painting and praying and painting...

I knew it had been a while, but I didn't realize a whole week had gone by since my last post until I saw that Father's Day was the last time I signed on here....looking back I guess this week went by pretty quickly. But day to day it surely was a drag that included a lot of this:

 paint

{help from Ali B}

more paint

{help from Kim B}

MORE and MORE paint

{help from Cait and Ana}

finally...the rollers have been stashed for another time {far FAR down the road}...I've turned them in for a brush.  STILL PAINTING, but this time I'm working on loads of furniture that I've wanted painted for a long time.  Better now, since I already have a bad attitude about paint- might as well get it all in while I'm on a roll {literally...I feel like I've been rolling for EVER}

While we were painting inside, Dad and Nick donated some time with the pressure washer.  Two years of "neglect" can take a toll on a house.  No one has paid alot of attention to the little things in the house while it's been empty.  So, as you can imagine, it's in need of a hearty cleaning inside and out.  The day I wash the paintbrushes for the FINAL time I will probably trade them in for a vacuum and a bottle of bleach. 

But the end is near...I can see it!

Believe it or not, I've actually had alot of solitude while I've been painting.  Other than the days that I had help in the house I have spent alot of alone time there.  {the kids prefer to stay home with a to-do list and pack a box or two, suprisingly they don't like to paint} 

I've had alot on my mind this week while I've been painting.  Some of the typical about-to-move thoughts {deep stuff, like "where should I put the couch?"} but also, some things that have laid heavy on my heart and that I couldn't seem to shake.  So I did alot of praying.  A few issues arose that just didn't sit well with me this week....conflict.  I hate conflict, and even though I know where to take it and Who knows the details and the answers, sometimes it just hangs onto my mind like the plague.  And, so, I pray some more.  I'm praying to LOVE more and JUDGE less...praying to forgive and forget...praying to seek joy and not justification.  And, it's working.  Prayer takes my mind off my own need to be understood and makes me focus on something other than ME.  It's not always easy...frankly, it's easier to dwell on the conflict, but that solves nothing at all.  Prayer seems to be the only thing that keeps my focus where it's supposed to be.  And so I have needed to spend alot of time praying whilst I spent alot of time painting this week.

There is some kind of Divine planning in that, perhaps... 

{My grandparents had this picture hanging in their home...my sister has one now...I just happened upon it on google - reminds me so much of my grandparents and their deep commitment to praying for each of us by name daily.  I wonder what was lost by way of prayer covering on the day that they passed.  It is a great legacy they have passed on...one I can only hope to do half as consistently as they did.}

The week ahead is looking a little familiar.  I'll be getting up and painting again tomorrow...and the next day apparently.  I feel less pressure to finish this painting - it could be completed after moving day- but still...I'm sure I'll be painting, again.  I'm feeling like I need something new to pray about, though...it's a new week and I need a new focus.  So I'm shifting my thoughts in a different direction.  Something a little less heavy.  Next week at this time Nick and I will be packed up for a weeklong trip to Kentucky.  We're attending a huge youth conference with our youth group.  This is the third one of these conferences that I've been on and I'm excited to see what the Lord will do among the students we are taking.  Francis Chan is our main speaker.  I've blogged about him before and my deep respect for his ministry here.  It's an exciting week for the students, many will be convicted and changed by words of Truth.  Our students are hungry for God, and yet not all of them see that He is the answer to their empty searching.  The world is knocking hard against them and some don't even recognize it.  It'll be a refreshing week {for me, too} to leave behind responsibility and conflict and enter into an arena where thousands of teenagers have gathered for the same purpose.  Ten hours in a bus and lots of coffee will start the week off late Monday evening. 

 I can't wait...these kids are awesome!
{I'll be blogging about it here}

Until then, you can find me here

...or there

...with paintbrush in hand.

 "Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,

and my upraised hands as an evening offering."

Psalm 141:2