Happy Birthday.....Steven and Kacie

 Kacie Elizabeth

 The love and respect our kids have for one another fills me with awe!

Kara, Kacie, Dad, Shelly, Kristen, and Steven!

So much fun and laughter when they are all together!

 September is always a special month in our family because we have the joy of celebrating the birth's of two of our five children!  Steven's birthday is September 1 and Kacie was born on September 9th!  The joy these two have brought me personally and to our family is amazing!  Both of them are kind, beautiful, creative, musical, generous, funny, and bright!  They continue to amaze me with their lives and their contributions to the lives of their family and friends! 

I celebrate them both and pray that their lives continue to be blessed with good health in body, mind, and spirit!  Happy Birthday Kacie Elizabeth and Steven Konrad!  You are loved with an everlasting love!

Steven....his love for music and his talents continue to inspire me!

A Mother's Legacy.....

 A Mom has many treasured moments but nothing more special than the day of a child's wedding day!  Rarely do I put photos up of myself, but the joy I felt on this day is one  to pass along to you!  What a joy to encourage our children to be united through the covenant of marriage, passing on a legacy of faith in Christ!

Yes, I am enjoying these years too.....my husband is still my best friend....one of our blessings is praying for our children, grandchildren, and other family and friends we are blessed to know.

I still feel very young!  Perhaps it is because nutrition and fitness are a good part of my life and I still enjoy a routine that involves health in body, mind, and spirit.  Lately, my thoughts have been about how the "years" go by so quickly in our lives! For me, these are positive thoughts because so much is continually going on in my life.  I stay very busy with our family and our exteneded families of Steve's Mom and my parents and others who we love lending a hand to, when called upon in need.  When we're young (in age), our lives are filled with the physical needs of life.  Our pursuits such as education, jobs, church and social activities, travel take up much of our time.  If we've been blessed to fall in love and find happiness in creating a home, then many times our next focus most often becomes the children recieved as gifts in our home.  Even a single Mom or Dad, experiences the same desires.  Life isn't the same for each person but WHO we trust with our lives is the same, if our lives are centered in the Lord.

The legacy I hope to leave my children involves many dimensions.  I want to give physical things that have been sentimental to me, such as antiques, jewelry, and items passed on to me by my grandmothers and others in our family.  These are treasures for sure, but the greatest treasure that I have to pass on is my faith in Christ. I am praying each day, my children, now all adults, my grandchildren  and other believing men and women I know who are cheerfully impacting their own children will be encouraged and blessed for their service to their families each and every day!!!  What a joy to be a mother or father passing on the legacy of faith through serving the family.  

Our choices greatly influence those who follow us. When our babies are born, it is a chance for renewal as we thank God for the beautiful child He has given.  We pray for wisdom to know how to take care of him or her and we also ask for wisdom to help honor God as we raise them.  The daily choices, as I said, that we make for the rest of our lives are going to affect our children.  Work is a part of life and that is a good thing to be industrious and fulfilled, but our spiritual mothering at all stages of life can continue to be a major focus of time, energy and life!  Passing on our trust and love for our Heavenly Father can always be available to others.

Below are some passages that have blessed me and my husband throughout our parenting years!  I hope they will bless you too as we wind down our summer and begin to look into a new season......fall!  Enjoy each day my friend....what gift!

Cherish Your Children

Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.  Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.  ~  Psalm 127:3~5

Bless Your Children, and Envision Their Future

And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.  And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.  Amen.  ~  Luke 24:50~53

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them.  He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.

Genesis 49:28

Guiding Your Children

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in your heart:  And you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:6~8

Inspirations......

 In this archway, leading into Norwich Catherdral from the side, the aging beauty of stone that was once fully white is beautiful!  I see so much potential in decorating a room in shades of cream and even adding a touch of grey.....

 This lovely window seat, and of course the beautiful window, was snapped inside a tiny cottage in England.  The once white stone has aged to a beautiful cream!

 Stroll down any street in Paris and every turn is a picture!  The white on white with the pop of red flowers says......BEAUTIFUL!

 Another Parisian photograph of blonde wood Entry Doors against ecru stone!

 This treasured pillbox hat was a gift to me from my Grandmother's treasures!   I can just see her now wearing this beautiful hat to church on any given Sunday!  The off white color inspired me this week to change a few things in one of my guest rooms where the hat now has a place of promience.  The pillows below in the following pictures are all made from cream linen in different weaves!  I used a French edge on all of them!  Sewing is so much fun......in just a few hours you can transform a room!  The seashell is a mushroom coral I found this week at our local shop that sells seashells! 

 The beautiful painting of the Angel was a gift from my daughter, Kristen, that she painted and gave to me after I helped a few days after the birth of her little girl, Olivia!  I love the whites against the blues! 

After finishing my pillows of cream, I needed a little pop to finish off the decor' so I found this scrap of fabric from another pillow I had made and realized that cream and grey  do look pretty good together!  One rule:  Never throw away scrap fabric...you might find it useful!

Beauty found in nature and the natural, unattended beauty of earth's creation is one of God's greatest gifts to mankind!  In His wisdom, God gave us such an inspiring and beautiful world to live in! The natural colors of the stone, wood, seashells, and fabrics used above are so beautiful to me and extremely calming.  Decorators are using less and less of color and more and more of natural creams and whites!

I  so enjoy  helping other people create homes that are comfortable and beautiful! I like to do this because the home is where my heart is! 

The beautiful people that live inside your home look to you each for inspiration too!!!  Who inspires you?  What inspires you? Where do you search for encouragment and direction when you need an answer?   As we are about to begin a new week, let me encourage you to  arrange your days so that you create an environment in your home where others are loved and nurtured. A house decorated with LOVE is the most beautiful!  Before the day begins, you and I have been given a clean slate! Thankfully, it is calm early in the morning. Turning toward the Lord gives direction (not perfection) for our day. 

We can begin each day by rejoicing in Him and being thankful for all the blessings around us.  As you begin your new week, may I share with you a passage from His word than sustains me daily as I look to Him for guidance.  In His way and In His time, He truly is able to make all things in our lives beautiful!  From the scraps of our lives, He is making something beautiful....even inspiring.

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every sitaution, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable~if anything is excellent or praiseworthy~think about such things."  Philippians 4:4~8

May your week be blessed and may your home be a haven or blessing and peace!!!

Crossing the Bridge

Last year, I snapped this photo of this beautiful bridge at Stourhead Landscape Gardens in England.   Does it look familiar?  It is the bridge that Lizzie ran across in the film Pride and Prejudice. It's not a very long bridge but in the film the impact of her crossing leaves a life changing moment for her.  Bridges help us pass over rivers, streams, or valleys that we would otherwise be unable to cross.  We want to get to the other side safely and quickly.  My life has been full of bridges I crossed!  To draw a comparison,  we want to cross over life bridges quickly but sometimes we must wait until it is safe and we have a peace to cross.  For centuries and before bridges were safe, people passed by boat or ferries, or rafts!  Those passages took patience and often, much waiting.

In our lives as we wait for God to bring to pass all that He has promised we can depend upon His faithfulness and the promise that He will answer and lead us over the bridges.   In His faithfulness we must TRUST that He is constant, reliable, steadfast, unwavering, devoted, true, and so dependable.  At the right time, He will provide the bridge for us to cross over to what He has planned next for us.

As we wait, we are encouraged and called to pray, a earnest and sincere prayer. This kind of praying changes both body and soul for better.  We learn as we pray. We learn to be silent before God, to clear our hearts and minds of the petty things of this world that really do not matter tomorrow or most importantly eternally.  Prayer can be a way of life that teaches us more of God's faithfulness as we wait.  God has precious truths that often He wants to show us or change in us before we cross the bridge to what will be before us next in our lives....sort of like a preparation.   Deuteronomy 7:9 says "Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments."

In our lives, as we go through each day, we can rest assured that God is already in tomorrow.  He knows the plans and He knows us so well...... He will fashion each day to move us more into His image if we will allow Him in our day.  Let Him take your hand and guide you safely over the bridge of today and all your tomorrows.  Every morning His lovingkindess is fresh and new my friend!  What a glorious heart of praise we can have!!!  Enjoy your new day my friend!!!!

Lamentations 3:22-23

"The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness."

ANGELS.....

Blessings come in many ways and so do needs! God is always ready to do great things on behalf of those who place their trust in Him. Pastor Chuck Swindoll has always been one of my favorites because of his practical wisdom as he teaches what scripture is saying. He writes....."Let us be thankful for angels. Angels exist as supernatural creatures in and about heaven, and they are frequently dispatched to earth in human form to bring encouragement and assistance. God's special messengers are often invisible but never impotent. It is amazing how many of us have stories of divine deliverance to tell yet seldom take the time to do so. Take time. It will strengthen your faith". "He will command his angels concerning you to guard you". Psalm 91:11

Clean Lines and other thoughts......

In a trend toward clean lines and modern spaces, many decorators are embracing all things slip covered or lighter fabrics in upholstery. The idea can be easily embraced if you have antiques you do not want to paint or white wash by adding a slip cover (a less expensive way for change) This was just what I did in my dining room! I created a beautiful, comfortable, and functional decor with fabric I purchased for five dollars a yard!








For several years I have enjoyed the look of a beautiful oriental rug, in my dining room, that I purchased while living in Jackson, Mississippi. It is a beautiful rug and one I am sure my children will inherit ( by drawing straws) when I am gone! :-). But the mood just came over me to finally take it out of the dining room and relocate it to the bedroom! I know we will enjoy it there for its beautiful colors and weaves! Sometimes beauty emerges from restraint and the urge to seek comfort rather than style. Rugs are great for that grace and ease, especially in a bedroom.


I love working with silks, and this lovely home I have featured before for the homeowners desire to give some of her darker wood pieces a pop with lighter paint on the walls and the cool colors of the curtains. She purposefully purchased lighter drapery fabrics for all her window treatments. I enjoyed sewing her window treatments and look forward to assisting her again in her new home. She moved with the drapes in hand! (so glad)


These silk ball gown draperies gave the same affect. The result is a livable, grace and ease in the more formal dining room. A beautiful space! Simple and elegant!


My next bold move is..... by December, I hope to have a pair of wing chairs covered in a beautiful creamy white! I know white is not a practical aspect for mothers of young children but it is an aesthetic that I am thinking might be good for the soul! No matter where you are in life, individual beauty in your home comes from a soul flooded with light and a pure spirit! I always find direction from God's words on how to clothe my spirit each day. His words sometimes are a challenge but if we come humbly before Him, our spirits are lightened and lifted so that we can set about our duties of the day more in keeping with a life well lived. His supply is endless!!!


A while back I found this inspiring home on a blog and cannot get it off my mind! I love how it has aged both gracefully and beautifully! I hope as you embrace your day and the weeks and years ahead that you too will brighten the dark places in your home ( and perhaps your life) with light and love! Enjoy your day! It is a gift from God to use for His magnificent glory and grace! Isn't all of creation grand? As the door opens into your home, may the first impression be that your guest are welcomed and that you have been waiting for them!!! May they feel your thoughts, "welcome to my home"!!!

Treasures of the SEA.....

"Fear not, for I HAVE redeemed you; I have called you by name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you." Isaiah 43:1~2
















There is a magnificence about the sea that is both breathtaking and beautiful! Water in any form seems to possess healing qualities and is both refreshing and cleansing. Living near the sea, I am often drawn to the tiny creatures I see digging their way helplessly into the sand for refuge after they've been swept to shore by a strong wave. It's funny how quickly they scurry back to where they are safe. As I think about this, I begin to wonder.....aren't we like the sea creatures in some ways? We seek and run to safety when we are washed ashore by a disappointment or painful experience. Some creatures of the sea are so battered that they become broken and all that is left is the shell. There is purpose even in the shell. These shells are reminders of beauty to me and each one is unique and individually created. You are unique too and created by God and when anything troubles you, remember, you can run to God and seek trust and refuge in Him. It's so easy if we begin with PRAISE! Praise brings us into the mighty presence of God! His Spirit is available for our comfort. Isaiah 61:3 says HE is there "To console those who mourn in Zion. To give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.". Praise repels and replaces the heavy spirit, sort of like a protection, God calls it a garment, like a coat or covering. What a beautiful picture!!! The little sea creatures have a lovely and beautiful covering over them when they hide back to their refuge of sand. Perhaps the next time you are at the seashore you will be blessed to find a few as a reminder of God's goodness and protection in your own life.

God gives us these little reminders daily in all of creation as we look at HIS handiwork for answers, direction, and wisdom! Oh PRAISE HIM for the lessons of the sea and of all nature. May your Monday be filled with promise....give HIM your ashes and HE will make something beautiful out of your life.....may your life be as beautiful as the seashells!!!

P.S. I found all these seashells yesterday at the seashore!!!

A Sweet Celebration of Love.....

I love a celebration! I love a party! It takes very little for me to get motivated in planning the entire event, especially when it's someone as special as my husband. He's still my dreamboat! He's still just as cute and fun as the first day I met him. He tells me that he had seen me for months before he got the courage up to flirt! Yeah, right! Anyway, we met by accident. A group of girlfriends were going to meet some football players at our university and so I just tagged along. As destiny unfolded, Steve began to throw popcorn at me, a piece at a time until I took notice. The rest is history! When we got back to the dorm, all my friends told me he had a girlfriend. He called me the next day and acted like he did not know what to say, sort of like a little boy would be! A couple of days later we passed in the hall of a building on campus, again he was a total flirt. Within a couple of days, he asked me out on our first date (I met his entire family on the first date) and within two weeks he had counted up all the minutes, hours, and days he had known me. That was Valentines Day! I was so impressed and touched. We were exclusive after that. He lives with his heart. I love that about him! A heart that is dedicated entirely and solely to God and to his family. He would do anything for me or another person so in preparing his dinner for his birthday, I had so much fun! My flowers in the garden were perfect for the table. We have a garden so the desire to keep the meal healthy was easy! He did grill the salmon, his favorite!

To draw a simple comparison, I believe Our Heavenly Father gets excited in preparing daily celebrations for us! Have you ever seen a brilliant sunrise and exclaimed with great joy of it's beauty? God gives us so much beauty in this world in which we live! Daily, we are given so many gifts from above all because God loves us. God, Himself, is so much greater though than these gifts. We learn though about Him through the daily gifts that He gives to us. As we are living and learning, we can share our heart's blessings by placing HIS love into everything we do. Tasks become a joy rather than a burden. The load is lightened! Have you known someone who it seems allows everything to be a burden for them? Even daily chores, such as taking care of their family or their husband or wife's needs is difficult? It seems to me when we center our thoughts first on Christ and The Cross then our attitudes toward our mates are governed by our attitudes toward God. As a husband honors his wife, cares for her, and prays for her, he is modeling his behavior after the Father! The same can be said of a wife who takes the time to care and pray for her husband. God stands ready to move in mighty ways in a marriage like that! Once we fall in love and decide on the wedding date then it's a celebration of what is to come....the marriage. Marriage vows are both meaningful and purposeful! It is a joy to celebrate ones mate and to love them and lift them to The Highest and ask for blessing. Just as the Lord looks for ways to bless us, even a birthday celebration can be filled with blessings! I hope you have times to celebrate! May the celebrations in your life continue to bring you happiness! This one certainly did for me! Have a blessed and safe weekend!! xxoo

The Birthday Cake.....a chocolate pudding cake with fresh cream and freshly sliced strawberries! I also added some fresh chocolate to the top! YUM!

Strong Roots

"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth it's fruit in it's season, whose leaf shall also not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper". Psalm 1:3. It is incredible to believe and trust this analogy that we can be sustained by God, just like a tree by water. No matter where you are or what happens in your life, God is filling you with the power as you trust Him to do so and to stay close to Him. That is right, He will use His power to help you live a miraculous life! Everything you go through happens for a reason and trusting Him through prayer helps you to be steadfast and strong......like that tree! Yes, keep your roots by His stream and He will produce lasting fruit in your life! It's a promise!!!


Fruits from the roots are always beautiful when watered from the vine!

Location:Grand Tetons, Wyoming

In The Home......

In the home, we have three basic ministries. If we are married, the first ministry is to our mate. We are to love them, appreciate them, and encourage them. Our second ministry is to our children if we are blessed to have children. To me, this begins with prayer "on bended knee" with a sincere dependence on the Scriptures. Our third ministry is to our church and our community. Over a lifetime these unfold. It seems these days everyone has a plan, a calendar, a goal. These are good but we are encouraged in scripture to live day by day. May I encourage you to live one day at a time with a daily filling of the Holy Spirit. You see, it's not a onetime event this filling of our spirits, it is a daily surrendering to the Lord and seeking His wisdom and guidance. When we take the time to live in His presence and draw near to HIM our lives and our ministries just happen. Our lives are peaceful and our days are fruitful as He lives through us guiding our ways and our days. So many times we try to live out our lives with a reliance upon the truths from the Bible that we already know or have learned but it just doesn't work well that way. The Lord wants us to come as often as possible and be encouraged and taught through the words He has for us building fresh insights for each day and each season. His desire is to dearly love us and clothe us with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [Col. 3:12] These are virtues needed in our relationships in the home and the community. When we combine these virtues with love, they are bound together in perfect unity. It is then, that we can lay these efforts of our lives before the Lord and know that He will make something beautiful out of it! I do enjoy making my home beautiful BUT without preparing my heart first, it would be just a cold place when family and friends come in.


My daughter Kristen and I drove for eleven hours on Friday with her four children back to her home in Texas. When we arrived, her sweet husband had created a dinner party for her and his children. He did it with love and with kindness. He ministered to his mate, his children, and his mother in law. :-) You see....it doesn't take much to make a house a home and fulfill a ministry of love! He had clothed himself in LOVE! Each of us were touched and loved!!!

Summertime and cool outdoors spaces.....

This is the time of the year.....summertime.....when we are all looking for a refuge from the heat! It seems for many areas in our country, America, and around then world, heat waves are at an all time high! I am sharing above a few pretty photos of spaces decorators have created on porches and places to escape the heat and enjoy refuge and revival! The last one is another photo of our outdoor party last weekend under the stars and twinkle lights. Thankfully, we planned the party near dusk so it was cooler. We all need a place to retreat when we feel the need to revive and restore. Heat is real and can alter our mood quickly but there is another kind of heat that can cause us to need a refuge. The world today is not much different from the times of ancient Israel when Moses lived in the world with his own family. Many of the great men of God whose positive blessings and strong confidence in God came as they sought refuge and retreat before a mighty God who rode the heavens to help when they called to Him in prayer. Today He continues to ride the Heavens to help us in our needs when we turn to Him in prayer. He is an eternal God whose everlasting arms are never exhausted and who is our refuge and safety. Deuteronomy 33:26-27 declare just those words! "There is no one like the God of Jushurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, and in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms". I just love that verse so full of promise!!! In times past, churches held revivals and these services were meant to revive Believers and bring the hurting in and show them the refuge of peace and renewal that God is able to be. He is MORE than able to make all grace abound and revive the weakened spirit. You see, God in His wisdom knew the world had the ability to hold us in bondage and heated situations but...... when we turn to Him, we are shown His grace and He opens our eyes and gives us a measure of revival. Where do you go for refuge and revival from the heat of this day, of this hour, of this minute? Dear friend, as beautiful as these rooms and spaces above are there is a Throne Room with ONE whose beauty is unsurpassed and His Name is JESUS! Psalm 90:1 joyfully announces to us that "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations". May you seek refuge and peace sweet friend and find it today! Blessings of love on your day!!!

Wedding Bells for Steven and Sara......to follow!

Over the weekend we celebrated in our backyard the exciting engagement of our son Steven and his fiancé Sara! We are all so happy for them and excited to assist in any way with their wedding plans. We started our weekend toasting them and praying for much joy and happiness as they begin the steps to marriage! The girls and I decorated the backyard, making a canopy of lights amid the trees and enjoyed an Italian themed dinner party two evenings in a row! Everyone was happy and the joy ahead in our our lives is looked forward to with thanksgiving! It is so fun having everyone together! (we missed Shelly and Jeremy).


Thank you Kacie and Kara for all your help in preparing our celebrations!