Forever Beloved - Faith, Love & Truth

November 12, 2019

Blogvember Day Twelve | Holiday Traditions

For a complete list of The Blogvember Challenge prompts, click HERE!

November 12 – Share your favorite holiday traditions.

I have to admit, this post has been a hard one to write. I’ve spent many days thinking over what to write. I think the best glimpse into our holiday traditions is me re-posting a blog I wrote a few years ago.

Growing up I always had this vision, this big dream, of how the holidays would be when I was grown.

I would cook a big meal and place it on a perfect, beautifully set table. The table would be surrounded by family with friends sprinkled in. I would have a house full of laughter and an evening full of fellowship and love.

Life doesn’t always go the way we dreamed of as a child, does it?

I have a confession: sometimes I feel lonely during the holidays.

It’s something I don’t often talk about at all because it makes me feel guilty. Why do I feel guilty? Because I have a husband and two kids to spend the holidays with, not to mention two amazing parents. Still, the loneliness is there.

When I was a child, holidays were spent with family. Thanksgiving at my Grandparents, Christmas Eve at my Aunt and Uncles and Christmas Day at my Grandparents. I loved it, I soaked in every single moment of being surrounded by laughter, love and the feeling of belonging.

When I was a child it seemed we had endless traditions. We would make cookies and candy with my Mama, Grandma and sometimes Aunt and cousins. We always had a big Christmas get-together with my Dads side of the family in the weeks leading up to the holiday. And we can’t forget the Christmas program at church. We would practice and have a little party on the Saturday before the program, and I can remember we would get a little treat bag and it always had a piece of fruit in it. Do you remember the days when after the holidays you would go to your families house and they would show you what they got for Christmas? I know, I loved that!

Once I got married, the family we spent the holidays with doubled. Sometimes holidays even meant visiting two or three different houses in one day. I have to admit, I loved it.

Maybe more than loneliness, its’ a heart craving. A craving and desire to have things the way they used to be. I have this desire to be a hostess, to show hospitality by making my house warm and welcome and to show my love and thankfulness through the food I cook.

Throughout the years, the seasons of life have changed. Between people passing away, children growing up and moving out and just life changing we’ve been left spending holidays among our little family. Thanksgiving at my parents, Christmas Eve at home (with my husband normally working until 8 pm), Christmas Day at my parents and New Years Eve at home.

It’s certainly not how I envisioned my life.

But, what I’ve realized throughout this, the holidays are not about me and my feelings. The season is about Him. Thinking of Jesus’ humble, magnificent, unimaginably difficult, astonishing birth stills my heart during the Christmas Season. It helps me to align my heart with joy.

This holiday season when I feel the familiar pangs of sadness and loneliness creep over me, I will look up and focus my eyes on Him. I will be reminded that what I have is enough. I will remember that He IS the most important element in my life. He brings TRUE peace, joy, and celebration in the midst of this season. He is the TRUE reason for the season.

November 11, 2019

Blogvember Day Eleven | A Year in Pictures

For a complete list of The Blogvember Challenge prompts, click HERE!

November 11 – Recap your day, week, month or year in pictures.

As a picture taking fool, this prompt was right up my alley! And I give you, 2019 thus far in pictures. I’ve included one picture from each month.

November 10, 2019

Blogvember Day Ten | My Fav DIY

For a complete list of The Blogvember Challenge prompts, click HERE!

November 10 – Share a household trick or trick, or a great DIY.

My goodness, do I love me a great DIY. I would much rather jump in and do something myself than purchase the item. There is something to be said for breaking out power tools, getting your hands dirty and being able to be proud of your end result.

Thanks to Pinterest, I’ve done quite a few DIYs over the years in our old farmhouse. I’m not so sure my husband feels quite the same way. Many days he’s walked into this house after work to find me mid-project, carpet ripped off the stairs, boards torn off, paint stripper on, and he just shakes his head and walks past.

Making this headboard for our spare room is hands down my favorite DIY I’ve ever done. It was easy and came together quickly.

I bought my wood from Lowe’s. I took my measurements in and had them pre-cut the wood for me to the exact lengths I needed. For a queen headboard, here is what I purchased.

4 | 1×6 shiplap cut to 66″
2 | 1×4’s at 52” (vertical supports)
1 | 1×3 at 56” (horizontal base support)
1 | 1×3 at 25” (small vertical support)
small nails
stain (any color you want)
a way to attach it to the wall (velcro strips, nails, screws)

Make sure you look at all the lumber well and don’t get any that are warped. That makes assembly so much easier!

Lay out the 1×6 boards horizontally so that they are even. I used shiplap, so I also needed to make sure the tongue and groove was together. I put the 25″ small vertical support vertically in the center of the shiplap (the shiplap was left to right, the support was top to bottom). I used small nails to secure the support to the shiplap. Make sure your nails aren’t too long, or they’ll stick out the front of the headboard.

After the center vertical support is in place, you can put the two 52″ vertical supports on. These are basically the legs for your headboard. I laid them on the headboard and measured how far from the top and sides they were. I didn’t want my headboard to be lopsided or unlevel once it was stood up. I actually measured three times just to make certain they were in the right spot. Once I knew they were in the right spot, I nailed them down.

The next thing I did was put the 56″ vertical support on the legs. I believe I put it around 7″ up from the bottom. High enough that I knew it would brace it well. Nail that in place.

And there you have it, you’re ready to stand your headboard up! Now it’s time to sand it. Sanding will not only get rid of any print or marks on the lumber, but will allow the stain to set better and get rid of any splinters.

Now for the finishing touch, stain. I chose a grayish stain, as the flooring we put down in that room had a gray color in it. It goes perfectly with it. I also bought special stain sponges to apply the stain. And I put on rubber gloves so my hands didn’t get stained.

I let the stain dry for 48 hours and it was ready to go in the room. Because it’s in our spare room, I knew the bed would always be in the same spot. For that reason we just screwed it to the wall. You could also use a heavy duty velcro on the back if you think you may be moving it around in the future. I also put felt pads on the back of the headboard so it wouldn’t scuff up the freshly painted wall.

This was such a fun DIY for me. If you give it a go, make sure you comment below and let me know how it worked out!