{31 Days} Jesus is Courageous

Source: {31 Days} Jesus is Courageous

{31 Days} Jesus Saves

purdythingsblog

Finish this sentence:
Jesus saved me from…

For me this sentnce goes like this. Jesus saved me from myself.

I have lived with depression and anxiety since I was about 12/13. Around 16 I gave up on God. I felt he had stopped caring about me, and so why bother? I lived a pretty destructive life. No self control, No self respect. After I got divorced from my first husband I felt a pull back to church. However being a young single mom, I was terrified of the judgement. Once I met my husband, I said something to hime about wanting to go to church, and take the kids. He was all for it, so to church we went. It wasn’t until about a year later I really felt God talking to me. I came running back to him. My marriage got stronger, my kids were happier, my heart found…

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Painting Furniture and Gluten Free Living…… Not for the weak minded

 So you are probably wondering what painting furniture and following a gluten-free lifestyle have in common, right?  It’s been one of those days around here today, you know the kind that everything you touch or try to do just doesn’t work out.  I don’t have many days like this but occasionally I have one.   Those are the days that my brain works over time.  So while I was washing my hair this afternoon I had some revelations I will share.

Since most of you don’t know me I will briefly mention that a little over a year ago I was really sick.  I mean the kind of sick that you have to call a friend, your mom and your dad to come stay with you.  To make a long story short I did a lot of research and through a drastic change of diet and a plethora of praying family and friends I am a new person.  I went gluten-free and gave up soda.  It took awhile but it changed my life.  It has not been easy but worth it to be healthy and well.  If you knew how much I LOVE pizza and soda  you would understand just how hard it was.

Let me get to the point, if any of you have ever tried to do any gluten-free baking then you know that it is not for the weak-minded.  You can follow a recipe to the letter and it may look beautiful when you pull it out of the oven but the proof is in the pudding as they say and sometimes the pudding doesn’t taste too good 🙂  I must say I have had my share of flops.  To say there is a learning curve would be an understatement if you ask me.

And so it goes with painting and refinishing furniture.  You can follow the same steps every time and almost every time you will come out with a different result.  Sometimes brilliant and sometimes not so much.

At the top  of this post you see an enormous sea green milk paint table.  Did I mention it’s huge?  I was really excited about this table because it’s unique and not like some of the furniture everyone else is doing.  I jumped in with great enthusiasm.  I went through my usual prep and everything looked good and then suddenly that chipping and peeling that milk paint is known for finally occurred.  I wasn’t supposed to have chippy I was supposed to have smooth, soothing sea green goodness!  Humph!  I pouted and pushed my table back in the garage.

I think I’m finally ready to wrap it up.  I warned you in my first post that I am not a writer and reading this would be like watching a butterfly flit from one flower to another.  LOL  Just because I’ve had some “adventures” in the gluten-free lifestyle I didn’t fall off the wagon and I have the same attitude about painting furniture.  Yes my table was a little disappointing but I am brushing off the milk paint dustiness, hair washed and moving onward and upward.

You can check my Facebook page @the purple hydrangea if you would like to see the continuing saga of the sea green monster table as my family has so lovingly named it.

Until next time,

The Purple Hydrangea

 

 

 

 

 

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Good Enough?????

So I started this painted furniture thing……..

Let me start by saying if you stumbled here the way that I so often stumble upon blogs I hope you’ll stay for awhile.  Am I a writer? Hardly!  No, I would call myself a rambler.  I write just like I carry on a conversation.  If you need a visual to go along with that just imagine a butterfly flitting from one flower to another.  You may even enjoy reading this because when you finish you may think “wow this girl made me realize what a great writer I am.”  If that’s the case then I say glad I could help, now go start a blog!  But finish reading mine first:)

So back to the painted furniture thing.  I’m not sure how old I was that I realized I had a fascination with painting things but I think it started in vacation bible school with a diorama I worked on for the entire week.  I wish I had a picture but that was way before Instagram.  I remember going to art class for the first time in 3rd grade and being very excited because I thought “oh boy more painting.”  Sadly the art teacher was surly to say the least and most of the art projects were college level.  No painting as I remember.  Fast forward to married adult life, apartment living, no painting, military housing, you could paint but only if you covered up all the paint when you moved.  Husband was not a fan of that.  I did get to paint the living room in one house (the same color eggshell) I felt like Picasso.  Then retirement came and we finally purchased our first home.  A funny thing happened, we were blessed to find a model home and yes you guessed it, did not need painting.  Sigh, my dream of spending hours choosing paint colors vanished.  Don’t misunderstand I LOVE my house but for a person who at one time wanted to be a house flipper this was slightly disappointing. 

So one day I was on Facebook and stumbled across a page called The Dumpster Diva.  She had all these pictures of “painted furniture” that intrigued me to say the least.  I went to a workshop and I was hooked.  She had me at chalk paint.  I came home and started to read everything I could about painted furniture.  I scoured Pinterest and Facebook.  I quickly found out there are a LOT of really good people painting beautiful furniture.  I cringed.  Could I really be so bold to think that I could start my own gig?  The answer obviously is yes or you wouldn’t be reading this.

I’m still in the land of learning as they say but I am learning fast!  I think as we get older we stop pursuing creative endeavors and sometimes by doing that we become stagnant.  I don’t know about you but I don’t like to feel that way.  So here I go and maybe you would like to stick around to see what happens next.  If you do, thank you and welcome. 

Lisa

The Purple Hydrangea

 

 

 

 

You can find me on Facebook @https://www.facebook.com/#!/ThePurpleHydrangea