of paint and dogs

well, hello there!

i've been away so long that uploading pictures stumped me for a moment

last day of school 'round these parts today and we've been studying, project-ing, and winding down

college girl is home and none of us can fathom her freshman year is over

spring baseball has ended and summer ball has begun

as for me, i've been doing the usual mom stuff plus painting furniture and doing some work through my decorating business {ROOST}

the secretary above used to be a blue-green color with a fruit basket painted on the front

i sure am loving annie sloan chalk paint...

and speaking of loving...although i am not necessarily a dog lover

i am beginning to fall for this little girly named missy

the neighbor i had been helping for the past few years passed away and we inherited many things including little miss

i tried to give her away (she was never house trained!) but the nurse who agreed to adopt her (with my neighbor's blessing) had a husband who returned missy less than 24 hours later...(yes, she was that bad)

well, lo and behold...missy is learning quickly, beginning to get along with our dog, and winning us over left and right 

{i'll do another post sometime about all the smart tricks she knows}

life is good....

health, family, friends, and sunshine

furry surprises that end up being little joybearers

and a clean (and newly painted!) kitchen table

doesn't get much better than this

xoxo

ready to smile?

last night we closed our spring baseball chapter

our high school sophomore made us proud

his playing...his maturity...his level head...his perspective

he traveled to georgia with his teammates over spring break

and we heard they sang along to the radio a lot

i can picture them acting like these harvard boys

i'm so glad God made boys!

ubuntu

we tend to be an individualistic culture (me)

clearly, these african kids live in a collectivistic culture (us)

beauty full

An anthropologist proposed a game to African tribe kids. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told them that whoever got there first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: UBUNTU, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?

UBUNTU in the Xhosa culture means: "I am because we are"

by irlan gampamole

risen

photo: sharon moses

happy easter

xoxo

The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On

i have loved keep calm since i first saw it years ago

the phrase really does fit LIFE so well, doesn't it?

so happy to have found the story details behind the comforting words

hey there

google image

me.

{life}

and you?

{grin}

friend

photo: m smith

I was invited to his workshop when we lived in his village for 6 weeks.  One of my first friends during a very lonely time.  We laughed and chatted in the workshop.  I remember like it was yesterday, the twinkle in his eyes…his upraised eyebrows and deep laughs at my zany-ness.  Refreshment for my weary, isolated soul.  Oh, did we laugh! 

A small, simple structure with a wood stove.  Sitting on a little hill thirty feet from a winding river. But as we met in that workshop, Your gracious hand lovingly knit hearts together and transformed a plain wooden shack into a sacred place.

Memories flood my heart as I write about my friend this morning, and a song begins playing in my mind…Holy ground, we’re standing on holy ground.  For the Lord is present and where He is is holy. The workshop wasn’t holy in and of itself.  It was holy because when I went there to visit my friend, You were always there, too.

[Isn’t it funny that the God who created us with a need for people 

always gives us the people we need?] 

That lonely summer in a small fishing village, I was longing for a girl friend and lo’ and behold, You sent me a male ivory carver with grandchildren running around.  And You grew our friendship not over tea in a warm kitchen somewhere (the expected and hoped for), but in a simple shed (the unexpected and perfect spot).

Love born in an ordinary, unadorned place.  But that’s how You do things, isn’t it?  You make me smile.

Thank you for giving me one of the very best friends I’ll ever have. I love You. 

Thank you, Lord for the workshop, and for the man who spent many hours creating beautiful ivory carvings within it’s walls.  My heart overflows with gratefulness this morning knowing that fire only destroyed the building and not the man who made the building so special to me.

*i originally wrote this in 2008 and posted it on my first blog

my friend has since built a new workshop

and each summer when i round the curve and see his house

my heart beats a little faster...part of me is home when i am with john

{friends made in the lonely places and spaces always feel like home}