The Study.

This is Brian's study. (I have a desk in here, but there's no telling him that makes it my study too! LOL) We are still working on it, but most of the frames have pictures in them and at least it is a functioning room now. When we first moved in, it was piled with boxes, mostly filled with books.

Check back for details on the interesting blue wall hanging.
 It has an amazing story and an even better meaning behind it!

Brian insisted on displaying his signed "Trip Lee" t-shirt. We didn't have room on the wall,
 but our futon has a middle section that pulls down so I just put it on there. Look ok?

This room is probably the least done out of what I have already shown you. I like the way it is set up, but need some bookshelve ideas.

This side of the room is my least favorite.
Too much stuff in too little of space! HELP!

What do you think? Any suggestions for this room?

Cards

I know five minutes in the store will give you a funny, sentimental, or sympathetic card, right? I just can't see having to pay the $2 (if you're lucky!) on something that most people will only look at a couple of times. In my world, homemade is much better anyway!
I know we are way past Mother's Day, but I have never been accused of being prompt! Here is a card we made for Brian's mom. It turned out super cute, I think, and I will probably use the format again!

I used sticker letters on the front because I cannot stand my own hand writing and I usually realize after I am done that I have misspelled something. Stickers make for easy corrections!

On the inside of our card, we put pictures of each "child" holding one of the letters to the word LOVE. For each letter we thought of an attribute of our mom, typed it up (again because I always make mistakes or don't like the handwriting!), printed it out, and glued it on. I used 2 pieces of card stock glued together to get the length I needed for the word. We all thought it turned out pretty cute and it was easy to do. Much better than a store bought card!

An apple a day...

     I found this week that I have obviously not been keeping up with my apples because so far this week I have seen a chiropracter, three docters, an ER room, an ultrasound tech and several lab techs. Either the apples in Arkansas are broken or I forgot a couple days!
     Today I finally got a diagnosis...pancreatitis. Let me give a brief explaination for those who don't know what that is (like me!) The pancreas creates enzymes that are sent to your stomach to break down and digest your food. These enzymes are inactive until they get out of the pancreas, but when they become active inside the pancreas, they damage the pancreas tissues causing them to inflame and infect.
     So for the next four days, I will be on a liquid diet, mainly water, sprite, gatoraide, and chicken broth. On Monday, I go back for a check up and if it hasn't improved, the doctor will keep me in the hospital for a couple of days. There they will have me fast, sustaining me through IV fluid. This should give my pancreas time to heal and recover.
     I will keep you as up-to-date as is possible through medical craziness!

Brian and I would appreciate your prayers during this time. We are just recovering from his back surgery. We really don't need another hospital stay in our young marriage! LOL

~Erin

Half 'n Half

This year I was asked to make the cake for mother's day and my mother-in-law's birthday for our family's celebration. I wasn't sure how I was going to do both, since we didn't need two whole cakes. When it all came together though, I was super happy with the outcome.

I made my mother-in-law's birthday cake with flowers because she loves to garden and grow things! She is also one of those people who makes you want to bloom right where you are planted.

As for the rest of the mothers that we were celebrating, I just wanted something that was complimenting to the birthday side with bright and cheerful colors.

The Blood Changes our walk!

    Once we are redeemed, blood purchased believers chosen by God, our loyalties change. We no longer are here to walk to fulfill the flesh to only satisfy ourselves. Jesus tells us in Matthew that he is sending His Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to live with in us. This means that the Eternal God is residing in our Spirits to comfort, convict, strengthen, and to teach us what pleases God and how we are to glorify God, which is our chief end. The Scriptures say in,

Galatians 5:16, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit,

 and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." 

We see here that Paul is telling the Galatians how to avoid the sins of the flesh by walking in the Spirit. We do this through obedience to the words of God that we find in Scripture. In this passage, God shows you how to avoid the sins of the flesh, and further down in the passage, he commands us to avoid them and shows us the things that, as his children, we can do to please him. In this Scripture, we see the importance of Bible study and times of prayer with our Lord. How are we to know his will, if we do not talk with him and listen to His Spirit and read His Word.

So now what does that look like in our lives?

It is as simple as living life as Christ would. The other day, as you know, Erin and I bought chickens at a feed store here in town. When we got home we realized that although we had paid for 6 chicken, the store had given us seven. Faced with the decision of honesty or convenience, God compelled us to honesty, even if it meant going the second mile and returning to the store to pay for the extra chicken. Though this was strange to the workers, Erin and I are trying to live more aware of the way every aspect of our lives needs to be lived walking in the Spirit.

Sola dia agloria
(To God be the glory alone)
Brian Kingston

New ADDITION!!!

Now all of you I am sure thought that I was going to announce a pregnancy...LOL but I am not. Just going to tell you of our newest additions to our home.

Yes, we still live in the city limits, but they allow us to have chickens! We are super excited about fresh eggs!

Check back soon for a post about our chicken coop building experience!

Prayer helps

I showed you our Spiritual Wall yesterday. I thought, "Wait, they might not understand why the prayer portion says forgive. Oh, and I need to put milk on the list". Well that last part wasn't important to anyone, though I did indeed put milk on the list, but the prayer idea turned out so cute I wanted to show it off. Here's the supplies I started with:

The Forgive sign we already had, but I have seen a lot of them at Christian book stores, Craft Stores, like Hobby Lobby, and even at garage sales. Other than that, scissors, a pen, key rings, index cards, and some little clips. I got my clips at Wal-Mart and they fit perfectly.


I cut the index cards in half with my decorative scissors, punched a whole in each card, and then wrote the names of people that we pray for on each card.

 

After placing the cards on key rings, I put one key ring on each clip. It turned out great and had been very usable!

Sorry about the glare...I am definitely NOT a photographer! LOL