A reminder of His promises!

Last night we had a Womens Retreat Planning meeting. It was a smaller group, as a few of our ladies are out of town or have ahusband's with a drug dependency (just kidding, her husband had minor surgery on Tuesday). Well, we got so much done and really had a great time just talking about our vision and expectations for the event (our theme is from Psalm 34:8...remember that, it'll be important in a few seconds). Towards the end, I expressed that I was scared; scared the event would be a flop and said verbatim "I'm afraid no one will show up!" Most of this fear came because we have to sign a contract with the hotel we are going to be using and contracts just make me nervous. So, Kimberly and Tina reassured me that we can do this and we will have a great turn out. I'll be honest, I sort of believed them (sorry girls, just being honest!) I went upstairs and started talking with Cody, but still had that nagging feeling of...well, of defeat, it seemed like!

So, this morning, I went for a run, made some breakfast and settled down to have some time with the man upstairs. I flipped through my devotional book to today's date, July 29th. The passage of scripture to read was from Psalm 34:1-7...it was on fear. I find it incredible and quite humbling that God had ordained this passage for today! Humbling because God used the very same passage that we're using for our retreat to remind me of His promises and not to fear!

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. ²My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. ³Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

⁴I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
⁵Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Now, the feeling is gone and I'm confident the Lord has placed this vision and idea on my heart for His glory...phew, that's a relief! Anyways, if you think about it, please pray for our retreat and that God will show up in major ways, all the kinks will be worked out and ladies will actually attend!! :)

If you want to attend, it'll be on the weekend of October 1st & 2nd (yes, it's a VT away game) and will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Roanoke, VA! The theme is from Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"....yes, there will be great food, fun, and cupcakes! :)

Hope you can come!!

~LaRae

a brass transformation: UPDATE!!

When we bought our new home it came stocked with brass hardware and accessories. Not hot. One of my favorite beauties was this brass chandelier in the dining room.



I was about 2 seconds away from ripping it down and buying a new one when I came across this little bit of blog o' confidence --Dwellings by Devore. Seriously, this gal can transform ANYTHING! I don't have nearly that much talent, but I saw my ugly duckling brass chandelier as a challenge....maybe I could save a few bucks and use what I have! After reading nearly every page of her blog, I was armed with enough confidence to think I might be able to do this! Mind you, this was my first experience with this type of thing so I made a few mistakes and learned a few lessons!


Step 1. clean chandelier of all nastiness and dust


Step 2. Prime her up--I used KILZ primer and it worked great (just beware, it produces an insane amount of dust/residue that basically gets EVERYWHERE!)


Step 3. After being covered with primer, we made Em this little get up (gloves and old sheet..so happy they are finally coming in hand!)


Step 4. Spray paint the ugly out of her! This isn't that great of a picture, and I still have a few touch up areas, but I'm pretty happy! I used Rustoleum metallic "oil rubbed bronze". I am going to put little black and tan gingham shades on the lights, so that it will look a ton better! I'll give an updated version later...but I was pretty proud of myself!

UPDATE: Here's what it looks like now! (I even got a new picture to hang up and we painted the walls in the kitchen)

close-up!


My mom found these great mini lampshades at Lowe's for $6 each!! (for those who don't know..that's a great deal!)


New picture and new chandelier :)

Lessons Learned
- Even though it's a pain in the tail, move EVERYTHING within a 100 foot radius away from your painting area

- Also, even though it's a pain, it's worth 'de-wiring' and taking down from the ceiling (I was afraid of getting shocked so I left mine up haha)

- Cover every inch of your body with something--especially for the primer stage, it produces a fog of dust like particles!


Well, I hope you enjoyed my little experiment and it gave you confidence that if I can do you, you FOR SURE can do it!!

Love ya'll,
LaRae