For All My Single Friends {Part 2}...

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." ~ Psalm 34:18


Walking in wisdom is what helps us avoid the enemy's snares, the counterfeits that slip into our lives and hold us captive because of our desires. The rearview mirror is always crystal clear. When we look back, we see all the little red flags: Friends and family said things we did not want to hear, but should have taken note of. We chose to ignore their admonition, but now have to admit that what they warned us about was true. Some will quietly hang their heads in shame and admit they knew they had no business with the likes of this man or woman. You had hoped by your good example they would change. However, he or she did not ~ "it's hard for a zebra to change its stripes", my mom used to tell me. Upon their exit from your life, this person wreaked havoc on your heart, your spirit, and your emotions.

Unfortunately, you will hurt again if the process of healing is not allowed to do its work. Take the necessary time to learn the lesson so that you do not have to repeat it again. Lessons get harder and harder every time. When I found myself going through a divorce in 2002, I finally realized the biggest mistake I could make {& almost did make} was to sweep my tears under a rug and move on stumbling blindly over my disappointments and heartache only to find myself staring them in the face at a later date down the road. For every lesson you and I refuse to learn, every heartache we refuse to process, the backlash is worse than the original occurance. Healing takes work and it usually hurts in the beginning and feels extremely uncomfortable. It will only hurt for as long as we fight the medicine. Take responsibility for your heart and get it right this time. Get ready to exhale everything that will impede your progress and inhale life. Pain can be a powerful teacher. It exposes the secrets that harbor defeat. It is a wonderful indicator that we are human and that we possess an incredible capacity for joy. Our level of joy is as great or as deep as our ability to register pain.

I have no idea where my mother found the following prayer, but I at least have a name to give proper credit. It was written by a lady named Carolyn Van Winkle. It is a prayer of release. It is imperative that when we go through a break up of any type that we have a clean break and cut ties with that person for a period of time; otherwise, our emotions stay clouded and we are more influenced by those than the wisdom the Holy Spirit provides. My advice is do not call them, take calls from them, Facebook message them, text them, answer FB messages or texts. Walk away or let them walk away. Forget about them for a moment and allow God to heal your heart.

PRAYER OF RELEASE
By Carolyn Van Winkle
"Because Jesus Christ is my Lord, I free ____________ from my anxiety, fears, and control. I trust the Holy Spirit to draw you and show you the way that is right for you - the way of peace, joy, and love that includes all the fruit of the Spirit. I place you on God's throne of Grace. I have given you to God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are a very special person. As much as I love you, I cannot live your life for you or entangle mine with yours. Your life is completely in His hands and I trust Him with it. I give you my blessing and unbind you and let you go, In Jesus' name."

Let the healing begin!

GIVEAWAY Winner!!!

And the winner is...Peggy Lawrence! :) I know, it was by default. Lesson learned not to post a giveaway to gain followers, but I really wanted to do this giveaway and I'm so glad it's to a former classmate.

Peggy, I'll send you a message on FB to get some info for the candle creation.

GIVEAWAY!

In honor of my new blog, I'm having a GIVEAWAY! I custom print candles and sell them on my website (SerendipityBathElixirs.com). For this giveaway, I will custom print a 6" Pillar Candle (your choice of white or ivory) with text or photo (you will have to e-mail it to me once you are notified that you are the winner). This is a $35.00 value. To view: Go to my site: www.serendipitybathelixirs.com ~ At the Menu on the LEFT, go to PRODUCTS under Home Page ~ scroll halfway down the page to view the candles. At the bottom of the page will be a couple of sample candles I have printed.



This is a different type of Giveaway. While I have readers of my blog, it is so new there are no "official FOLLOWERS". This giveaway is to generate "official FOLLOWERS". Giveaway Ends: Midnight EST Friday, August 20, 2010. Winner will be chosen by random.org. Winner will be contacted & posted on this blog Saturday, August 21, 2010.

You Have 4 Ways To Win:
1. Become an "Official Follower" and post a comment stating you are.
2. If you have a blog, post this giveaway on your blog and leave me a comment stating you did so.
3. Post this giveaway on your FACEBOOK profile and leave a comment with the link so I can see it.
4. If you enlist your friends or followers of your blog to FOLLOW my blog, have them leave a comment with your name and link to your blog stating they were referred by you (more chances for you to win).
NOTE: If you just leave 1 comment including the above, that counts as only 1 way to win.

Thanks & Best Wishes!

Introducing... Another Blythe Doll Named

Here she is ~ Felicity Tate, another Blythe doll my sister had customized. These dolls are insanely collectible and have an underground type following. My sister designs and sells clothing for these cutie pies. When I saw her and all that cute curly hair, I immediately thought of Keri Russell in the show "Felicity", shared that with my sister and a name was coined. :) You can see my other blog about Wenslyn Emery, Extra! Extra! Blog All About It: What's In A Name? the first doll I named. I enjoy all the stuff my sister shares that some of the customizers do to these dolls ~ I have seen Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz" and some dolls customized as Bella and Alice from "Twilight". It's fun to see the customizations, but the fashionista in me loves the clothes...

For My Single Friends...

This topic has been heavy on my heart for the last week or so if I am being honest. So many single friends are repeating lessons they should have already passed the test on. Having been there myself, I commiserate with them. Ahhh, the sweetness of actually getting the lesson AND passing that test!

You and I are destined to repeat lessons not learned if we fail to pass the test. The sad thing about that is the lesson is harder each and every time and so is the test, but when you realize you've been doing the same thing over and over and over again (can you say PATTERN?), then the Holy Spirit has this uncanny way of showing us what we need to do, and when the test rolls around again, we recognize it and we pass it. YAH!!! You did it!!! So you think you know all there is to know about that guy or girl and therefore you believe they are "the one"? Are you kidding me??? Just because you know all there is to know about someone does not make them "the one". Could it be this person you refuse to let go of and leave in God's very capable hands is a COUNTERFEIT? Yes, that's right, the Enemy's version of God's best for you. Sure, this is a great guy or gal, but great is not God's BEST. Friend, I urge you, if there is someone or something you've been holding onto, let him or her go. Release that great guy or girl to God and cease all communication with them. It's called a clean break and it is a very necessary thing. Sure, pray for them, but pray God's will for them (praying scriptures for them is best so you know your motive won't ease it's way in there), and nothing more. If they return, you will still have to seek God's advice as to whether it's a test from Him or it's a blessing from Him. I cannot explain how you know the difference other than you just know "in your knower". My dear mom used to tell me, "be careful what you pray for since you just might get it". It was a warning. College sweetheart and I broke up for a year and I was on my knees in prayer for that boy, well, said boy came around again and I just "knew" it was God's blessing. :) Back then, you could not have convinced me otherwise; in hindsight, it was never God's blessing. Sure, God allowed it to happen, but He had been my co-pilot vs me allowing Him to be my Pilot and walking away. That rearview mirror is always crystal clear. The choices I made as that young adult college student haunted me well into my 30s. Don't let the same thing happen to you. Don't let the choices you make today haunt you later in life.

How do you know that person is not the one? When you don't follow God's directives (and I mean every single one of them, even when you think they are archaic), then all I know is God won't bless mess. Sure, He graces us extravagantly, but don't you want His absolute best in this area of your life?

I'm thankful He got a hold of me with His loving Shepherd's hook and showed me the way so I would walk in it. This stubborn child of His finally surrendered everything to His choosing and I'm so glad I did. He blessed me with my husband, Gray, and other than Christ Himself, that has been the best gift.

Here's to His best!

More DIY Things Around The House...

Here ya go...more projects I did the past few weeks around the house and one not-so-good project I need help on (hint...hint). :)

Here's a Before & After on some items found on clearance at Hobby Lobby ~ they are cast iron so I had to be sure they won't fall down when the door is opened and closed. I found the keys for $1.70 {yes, you read that right!} each, and the "Bless Our Home" trivet for $2.00. I used cobra hooks with anchors to hang the trivet. I decided to hang all above the entryway door in our foyer.





Pin It


I changed out the curtains I originally had hanging in our Sunroom today. I found 4 of these Pottery Barn linen beauties at Goodwill for $18! Sorry, had to buy. They have tie tabs but we did not like the look so I used our curtain clips. I then added a candlescape I purchased a couple of years ago at a consignment shop. We like the look.



And here is the candlescape...



This next idea came from Blogdom. Many clever ladies have used an industrial looking pipe with elbows and fittings and they look fabulous. I decided to use a curtain rod I had on hand, strong anchor screws and voila! Well, we actually need double-rod holder because the cornice on our mini blinds sticks out a little far. So, while it works and we can open & close our blinds as is, we'd love it to stick out just a bit more. The pots and pans are supposed to be the "cafe curtain" at the window. Looks much better when all our pots and pans are up there. Basically, it frees up storage space in our cabinets {always a plus}. Working on taking down the wallpaper border and putting stacked stone up that wall with the window and as a backsplash.



This next photo is a basket I had on hand (yes, bought it while thrifting a few years back). It has a large compartment for something like magazines or plates for a picnic and three smaller compartments behind that. It houses our garden flags perfectly and sits nicely on a shelf...


Just a little something I had to hang in the Laundry Room to keep me focused. I don't care for laundry (does anyone really like to do laundry?) I don't mind the process of the washing, drying, hanging to dry, but putting it away is another story so I just do it to get it done, but this plaque reminds us of what we need to do...

Looks even better now that it is hung on a vintage wooden hanger.

This next photo is again for the Laundry. It's a beautiful oil-rubbed bronze metal scroll with hangers piece and I hung it up and then rubbed on letters that say, "Wash Room". Normally, I would put in the entryway for our keys, but we already have something for that purpose. I needed something for our dog's hankies and my baseball hats.


More Laundry Room Items. Please excuse the mess while I attempt to install shelving. Nothing thrilling - wire shelves and a utility hook. I needed space so I added 2 wire shelves under our existing shelves {wait until you see the next photo :)}. I also found a utility hanger for pennies (well, $5) to hold our brooms, mops, etc. Our Laundry Room is nothing like what is on all the fancy blogs, but it is a room and not a closet, and for that, I am thankful. I'm working with what we have or purchasing what is within budget.





Help me...I'm sliding...sliding away. Does not matter that I measured and leveled off this shelf. Not sure what happened, but it's completely lop-sided. I may be able to do many DIY projects...even gel staining cabinets over paint for that beautiful old world look (show me a piece of ugly wooden furniture and I'll paint it and make it beautiful:), but hanging wire shelves is NOT my forte` and I will completely own up to that one. Wanna re-hang it for me??? (HINT! HINT!:)



From one slide into another (the picture shows a slide in baseball:)...a display on top of a bookshelf in our Sunroom. This was my husband's "baseball room", which I actually like, but the bookshelf is an addition to store my books. The photo on the right was taken on his parents' wedding day, their wedding invitation is in another frame below that, a bowl of decorative balls (my fave is the globe ball), a plaque from a small group member to me about 3 years ago after a retreat ("Grateful Hearts Gather Here"), which I repainted a nice metallic bronze, a large shell that held our wedding rings, and a nice ornament/charm about having faith as small as a mustard seed from my mother-in-law...


This next photo is a tablescape of sorts in that I repurposed wine bottles cutting taper candles to fit, using scrapbook paper scraps from some of our wedding favors and the graphic design stickers I made for our wedding last year. Please ignore the large picture behind that. We leaned it on the wall to safely store until I hang it...


And finally, pictures we have purchased during the last year to go on our media wall with our tv...all are black & white with sepia tones. On the left, a scene in Italy, the center is Notre Dame in Paris, the two on the right are miscellaneous architecture photos. We had a nice size scene showing Parliament and Big Ben in London overlooking the River Thames, but the two staircase pictures work better. Sorry for the flash on Notre Dame...could not get a better picture...


That's it for the DIY for a bit. Thank you for joining me on the tour...

What's In A Name?

My sister, Kathi, is an avid Blythe doll collector. She is insanely creative and makes and sells the clothes for these little lovelies in her Etsy store. I have a few favorite girls of hers ~ Avery Rose (has curly pink mohair), Kennedy Reese (has blonde Marilyn Monroe type hair), and Hannah Grier (has long, white mohair). Her newest arrival is a cute little blonde that she picked the name I tossed out there: Wenslyn Emery. She is pictured below (not wearing one of Kathi's fashions)...

Thrifty Decor Chick: Silhouette Craft Cutter Giveaway!

Thrifty Decor Chick: Silhouette Craft Cutter Giveaway!

You do not want to miss out on this one!
XO,
Kimberly

Before & After...

I love reading home decor blogs ~ especially those with a creative edge. I love that I share my hobby (turning a castaway into something useful and beautiful) with others out in blogland. Here are a few of my re-dos. I wish I had taken before pictures, but I'm learning along the way...

Read more »

Loving the Unlovely...

When chaos comes calling do you know where to turn? Chaos entered my world and drama unleashed itself in my small group in the late summer of 2005. I remember there were times when I took the remarks and the gossip so personally and I would come home and fall to my knees and just sob to the Father. It’s during those moments when leadership is not so fun. I was personally being attacked and it was all because a group member no longer liked the night we met on. Worse my right hand person was in the middle stirring the pot! I knew who was behind it as our enemy has not changed his ways, but I wanted to tell these 40-something year-old women to grow up, even though they were merely his puppets at the time Ephesians 6:12 (NIV). We’ve all been challenged to love someone who absolutely drives us crazy. The truth is we may not even like them, let alone love them. Does anyone come to mind? I’m talking about the kind of person we cannot seem to get away from. This person may be a co-worker, an employee, an employer, a small group member, a small group leader, someone who runs in your circle, someone you do ministry with, the neighbor who just will not move, an in-law, an outlaw, a spouse, an ex-spouse, you get the point. This is the type of person when you see them coming, you just want to do a 180 and turn the opposite way. A fellow small group member (in another group for leaders) eloquently called these types of people, “jackhammers” ~ thanks, Sharon! I love that. Jackhammers. Scriptures calls them the iron that sharpens iron. Sandpaper… thorns… difficult…unlovely. Whatever the title you and I want to label them with, we will find they are somehow assigned to us by God. I will share how scripture empowered me by the Spirit of the Living God to love someone I did not even like at the time. Wow, did I just type that out loud? I’m ashamed to admit that while I spent most of those small group years on my knees in prayer for this woman, I just did not care for her at the time. Now the love I have for her is God's love.

Read more »