baby sized pots. Skinny pots and fat pots. Pots that were shiny (ooohhh, shiny!) and pots that seriously needed to take a lesson from the shiny pots. It was like a shmorgusboard can’t spell the word I’m thinking but there was a lot of variety. We went with two large but very basic non-shiny orange pots. Bleh. Not exactly exciting. Next we went for paint. Wanted to know what we were working with before we argued for half an hour decided on flowers. This was the one:

It was glorious. Love at first sight for both of us. I walked around the store petting it. John was embarrassed. Too bad, he’s stuck with me for life. Paint can petting and all. I’ve taken to buying the sample size for projects. It pretty much always turns out to be just the right amount. For 3 Georges. That’s $3 folks.

I also swiped some spray primer from the shelf while we were down there. Because the next thing we were doing was heading back down to the garden center to get flowers. This is the part where I offered to buy orange flowers.

You see, whether on purpose or on accident (accident on my part purpose on my lover’s? probably.) we had managed to pick up Florida Gator blue paint for our pots. Sorry dad. I know this makes me a traitor. It really is a gorgeous blue. The perfect pop for our otherwise beige/orange front porch. And what compliments Gator blue better than Gator orange?

Apparently white. Because lover snorted like orange flowers was the stupidest idea I’ve had. I’m not really so sure. I think I’ve had quite a few stupider ideas. He wanted these pretty little white flowers. Honestly, I couldn’t argue with him. They are lovely. So summery and sweet. We picked up a bunch. Took our bounty home (pots, primer, paint, roller, paint tray, and flowers) which is where I got down to business. Cue the photos:

It was simple to change those pots from adobe to bright blue. I used a spray primer because I thought that would give me the best hold. Next I rolled (I have the. cutest. miniature. roller) the blue paint on. Two coats. Nice, thin, and even coats, allowing a couple of hours of drying time in between each one. The last thing I did was spray the entire project with a water-resistant polyurethane coat. Two of those. To keep it nice and sealed, and our paint looking a happy blue forever and ever.

We already had plenty of dirt on hand. Due to a failed brocoli planting escapade. I destroyed that brocoli. Never had a fighting chance. That was due to my ineptitude at growing anything. So the dirt was good, the gardener was not. That also explains why the flowers are John’s project. I primed, painted, and sprayed. Lover planted, waters, and rotates. It’s a happy balance. We bought sixteen plants, eight for each pot. They look darling, I think. An easy project, and totally worth it for the statement they make.

Oh, and I must tell you how special you are. I cleaned our front door. Just for these photos. It still looks rough, but trust me it looked waaaaaay worse before I cleaned it. Now you only have to look at a moderately dirty door, and not a completely filthy one. You’re welcome. :)