John 14:1-6 "Do not let your heart be troubled;believe in God, believe
also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were
not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself, that where I am , there you may be also. And you know the way
where I am going."
That is the scripture that my stamping sister in Christ, and friend Traci picked for this week. Her challenge is:
Create a card that depicts something that says "home" to you.
At first, I thought "Oh this will be an easy card to make." The more I thought about it, the harder it got. To be truthful, I almost didn't get it done. Everytime I would start, I would end up bawling like a baby. No matter what I started with, I ended with the thoughts that my two daughters are leaving my "HOME" this week to start their college adventures.
The town that I currently live in, is a small community. I would estimate that 70 percent or more of the residents, have lived here their entire lives, as well as their parents and grandparents and so on. Most of them have traveled less than 500 miles from this area. So when you ask them where HOME is, they have a definite feeling, and image. I on the other hand don't have that connection. In my life I have moved 23 times. When my husband and I got married, he said, "I don't ever plan to renew my driver's license, I'll just get new ones." I thought he was joking. Apparently not. The house we live in now is the longest my husband has ever lived in one location. We have stayed here the longest because we didn't want to have the kids disrupted with their schooling.
So if you ask me where HOME is I don't have a clear picture. The places I have lived includes, trailers, apartments, long-term hotels, a duplex and several houses. I have lived in new houses and hundred year old houses.None of them are what I would think of when I think of the word HOME. The only thing that comes to mind is my family. I love the saying... "Anyone can build a house, but it takes love to build a home."
I have often thought of the brave women who traveled in covered wagons to "GO WEST". They left their homes to go to the unknown.The made "HOME" along the trail, and at their final destinations. I can't imagine ending up in South Dakota, or having to make a HOME out of a sod house.
HERE is a link to a photo of a sod house.
My mother has had the best job ever, she is a homemaker, as was her mother, and her mother. Somewhere, my generation believed the lie, that to be a homemaker was unsatisfying, and that to be truly happy we had to have careers. I was blessed to be able to stay HOME when my children were little. It wasn't until they were all in school that I had to start working. Today, I was thinking about my girls leaving, and the only thought that kept going through my head, was "I want a do over." I want to spend more time at home, I want to have more family dinners, I want to have family time. Not to say that I didn't do those things, I just wish I had done more.
There is one song, that has been going through my head all week.
"This world is not my home."
I still had to make my card, so here is how my card is home. (My family)
1. I used pink paper to represent my girls.
2. I used blue paper to represent my boys.
3. The blue paper has words, like "TREASURE", "MEMORIES" "CHERISH" (It was paper that I never thought I would use because of those same words.I just held on to it because I'm a hoarder.See... there is always the chance that I could use that...)
4. The birdhouses, are because I love to bird watch, I also love butterflies.
5. The sheet music is an old hymn. That represents that my family, because, we are all Christ followers, and we are all musical. I picked this specific hymn because a line in it says..."Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep,when the darkening shadows round about me creep, knowing I shall waken never more to roam. anywhere with JESUS will be HOME, SWEET, HOME."
6. The "THINKING OF YOU" is from a Mark's Finest Papers set that will be released this week called "BRING ON THE SUN". I used the thinking of you sentiment because, I am going to be sending a lot of happy mail to my daughters to let them know that I am thinking of them!!!
7. Now to just decide which girl to send this one to.....
Our Sponsor this week is
DRS Designs. This birdhouse is from DRS Desings. They so generously gave it to me a couple of months ago. When I used it before I colored the flowers along the fence to look like sunflowers. Today, I glued paper roses over the flowers instead. I also trimmed the image. There is a third bird house on the stamp.
Check out what my
Stampin’ Sisters in Christ have created to share with you.
Candace
Diane
Helen
Jerusha
Kris
Linda
Michelle
Miesje
Peggysue
Sandie
Traci
And Guest Sister
Yolanda
I know my post for today is extra long, but I just really wanted to share this.
This really made me laugh!!
I saw this house yesterday when I was out with my boys. It is hard to see, but it is as wide as it is deep. Maybe 5'x5' for the floor plan. I joked about how we could sleep there if we all slept in little balls with our knees all tucked up tight. I've seen outhouses about the same size as this HOUSE.
Hope this made you smile. I hope you have a blessed week.
