exhibit

i am working on an exhibit for the museology class i am taking at school. it is soooo much fun! it caters to my dorky historical side as well as my DIY side. we have to be thrifty and crafty and resourceful.

and i'm loving it.

here are some pictures of the exhibit about a week ago. 

 this is a view of the wall we are working on. we are the slavery/textile mill wall.

 we have a hoarding problem...not really...but we're getting there.
what could be better than hoarding artifacts anyways?

 sorry, girl.

 she's stephanie. she's in my group. she's playing with Civil War bullets.

 artifacts from the lumber mill

 cotton bale and other artifacts from the textile mill. we have a display case now that will go on our wall. exciting!

 oh, you know, no big deal, just holding a civil war bullet in my hand, average saturday.

just think, these walls were completely WHITE! and our class made them into an exhibit (soon to be finished!)
I will update you when it is all done and beautiful! SO excited! visit Arcadia Mill!

the girl and the magic piano.

A blonde headed 6-year-old is wearing braided pig-tails, a blue, flowered, nightgown-type dress, and no shoes while she gazes intently and in awe at the piano playing itself in the coffee shop (one of those ones run by a CD, but the keys move still). Not knowing any of the words, she begins to dance joyfully as if no one else is in the room. With a huge smile on her face, twirling about and making her dress flow, she suddenly finds her self in the way of the wind being produced by the oversized fan in the corner of the store. She stops abruptly in front of it, slows her motion, closes her eyes, and smiles sweetly. She is feeling the wind catching and petting her face for the next 7 seconds. There is no sin, no sadness no regrets, no attitude at all in her smile. Simply taking in the feeling of the wind. She catches me watching her out of the corner of her eye, smiles and waves, then goes back to dancing around like a little fairy to the music of the piano. I think "hey i need to write this down" and begin to relate the story that just unfolded before me to how Heaven might be one day. Will we dance before the Lord like David did? I sure hope so. There will be no sadness, no sin, no burden, no caring about how other people look or stare, just white-as-snow purity and joy as we spend time in the presence of our Creator God. Will I be in awe as i stand transfixed upon my God? Will i just be overjoyed to the point of uncontrollable twirling? Or will I simply, stop, shut my eyes, and feel the presence of God radiate throughout me? And enjoy it all.
After her mom picks her up to take a closer look at the keys of the "magic" instrument, she reaches out and touches it softly. Still in confusion over its magnificence she discreetly asks, "how does it do that?" A piano that plays itself is ludicrous in the mind of a child. She's not thinking of the mechanics behind it, or the fact that it runs on CD's. She is in complete awe and takes it for what it is. Something beyond her understanding.
Child-like faith. In heaven we won't have to have faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. But we WILL SEE HIM!!! We'll be done with waiting on the Lord's timing in tough circumstances, believing when others, or mainly ourselves, tell us we can't. No longer will we have to ask, "how does HE do that?" or more prevalent, "WHAT is He doing?" or "why?"

The girl in the blue dress is gone from the coffee shop now, taking nothing with her except a memory of pure, undefiled enjoyment dancing in the presence of the piano that magically plays itself. Although I deeply considered the blessing she was to me tonight there is a characteristic about this happening that does not match up with our, meaning all Christ-followers, eventual conclusion. Leaving this shop, she will grow up, learn the mechanics behind the magic piano, and lose her faith in its ability to play by itself. What a blessing it is to know that once we enter into the Heavenly presence of our Father we will ETERNALLY dance, ETERNALLY wonder, ETERNALLY stare in AWE and the GLORY of the Almighty God, and be ETERNALLY joyful! All there is left to say is, "come quickly Lord Jesus" and give us Your eternity.

home office.

my home office needed some little love
and what i mean by my home office, i mean this.

my printer nook and important papers basket, and a trashcan. don't judge me, i'm a college kid.
you see, i had this awesomely precious chair from my grandmothers that was falling apart, and since it held my printer, it needed a little bit of a fixing.

luckily my sister opened me up to the possibility of weaving a new chair seat, made of fabric.
and it turned out GREAT!
i made this the other night while watching jane eyre.

1. that is the weirdest movie i have ever seen.
2. that was a fun project, i'd totally do it again.
3. it was FREE!

you can see the remnants of the sheets. and the long second toe. i figured it's about time you knew about it.

which is the best thing about all of it. My roomate didn't want her queen sized aqua/bluish sheets, and i didn't want to spend any money on this project.
sure it got a little bit messy, and it really did take longer than i thought it would.

but in the end, it fits right in with my room.

simple and cute.

well hello there chair.
home office do-over.
well maybe home office chair do-over.
and it's sturdy!

 

step one: cut sheet or other fabric into LONG pieces.

step two: tie around tightly over and over again one way. scrunch together and put knots on the bottom side.

step three: beginning from the back, weave in and out perpendicular to the other pieces of fabric.

step four: put those knots on the bottom as well.

step five: cut off remainder, making sure not to cut too short. add for a little of future stretching.

step six: be awesome.

step seven: give your self a pat on the back. you just weaved a chair seat! cool huh?

a crash of faithfulness.

last summer i asked one of my christian friends how their summer went. he sighed one of those fulfilled, just-ate-thanksgiving-dinner, 'life is really good' sighs and told me, "ya know, this summer God just really prepared me for this year back at school. I mean there are so many people on this campus who need Jesus!"

3 immediate thoughts:
1. dang, homeboy! get it! i was only looking for a "great! great! how was yours?" but you just exceeded my expectations!
2. will you marry me?
3. you, know what, Amen brother.

anyways, it got me thinking about making this summer meaningful. purposeful and focused.
then it arrived, the thought that i had never really entertained the idea of faithfulness. yes, i love Jesus, believe in Him, etc. but does all my worrying/anxiety really illustrate turning directly to Him once disaster/trials strike?
so i asked God to make this summer an "undistracted devotion to the Lord" summer.
just us two. just me and Him.
and that He would show me what faithfulness really means.

be careful what you wish for.

now i'm not complaining, but dang, i have learned more about what it means to be faithful, to trust in the Lord, than i think i have in a long time.

for example, last week this happened:

yes, i'm fine, i was a little shook up, but about an hour after the whole thing went down i remembered my immediate reaction after that blue honda took a turn and t-boned me out of nowhere.

"Jesus, please help me. help this situation."

i prayed like it was second nature. and that's a huge thing for someone who is awesome at legalism. God has truly answered my prayer of cultivating faithfulness to the point of producing in me a fruit that He promised He would. Gal 5:22-23 has never been so real: "for the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

so for now, i am car shopping, with money from the insurance agency-holla! stay tuned for a little bit of blessing- mazda style!

love you all!