Showcasing my teen and her daybed

I have this teen and she's a beauty!

 

But you see, she has some insecurities. Like all teens she is searching for significance and her purpose in life. I remember being her age. Oh, how I hated that time. Kids can be so cruel. That's one of the many reason we decided to homeschool our children. But, even though we are sheltering her from the outside influences, she is still searching for that validation that she is special. I have told her over and over how beautiful she is and how wonderful she is, but she is wanting the world to agree. Our society teaches girls these days that they should be beautiful, skinny, expensively dressed and popular (perfect).  Basically they should look and act like a celebrity. How do our children compete with that expectation? How do we teach them that there significance is not found in things or how many likes they get on their instagram pics.

Romans 12:2  Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

As I write this post, I evaluate why I write on this blog. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to be liked. Its probably one of the strongest desire we have as human beings. The question I'm asking is WHY, why do we do what we do? As christians, we are called to do everything to bring Glory to God. That is what we are created for. So I ask my teen, do things, (clothes, latest and greatest gadgets etc..) and popularity, really bring us significance and happiness?

Matthew 16:26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

I would say they hinder us for the real purpose we as Christians are called to do.

Hebrews 12:1  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Now I'm thoroughly convicted.  I was writing about my child's struggles I am being reminded that I too have some work to do in these areas. We all do! It is a constant battle between the Spirit and the flesh.  That's why is so important to stay in the word and be transformed through it.

Now can I ask you a favor!?  Can you help me showcase my sweet teen today?

The homeschool room use to be a spare bedroom.  When we took the queen out, our son asked if he could have it instead of his twin.  I didn't want to get rid of a potential bed for quests so we decided to make a daybed for our daughter to read, play or have her quest sleep on.

I had seen the pallet beds on Pinterest and thought it would be cute for this purpose.  We added chalkboard wall paint for her to doodle on and some fun string lights to eliminate her work.  

I put the verse there this morning, for this post. While she was asleep! I wanted to drive home the point of this whole post!

Thank you for making me so wonderfully Psalms 139:14. 
If the God of this universe says you are wonderfully made, than who can say your not wonderful? 

As far as the color scheme goes (mom) had some say in that.  We have had fun mixing the oranges and teals together.  I think it turned out sweet and spunky! Most importantly, my teen likes it! 

In closing I want to add this little note to my daughter.  I love you, I am so proud of you and I'm so blessed because I get to be mom to someone who is so wonderful!  Love, Mom

linking up @

The Heart of a Sunflower

Have you ever seen the heart of a Sunflower? It is exquisite! I love Sunflowers! So when I saw my garden beauties had opened up, I ran for my camera. After, I reflected on what I had captured. Their faces are warmed by the rays of the morning sun. The light eliminating the beauty from within. They stand tall and brave through the heat of midday and their crowns bend in submission to the evening sun. This made me think of my daily walk with the Lord. My mornings should be flooded with light (God's word). My heart open to His love and amazing grace.  My mind reflecting on what great things he has done for me.

Psalm 143:8

8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
    for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 

I stand tall and brave in the midday sun. My time with the Lord in the morning has encouraged me and equipped me with the strength to get through.

Isaiah 41:10

10 fear not, for I am with you;
    be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Then my evenings should be filled with humble gratitude. My head bent in submission to my maker.

1 Peter 5:6-7

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

I don't know if I can ever look at a sunflower the same way. How about you? 

(SPRAY PAINTED FURNITURE BABY # 3) HOMESCHOOL CHAIRS~

Have I told you guys how much I love spray paint? Well if I forgot to tell you let me fill you in now, I LOVE SPRAY PAINT! I love paint in general and I'm not the all white kind of girl. I love the look of a white on white room but for some reason I keep going back to color. So when it came to the homeschool chairs it was no different. Yep, you guessed it, they started out white. I had originally wanted to get some metal chairs from Target but when my parents offered me a free table and chairs, I knew the chairs were destined to hold little bottoms. Sorry that I do not have before pictures. I was to excited to get them done. Seeings how I waited till the last minute to paint them. (Like the day before we started school, last minute) Just picture the typical white legs and back, with a oak stained wood seat. Here is what it looks like today~

I'll try and walk you through the steps to getting this look. When I first started out I only planned to spray paint the white parts of the chair red. 2 things happened here. I got the red overspray on the seat and I ran out of red spray paint. (I was able to do a light coat on majority of the legs and back.) So, plan B commenced. I went looking for something to cover the rest of the white, preferably something red. I didn't find anything. What I did spot was some teal blue latex paint that we had used to paint my daughters room. I decided to cover the whole chair with this teal and then sanded it off lightly. Thus leaving the red and white peaking though.

The seat has the wood showing on the edges. The look that I ended up with is funky, bold and has antiqued charm. I love them! I also added a red chair cushion for extra comfort.

I hope that this post has inspired you to use spray paint for your next furniture project. And as always, Have a blessed day!

 Linking up @

Life and Peace~

     I would like to start this post with a verse that spoke to me as I prepared to write about our day.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6  ~ Stay with me as I try to make this post, make sense.

First time for everything~

Last Friday was our very first day of homeschool~ My husband has Fridays off so we decided to start the first day of school together as a family.  We got off to a late start (don't ask) so it was around 10am when we actually began. The prince-A-pal as he refers to himself started things off with a discussion of why we are doing homeschool and the benefits of it.  He talked about our freedoms in this country and how fortunate we are that we CAN do homeschool.  I think this was very clever seeing how we will be studying different cultures around the world this year in our curriculum.  He then went on to state the importance of bringing God into their education and how everything from our language to our ability to think is because of a supreme creator.  Just writing that out right now causes me to ponder on the the complexities of God and say WOW!  My husband closed us in prayer and the fun began!

For those of you who know what a Zhu Zhu pet is, you will get the compassion.

 Just like the Zhu Zhu pet we chattered and toddled along until we hit our first wall.  Then we would try to back up a little bit, straighten ourselves out but inevitably hit the wall again.  Eventually we would get ourselves turned around, just long enough to hit another wall.  This continued for the rest of the day until we decided at 4pm to call it quits. (with still more work left to do) We were all exhausted mentally.  On saturday the kids worked on a few things they still had left to do.  We plan to do a science experiment today to complete the first days lesson plan. Tomorrow we will be caught up and ready to go. 

I know this will get easier. The Lord has walked with us this far and He will continue to provide the necessary provisions to get us through every day.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:23

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Seriously~ its been way to long!

In the words of slim shady, Guess who's back, back again................ Where do I begin? Well, I guess I'll go back to 2012 when I decided to go back to work (hence my 2 year blog hiatus). I guess I should rephrase that I didn't just decide to go back, I needed to. You see, I had felt the Lord telling me to take my children out of public school for quite some time. I couldn't fathom homeschooling due to my lack of knowledge (I will get to this in another post) so private school it was. Although my husband has a great job it still wasn't going to cover the high cost of tuition. Anywho, the Lord made a way for me to work at the private school as a kindergarten teacher's aide and because I worked there I was able to get a discount on the kids tuition. Hallelujah! God is amazing and if he puts something on your heart, listen! He will make a way! We completed 2 full school years at the (christian) private school. This year we are doing something new. Drum roll, please.................. You guessed it! HOMESCHOOL~ Looking back I can see how the Lord used the time I was working to instruct me in teaching and strengthen me for this journey ahead. With that being said this blog will be taking a little different approach. Just like every season in life, time changes, circumstances change, YOU change. I will still have recipes, DIY projects, and photography, with splash of homeschool and my christian faith. I hope that my blog serves as some encouragement for other moms going through the same day to day decisions. This isn't a keeping up with the Jones' or redo my whole house blog. Just a day to day account of one women, walking in her own shoes. Somedays with sore feet and other day painted toes peeking out of her favorite shoe! May you be blessed today! Oh and it's good to be back :) P.S. I also started a photography blog be sure to check it out~ trinityphotoghaphy.blogspot.com