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life{in}grace

live with more presence, passion, & purpose

Edie Wadsworth

Before/After: Painted Furniture

I’ve had this piece of furniture since the beginning of time and why on earth I haven’t painted it before now, I do not know. You probably have this piece of furniture too, don’t you? Or at least a side table or armoire like it?
Well, something told me it was time. Time to give it a little painted love.

So while these four cousins choreographed a hip hop dance and took the American girl dolls on a much needed family vacation, I painted.

I sanded it twice and then used the Behr paint plus primer paint {color to be disclosed soon but it was a shade of black from the Benjamin Moore fandeck} and applied two coats. I used a brush to apply the paint and then went back over it with a sponge roller–so that the brush marks weren’t visible. That paint-plus-primer has changed my life. It’s like buttah. It’s like painting with silky velvet. I love it.
And I added the pulls, which I ordered nearly a year ago from I don’t know where. And then I spray painted my flea market elephant with biscuit-colored appliance paint and then I cut down half a tree and put it in my lemonade server.
And that’s how I got this.

Now, I’m at my sisters’ with JamieKnoxville singing  helping her get ready for her son Corey’s 16th birthday.

And by helping I mean laughing until I almost can’t stand up while Jamie and I quote Slingblade and Coal Miner’s Daughter and sing Mama Tried to Corey as an early birthday present.  Now, I really must go and try to be of some real service since she’s invited waayyyy too many people to this party (95);  although entertaining other people as they work should not be discounted.

My random days and thoughts

1. The girls and I are on book 7 of Harry Potter.
We can hardly put it down. I’ve cried and laughed and stumbled over her brilliant vocabulary.
We read 75 pages aloud yesterday. I’m losing my voice.
Anyone wanna volunteer to come read to us?
Our library’s audio version is due back today so maybe I’ll get a reprieve.
If you’re still unsure about reading Harry to your kids, you can read my first review here and an excellent summary from a Lutheran pastor here.
The 7th movie will be out in November but it’s broken into parts 1 and 2. I think part 2 won’t be out for almost a year.

2. I’ve been painting my bedroom in between reading Harry Potter.
It’s a soft grayish blue. Here’s a sneak peek.

the color is Woodlawn Blue from Benjamin Moore. Love it so far!

3. I really meant to review The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis.
I haven’t done so because I can’t find my book.
It’s a brilliant book, trust me. Although I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t trust someone who can’t find the book
they just finished a week ago.
Since I can’t find that book, enjoy this quote from his book, The Four Loves.

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken.
If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal.
Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements.
Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change.
It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

4. There’s an excellent series on Issues Etc called Christ Alone by Dr. Rod Rosenbladt.
There are five parts and I’ve listened to part 5 three times. Good stuff, I tell you.  And a perfect companion to painting.

5. I’m working on my curriculum/lessons plans for this year. I promise to tell you about it soon. The UPS man has become my best friend because of the Amazon boxes he’s delivered to my house. I’m really so excited about what we’ll be doing this year.   We’ll still be following the classical model of the Well Trained Mind but we’re adding a few things this go around.

My favorite part of the planning is deciding what books we’ll be reading and what things we’ll memorize.  We usually select pieces for memorization from scripture, poetry, good literature etc.  We also try to loosely correspond  to what we’re studying in history.   This is our 3rd year in Story of the World so after we finish the last few lessons on the renaissance, we’ll be studying Elizabeth I to the Forty Niners.   Do you have any suggestions for corresponding literature or memory passages from this time period? (the girls are 3rd and 4th grade)

I also have been somewhat interested in Tapestry of Grace and have found their website helpful in finding some good literature pieces.

6.    My cousin, who is more like a sister {JamieKnoxville} is in town.  I’m meeting my sister today in Knoxville to have lunch and to pick up JK and her daughter Olivia.  We’re so excited to have them here for a few days.   Wonder if I can talk her into painting with me?  You may wanna pray for Stevie.

7.  Repentance is such a profound concept.   Luther said that repentance should be the posture of the life of the christian;  living daily before others and before God in an attitude of repentance.  And yet, even that repentance is itself a gift from God.  Christ said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

So, what is to be our stance when we are showered with good gifts?

Repentance.   Those are bountiful blessings from the kind hand of God that we neither deserve nor can merit.

And what is to be our stance when we are given to suffering?

Repentance.    Our suffering only makes sense in the light of the cross.

Lord, forgive our unbelieving and unrepentant hearts.  Grant us Your blessed forgiveness and that we obtain faith and life.  We are weary from sin and strife.  Rescue us with Your love and refresh us with Your life.   For the sake of Christ.  Amen.

ps.  Just found this on youtube.  Brandi Carlile  {my favorite artist} singing Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain {one of my favorite songs}

And since I let daddy’s birthday slip my mind, I send this out to him. Somewhere in heaven.

Gallery Wall in lieu of kitchen photos

Our basement at the lakehouse has been officially declared ‘the Mancave’.   It has housed many {sweaty} boys this summer and has been sorely neglected—as in, I try my best NOT to ever go down there.

And then there’s the dilemma of where to put all my art and photographs.   This house has no walls, remember?  Open floor plans have their downside.

Since I’m finally starting to ‘nest’ in this house,  I asked Stevie today if it would make him crazy if I started painting the master bedroom.

He said, “Maybe a little.”   {And then later seemed legitimately surprised that I wasn’t painting:)}

So, I decided instead to try to hang every painting and photo in the mancave.

And to my sweet surprise, I almost succeeded.
It doesn’t even look like a mancave anymore, save the cowhide rug.

This is what the powers that be call a gallery wall.    A whole wall of art.

My question for Stevie is this?   Can I paint tomorrow without making you wanna go jump in the lake?  Pretty please?  With s’mores on top?

And lastly, I’m posting this to try to keep you from sending me anymore hate mail about whether I EVER plan to  post pics of the kitchen.

My most treasured internet friends, trust me when I say that I promise you I’m not trying to build suspense here.  It’s still NOT DONE.  I’m mean, it’s close.   And I know you don’t care whether or not the trim is up or the corner shelves are in.  But I really want it to be done before I show you the whole thing.

So please accept this post of the gallery wall as my humble attempt at appeasing you for a week or so.

Kinda like bribing your kids with fruit when they want brownies.

The brownies will be done soon.   At least that’s what I keep hearing!   Thank you so much for your patience and thank you for the oodles of encouragement and kindness you’ve given me.   You are my favorite reason to love this space.


ps. I’m making this and this and this today. Can you say yummy?

Blueberry Coffee Cake and other ‘blues’

I’m making blueberry coffee cake this morning.   Number one, because I came home to a nearly full container of slightly shriveled blueberries.   And number two, because baking is like therapy for me.   And tomorrow my old house will no longer be mine.   And today, I have get everything last little thing out of there.   I went over yesterday to assess the workload and nearly lost it.   The new owners are painting and making the place their own.  It was all I could do to hold in a river of tears as I reminisced about ten years of memories, ten years of life well lived within those walls.   I know that house like the back of my hand, every nook and cranny.   Oh the meals that were prepared, the babies that were rocked, the crafts that were made, the books that were read, the trees that were planted, and the walls that were painted and painted and painted.   The new owner reminded me not to forget the guitar in the upstairs bedroom.

Oh, I won’t forget.

I will never forget.

Goodbye sweet house of mine.
Recipe for coffee cake:
1/2 cup butter,softened
8 ounces cream cheese
2 ounces almond paste (or 1 t. almond flavoring)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. salt
1 3/4 cups blueberries tossed in 1 T. flour and 2 T sugar
Lemon Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. heavy cream
1 T. softened butter
Preheat oven to 350. Combine butter, cream cheese, almond paste and sugar; beat until fluffy. Add eggs and then flour, baking powder and salt. Then fold in blueberries. Bake in a well-greased bundt pan for 35-40 minutes. While it cools, combine ingredients for glaze and stir until smooth. Drizzle over pound cake and enjoy!!

You probably shouldn’t read this post

Warning:  This post is supremely unimportant and should only be read if you’re bored, caught up on all your laundry  and have recently cleaned out your fridge.

Now proceed.
If you’re a regular reader then you’re likely confused. I’ve been playing around with my blog design today so don’t worry, you’re at the right spot. I made a new header and logo in photoshop and am trying to decide if I should have a sidebar or not. I think the heat in Houston is getting to me. I will likely choose to have one just because I don’t know where else I’d link to my favorite radio show Issues Etc. But tell me, do you really use the sidebar? What if I shuffled some of the sidebar items to the bottom of the blog? Do you like having certain posts right at your finger tips? Do you really care what books I happen to be reading? I really like the simplified look with no sidebar but I want this space to be functional too. It’s kinda like trying to decide if you should have a lazy boy with a cup holder in the living room. I usually vote no but in this case, I’m willing to hear you out.   To sidebar or not to sidebar?   That is the question.

BTW, I blame this all on my friend Darcy, who wrote a perfect post on blogging pet peeves.   And she struggles with the sidebar question too, although not in her recent pet peeve post.   I think for fun, I’ll add the sidebar randomly throughout the weekend.

Because I’m just that spontaneous.

“Houston, I think our problem may be solved”

Pastor Matt Harrison and the Wadsworth clan

Greetings from Houston!

I’m sitting in the lobby of the Hyatt this morning, so as not to wake the members of my family who can sleep past 6a.     We’re here for the national convention of our church (the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) to which my husband is a delegate.   So while he goes to long meetings everyday and votes on important issues that will affect our church for years to come, the girls and I are never at a loss for stuff to do.   I’m such a geek, that if left to my own devices, I’d watch every second of the live stream of the convention proceedings, but my children like sight seeing and swimming and food and such.   Our church is voting on a massive restructuring that would give the Synod and the president more power.   We are against the restructuring  but it has all passed by very slim margins.

Then there was the vote for president yesterday.     Steve commented that he hadn’t  been so nervous about something since he got his med school board exam results.   I sat on pins and needles all day myself.   We were hoping and praying for Rev. Matt Harrison to win and were so thankful to witness the historical moment when they announced him as president-elect.   His acceptance speech was amazing.  In part of his speech he said,  “You’ve kept your perfect record of electing sinners as presidents.”  He’s a brilliant theologian and a confessional Lutheran (translated: clings deeply to the Bible and the Lutheran confessions despite growing pressures in our synod and our world to be ‘relevant’) who’s authored many books, plays the banjo, and greeted everyone at a reception last night with such humility and grace AND with a Heineken in hand.     You gotta love Lutheran pastors!

So, this convention has been a mixed bag for those of us in the conservative, confessional camp of Lutheranism.    The massive restructuring passed but our candidate won.

And more importantly, being the stalker that I am,  I met Mollie Ziegler Hemingway (beautiful and brilliant writer for Get Religion.Org and my new BFF),  Will and Cindy Weedon (I’ve quoted Pastor Weedon many times before and he’s a regular guest on IssuesEtc. He’s hilarious and I was so happy to finally meet him and his kind and beautiful wife Cindy), Brian Yamabe (the tech-guru behind the site Witterberg Media) and  was blessed to finally meet the man behind the mustache —-Pastor Matt Harrison.

Hope you’re having a good week and if you have any spare time this weekend, read Lewis’ The Problem of Pain so we can talk about it next week.

Love to you all!