welcome

Welcome to the new blog address!  www.achildseyesblog.blogspot.com

It is strange to change the web address after all these years, but the change had largely to do with taking our last name out of the blog address. The internet has completely altered our concept of privacy, and though I don't entirely understand why, it felt like the right thing and right time to make a change. This is the same exact blog, minus a few posts also edited out for those privacy reasons mentioned above.

Because I am trying new things right now, and because you made the move over here, I am going to host my very first give-away! Truth be told, it makes me nervous. It feels like peeling a piece of me right off the page and sending it tangibly into your living room. Wait - that is exactly what it is. No wonder I feel nervous.

In my last post I mentioned that it took me all summer to hang some picture frames in my hallway. One reason it took so long is that the frames were all salvaged from a box in the barn which held outdated photos and frames from the last two decades of our lives. Going through the box was a project all on its own, including the eviction of a large black widow. The real investment of time was spent updating the mostly wooden and metallic silver frames with white chalk paint. Chalk paint will adhere to any surface, and if you are interested you can read my novice opinion about chalk paint here. Once painted, I sanded the frames down for a weathered look. It became a therapeutic project that I worked on in the backyard while my children self-entertained around me. Which essentially means that I had chunks of around five minutes at a time before being interupted, sometimes not picking up again until a day or two later.

The hallway did finally came together.

Out of all of this came the item I would like to give away. On a prayerful afternoon, with contemplation in my heart, I painted the word JOY into a piece of burlap, destined to fill one of the salvaged frames. As I painted, I prayed. I prayed that joy would fill my own heart as I faced a monotonous afternoon, rounding the corner into that cranky dinner hour. I prayed for joy in managing the current difficulties of the life season we are in, disciplining irksome stages in children, pressing forward in love for broken people. I prayed for joy in the repetition of this job that I do with endless dishes and mouths that need feeding and laundry going in or coming out and the repetition of my requests to small people to say please and thank you and share and pick up. There must be joy found in all the pieces of our lives, or discontent will consume us.

And I prayed for that same kind of joy in the heart of whoever takes this home. Know this item has had blessings prayed over it. May JOY be yours in its fullest form.

GIVE-AWAY item
5x7 size

To enter for this give-away:  all you need to do is LEAVE ME A COMMENT below so that I know you have the new web address!

• If you don't want to leave a public comment, you may email me or facebook message me instead.
• If you don't have a google id you can leave an "Anonymous" comment, but please include your name so I know who you are!
• You have until the Sunday after Thanksgiving to enter (November 29). The winner will be drawn raffle style in a fair and impartial way.

********** 

GIVE-AWAY IS NOW CLOSED. 

The winner is Emily! Congratulations, you can see the official announcement here. 

Thank you to all who participated!

(Updated 12/1/2014)

**********

Also, please update your saved pages, bookmarks, and/or "Follow" this blog publicly or via email using the feeds on the sidebar (over to the right). It is also on bloglovin.

Let me use this as an opportunity to say thank you to those of you who read along and find joy sharing in the journey of our family and our faith.

Many blessings,
Ashley