Many Shades of Green

In it’s beginning stage . . .

Now . . . My “Perfect, Imperfect, & Beautiful” cabinet

GREEN with envy . . .

Did you know:

Shakespeare coined the phrase “the green eyed monster”, in his play ‘Othello’, ironically warning Othello of the dangers of jealously.  Another common phrase for jealously you may have heard of is, “green with envy”.

The Bible speaks out against envy in the 10 Commandments and 

Proverbs 14:30 helps us to understand why, which says,

“ A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

Why envy? Whatever happened to the days when people were genuinely happy for each other?

Do you remember the days when nobody wanted what someone else had?

Oh yah, wait . . . that NEVER existed!

Jealously has been around FOREVER, back in Cain & Able days. Jealously is one of the oldest emotions around.

 CAUSES:

• UNMET EXPECTATIONS
• A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT
• INSECURITY

CURE & OVERCOMING:

• STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER PEOPLE:

God made you special, unique and wonderful. God has a plan for your life and it IS NOT the same plan He has for someone else. Don’t feel bad that you don’t have all the qualities, looks, $$$, or anything else that someone else has. Your journey is yours, so let it be that YOURS!

• STOP WORRING ABOUT YOU ALL THE TIME:

 Be a blessing to someone else. When you take the focus off of you, your self-image improves and you get to experience the joy of blessing someone else.

• STOP WANTING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE and START FOCUSING ON ALL THE POSITIVES IN YOUR LIFE:

 Be JOYFUL in all things, THE THINGS THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE!

When you change the way you think, you change the way you feel & act.

My favorite color is GREEN! 

Some may think of green as the color of money, or relate it to the above phrases, but for me, it symbolizes LIFE, NATURE, & WELL BEING.

My focus will be on those blessings from God, blessings I am excited to share with EVERYONE!

XOXO,

Brandy 

How Our Garden Grows

To spruce up my entryway, 
I purchased these large, very heavy pots and 
placed them on each side of my front door and 
planted an array of colorful flowers and 
vibrant potato vine in them. 
They look beautiful and welcoming, 
so come on over and check them out!

Meet my little helper, Logan .  

He enjoys helping me in the yard.  
He especially enjoys helping in the backyard 
where he helps care for our tomato plants. 
He loves tomatoes and eats them almost everyday.  
This little kiddo has been eating hot sauce/salsa 
since he was a year old.

We planted some other colorful flowers but 

my favorite are the bougainvillea arches my husband planted.  

They add much needed interest to our otherwise boring fence.

After completing our yard work I was inspired 
to create these lanterns to add ambience 
with candlelight to use around our pool in the evenings.  

They will also be great to use with citronella candles 
to keep those pesky TEXAS sized mosquitos away.

With the materials listed below, 
I was able to make 6 lanterns for the price 
it would cost to buy one from Ballard Designs.

Materials:

Woven Jute Ribbon - Hobby Lobby

Hot Glue Stick

18 Gauge Wire - Home Depot

Mason Jars – Dollar Tree

Tools:

Hot Glue Gun

Scissors

Wire Cutters

A   Labor  of  Love –

This piece of furniture is a Craigslist find. In perfect condition it was almost to hard to consider paiting, ALMOST! However, the sideboard is for my Mother-In-Law, Sara, and she wants it painted.

Needless to say, my stress level was high because of course I want it to be PERFECT and for her to LOVE it! It took me a lenghtly 22 hrs. to paint, distress & glaze.

The end result was well worth it! Pride in my work, laboring with love makes the time pass easily and takes the work out of working. Painting is something I enjoy & painting for someone I love makes it even more worthwhile & meaningful. Sara is happy with the job I did and now the sideboard is off to its new home in Mexico. Who knows, this piece of furniture may be a family heirloom.

DID YOU KNOW:

The phrase “Labor of Love” has a biblical origin?

Thessalonians 1:2&3

We always thank God for you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God & Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brandy