The Kitchen

I know this is a very blurry picture but I wanted to show what we've been working on.  The kitchen!  Years and years ago I put wallpaper up and painted the bottom burgandy.  It's worked very well and really brightened up the walls. And I loved the burgandy, still do.  Well, the wallpaper was getting very bad. It was so bad that last Christmas we arranged our Christmas cards to cover the places that were  ripped up!  Something needed to be done, on a budget.  So, we took off the old wallpaper that just about fell off after all those years.  After looking at the paintable wallpaper in Naomi's Tennessee house, and recently in Arthur's sister's house, I bought a few rolls of that and some beadboard panelling.  I already had a bunch of paint leftover from doing the living room. The table half of the kitchen is almost done but we still have some trim work to do.  I'll post a picture when we're done.  Meanwhile, we're starting on the other side.  'We' meaning, mostly Miriam and I.  She does the high up work since I'm not a ladder or heights person and we work great as a team.  The kitchen side is going to be a lot harder because some of the cupboards need major work done on them and I'm hoping to make countertops.  Yes, make them.  You'll just have to wait and see.

In our yard is a mountain of wheat straw bales, and earlier two trailers full of them.  We've had lots of customers coming to buy the bales for banking and covering septic systems.  Anyway, the new addition door is closest to the pile of bales and yet everyone keeps going around to the "back" door to pay for their bales.  So, again with Miriam's help, we spruced up our front door area to make it look like we really do use it!  It had a pile of leftover building supplies on it, which we moved, and then using a leftover maze wreath and pumpkins made it look a little more inviting.  Also painted some trim on the door that somehow got missed. Arthur put up the nice lights. We had to add a doorbell since we just can't hear knocking on that door.  Anyway, its worked, and we have more people using that door.

Sometimes I struggle with working on the house.  It seems like there must be more important things to do like maybe church things or evangelism.  I actually feel a little guilty for wanting things to look nice.  But then I look around.  The house is wearing out and needs a "facelift" after years of caring more for children than peeling paint.  Caring more about the farm and maze than stains on the bathroom ceiling.  God wants our homes to be a sanctuary for our families after being out in the world.  God wants our homes to be a place of hospitality where we can minister to others needs. God wants our homes to be a place where children and grandchildren can enter and have fellowship and fun with each other.  I will probably never have beautiful kitchen cabinets or fancy furniture, but hopefully, even without a lot of money, I can make our home a place of quiet rest for the family and anyone else who needs it.  Just give a call before you come, okay :)