Many of you know that hospitality is a topic dear to my heart. Hospitality is more than having someone over or feeding him a meal. It is a tangible reflection of God’s gracious generosity of welcome towards us. Unfortunately, we often get hung up on impressing others or keeping up with Pinterest. What is true hospitality, and how can you practice biblical hospitality in a real and authentic way?

I’m so honored to be guest posting at The Nourishing Home today, sharing on the heart of true hospitality. Please join me there!

If you come over to my house, you will notice something about the way we are around here: Our kids do a lot of helping. You’ll find my boys making meals, using cutting boards and knives, loading dishwashers, doing their own laundry, and getting their baby brother up in his high chair for lunch.

Don’t get me wrong–it is not automatic, always voluntary, or even all done correctly at times. In fact, there are lots of spills, scorches, mistakes, and do-overs. I would describe it less like a well-oiled machine, and more like constant tuning and training. We’ve not hired “a mother’s helper” and we don’t have the budget to eat out regularly or hire a housecleaner. So…we have an all-hands-on-deck approach because, truthfully, we simply wouldn’t survive otherwise.

But, the point is– I’ve learned to let my kids participate in tasks around the house at every age. Even the 22 month old puts away laundry and dusts…to the best of his ability.

I’m over at The Better Mom today, sharing about how and why we can include our children in all that keeps a family running, by creatively employing little hands and willing hearts. Come and read 8 of my practical tips on how I teach my kids to participate at any age!

{As a sidenote, you might remember that our Number 5 was lovingly referred to as “Cinco“, but seeing as “Seis” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, and the Latin for “six” is just not a good nickname…here we are with good ol’ #6. }

We are excited. Excited and a little nervous, and prayerfully considering how to manage and handle all the commotion and mayhem that comes with bringing a sixth baby boy home. Thinking through those logistics while life continues to press on.

And, so this verse seems fitting for the room we spend 90% of our time. “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.” -Lamentations 3:22-23

I’m loving chalkboard art…but I must tell you– it is harder than it looks! We will be meditating on this verse for a long, long time…

And elsewhere, through the house, there are other evidences of grace and mercy…

The remodel debris is almost all removed from our backyard…

A little one is getting more confident with reading…

Feeling thankful for plenty of clean clothes for the family, even if the laundry never ends…
…and slowly completing details in the kitchen, trusting there is time for everything…even the time to anticipate new life springing up all around.

Find grace in your everyday as well today…

Blessings to you, friends!

What a difference a week makes! You saw how the house looked prior to the 40th birthday celebration last week…and thankfully, though we were unable to complete the kitchen in time for the party, we did get the house in presentable condition (with several late nights and the help of a handful of amazing friends and family.)

The front room (which used to be the library/office)…

View from the kitchen, where once was a wall that blocked the view of the front entry:

All the elements in this room were existing, minus the cowhide rug, which I found on ebay and paid $100 for after finding some paypal credit I’d forgotten about!

The lockers had been in the entry…I purchased them from an army surplus store. They were a hideous brown until Troy lovingly sanded and painted them for me last Spring. The black (former) kitchen island stores all my tablecloths, and was moved into the front room as a piece of furnishing.

How it looked before (with carpet)…

How it looks now…

Bunting detail on the window was a last minute request I made of my crafty friend for the party. The same friend also arranged this wall using pieces I had in this room previously…old stuff, new view. Do you remember when we found the deer skull last year?

The view of the kitchen from the front entry. Remember when there was a wall there? We’re still undecided about whether to put a pot rack up or not. There is still tile, grout, trim, sealing of cabinets, and hardware to be done, but you get the idea…

We chose to save money by sanding and repainting existing cabinets, purchasing only enough new ones to make the island and pantry. (Because I know you’ll ask…the cabinets were painted “Bedford Gray” by Martha Stewart, matched in Behr Primer and Paint in satin.) We purchased unfinished stock cabinets from Home Depot. The island was constructed from three cabinets, and backed with beadboard paneling in birch. We considered white pickling the island, but really like the natural wood better instead.We invested in new appliances and granite countertops, both of which we got at incredible prices over the Black Friday and the holiday season. Wood floors were the other investment, though we found closeout engineered oak for $1.83/sq. ft., plus glue. It was so worth it.

The existing cabinets were raised up to the ceiling, and an open shelf was constructed beneath. We decided to take the two cabinets on either side of the window out completely, and opted for open shelves. I’m loving the open feel…

This is how our kitchen was before, closed in and small…

And the way it is now–nice and open!

The bookshelves moved to the wall where the panty used to be. They now serve as a coffee and tea bar for the family and our guests. I purchased some inexpensive crocheted placemats from World Market, and placed them along the top of the two shelves, and ordered tempered glass fitted for the two tops.

Thanks for all the support, encouragement, and loving feedback here, and on my FB page. I have the sweetest readers. Thanks for letting me share my home, and online home, with you!

]]> http://www.gracelaced.com/2013/01/09/the-kitchen-progressive-reveal-pt-1/feed/ 20 http://www.gracelaced.com/2013/01/02/renovations-the-last-seven-weeks/ http://www.gracelaced.com/2013/01/02/renovations-the-last-seven-weeks/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:39:13 +0000 Ruth http://www.gracelaced.com/?p=12906 Everyone warned me about remodels and renos. I knew it would be especially difficult when you are doing all the work yourselves, on a tight budget, in a house full of children, and within a short time frame. Throw in Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a 40th birthday, and we’ve got a well-rounded season of stretching and opportunity for patience-training.

And so, here we are…week seven, and days before my sweet husband’s 40th birthday. Floors are done, counters are going in tomorrow, baseboards are in and caulked, ceilings and walls are tape, textured, and painted. There’s still much to go, but I thought I’d show you the progress…

Our front room/kitchen used to look like this:

Not anymore! We took out the wall dividing the front room and the kitchen, the archway, and the pantry that ran along another wall.

The planking on the floor is covering the section of the foundation we cut in order to move plumbing from upstairs. Yes…this was quite the project.

Everything was spiffed up in time to host a Thanksgiving celebration for families without families in town…

After Thanksgiving, we drywalled, textured, and began painting…the tile was busted out as well. Whew, busting out tile is a SERIOUS deal…

In between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, we continued to school at home, eek out meals, and work on weekends. The progress was s.l.o.w.

Wood floors were glued down and an island constructed from stock cabinets and covered with beadboard-like wood paneling…

And just this week, cabinets are getting painted, and installed. We are going for a custom look with all stock cabinets…don’t you love them? The standard cabinets were raised and a floating shelf will be constructed where the cabinets used to be…

Have no fear…of course we’ll be ready for a party this Saturday.

Happy New Year, friends. Thanks for journeying with me here on GraceLaced. For reading, commenting, sharing, and being an encouragement to me as we find grace in both the glorious and the messy moments of real life.

I’m currently typing from within a dusty, rubble-filled home. There is exposed concrete, drywall, and power tools throughout my kitchen. This is the point in a remodel when you ask: Is this worth it? Will I make it to see the reward at the end of all the challenges?

I’m currently experiencing this truth:

There’s no building up of new until the old is torn down.

Like so many things in life, change requires a painful upset of what once was for what could be:

Earning a degree begins with making time in your schedule for school.
Forming a friendship starts with setting aside tasks for an invitation to coffee.
Expanding an existing kitchen inevitably requires demolition…

More of Christ means less of me…There is no building up of the new man until the old man is torn down.

So amidst the heaps of debris, there is great joy and gratitude in knowing that something greater is being built in its place. There is the humbling reality that God is the master builder…and we are in good hands.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19

Now let’s link up in community…

Welcome to GraceLaced Mondays, a link up dedicated to sharing any and all blog posts by like-minded lovers of grace–God’s grace! Grace is found in the everyday when you are intentional about taking note of it…and I invite you to share your story, great or small, of how everyday moments are full of Grace.

*Link back to GraceLaced –so your readers can find us here– by copying and pasting the code below into the html page of your post. (Make sure you scroll down and copy the entire code, thanks!)

*Please link up your post, not your blog’s home address.

*Enter the name of your blog post, not your own name.

*Visit the other links and leave a comment–everyone loves comment love!

*Add your link anytime this week!

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My hard-working husband began work on the house on Monday, ripping down walls, moving pipes, chipping tile, and expanding the space within our home for our growing family. I’m more than thankful for the generosity of friends, the love of family, and the diligence of each member of my family as we we blessed and sought to bless this week. What wonderful reminder this week that everything is a gift from Him…and everything is given to give back. I’m thankful for the friendship found within this community here at GraceLaced…thank you for letting me share my life with you!

There is not one corner of my home that feels picked up or organized lately. My house definitely has not looked the way it does for a photo shoot in a long time–and surely not since I became pregnant. We are presently more abundantly blessed with mess-makers than house-keepers. Do you have that problem? Even with all the offensive tactics and deliberate pursuit of staying on top of our family’s daily upkeep, we simply have fallen two steps (or more) behind ever meal, every load of laundry, every spill…every mess.

For those of you who spend every day caring and managing your home, you know what I mean when I say I feel overwhelmed and discouraged by the perpetual-ness of it all. I’m doing the next right thing, learning to be more efficient, sometimes making time for inefficiency, and setting my mind on the fact that I get to serve my family. But as I press on with the things I know to do, the house continues to carry on much like a one year old learning to feed himself: Some spoonfuls make it into the mouth, some just make a mess.

The reality is that my home and my family life will continue to stretch and strive to be more disciplined, more organized, more efficient in picking up and cleaning up….for year so to come. Any notion I had of finding comfort and satisfaction in the perfection of my home has simply shown itself for what it is: an idol of the heart that can neither sustain or deliver.

A home void of the evidence of little ones in training has often been my shelter, my comfort in the midst of these busy-crazy-messy years. It was never meant to be.

Instead, I’ve been meditating on Psalm 91:1-2

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

Our physical shelter and our environment were never intended to be our true refuge. They provide safety, comfort, warmth, and intimacy for the family, but they are merely temporary, and as I am experiencing in my own life–unreliable resources for stability and assurance of the heart.

Are you putting your trust and your worth in your surroundings? Do you struggle to be happy when your home is not the way you want it to be? Have you found yourself sheltered under the wrong source of refuge? Friend, I know I have.

Dwell in His shelter
Rest in His shadow.
Take refuge in His mighty fortress.
Trust Him who is worthy.

Psalm 91:1-2 reminds us that He is where we must turn, where we must hide, where we must take shelter, and where we must surrender. If you are weary today from all that is a mess in your life–whether physical or internal–run to Him. He is our strong tower!

I recently dressed up the entry to my potager for a party I hosted in the garden. Don’t they seem to just say, “Welcome!”

I’m at Beautifully Rooted today, sharing a tutorial on how to make this cluster of hanging vintage soda bottle vases. Come check out the step by step instructions!

]]> http://www.gracelaced.com/2012/08/10/vintage-soda-bottles-become-vases/feed/ 2 http://www.gracelaced.com/2012/08/07/mason-jar-chandelier-for-the-arbor/ http://www.gracelaced.com/2012/08/07/mason-jar-chandelier-for-the-arbor/#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:00:42 +0000 Ruth http://www.gracelaced.com/?p=11875 You know I’ve been obsessed with all things mason jar for a long time. I’ve used them to light the backyard and for drinking iced coffee, and now, I’ve finally turned them into a light fixture for the arbor! I recently held a birthday party in the garden, which provided the perfect excuse to complete a DIY lighting project I had seen here and here. It’s a fairly simple project, unlike the electrically wired mason jar chandelier I had hoped to make for the dining room (and decided against in favor of a happy marriage. ). You can do it in a day, so give it a try!

You will need:

One 1″ x 6′ piece of pine
a drill
a jigsaw
a compass
4 pint sized mason jars with lids
jute rope
acrylic caulk
4 votive candles (I used large tealights from IKEA)
2 hooks for hanging

Start by cutting your pine to the length you would like your overall chandelier. Space the mason jars out evenly, and mark the center point where each jar will be place. You can trace the lid, but we chose to use a compass to measure and draw the circumference of the smaller side of the tapered lid. Drill a hole at the center point, then cut along the circumference with your jigsaw. Keep in mind the curf of your blade. (Test on scrap metal if needed…you want your ring of your lid to fit in the hole you cut!)

Apply a small bead of acrylic caulk around the outer edge of the lid, and press into the prepared openings. Clean excess with a dry rag. Let dry according to caulk instructions on tube. It should be ready in a few hours.

Drill a hole (the same diameter as the rope you are using) at each of the corners.

Measure the distance you want your chandelier to hang, double the length and add about 6 inches. Cut two lengths of that measurement. Thread each end each length of rope through the pair of holes on the ends of the chandelier. Knot the ends securely underneath the board (on the side with the lid opening of course…) Install hooks for hanging…

…and attach your mason jars. It helps to have your candles already placed inside!

Light from above openings…

…and enjoy the ambience and glow!

I’m so blessed that you’re here! I invite you to subscribe to GraceLaced!