Be still my heart.....

I have loved this piece of furniture from the moment I laid eyes on it.  I knew we could be happy together. 

I instantly pictured it in my life, sharing my space, letting me adore it for the rest of my life. 

The only problem was...I didn't own it.  It wasn't mine.  It was someone else's. 

Oh, but I dreamed about it.  It would fit into my home, assisting in so many ways!  But I instantly thought how it could love our family so well in the area of a coffee bar....another deep love and passion of mine.

And then....one random day, I asked my amazingly talented friend, Jeff, if he thought he could make one.  "Sure, he could try."  We talked about how much money it might be and realized it might cost a couple of hundred dollars worth of wood. 

And for now, that wasn't a possibility.

But God is a God of possibility, isn't He?

Jeff came across some fence wood from a neighboring house.  They were replacing their fence, and there was actually nothing wrong with the old fence. 

So with free wood, Jeff's amazing talent (and many hours!), and his sweet, giving heart....

TA-DA.....

Isn't it amazing?!  I love it!  I'd marry it, if I could.  :) 

I haven't yet painted it, but how close is THIS to the original picture?!

(My pictures do not even do this fabulousness justice!)

He even put glass in the upper hutch!

AND a light underneath! 

Let me catch my breath....

I wish I'd taken an up close photo of the cute little tray he made, too.  I have the PERFECT spot for it...my coffee table.  And I needed something just like it to go there.  I'll come back to that with pictures later.

Jeff, you are a talented man.

And a dear family friend.

Thank you for your blessing.

And thank you, Colleen, for loaning Jeff's man hours to work on this.

You're both so special!!!

This is what it is all about.

I promise that soon I'll get back to my "DIY project" posts, or "homemade kitchen goody" posts or "Mom of two funny toddler" posts or whatever posts you like that, for reasons unknown to me (and for which I am ever grateful!), you like to come visit from time to time. But for now, I am where I am. And I just have to work through it. And sometimes that looks like blogging about it.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you this sweet experience from today. I was cruising some of my favorite blogs and I came across this post today from one of my new blog friends, Kim. As I started to read, I started to cry. What she was saying spoke to me. I actually thought to myself, "she could be talking directly to me", since it was ministering so much to my heart. Well, guess what? She was. As I continued to read, I saw my name. Kathryn. She was addressing the hurt in my life. She was talking to me and several other sweet ladies going through their own difficult situations...and was encouraging us and praying over us.

I don't know about you, but WOW. This blew me over.

This is the body of Christ at work. Women, whom I don't know personally...and who don't know me...are lifting me and my family up to the Lord. There is such power in community. I stand in awe that God is using women I meet through blogging to soothe my heart and keep me focused on Truth.

Thank you, God. And thank you, Kim, for your sweet post. If you haven't already, head over there and read her blog. She has an amazing heart for others. And her post will lead you to the stories of a few other women who really could use your prayers as well.

And thank you, new blog friends (there are others besides Kim) as well as my sweet personal good as gold friends (notice I didn't say "old" friends)...for listening. For praying. For reading. For commenting. For encouraging.

Now, I promise I'll lighten up a bit in the days to come. I've got some new projects I'm working on around here. I'm excited to share!