Sane, Simple, Sacred: cabin

Showing posts with label cabin. Show all posts

A Peek. A Reflection. Some Nostalgia

The light casts shadows on the Christmas trees sharing the shelf

with other quaint items at one end of our Christmas Cabin.

Inside, it's Christmas Year 'Round!

Sitting in our backyard, it has a small sleeping loft and bunkbeds

to house family and friends who visit us at our two-bedroom home.

For a peek at the inside, click here to go to my other blog.

And here....a bit of Christmas reflection (and nostalgia, for me)...

1907-1989

The immense step from the Babe at Bethlehem to the living, reigning triumphant Lord Jesus, returning to earth for His own people - that is the glorious truth proclaimed throughout Scripture. As the bells ring out the joys of Christmas, may we also be alert for the final trumpet that will announce His return, when we shall always be with Him. (*Alan Redpath)

*Dr. Redpath was the pastor of Moody Church (Chicago) which my family attended when my father was a student at Moody Bible Institute in the early 1950s...Late he spoke at special events at Moody Bible Institute when I attended in the late 60s.He was a gifted preacher (had a British or Scottish accent) and is the author of several books.

Never Out of Season

From the high shelf on one end...to the sleeping loft on the other,

it is Christmas in our backyard cabin!

Vignettes abound...

along with books for all ages Christmas books, of course!

Christmas mugs are ready to fill with one's hot beverage of choice.

Even the toilet paper finds a home in a Christmas tree decked container!

Winter paint-by-number pictures decorate the walls.

While I'm waiting rather impatiently for the trees to bud and flowers to bloom,

I decided to trek out to the cabin where Christmas is NEVER out of season!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!
(Did I mention this is our "guest room"?
You're welcome to come and spend some hours or days.)
Hospitality is never out of season here either!

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:13

LENT -- PROGRESS REPORT

"Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven..." Matthew 6:1 and following.

With those words fresh in my mind, I offer these pictures of someone else's "acts"! In addition to my personal and necessary heart searches and responses of obedience, I began a list of projects completed during the Lenten period (aiming for one a day, for a total of 40). Originally I thought they would be MY accomplishments. As it is turning out, my husband is responsible for most of those that have made the list.

The pictures above represent a few on the growing list of completed projects. You can follow their progress on the "My Man - His Projects" tab at the top of this blog. MY accomplishments so far have been mending a bad tear on my well-worn chenille robe, sewing a button on one of my husband's blazers and "making" the bunk beds after we had them assembled.

Be sure to check back in around Easter to see if I've managed to clean out the sunroom so we can actually sit in there when the weather gets warmer!

Welcome to our Christmas Cabin

Being quite fresh to blogging, I've learned a lot by trying to capture the interior of our Christmas cabin! I know that I can improve on laying out the pictures and script, but I was anxious to get these posted and see how they turned out.

Inside...A shelf full of Christmas trees and Christmas houses....

Simple comforts all wrapped in Christmas! No running water....but heat and an old-fashioned potty. Click on the pictures to see details.

The cabin is full of books with a Christmas theme....

I've had a good time stocking the tabletops and drawers with Christmas books for adults and children alike. Thrift stores have provided me with some great treasures!

A useful desk in the corner....

A fine place to study, blog, write letters or Christmas cards, or color pictures in Christmas coloring books!

A simple (some say "naive") oil painting inside the cabin

Click on the picture to see more detail.

More Christmas trees (with a few watermelon thrown in)

Comfortable Chair

Another simple oil painting in our Christmas cabin...

I love the nostalgia of these paint-by-number winter scenes. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.....

Our cabin - the CHRISTMAS cabin....

Someday I'll show you inside. But for today, let me introduce "the cabin". A retreat place in our back yard. It is a third bedroom, a place to study, a place to rest, a place to replenish the soul. It sits just a few steps from our back porch, but it feels miles away from the busy highway that runs in front of our home. It's always CHRISTMAS inside. And it's always available for an hour or two (or even an overnight) away!

"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy