Faith Reminders

Today I am thinking of how thankful I am for God's little reminders of faith.   I am talking about those things that take you back to a memory of what your faith is grounded in.  I am a Christian, and I believe my faith has been maturing for some time ever since I was a child.  I truly believe my faith started as a child at my baptism.  Trust me though, when I say it has been through some very questionable times. You see,  I was quite a questioner and always have been. That is how God made me and I rest happily in this knowledge as an adult.  Some of us really are just wired that way!  I think being that way has steered me into a deeper faith.  There are many things in this world that can make you question your faith and everyone else's around you for that matter, IF you continue to let it.   Now honestly, it really wasn't until I put my faith in God's word in particular that I began to rest a little easier with my faith.  The word in particular that I am referring to is The Bible.

I keep one of mine here beside my favorite chair and ottoman in the den.  I do so because it's convienient and handy when I want to reflect back on something like remembering a special verse or read certain passages.  I am the most thankful of all for this " faith reminder ".

There are other reminders I am also thankful for that come from my memories. 

Those memories that come from family, like grandparents who always shared their faith, or the blessing of a newborn baby into a family.  There are memories that come from attending church or serving God in a non-profit enviroment.   There are memories from the Holidays when we focus on what we are celebrating as Christians.   These are the more obvious faith reminders that we can hold on to and reflect on gratefully.

 Then there are those moments when something you SEE reminds you of your faith.  That is what I am thinking of today as I reflect on this past week.  I shared in an earlier post a vision in the clouds that looked like Jesus to me.

 

This reminded me of the bible scripture: Mark 14:62

Then there was the tree frog on our kitchen french doors AGAIN that I did not get a picture of. He looked alot like this one though, that lived in my fountain last summer.

This reminds me of the scripture about the plague of Frogs; Exodus 8: 2-14

 

And there was this beautiful sight, that I came upon last Tuesday when I attempted to water my ferns.

And because we still have newborn birds arriving around our house, I was reminded of this verse.

From Matthew 6:26.   

 These are all wonderful visual reminders that I am so grateful for!  I was also reminded  that I don't have any visual " faith reminders" on my blog.

On my FB page I have a Daily Bible Verse that comes up automatically.  I haven't figured out how to add something like that on here yet, but I did see a similiar tag above on another friends blog and knew I should have one on my page, so I have added both of these to my side bar.  I haven't located a visual for my favorite scripture yet but I have always like these two and so have happily added them.  This is the second one that I am adding for two reasons.

One to be a visual " faith reminder " for me!  And Two, to literally follow the word !  I am a Christian women but how would you have ever known if I did not put it out there for you to "SEE".  There are many ways to show your faith to others for sure.  I am not one to talk about my faith often to others, as I tend to hope others will see my faith by my actions.  Unfortunately, actions cannot always be determined accurately on the internet so sometimes you just have to step out there and let your light shine!

How about you, have you seen any faith reminders lately?   If you have I'd love to hear about them.

Have a Blessed Sunday Everyone!

Our Lake House

It's Outdoor Wednesday and as promised, I have decided to share our " Lake House" with you.  I am linking up with Susan @ http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ for this event.  Please enjoy the other outdoor photos on her site as well.  This is where we reside outdoors as often as possible, come spring through fall.

LOL! I bet you thought you were going to see a beautiful house on the lake right?  Sorry to dissappoint, but this really is our lake house.  Maybe, one day we will blessed with a home on these beautiful lake shores but with one child in college and one not far behind, this is as close as it gets.

Here she is...  The Viking IV.  She is a 27ft. Ericson.   Yes, that is the name she came to us with and we have been contemplating changing it but may rethink that one after this past weekend.  We were literally spotted this weekend by a very savvy young couple in their rather large jetboat who just had to come over and compliment us on our old boat.  To our surprise they remembered her from a previous owner and went on and on about just how much they loved this boat.  Now we are on a VERY large lake,  and to have someone go out of their way to come over and pay a compliment to a stranger is a very unusal thing.  So naturally we were gushing with pride and seriously rethinking the name change.

Would you like to come inside for a visit?  Great let me just open her up.  It's really no problem!

You see she lives on the docks at our sailing club that is less then 3minutes from my house by car.  I can ride my bike here or walk it's really that close.

Speaking of, here are a few veiws of the lake side of the club house.

It's going to be painted soon and will make another great post someday.

Ok, let's take a look inside.  Please remember she is an old boat and while she has gone through some renovations, she still has a way to go.

This is the first view you see when stepping down into the salon.  We added the large mirror and clock on the wall.  It's very helpful when applying suntan lotion.  I found the mirror at a consignment store and it was the perfect size and price but has a faux brass inset trim.  I'm hoping to do a creative paint job over the edge of that maybe painting a rope and anchors?  Above the cooler are two metal clips to attach a table.  We leave it off during the spring and summer so we can move about the cabin easily.

In this photo you can see a bit of the V birth up front.  You could actually sleep in there if you don't sit up and bump your head in the morning...we use it for storage for everything from sails to foam noodles.

Just behind this wall is a bathroom, I will spare you photos of that as it needs to be cleaned after we have been doing repairs on it.  But I will say my husband has done a great job and we changed out the countertop in there and added solid surface using our old kitchen counter.  But that's another post.

The previous owner had the salon cushions recovered in this teal fabric.  I hope to redo all the cushions one day but am working with it for now.  I do like how cheery it is and was thrilled when I found this pillow at Ross for $7.00.  I also added the Nautica pillow, and small navy pillow from our previous boat.  The striped pillow are foam pillows that I covered in indoor/outdoor fabric.  We carry these out to cockpit quite a bit.  It makes it much more cozy.

This is from the V birth looking out.  We have a kitchenette, that comes in quite handy.

It's a nice space to store all my this and that's!  I'm always looking for cute little nautical handtowels, and was thrilled to find this one w/so much color!

Oh look, the sails are up!  Let's go for a cruise and see how the weather fairs.

Hey there's one of our club members just ahead.  Looks like it's going to be a great sailing day!

And there's another further back there behind us.

And a few more friends much further out!

What's those streaks in the water?

Oh Yuck!  It's pollen, boatloads of pollen!

It certainly has been fun but looks like the sun is setting, time to head back in.

There's the club just over there...

And yeah, that's one of our neighbors homes, pretty sweet huh?

And we're almost back home, there's the clubhouse.

And there's our slip, time to tuck her in...it really was a gorgeous day!

So how did you like it, did you have a good time?

I hope so, thanks for joining me!

Coastal Mantle

Wow!  Two posts for me in one day!  Well, I started looking through some of my favorite blogs and decided I just had to share this today too with Marty @ http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/  for Tabletop Tuesday.
 

Last week I went coastal on my coffee table and that led to this, my mantle vignette.

This is a closeup of my finished coastal mantle.

I started with the candlesticks which are always on the mantle, usually solo.

This candle stick is usually on my mantle with the little angel as well.

She is a Willow Tree,  a very special item that I was able to get signed by the artist, Susan Lordi, at the Atlanta Buyers Market in 2008, when I worked at my former job.

Then I pulled out this fabulous candle in glass with shells and sand.  My best friend made this for me a few years ago with shells she has collected from her many trips to the beach.

Then I added my shells that my family has collected over the years from trips to the beach.

This large conch is one of my favorites.

The shells are mixed with bits of manmade bricks that regularly wash up on the shores of Edisto Beach from a nearby Island where former slaves had moved after gaining their freedom.  It was there they made their own bricks by hand, they are often mixed w/shells.  Very unique. 

I think I also have a mix of sometype of Ironstone made in the early days of Charleston life.

I also wanted to give you a closeup pic of my sconces on either side of the mirror

And a closeup of the scroll on top of the mirror.  I painted this years ago by hand after finding the frame in a trash bin at an antique store for which they let me have it for free, then I had the mirror installed.

And another final look at the finished vignette...

It's a simple and airy look that I love for my mantle and I am really enjoying how it compliments my coffee table vignette too!  And it didn't cost a dime as I already owned everything.  Great huh?

I'm also going to try to link up again with linda @ http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

for nifty thrifty tuesdays.  Hope it works this time.

Have a great day Everyone, thanks for stopping by!