Terribly Interesting

Buy your Fish Fry tickets here : How Many Tickets?   1 Ticket $10.00 USD   2 Tickets $20.00 USD   3 Tickets $30.00 USD   4 Tickets $40.00 USD   5 Tickets $50.00 USD   6 Tickets $60.00 USD   7 Tickets $70.00 USD   8 Tickets $80.00 USD   9 Tickets $90.00 USD   10Tickets $100.00 USD     On Tuesday, my man dedicated half the day to the dining room. He finished putting up the house wrap and then was able to get the sheets of foam up on the walls. Two of the walls already have sheet rock, but the two outside walls needed insulation and sheet rock. I am glad he had to cover that house wrap up. It would have driven me crazy to have all of that upside down around me. He didn't even notice which way it was going. As you can see below, it was covered with foam. I won't lose any sleep over the upside down words. I am about half of the way done with the floor. My goal is to be done in a bout a week so it can cure befo...

There are words that very hard to say. Words like miscarriage. Somehow, if you don't say it, it doesn't seem so real. Maybe it didn't happen. Maybe you made it up. Maybe you are delusional. One minute you see a faint line. The next you are bleeding unexpectedly. There you are. All you can mutter is, "Abba." It might sound more like, "Abba?" You know he is very present in your grief and your questioning. His presence is so thick that he doesn't even need to say a word to you. You still hear him. There is a season for everything . . .

Well, y'all, here we are. I have been carefully removing the paint from those windows. In every crack, cranny, and crevice. Whew. They are big. The other ones in the room were big. The moulding is big. Who thought of all this wood? Well, I am enamored with it and I am in my last little bit of stripping the paint off. It's quite the tedious process in order to protect the old wood. Some of the panes of glass were actually being held in by the old paint. Some re-caulking was in order. As you can see, my man started putting house wrap up. Next we will foam the walls and drywall them. Then put up a beadboard ceiling and mould it out.  I have begun staining the floor. It's blowing my mind. It's 99 years of gorgeous character. I am choosing to do it all by hand so we can keep all of the little bits of "charm" that have occurred over the years. I wanted to sand it, but keep the aged spaces and all of the little scratches and divots. Oh my word. This girl is p...

There is a great book about theologian Francis Schaeffer and his family called L'Abri. In it you can read of stories where their family opened their home in the Swiss Alps up to anyone needing respite or curious about Jesus. There would be great theological conversations, warm food served, and beds made for the guests. These people were not people of wealth. They were people of prayer. They asked God for the means to be this hospitable. He graciously answered them. I share this because people are always asking us what we do with our house. Why would anyone buy a hundred year old mansion to restore? It's hip for Christians to downsize. Well, we wanted to be somewhat of a L'Abri of the South. We travel, lead worship, and speak six months out of the year, but when we are home, we are open to everyone.  Pastors who need healing from hurts inflicted by God's people, missionaries in need of respite, college kids in need of a home (or some chicken), alcoho...

Even when life is hard and full of grief, Jesus has given us such a sweet gift in himself. Often when I am caught up in being overwhelmed by the life that swirls around me, I have to step back and remind myself of one thing. I have a good life and I serve a good God. The people we love are not perfect. The earth is not perfect. We have a great gift though, beloved. We can think on Christ. Instead of obsessing about our spouse, our in-laws, our another baby lost, we can think fondly on the tender love that Jesus Christ has for us. We can dwell wholeheartedly on the lengths that he has gone to in order to ensure our love relationship. We have a good thing and we have a good God. He speaks to us.  He listens. Thank God for all He has done for you. He has shown you the path to life. "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." -Psalm 16:11

 I saw this delightful book arrive in the queue for review with the publisher and I was immediately drawn to it. Reading the title and the description evoked beautiful (and hungry) thoughts. I don't know about you, but the sacrament of communion brings to my heart such tender thoughts toward Jesus. The book begins with her telling us that we can bring that blessing to our table at home. Every time you break bread with someone at your table, you can practice the thankfulness of the Eucharist. You had me at Jesus, Shauna. I was hooked. It evoked thoughts of the verses in Matthew that tell us whatever we give or do for others, you do for Me. I was hungry and you fed Me. Don't you love it. You can bring that delight like John reclining on Christ's breast right to your table. Be thankful. Shauna is a wordsmith. She is so rich in her descriptive language that she made me want desperately to do two things: love people in a deep, abiding way and eat decadently. She also m...

We drove out of here on May 15th and I waved to the old girl and told her I would be back to her restoration come September. We did come home long enough to wash clothes on occasion, but for the most part, we have been gone for four months. This can make a restoration project a bit challenging. We just have to trust the Lord for his timing and work like the dickens when we are home. Mostly, I work like the dickens because Denbigh is doing another retreat as I type this. He will be back in a few days. I like to compare myself to the wife in It's a Wonderful Life or like the reverse roles of the characters in The Notebook.  To be direct, we could not possibly take on this project without your help. I am constantly in awe of how God's people show up and take care of a need here. It is hard for people to take on so much hospitality, but giving financial gifts to Gomer is a way for people to be involved. You get to serve people with the warm love of Jesus vicariously. You g...

I was invited to speak to a class on prayer on Sunday morning about prayer journaling. It brought to my mind this wonderful poem from The Deep Place Where No One Goes by Jill Briscoe. I thought I would share it with you. If you were in the class and want to know the name of the journal I go through, it is called a journible. It is my favorite type of journal because of recording the scripture in it.Leave room to listen for Jesus. Enjoy. Take a Pen and Paper By Jill  Briscoe Taken from Jill's book The Deep Place  Where Nobody Goes Try taking a pen and paper to the Deep Place where nobody goes. Then you can read His letters in the Golden Book and write a reply. I write it out on paper and I think my thoughts out loud I speak my heart's foreboding and I pray about the cloud Of deep and dark depression and a sense of dread and doubt So I write it out on paper and I get my feelings out. Then I take it to the Throne Room and leave it there above ...

What would you feel like if one day you woke up and realized that your absentee, alcoholic dad was in the CIA and you never knew? Ian tells us what waking up to this realization was like for him. We follow him through the tale of his childhood and how scared and lonely his growing up years had been. We watch his dad erode into an alcoholic demise and see the impact that it had on Ian. This is a book that I think many of us can relate to. I didn't have much of a childhood myself and I wholeheartedly connected to Ian's struggle. He went through his own battle with alcoholism trying to cope with the sting of having an angry, demeaning parent. The amazing part is how our protagonist survived. He clung to the words of a radio personality and hung on to hope. We follow him through a Catholic upbringing and some truly fearful situations. The beauty of this story is where Ian is at now and how he is choosing to live invested in his family. He is a pastor and author. Ian is a...