DIY "Joy" sign

As I considered how I wanted my front door to look this Christmas, I knew I wanted to add something special.  When I was window-shopping recently, I saw a beautiful sign "Joy" sign.  I loved it, but it cost nearly $100, which was more than I needed to spend. You know what happened next, of course--"I could make that!" began running through my head.

 

I headed to the craft store and found 9 1/2" MDF letters in a classic font for just $2.99 each.  Perfect! But what to mount them on?

The answer came when I spotted a 2' x 4' sheet of plywood at Home Depot for less than $15.  I bought the 12mm board; a thinner board would work just as well.



I also bought a can of Rust-oleum satin-finish spray paint in Heritage Red.  I already had a can of Ivory Silk spray paint on hand.

I should explain: although I sometimes admire neutral decor, Christmas is not one of those times.  I'm a sucker for traditional red and green.  And no wonder: red is the complementary color to green, as you can see in this diagram:

source

Once I assembled all my supplies, the construction was easy.  I sprayed my board with Ivory Silk paint.  After that dried, I used painters' tape to mark off a 2" border all the way around the perimeter of the board, and sprayed the border with the Heritage Red paint.

Meanwhile, I gave the letters several coats of Heritage Red spray paint and let them dry.

Then I simply used wood glue to adhere the letters to the board.  Using 9 1/2" letters on the 2' x 4' board with the two-inch red border allowed me to leave about 5" of white space on each side of the letters.  I mostly eyeballed the placement, using a ruler to help me get the letters spaced well enough. When I had them in place, I made some light pencil marks to guide me while I glued them down.

When the glue on the letters was completely dry, my art was ready to hang!  I posted a sneak peek on Instagram.

Of course, the sign is pretty heavy, so I carefully considered the best way to hang it.  I attached sawtooth hangers to the back of the board.  On a piece this heavy, it's best to add two hangers.  That's easy to do by using a ruler to position the hangers exactly the same distance from the top edge of the board.  TIP: Place your sawtooth hanger exactly where it needs to be and mark the nail holes with a marker.  Move the hanger away and tap in a long, thin nail a little way into the marked spots.  Then put your sawtooth hangers in place and nail those tiny nails into the holes.

With the two hangers in place, hanging the art is easy.  Simply measure the distance between the two hangers, then drive two nails into the wall that distance apart.  I used a level to make sure my two nails were lined up straight.  Since the weight of the art is distributed evenly over the two nails, the piece is securely fastened to the wall.

I love the way it looks hanging on the wall beside my front door!  I propped the sled that my parents gave my boys many Christmases ago in the corner and added bow for some extra Christmas cheer. 

I'm tickled with the way it turned out!  It should last for many years, and it cost less than $30 to complete.

Now to decorate the rest of the front porch! 

I'm joining these wonderful parties:

Wow Us Wednesday

The Scoop

One Project Closer 

Advent: Hope

Today is the beginning of the Advent season, which starts with the Sunday of hope.



It would appear that hope is rather thin on the ground these days.  With all the unrest in our world, and most recently the latest chapter in the story of Ferguson, Missouri, things can seem pretty hopeless.

But things are not as they seem.

Although so many are looking for hope in all the wrong places--and, of course, not finding any--hope remains.

I'm not sure I've ever read so eloquent an articulation of hope as written this past week by NFL player Benjamin Watson.  Just in case you haven't read it, here it is.  Read it and be blessed.

At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my thoughts:
I'M ANGRY because the stories of injustice that have been passed down for generations seem to be continuing before our very eyes.
I'M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.
I'M FEARFUL because in the back of my mind I know that although I'm a law abiding citizen I could still be looked upon as a "threat" to those who don't know me. So I will continue to have to go the extra mile to earn the benefit of the doubt.
I'M EMBARRASSED because the looting, violent protests, and law breaking only confirm, and in the minds of many, validate, the stereotypes and thus the inferior treatment.
I'M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.
I'M SYMPATHETIC, because I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened. Maybe Darren Wilson acted within his rights and duty as an officer of the law and killed Michael Brown in self defense like any of us would in the circumstance. Now he has to fear the backlash against himself and his loved ones when he was only doing his job. What a horrible thing to endure. OR maybe he provoked Michael and ignited the series of events that led to him eventually murdering the young man to prove a point.
I'M OFFENDED, because of the insulting comments I've seen that are not only insensitive but dismissive to the painful experiences of others.
I'M CONFUSED, because I don't know why it's so hard to obey a policeman. You will not win!!! And I don't know why some policemen abuse their power. Power is a responsibility, not a weapon to brandish and lord over the populace.
I'M INTROSPECTIVE, because sometimes I want to take "our" side without looking at the facts in situations like these. Sometimes I feel like it's us against them. Sometimes I'm just as prejudiced as people I point fingers at. And that's not right. How can I look at white skin and make assumptions but not want assumptions made about me? That's not right.
I'M HOPELESS, because I've lived long enough to expect things like this to continue to happen. I'm not surprised and at some point my little children are going to inherit the weight of being a minority and all that it entails.
I'M HOPEFUL, because I know that while we still have race issues in America, we enjoy a much different normal than those of our parents and grandparents. I see it in my personal relationships with teammates, friends and mentors. And it's a beautiful thing.
I'M ENCOURAGED, because ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem. SIN is the reason we rebel against authority. SIN is the reason we abuse our authority. SIN is the reason we are racist, prejudiced and lie to cover for our own. SIN is the reason we riot, loot and burn. 
BUT I'M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through the his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind. One that's capable of looking past the outward and seeing what's truly important in every human being. The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It's the Gospel. 
So, finally, I'M ENCOURAGED because the Gospel gives mankind hope.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

Amen.

Longing for home

"Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays. . . "

That's always been one of my favorite songs.  I guess it's a Christmas song, but for me it's one that I happily start singing even before Thanksgiving.  I grew up in Tennessee, so I always loved these lines:

I met a man who lived in Tennessee and he was heading for
Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie;
Pennsylvania's folks are traveling down to Dixie's sunny shore--
From Atlantic to Pacific
Gee, the traffic is terrific!

Even the merciless traffic of holiday travel is bearable if you're heading home, right?

Graphic courtesy of Tatertots and Jello

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary.

Not the 15th anniversary of my marriage--our next anniversary will be 30 years!--but the anniversary of one of the most important days of my life.

15 years ago, on November 23, 1999, two days before Thanksgiving, my mother died.

Even as I type those words I struggle to believe them.  I was talking with my sister last night, who said it seems like a dream or another life.

Our mom was 58 years old when she left us.  She had scleroderma and died of renal failure.  She was in the prime of life when she got sick.

And that was it.  "Home" for me was gone.

Of course, I'd been married nearly 15 years when my mom died, so really "home" for me was my own home, the home I was creating for my three children.  I think one of the reasons I'm so deeply grateful for this house where we've lived for 10 years is that my kids think of it as home.  This is where they've grown up.  This is where they know every street, where they know the way to the grocery store and to school and to church, where they notice if an old house is torn down or a new one is built.  That matters to me.

This weekend my husband and I attended the funeral of a friend's mother.  How poignant it was to see our friend weeping over the loss of his mom right at Thanksgiving.

But the pastor who conducted this service gave me a great gift.  His message was one of hope.  In very simple, conversational language, he talked about heaven.

To be honest, we don't really know a lot about what heaven will be like.  Is it a physical place somewhere in the clouds?  Is it a city with walls and gates?  Does it stand beside a river?  I don't know the answers to those questions.

The pastor spoke of familiar verses such as the gates made of pearl and the streets paved with gold (Revelation 21). Is that language literal or metaphorical?  I don't know, but the pastor made a point that went straight to my heart:

Heaven is a place where precious things such as gold and pearls are just common building materials.

I'd never thought of it like that.  Because of the presence of the Lord, the radiant beauty of His presence, everything in heaven is good.  Things are as they should be.

My mother was a saintly woman.  A lifelong follower of Jesus, she nonetheless struggled with feeling any assurance of salvation.  She tried very hard to live a good and holy life, and she stressed over her failures.  I remember once hearing her say that she hoped she'd been good enough to go to heaven.

But early in 1999, my mom's mother died.  My mom was so sick at that point she was unable to attend her own mother's funeral.  But my grandmother's passing made a huge difference in my mom's understanding of heaven.  Although my mom had never felt any assurance of her own salvation, she knew without question that my grandmother, who was also a lifelong follower of Jesus, was bound for heaven.

After my grandmother died, my mother no longer talked about hoping she'd been good enough to go to heaven.  And as the end of her life neared, my mother told us that she was ready to go home. Those were her very words.

So this week, as I consider all the blessings for which I'm so thankful, I can't help but reflect on the fact that we're celebrating an anniversary.  My mom has been at home in heaven for 15 years now.

This is one of my most treasured ornaments. It belonged to my mom; the photo is her as a little girl.

I'm not ready to join her just yet.  I want to live a good long life here with my husband and sons.  God is working in my life to make me ready for heaven.

But as I think about a place so full of the glory of the Lord that even the most precious elements of earthly life dull by comparison, I find myself longing for home.

I think that's as it should be.