Saturday Night Latest News from Dixie Cottage

 It's been a LONG week! We have worked until our bodies cried "uncle"!  I finally collapsed on the bed this afternoon after a later lunch than usual and said I can't go another inch...at least not until I've had a decent nap and some supper and then we'll go back over to Dixie Cottage and take some pictures of what we've accomplished this week.  LOL.  And so we did.  So now if I can stay upright and awake long enough to put together this post, you can see what we've accomplished.  

I think it was yesterday (time eludes me right now...not sure what day this is), Ben finally put up the sign on the front of the store...

We stood back to make sure it was even...somehow it looked a lot bigger inside...but it looks nice and it will serve the purpose for now...

There's still some things to clean up and get better organized before Tuesday, but here's the check out counter and the coffee "bar"...

And this dining room set that they have recently refinished...

And Rose is reupholstering the chairs with this beautiful print! I love it!

In every direction there is so much to look at and take in...

One of their vendors brought in this cute little drop leaf pub table and stools that they have refinished:

Here's a few items that my cousin from Tennessee has created and sent on consignment to be sold. This type of woodwork is known as "intarsia", and is comprised of several different pieces of hardwoods to get the colors and design.  He is very talented!

He also did the "Fishing Rules" below on a scroll saw:

And also these lovely trivets/decor:

Starting to get more artwork up on the walls:

Everywhere you look there's more and more and more...

As I've said before this store is smaller in square footage than the previous store, so we are trying to condense a lot of beautiful stuff into a smaller area without being too overly crowded...It's been quite a balancing act...

Another of our new Booth Vendors came and set up today...and she is getting us ready for fall already!

There's a lot to love here...

 Yes, you are welcome!

It looks like a pumpkin patch!

This vendor loves to find things  "restore, repurpose, and reuse"...Lots of cute items and ideas:

We definitely have some very creative and talented artisans in our midst!

The vendor booths are almost all filled up. One vendor had to delay her set up due to illness, but she hopes to be filling up that blank space on that wall soon!

I do believe there's going to be more than enough fun items for everyone to enjoy their little shopping excursion to Dixie Cottage!

We do still have a lot of coastal/nautical type items for those who love that style:

The beach really isn't that far away...

We also got some new farmhouse style decor items as well...a little bit of everything for everyone!

We also have a few unfinished items that can be painted to the color of your choice...

And we hope that everyone will discover something here to help make their homes an even happier place than ever!

A little blurred, but you get the idea:

So from our "cottage" to your "cottage"...

Y'all come!

So now you've had the grand tour!  There may be a few tweaks here and there between now and Tuesday morning, but thankfully the worst of it is over and we are pretty much "all systems go".

  I am thankful to the Lord for giving us the strength we have needed this week to get this job done.  At one point mid-week, my sweet DIL Rose and I were there alone together at the store, trying to figure out what to do next and where to put things, and we were both so weary and beginning to lag in energy and strength to keep going.  We kind of laughed and said to each other, "Well, there aren't any little fairies going to come during the night and do this job, so we'd better keep moving ahead..." and about that time Benton came in and "rallied the team" like a good coach and so we persevered and kept going until the job was done.  But I think we needed that little break before we could resume the task before us.  I really believe the Lord has carried us throughout the week, and I give Him the praise!

"But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

God bless you all and hope to see you soon!

When Things Start to Fall Apart...Just Get Back Up and Shine!! Repeat Performance...

Original post written a few years ago...but it seems like I relive this "repeat performance" every year about this time...How about you? Is the pre-Christmas stress starting to get to you? Are things feeling more like they are falling apart than put together?...Read on and maybe we can get through this season together...

12/20/2017:

This morning was the day for our home Bible Study, and we have been lighting the candles on the Advent Wreath each week.  Because our wreath is made of real pine boughs attached to wet florist's blocks, I keep it outside on the back porch during the week in between our gatherings so it won't dry out so much in the warm, dry house.

This morning after replacing some of the pine boughs that were starting to die with fresh ones, I brought the wreath into the house to get it ready for our service.  As soon as I set it down around the candles on the little table in our living room, it literally fell apart...some of the foam blocks fell to the floor, with the pine needles falling all over the place...and it was a MESS!!  I quickly gathered the pieces back up and stuck them all back together as good as I could since I didn't have time to start over.

So here is the poor lopsided Advent Wreath, looking rather disheveled and worn...Kind of the way I feel about this time every year as we get closer to Christmas and I am not really ready...

I woke up this morning and said out loud (while still lying upon my bed) "I hate myself!"  My husband was just barely awake and didn't quite understand what I said, so he asked me to repeat it. So I did...and he was quite perplexed, surprised and concerned. This is not a normal state of affairs for me, especially to say out loud before I even get out of bed! Actually, I don't think I've ever said that in my head or out loud.  That's just not me.  But I went to sleep last night thinking about all the things that I still need to do in the next few days before Christmas (too numerous to list here and I don't want you to know exactly how much I still need to do...)...and I woke up thinking about all these things and I just said out loud "I hate myself!"  Why? Because I do this every single year!  You would think I would have learned by now not to put off so much until the last week before Christmas and then end up in a panic having a meltdown in the middle of a department store because I can't find what I want and I don't even know what I want even if I could find it and when I do find it I know I really don't want that after all, but in desperation I have to get something!!!  And just like that Advent Wreath, I fall apart and look disheveled and worn and just wish I could crawl away somewhere and hide until Christmas is all over.

I wonder how Mary, the mother of Jesus, felt the week before Christmas.

There she was, technically a betrothed but still unmarried young woman, great with child...(not by her betrothed husband to be, but by the Holy Spirit, so you can imagine how difficult that had been to explain to everyone...) and wouldn't you know it was time to travel to Bethlehem to be counted in the census?  I'm not sure just how long that trip was, but you can only imagine, even five miles would be too far to travel on the back of a donkey when you are nine months pregnant.  And then, to finally arrive in Bethlehem only to discover that all the hotel rooms were taken, and there was no room for them in the Inn, so the only place they could stay was in a smelly, dirty animal stable, with the dirty, smelly animals standing by. Can you imagine how Mary must have felt?  Talk about being rather disheveled and worn and weary...and then to go into labor and actually give birth to your baby right there in that stable with the animals watching?  And there were no midwives or doctors or nurses available to help with the labor and delivery...no medicine to block the pain...no clean bed to lay upon...and only your betrothed there to attend to you...a man whom who truly have not known in that kind of intimate way...

Can you imagine how Mary must have felt...she had no clean, soft blanket or diapers to comfort her newborn babe?  But somehow she found some "swaddling cloths" to wrap around him, and she laid him in the hay in the manger.

If I had been Mary, I wonder if I could have been so cool, calm, and collected at the birth of my first child? Probably not, judging by the way I've been acting this week before Christmas...

But perhaps if the angels had come to tell me about the birth of my baby in the first place...and then if the angels had come to sing praises at His birth...and the shepherds had come to bow down and worship Him

...maybe I would have a different attitude...perhaps I wouldn't be so focused on the peripheral "stuff", but would be truly worshiping and adoring the Child sent to me by God...God's Gift to me...and to the whole world...and I would be singing with the angelic choir..."Gloria in excelsis Deo"...Glory to God in the Highest...and Peace, Goodwill to men...

So, after thinking about this, maybe I just need to pull myself together, get my self organized, and just get out there and "shine"...

Like this Advent Wreath, after  straightening up the candles, pulling the pine boughs back together as well as possible, we read the verses about the Angels announcing Jesus' birth to Mary, Joseph, and the Shepherds...and then we lit the candles and let it shine forth in the darkness.

Yes, that's what I need to do. There isn't much time left...but after giving myself this little "pep talk", I think I can go out with a new and brighter attitude...and a song of joy in my heart as I go about my activities of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior and Lord!!!

"Hark the Herald Angels sing, Glory to the Newborn King!"

A Modern Day Parable

I've had this particular parable on my mind lately...I won't go into details as to why this story has struck my fancy, but all I can say is it has been a lesson faith, trust, and justice prevailing.  Here is the parable:

Luke 18:1-8

"Then He (Jesus) spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:

'There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.

Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying,

'Get justice for me from my adversary.'

And he would not for a while;

but afterward he said within himself,

'Though I do not fear God nor regard man,

yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her,

lest by her continual coming she weary me.'

Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.

And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him,

though He bears long with them?

I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. 

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,

will He really find faith on the earth?"

Recently I had a very similar experience as this widow in the story above. It did not involve a judge, but a person in authority. I won't go into any details except to say that this person soon became exasperated with my continual remonstrance, (protest, complaint, reproof), and literally said that I was making him weary. 

Even though I felt rather stunned by that remark, and even a bit hurt, I knew that God was at work in the midst of the "battle".  As soon as I heard that word spoken, I was reminded of this parable...and became encouraged in my faith that my petitions would soon be granted.  

Now, I was not asking for vengeance on an adversary, but rather for favor for one who was being slighted and taken advantage of. It was a risky move on my part as it could have backfired and placed me in jeopardy. But nonetheless I was willing to take that risk...and it finally paid off. My request reached the halls of heaven, and God dispatched His ambassadors to respond favorably on behalf of the one who was not even aware of the danger lurking ahead.

I do not tell you this story to pat myself on the back or to elicit any praise for myself. I share this today because I want you to know that God is still on the Throne of Justice...and He does hear our petitions on behalf of His children..."the very elect who cry out day and night to Him..."  Yes, "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."  Do I need to say, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"  I sincerely hope so. May we never forget how much the Lord has already done for us...and that He has not changed.

"May He grant you according to your heart's desire,

and fulfill all your purpose.

We will rejoice in your salvation,

and in the name of our God

we will set up our banners!

May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.

Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed;

He will answer him from His holy heaven

with the saving strength of His right hand.

Some trust in chariots,

and some in horses;

But we will remember the name of the LORD our God."

Psalm 20:4-7